Monday, January 20, 2025

Answers to yesterday's Bee

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The official answers for today's puzzle are:

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Number of Pangrams: 1

Maximum Puzzle Score: 188

Number of Answers: 46

Points Needed for Genius: 132

Genius requires between 21 and 39 words. You need at least a 6-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangram, you need 76% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangram, you only need 68% of the remaining points to reach genius.

Other days with this pangram:

The button below will reveal a chart with the number of words by each letter. Red bars indicate that there is a pangram(s) starting with that letter.


How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

Today's score of 188 was in the 61st percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on January 19, 2025.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 46 possible answers rank it in the 68th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on January 19, 2025.
The highest number of answers was 81 on June 8, 2019.
The lowest number of answers was 16 on March 27, 2023.

It takes a 6-letter word for genius.
The last time this happened was on January 19, 2025.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.1.
For all Bees, the average word length has been 5.3.



Haven't I seen these letters before?

Hover over a letter to see its first and most recent appearance in the Bee!



Haven't I seen these words before?

The most common words in the Bee are:

  • noon 190
  • loll 182
  • toot 177
  • naan 167
  • nana 167
  • lilt 133
  • till 133
  • tilt 133
  • tint 130
  • mama 123
  • mamma 123
  • nene 123
  • acacia 116
  • acai 116
  • onto 115
  • toon 115
  • anal 111
  • onion 110
  • boob 108
  • booboo 108
  • anon 107
  • baba 104
  • olio 104
  • papa 103
  • lull 102
  • lulu 102
  • tact 102
  • dodo 101
  • mitt 101
  • poop 101
  • allay 99
  • ally 99
  • call 99
  • calla 99
  • ratatat 99
  • tart 99
  • tartar 99
  • attar 98
  • tattoo 98
  • tatty 97
  • tutu 97
  • cocci 96
  • mono 96
  • moon 96
  • ammo 95
  • momma 95
  • epee 94
  • peep 94
  • loon 91
  • loot 91


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 96,093 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,409 unique words.
Below are the distributions of the lengths of these words.



Valid dictionary words not in today's official answers

You may be wondering why these words aren't here*:

  • aalii
  • accidia
  • adit
  • alcaic
  • alcid
  • alidad
  • atactic
  • cadi
  • caid
  • calcic
  • calcitic
  • catalatic
  • cicala
  • clit
  • clitic
  • diacid
  • diacidic
  • didactical
  • dita
  • ictic
  • ilia
  • iliad
  • ilial
  • illitic
  • lati
  • latilla
  • litai
  • tical
  • tictac
  • titi
  • wadi
  • wali
  • wicca
  • williwaw

*Because the New York Times considers them obscure or offensive.

acacia

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A shrub or tree of the tribe Acacieae.
  2. The thickened or dried juice of several species in Acacieae, in particular Vachellia nilotica (syn. Acacia nilotica), the Egyptian acacia.
  3. A false acacia; robinia tree, Robinia pseudoacacia.
  4. Gum arabic; gum acacia.
  5. Any of several related trees, such as the locust tree.
  6. A light to moderate greenish yellow with a hint of red.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (history) A roll or bag, filled with dust, borne by Byzantine emperors, as a memento of mortality. It is represented on medals.

acai

noun
  1. Any of several South American palms, of the genus Euterpe, having a dark purple drupe.
  2. The fruit of these trees, harvested for its juice.

acid

noun
  1. A sour substance.
  2. Any of several classes of compound having the following properties:
  3. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)
adjective
  1. Sour, sharp, or biting to the taste; tart; having the taste of vinegar.
  2. Sour-tempered.
  3. Of or pertaining to an acid; acidic.
  4. Denoting a musical genre that is a distortion (as if hallucinogenic) of an existing genre, as in acid house, acid jazz, acid rock.

acidic

adjective
  1. Having a pH less than 7, or being sour, or having the strength to neutralize alkalis, or turning a litmus paper red.
  2. Containing a high percentage of silica; opposed to basic.
  3. Of or relating to acid; having the character of an acid.

addict

noun
  1. A person who is addicted, especially to a harmful drug
  2. An adherent or fan (of something)
verb
  1. To deliver (someone or something) following a judicial decision.
  2. To devote (oneself) to a given activity, occupation, thing etc.
  3. To bind (a person or thing) to the service of something.
  4. To devote or pledge (oneself) to a given person, cause etc.
  5. To devote (one's mind, talent etc.) to a given activity, occupation, thing etc.
  6. To make (someone) become devoted to a given thing or activity; to cause to be addicted.

alit

No Definition Found.

atilt

adjective
  1. At an angle from the vertical or horizontal.
adverb
  1. At an angle from the vertical or horizontal; at the point of falling over.
  2. Tilting or as if tilting (charging with a lance, like a knight on horseback in a joust).
preposition
  1. Diagonally over or across.

attic

noun
  1. The space, often unfinished and with sloped walls, directly below the roof in the uppermost part of a house or other building, generally used for storage or habitation.

await

noun
  1. A waiting for; ambush.
  2. Watching, watchfulness, suspicious observation.
verb
  1. To wait for.
  2. To expect.
  3. To be in store for; to be ready or in waiting for.
  4. To serve or attend; to wait on, wait upon.
  5. To watch, observe.
  6. To wait; to stay in waiting.

cacti

noun
  1. Any member of the family Cactaceae, a family of flowering New World succulent plants suited to a hot, semi-desert climate.
  2. Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, such as euphorbs.

cattail

noun
  1. Any of several perennial herbs, of the genus Typha, that have long flat leaves, and grow in marshy places

cicada

noun
  1. Any of several insects in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with small eyes wide apart on the head and transparent well-veined wings.

cilia

noun
  1. Hairs or similar protrusions along the margin of a plant organ.
  2. A hairlike organelle projecting from a eukaryotic cell (such as a unicellular organism or one cell of a multicelled organism). These structures serve either for locomotion by moving or as sensors.
  3. One of the fine hairs along an insect's wing.

dial

noun
  1. A graduated, circular scale over which a needle moves to show a measurement (such as speed).
  2. A clock face.
  3. A sundial.
  4. A panel on a radio etc showing wavelengths or channels; a knob that is turned to change the wavelength etc.
  5. A disk with finger holes on a telephone; used to select the number to be called.
  6. A person's face.
  7. A miner's compass.
verb
  1. To control or select something with a dial, or (figuratively) as if with a dial.
  2. To select a number, or to call someone, on a telephone.
  3. To use a dial or a telephone.

dicta

noun
  1. An authoritative statement; a dogmatic saying; a maxim, an apothegm.
  2. A judicial opinion expressed by judges on points that do not necessarily arise in the case, and are not involved in it.
  3. The report of a judgment made by one of the judges who has given it.
  4. An arbitrament or award.

didact

No Definition Found.

didactic

noun
  1. A treatise on teaching or education.
adjective
  1. Instructive or intended to teach or demonstrate, especially with regard to morality.
  2. Excessively moralizing.
  3. Teaching from textbooks rather than laboratory demonstration and clinical application.

dill

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Anethum graveolens (the type species of the genus Anethum), a herb, the seeds of which are moderately warming, pungent, and aromatic, formerly used as a soothing medicine for children; also known as dillseed.
  2. A cucumber pickled with dill flavoring
  3. A fool.
verb
  1. To cook or flavor with dill

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To still; to assuage; to calm; to soothe, as one in pain.

iliac

adjective
  1. Of or pertaining to the ilium.

illicit

noun
  1. A banned or unlawful item.
adjective
  1. Not approved by law, but not invalid.
  2. Breaking social norms.
  3. Unlawful.

italic

noun
  1. A typeface in which the letters slant to the right.
  2. An oblique handwriting style, such as used by Italian calligraphers of the Renaissance.
adjective
  1. (of a typeface or font) Designed to resemble a handwriting style developed in Italy in the 16th century.
  2. (of a typeface or font) Having letters that slant or lean to the right; oblique.

lactic

adjective
  1. Of, relating to, or derived from milk
  2. (of fermentation) That produces lactic acid

laic

noun
  1. A layperson, as opposed to a member of the clergy.
adjective
  1. Lay, relating to laypersons, as opposed to clerical.

laical

No Definition Found.

laid

adjective
  1. (of paper) Marked with parallel lines, as if ribbed, from wires in the mould.
verb
  1. To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.
  2. To cause to subside or abate.
  3. To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).
  4. To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.
  5. To produce and deposit an egg.
  6. To bet (that something is or is not the case).
  7. To deposit (a stake) as a wager; to stake; to risk.
  8. To have sex with.
  9. To take a position; to come or go.
  10. To state; to allege.
  11. To point; to aim.
  12. (ropemaking) To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them.
  13. To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.
  14. To place (new type) properly in the cases.
  15. To apply; to put.
  16. To impose (a burden, punishment, command, tax, etc.).
  17. To impute; to charge; to allege.
  18. To present or offer.
verb
  1. To don or put on (tefillin (phylacteries)).

licit

adjective
  1. Not forbidden by formal or informal rules.
  2. Explicitly established or constituted by law.

lilac

noun
  1. A large shrub of the genus Syringa, especially Syringa vulgaris, bearing white, pale-pink or purple flowers.
  2. A flower of the lilac shrub.
  3. (color) A pale purple color, the color of some lilac flowers.
adjective
  1. Having a pale purple colour.

lilt

noun
  1. Animated, brisk motion; spirited rhythm; sprightliness.
  2. A lively song or dance; a cheerful tune.
  3. A cheerful or melodious accent when speaking.
verb
  1. To do something rhythmically, with animation and quickness, usually of music.
  2. To sing cheerfully, especially in Gaelic.
  3. To utter with spirit, animation, or gaiety; to sing with spirit and liveliness.

tacit

adjective
  1. Expressed in silence; implied, but not made explicit; silent.
  2. Not derived from formal principles of reasoning; based on induction rather than deduction.

tactic

noun
  1. A maneuver, or action calculated to achieve some end.
  2. A maneuver used against an enemy.
  3. A sequence of moves that limits the opponent's options and results in an immediate and tangible advantage, typically in the form of material.
adjective
  1. Tactical; of or relating to the art of military and naval tactics.
  2. Describing a polymer whose repeat units are identical.

tactical

noun
  1. A combinator of proof tactics.
  2. A private war reenactment event involving mock battles or skirmishes.
adjective
  1. Of, or relating to tactics
  2. Of, or relating to military operations that are smaller or more local than strategic ones
  3. Adroit, skilful or ingenious
  4. Having a military appearance, typically with accessories such as a bipod, adjustable stock, detachable magazine or black coloration

tail

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The caudal appendage of an animal that is attached to its posterior and near the anus.
  2. An object or part of an object resembling a tail in shape, such as the thongs on a cat-o'-nine-tails.
  3. The back, last, lower, or inferior part of anything.
  4. The feathers attached to the pygostyle of a bird.
  5. The tail-end of an object, e.g. the rear of an aircraft's fuselage, containing the tailfin.
  6. The rear structure of an aircraft, the empennage.
  7. The visible stream of dust and gases blown from a comet by the solar wind.
  8. The latter part of a time period or event, or (collectively) persons or objects represented in this part.
  9. The part of a distribution most distant from the mode; as, a long tail.
  10. One who surreptitiously follows another.
  11. The lower order of batsmen in the batting order, usually specialist bowlers.
  12. The lower loop of the letters in the Roman alphabet, as in g, q or y.
  13. (chiefly in the plural) The side of a coin not bearing the head; normally the side on which the monetary value of the coin is indicated; the reverse.
  14. All the last terms of a sequence, from some term on.
  15. The buttocks or backside.
  16. The penis of a person or animal.
  17. Sexual intercourse.
  18. (kayaking) The stern; the back of the kayak.
  19. A train or company of attendants; a retinue.
  20. The distal tendon of a muscle.
  21. A filamentous projection on the tornal section of each hind wing of certain butterflies.
  22. A downy or feathery appendage of certain achens, formed of the permanent elongated style.
  23. A portion of an incision, at its beginning or end, which does not go through the whole thickness of the skin, and is more painful than a complete incision; called also tailing.
  24. One of the strips at the end of a bandage formed by splitting the bandage one or more times.
  25. A rope spliced to the strap of a block, by which it may be lashed to anything.
  26. The part of a note which runs perpendicularly upward or downward from the head; the stem.
  27. A tailing.
  28. The bottom or lower portion of a member or part such as a slate or tile.
  29. A tailcoat.
verb
  1. To follow and observe surreptitiously.
  2. To hold by the end; said of a timber when it rests upon a wall or other support; with in or into
  3. To swing with the stern in a certain direction; said of a vessel at anchor.
  4. To follow or hang to, like a tail; to be attached closely to, as that which can not be evaded.
  5. To pull or draw by the tail.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Limitation of inheritance to certain heirs.
adjective
  1. Limited; abridged; reduced; curtailed.

tali

noun
  1. The bone of the ankle.

tallit

No Definition Found.

tidal

adjective
  1. Relating to tides

till

Etymology 1

preposition
  1. Until; to, up to; as late as (a given time).
  2. To, up to (physically).
  3. To make it possible that.
conjunction
  1. Until, until the time that.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A cash register.
  2. A removable box within a cash register containing the money.
  3. The contents of a cash register, for example at the beginning or end of the day or of a cashier's shift.
  4. A tray or drawer in a chest.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. To develop so as to improve or prepare for usage; to cultivate (said of knowledge, virtue, mind etc.).
  2. To work or cultivate or plough (soil); to prepare for growing vegetation and crops.
  3. To cultivate soil.
  4. To prepare; to get.

Etymology 4

noun
  1. Glacial drift consisting of a mixture of clay, sand, pebbles and boulders
  2. Manure or other material used to fertilize land

Etymology 5

noun
  1. A vetch; a tare.

tilt

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A slope or inclination.
  2. The inclination of part of the body, such as backbone, pelvis, head, etc.
  3. The controlled vertical movement of a camera, or a device to achieve this.
  4. A jousting contest.
  5. An attempt at something, such as a tilt at public office.
  6. A thrust, as with a lance.
  7. A tilt hammer.
verb
  1. To slope or incline (something); to slant.
  2. (jousting) To charge (at someone) with a lance.
  3. To be at an angle.
  4. To point or thrust a weapon at.
  5. To point or thrust (a weapon).
  6. To forge (something) with a tilt hammer.
  7. To play worse than usual (often as a result of previous bad luck or losses).
  8. (of a machine) To intentionally let the ball fall down to the drain by disabling flippers and most targets, done as a punishment to the player when the machine is nudged too violently or frequently.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A canvas covering for carts, boats, etc.
  2. Any covering overhead; especially, a tent.
verb
  1. To cover with a tilt, or awning.

twilit

verb
  1. To illuminate faintly.
adjective
  1. Illuminated by or as if by twilight.

twill

noun
  1. A pattern, characterised by diagonal ridges, created by the regular interlacing of threads of the warp and weft during weaving.
  2. A cloth or portion of cloth woven in such a pattern.
verb
  1. To weave (cloth, etc.) so as to produce the appearance of diagonal lines or ribs on the surface.

twit

noun
  1. A reproach, gibe or taunt.
  2. A foolish or annoying person.
  3. A euphemism for "twat", a contemptible or stupid person.
  4. A person who twitters, i.e. chatters inanely (see usage notes).
verb
  1. To reproach, blame; to ridicule or tease.
  2. To ignore or killfile (a user on a bulletin board system).

wail

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish.
  2. Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.
  3. A sound made by emergency vehicle sirens, contrasted with "yelp" which is higher-pitched and faster.
verb
  1. To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish.
  2. To weep, lament persistently or bitterly.
  3. To make a noise like mourning or crying.
  4. To lament; to bewail; to grieve over.
  5. To perform with great liveliness and force.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To strike the skin in such a way as to produce a wale or welt.
  2. To give a surface a texture of wales or welts.
verb
  1. To choose, select.

wait

noun
  1. A delay.
  2. An ambush.
  3. One who watches; a watchman.
  4. (in the plural) Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians.
  5. (in the plural) Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen. [formerly waites, wayghtes.]
verb
  1. To delay movement or action until the arrival or occurrence of; to await. (Now generally superseded by “wait for”.)
  2. To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness.
  3. To wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment.
  4. To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect.
  5. To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany.
  6. To defer or postpone (especially a meal).
  7. To remain chaste while one's lover is unavailable.

wild

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The undomesticated state of a wild animal
  2. (chiefly in the plural) a wilderness
verb
  1. To commit random acts of assault, robbery, and rape in an urban setting, especially as a gang.
adjective
  1. Untamed; not domesticated; specifically, in an unbroken line of undomesticated animals (as opposed to feral, referring to undomesticated animals whose ancestors were domesticated).
  2. From or relating to wild creatures.
  3. Unrestrained or uninhibited.
  4. Raucous, unruly, or licentious.
  5. Visibly and overtly anxious; frantic.
  6. Disheveled, tangled, or untidy.
  7. Enthusiastic.
  8. Inaccurate.
  9. Exposed to the wind and sea; unsheltered.
  10. Hard to steer; said of a vessel.
  11. (of a knot) Not capable of being represented as a finite closed polygonal chain.
  12. Amazing, awesome, unbelievable.
  13. Able to stand in for others, e.g. a card in games, or a text character in computer pattern matching.
adverb
  1. Inaccurately; not on target.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A wood or forest
  2. An open country

wildcat

noun
  1. A cat that lives in the wilderness, specifically
  2. A person who acts like a wildcat, (usually) a violent and easily-angered person or a sexually vigorous one.
  3. An offensive formation with an unbalanced line and a snap directly to the running back rather than the quarterback.
  4. A wheel that can be adjusted so as to revolve either with or on the shaft of a capstan.
  5. Clipping of wildcat money, notes issued by a wildcat bank.
verb
  1. To drill for oil in an area where no oil has been found before.
adjective
  1. (usually derogatory) Of or concerning businesses operating outside standard or legitimate practice, especially:
  2. Of or concerning customized or hand-made cartridges.
  3. Unauthorized by the proper authorities.
noun
  1. A cartridge modified from another calibre rather than being commercially produced.
noun
  1. (organized labour) A labour strike that has not been authorized by the leaders of a trade union.

will

Etymology 1

verb
  1. (now uncommon or literary) To wish, desire (something).
  2. (nowadays rare) To wish or desire (that something happen); to intend (that).
  3. (auxiliary) To habitually do (a given action).
  4. (auxiliary) To choose to (do something); used to express intention but without any temporal connotations (+ bare infinitive), often in negation.
  5. (auxiliary) Used to express the future tense, sometimes with some implication of volition when used in the first person. Compare shall.
  6. (auxiliary) To be able to, to have the capacity to.
  7. (auxiliary) Expressing a present tense with some conditional or subjective weakening: "will turn out to", "must by inference".

Etymology 2

noun
  1. One's independent faculty of choice; the ability to be able to exercise one's choice or intention.
  2. One's intention or decision; someone's orders or commands.
  3. The act of choosing to do something; a person’s conscious intent or volition.
  4. Law A formal declaration of one's intent concerning the disposal of one's property and holdings after death; the legal document stating such wishes.
  5. That which is desired; one's wish.
  6. Desire, longing. (Now generally merged with later senses.)

Etymology 3

verb
  1. To wish, desire.
  2. To instruct (that something be done) in one's will.
  3. To try to make (something) happen by using one's will (intention).
  4. To bequeath (something) to someone in one's will (legal document).

wilt

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The act of wilting or the state of being wilted.
  2. Any of various plant diseases characterized by wilting.
verb
  1. To droop or become limp and flaccid (as a dying leaf or flower).
  2. To fatigue; to lose strength.
  3. To cause to droop or become limp and flaccid (as a flower).
  4. To cause to fatigue; to exhaust.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. (now uncommon or literary) To wish, desire (something).
  2. (nowadays rare) To wish or desire (that something happen); to intend (that).
  3. (auxiliary) To habitually do (a given action).
  4. (auxiliary) To choose to (do something); used to express intention but without any temporal connotations (+ bare infinitive), often in negation.
  5. (auxiliary) Used to express the future tense, sometimes with some implication of volition when used in the first person. Compare shall.
  6. (auxiliary) To be able to, to have the capacity to.
  7. (auxiliary) Expressing a present tense with some conditional or subjective weakening: "will turn out to", "must by inference".
verb
  1. To wish, desire.
  2. To instruct (that something be done) in one's will.
  3. To try to make (something) happen by using one's will (intention).
  4. To bequeath (something) to someone in one's will (legal document).