Friday, January 31, 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: 2

Maximum Puzzle Score: 283

Number of Answers: 59

Points Needed for Genius: 198

Genius requires between 24 and 52 words. You need at least an 8-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangrams, you need 79% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangrams, you only need 66% 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 283 was in the 92nd percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on January 24, 2025.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 59 possible answers rank it in the 91st percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on January 24, 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 an 8-letter word for genius.
The last time this happened was on January 26, 2025.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.7.
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 179
  • naan 167
  • nana 167
  • lilt 134
  • till 134
  • tilt 134
  • tint 132
  • mama 124
  • mamma 124
  • nene 123
  • onto 117
  • toon 117
  • acacia 116
  • acai 116
  • anal 111
  • onion 111
  • boob 108
  • booboo 108
  • anon 107
  • baba 105
  • olio 105
  • papa 103
  • tact 103
  • lull 102
  • lulu 102
  • mitt 102
  • dodo 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
  • ammo 96
  • cocci 96
  • momma 96
  • mono 96
  • moon 96
  • epee 94
  • peep 94
  • coot 91
  • loon 91


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 96,579 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,424 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
  • adit
  • adnation
  • alanin
  • alation
  • alidad
  • allantoid
  • allantoin
  • allodia
  • allodial
  • alodia
  • alodial
  • aloin
  • andantini
  • andantino
  • anil
  • anilin
  • antidotal
  • antinational
  • antinodal
  • antlion
  • atonia
  • attaint
  • daltonian
  • danio
  • dido
  • dilatant
  • dilatation
  • dilatational
  • diol
  • dita
  • doit
  • dotation
  • ilia
  • iliad
  • ilial
  • illation
  • inanition
  • indol
  • inia
  • inion
  • inti
  • intonational
  • iodation
  • iodid
  • iodin
  • iodination
  • ladino
  • lallation
  • lanital
  • lati
  • latilla
  • latina
  • latino
  • lattin
  • liana
  • lianoid
  • lido
  • lilo
  • linalol
  • linalool
  • linin
  • linn
  • lino
  • lintol
  • litai
  • loid
  • loti
  • nandin
  • nandina
  • naoi
  • natation
  • nidal
  • nidation
  • nidi
  • nill
  • ninon
  • nitid
  • nitinol
  • niton
  • nodi
  • noil
  • noninitial
  • nonnational
  • nontidal
  • odontoid
  • oidia
  • oidioid
  • ootid
  • tain
  • talion
  • tian
  • titania
  • titi
  • titian
  • toit
  • tolidin
  • tondi

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

addition

noun
  1. The act of adding anything.
  2. Anything that is added.
  3. The arithmetic operation of adding.
  4. A dot at the right side of a note as an indication that its sound is to be lengthened one half.
  5. A title annexed to a person's name to identify him or her more precisely, as in "John Doe, Esq.", "Robert Dale, Mason", "Thomas Way, of New York".
  6. Something added to a coat of arms, as a mark of honour; opposed to abatement.

additional

noun
  1. Something added.
adjective
  1. Supplemental or added to something.

aioli

noun
  1. A type of sauce, similar to mayonnaise, made from garlic, egg, lemon juice and olive oil.

alit

No Definition Found.

anion

noun
  1. A negatively charged ion.

annotation

noun
  1. A critical or explanatory commentary or analysis
  2. A comment added to a text
  3. The process of writing such comment or commentary
  4. Metadata added to a document or program
  5. Information relating to the genetic structure of sequences of bases

anoint

verb
  1. To smear or rub over with oil or an unctuous substance; also, to spread over, as oil.
  2. To apply oil to or to pour oil upon, etc., as a sacred rite, especially for consecration.
  3. To choose or nominate somebody for a leading or otherwise important position, especially formally or officially, or as an intended successor.
  4. To mark somebody as an official ruler, especially a king or queen, as a part of a religious ceremony.

anti

noun
  1. A person opposed to a concept or principle.
adjective
  1. Opposed to something.
  2. That has a torsion angle between 90° and 180°
preposition
  1. Alternative form of anti-

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.

attain

verb
  1. To gain (an object or desired result).
  2. To reach or come to, by progression or motion; to arrive at (a place, time, state, etc.).
  3. To come or arrive, by motion, growth, bodily exertion, or efforts toward a place, object, state, etc.
  4. To get at the knowledge of.
  5. To reach in excellence or degree.
  6. To reach a person after being behind them.

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.

dilation

noun
  1. The act of dilating.
  2. State of being dilated; expansion; dilatation.
  3. Delay.
  4. In morphology, a basic operation (denoted ⊕) that usually uses a structuring element for probing and expanding the shapes contained in the input image.

dildo

Etymology 1

noun
  1. An artificial phallus (penis) for sexual use.
  2. An idiot, a bore.
  3. A columnar cactaceous plant of the West Indies (Pilosocereus royenii).
verb
  1. To penetrate with a dildo or with another object as if it were a dildo.

Etymology 2

interjection
  1. A burden: a phrase or theme that recurs at the end of a verse of a folk song.

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.

dino

noun
  1. Dinosaur.

dint

noun
  1. A blow, stroke, especially dealt in a fight.
  2. Force, power; especially in by dint of.
  3. The mark left by a blow; an indentation or impression made by violence; a dent.
verb
  1. To dent.

ditto

noun
  1. That which was stated before, the aforesaid, the above, the same, likewise.
  2. A duplicate or copy of a document, particularly one created by a spirit duplicator.
  3. A copy; an imitation.
  4. A symbol, represented by two apostrophes, inverted commas, or quotation marks (" "), when indicating that the item preceding is to be repeated.
  5. (in the plural) A suit of clothes of the same colour throughout.
verb
  1. To repeat the aforesaid, the earlier action etc.
adverb
  1. As said before, likewise.
interjection
  1. Used as an expression of agreement with what another person has said, or to indicate that what they have said equally applies to the person being addressed.

donation

noun
  1. A voluntary gift or contribution for a specific cause.
  2. The act of giving or bestowing; a grant.

idiot

noun
  1. A person of low general intelligence.
  2. A person who makes stupid decisions; a fool.
  3. A person of the lowest intellectual standing, a person who lacks the capacity to develop beyond the mental age of a normal four-year-old; a person with an IQ below 30.
adjective
  1. Idiotic, stupid

idol

noun
  1. A graven image or representation of anything that is revered, or believed to convey spiritual power.
  2. A cultural icon, or especially popular person.
  3. (originally Japan) Popular entertainer; usually young, captivating, attractive; and often female, with an image of being close to fans.
  4. An eidolon or phantom; something misleading or elusive.

initial

noun
  1. The first letter of a word or a name.
  2. In plural, the first letter of each word of a person's full name considered as a unit.
  3. A distinguished initial letter of a chapter or section of a document.
  4. Onset, part of a syllable that precedes the syllable nucleus in phonetics and phonology.
verb
  1. To sign one's initial(s), as an abbreviated signature.
adjective
  1. Chronologically first, early; of or pertaining to the beginning, cause or origin.
  2. Spatially first, placed at the beginning, in the first position; especially said of the first letter of a word.

initiation

noun
  1. The act of initiating, or the process of being initiated or introduced
  2. The form or ceremony by which a person is introduced into any society; mode of entrance into an organized body; especially, the rite of admission into a secret society or order.
  3. The first step of transcription or of transduction.

inlaid

adjective
  1. (of a design) Set into a surface in a decorative pattern.
  2. (of the surface of an item) Having an inset decorative pattern.
verb
  1. To place (pieces of a foreign material) within another material to form a decorative design.
  2. To place an inlay in a tooth.

inland

noun
  1. The interior part of a country.
adjective
  1. Within the land; relatively remote from the ocean or from open water; interior
  2. Limited to the land, or to inland routes; within the seashore boundary; not passing on, or over, the sea
  3. Confined to a country or state; domestic; not foreign.
adverb
  1. Into, or towards, the interior of the land, away from the coast.

into

preposition
  1. To or towards the inside of.
  2. To or towards the region of.
  3. Against, especially with force or violence.
  4. Indicates transition into another form or substance.
  5. After the start of.
  6. Interested in or attracted to.
  7. Expressing the operation of multiplication.
  8. Expressing the operation of division, with the denominator given first. Usually with "goes".
  9. Investigating the subject (of).

intonation

noun
  1. The rise and fall of the voice in speaking.
  2. The act of sounding the tones of the musical scale.
  3. Singing or playing in good tune or otherwise.
  4. Reciting in a musical prolonged tone; intonating or singing of the opening phrase of a plain-chant, psalm, or canticle by a single voice, as of a priest.
  5. A thundering; thunder.

iota

noun
  1. The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet.
  2. A jot; a very small, insignificant quantity.

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)).

lain

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To rest in a horizontal position on a surface.
  2. To be placed or situated.
  3. To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in a certain state or condition.
  4. Used with in: to be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist.
  5. Used with with: to have sexual relations with.
  6. Used with on/upon: to be incumbent (on); to be the responsibility of a person.
  7. To lodge; to sleep.
  8. To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.
  9. To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To conceal, keep quiet about.

lanai

noun
  1. (Florida) A Hawaiian-style roofed patio.

lanolin

noun
  1. A greasy yellow substance chemically akin to wax that is secreted from wooly animals, with a variety of uses from rust prevention, lubrication and waterproofing to cosmetics and skin ointments.

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.

lint

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A fine material made by scraping cotton or linen cloth; used for dressing wounds.
  2. Clinging fuzzy fluff that clings to fabric or accumulates in one's pockets or navel etc.
  3. The fibrous coat of thick hairs covering the seeds of the cotton plant.
  4. Raw cotton ready for baling.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To perform a static check on (source code) to detect stylistic or programmatic errors.

lion

noun
  1. A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
  2. (by extension) Any of various extant and extinct big cats, especially the mountain lion.
  3. A Chinese foo dog.
  4. An individual who shows strength and courage, attributes associated with the lion.
  5. A famous person regarded with interest and curiosity.
  6. A light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion.
  7. An old Scottish coin, with a lion on the obverse, worth 74 shillings.
adjective
  1. Of the light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion.

loin

noun
  1. The part of the body (of humans and quadrupeds) at each side of the backbone, between the ribs and hips
  2. Any of several cuts of meat taken from this part of an animal

lotion

noun
  1. A low- to medium-viscosity topical preparation intended for application to unbroken skin.
  2. A washing, especially of the skin for the purpose of beautification.
verb
  1. To cover or treat with a lotion.

naiad

noun
  1. A female deity (nymph) associated with water, especially a spring, stream, or other fresh water.
  2. The aquatic larva (nymph) of a dragonfly or damselfly.
  3. Any of various aquatic plants of the genus Najas.

nail

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
  2. The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.
  3. The terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and other allied birds.
  4. The claw of a bird or other animal.
  5. A spike-shaped metal fastener used for joining wood or similar materials. The nail is generally driven through two or more layers of material by means of impacts from a hammer or other device. It is then held in place by friction.
  6. A round pedestal on which merchants once carried out their business, such as the four nails outside The Exchange, Bristol.
  7. An archaic English unit of length equivalent to 1/20 of an ell or 1/16 of a yard (2 1/4 inches or 5.715 cm).

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To fix (an object) to another object using a nail.
  2. To drive a nail.
  3. To stud or boss with nails, or as if with nails.
  4. To catch.
  5. To expose as a sham.
  6. To accomplish (a task) completely and successfully.
  7. To hit (a target) effectively with some weapon.
  8. Of a male, to engage in sexual intercourse with.
  9. To spike, as a cannon.
  10. To nail down: to make certain, or confirm.

nation

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.
  2. A sovereign state.
  3. An association of students based on its members' birthplace or ethnicity.
  4. A great number; a great deal.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Damnation.
adverb
  1. Extremely, very.

national

noun
  1. A subject of a nation.
  2. (usually in the plural) A tournament in which participants from all over the nation compete.
adjective
  1. Of or having to do with a nation.
  2. (by extension) Of or having to do with a country (sovereign state).

nonillion

No Definition Found.

notation

noun
  1. The act, process, method, or an instance of representing by a system or set of marks, signs, figures, or characters.
  2. A system of characters, symbols, or abbreviated expressions used in an art or science or in mathematics or logic to express technical facts or quantities.
  3. A specific note or piece of information written in such a notation.

notational

adjective
  1. Of or pertaining to notation.

notion

noun
  1. Mental apprehension of whatever may be known, thought, or imagined; idea, concept.
  2. A sentiment; an opinion.
  3. Sense; mind.
  4. An invention; an ingenious device; a knickknack.
  5. Any small article used in sewing and haberdashery, either for attachment to garments or as a tool, such as a button, zipper, or thimble.
  6. Inclination; intention; disposition.

notional

noun
  1. A fake company used as a front in espionage.
adjective
  1. Of, containing, or being a notion; mental or imaginary.
  2. Speculative, theoretical, not the result of research.
  3. Having descriptive value as opposed to a syntactic category.
  4. Used to indicate an estimate or a reference amount

olio

noun
  1. A rich, thick, Spanish stew consisting of meat and vegetables.
  2. A medley or mixture; a hotchpotch.
  3. A collection of various musical, theatrical or other artistic works; a miscellany.
  4. (by extension) Vaudeville or similar miscellaneous musical or theatrical entertainment skits presented between the main acts of burlesque or minstrel shows.

onion

noun
  1. A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.
  2. The bulb of such a plant.
  3. The genus as a whole.
  4. A ball.
  5. A person from Bermuda or of Bermudian descent.

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.

taint

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food
  2. A mark of disgrace, especially on one's character; blemish
  3. Tincture; hue; colour
  4. Infection; corruption; deprivation
  5. A marker indicating that a variable is unsafe and should be subjected to additional security checks.
verb
  1. To contaminate or corrupt (something) with an external agent, either physically or morally.
  2. To spoil (food) by contamination.
  3. To be infected or corrupted; to be touched by something corrupting.
  4. To be affected with incipient putrefaction.
  5. To mark (a variable) as unsafe, so that operations involving it are subject to additional security checks.
  6. To invalidate (a share capital account) by transferring profits into it.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A thrust with a lance, which fails of its intended effect.
  2. An injury done to a lance in an encounter, without its being broken; also, a breaking of a lance in an encounter in a dishonorable or unscientific manner.
verb
  1. To damage, as a lance, without breaking it; also, to break, as a lance, but usually in an unknightly or unscientific manner.
  2. To hit or touch lightly, in tilting.
  3. To thrust ineffectually with a lance.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. The perineum.

tali

noun
  1. The bone of the ankle.

tallit

No Definition Found.

tannin

noun
  1. Tannic acid or any of its derivatives.

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.

tint

noun
  1. A slight coloring.
  2. A pale or faint tinge of any color; especially, a variation of a color obtained by adding white (contrast shade)
  3. A color considered with reference to other very similar colors.
  4. A shaded effect in engraving, produced by the juxtaposition of many fine parallel lines.
verb
  1. To shade, to color.

titan

noun
  1. Something or someone of very large stature, greatness, or godliness.

titillation

noun
  1. A pleasurable or sexually exciting sensation.
  2. The process or outcome of titillating.

toil

noun
  1. Labour, work, especially of a grueling nature.
  2. Trouble, strife.
  3. (usually in plural) A net or snare; any thread, web, or string spread for taking prey.
verb
  1. To labour; work.
  2. To struggle.
  3. To work (something); often with out.
  4. To weary through excessive labour.