Monday, February 17, 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: 165

Number of Answers: 36

Points Needed for Genius: 115

Genius requires between 17 and 31 words. You need at least a 7-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangram, you need 77% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangram, you only need 67% 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 165 was in the 49th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this low was on February 15, 2025.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 36 possible answers rank it in the 43rd percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were fewer answers than this was on February 15, 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 7-letter word for genius.
The last time this happened was on February 16, 2025.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.4.
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 191
  • loll 183
  • toot 181
  • naan 167
  • nana 167
  • lilt 134
  • till 134
  • tilt 134
  • tint 133
  • mama 125
  • mamma 125
  • nene 125
  • onto 118
  • toon 118
  • acacia 117
  • acai 117
  • anal 112
  • onion 112
  • boob 109
  • booboo 109
  • anon 108
  • baba 106
  • olio 105
  • papa 103
  • tact 103
  • dodo 102
  • lull 102
  • lulu 102
  • mitt 102
  • poop 101
  • call 100
  • calla 100
  • allay 99
  • ally 99
  • ratatat 99
  • tart 99
  • tartar 99
  • tattoo 99
  • tutu 99
  • attar 98
  • tatty 98
  • ammo 96
  • cocci 96
  • momma 96
  • mono 96
  • moon 96
  • epee 94
  • peep 94
  • loot 92
  • lotto 92


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 97,344 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,452 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*:

  • acarid
  • acaridan
  • accidia
  • ananda
  • cadi
  • caid
  • caird
  • candida
  • cardia
  • chadar
  • chadri
  • characid
  • chid
  • cnida
  • cnidarian
  • dada
  • daric
  • dharna
  • diacid
  • diacidic
  • diarchic
  • handcar
  • indican
  • indri
  • irid
  • iridic
  • nandin
  • nandina
  • nard
  • nicad
  • nidi
  • radicand
  • randan
  • ranid

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

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.

acrid

adjective
  1. Sharp and harsh, or bitter and not to the taste.
  2. Causing heat and irritation.
  3. Caustic; bitter; bitterly irritating.

arachnid

noun
  1. Any of the eight-legged creatures, including spiders and scorpions, of the class Arachnida.

arcadia

No Definition Found.

arcadian

adjective
  1. Pertaining to an arcade.
  2. Furnished with arcades.
  3. Ideally rustic or pastoral.

arid

adjective
  1. Very dry.
  2. Describing a very dry climate. Typically defined as less than 25 cm or 10 inches of rainfall annually.
  3. Devoid of value.

canard

noun
  1. A false or misleading report or story, especially if deliberately so.
  2. A type of aircraft in which the primary horizontal control and stabilization surfaces are in front of the main wing.
  3. Any small winglike structure on a vehicle, usually used for stabilization.

candid

noun
  1. A spontaneous or unposed photograph.
adjective
  1. Impartial and free from prejudice.
  2. Straightforward, open and sincere.
  3. Not posed or rehearsed.

canid

noun
  1. Any member of the family Canidae, including dogs, wolves, foxes, coyotes and jackals.

card

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A playing card.
  2. (in the plural) Any game using playing cards; a card game.
  3. A resource or an argument, used to achieve a purpose.
  4. Any flat, normally rectangular piece of stiff paper, plastic etc.
  5. A map or chart.
  6. An amusing or entertaining person, often slightly eccentrically so.
  7. A list of scheduled events or of performers or contestants.
  8. A tabular presentation of the key statistics of an innings or match: batsmen’s scores and how they were dismissed, extras, total score and bowling figures.
  9. A removable electronic device that may be inserted into a powered electronic device to provide additional capability.
  10. A greeting card.
  11. A business card.
  12. Title card / Intertitle: A piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of the photographed action at various points, generally to convey character dialogue or descriptive narrative material related to the plot.
  13. A test card.
  14. A published note, containing a brief statement, explanation, request, expression of thanks, etc.
  15. A printed programme.
  16. (by extension) An attraction or inducement.
  17. A paper on which the points of the compass are marked; the dial or face of the mariner's compass.
  18. A perforated pasteboard or sheet-metal plate for warp threads, making part of the Jacquard apparatus of a loom.
  19. An indicator card.
verb
  1. To check IDs, especially against a minimum age requirement.
  2. To play cards.
  3. To make (a stated score), as recorded on a scoring card.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Material with embedded short wire bristles.
  2. A comb- or brush-like device or tool to raise the nap on a fabric.
  3. A hand-held tool formed similarly to a hairbrush but with bristles of wire or other rigid material. It is used principally with raw cotton, wool, hair, or other natural fibers to prepare these materials for spinning into yarn or thread on a spinning wheel, with a whorl or other hand-held spindle. The card serves to untangle, clean, remove debris from, and lay the fibers straight.
  4. A machine for disentangling the fibres of wool prior to spinning.
  5. A roll or sliver of fibre (as of wool) delivered from a carding machine.
verb
  1. To use a carding device to disentangle the fibres of wool prior to spinning.
  2. To scrape or tear someone’s flesh using a metal comb, as a form of torture.
  3. To comb with a card; to cleanse or disentangle by carding.
  4. To clean or clear, as if by using a card.
  5. To mix or mingle, as with an inferior or weaker article.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. One of the officials appointed by the pope in the Roman Catholic Church, ranking only below the pope and the patriarchs, constituting the special college which elects the pope. (See Wikipedia article on Catholic cardinals.)
  2. Any of a genus of songbirds of the finch family, Cardinalis.
  3. Any of various related passerine birds of the family Cardinalidae (See Wikipedia article on cardinals) and other similar birds that were once considered to be related.
  4. (color) A deep red color, somewhat less vivid than scarlet, the traditional colour of a Catholic cardinal's cassock. (same as cardinal red)
  5. Short for cardinal number, a number indicating quantity, or the size of a set (e.g., zero, one, two, three). (See Wikipedia article on Cardinal number.)
  6. (grammar) Short for cardinal numeral, a word used to represent a cardinal number.
  7. Short for cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), a flowering plant.
  8. Short for cardinal tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi), a freshwater fish.
  9. (bow) A woman's short cloak with a hood, originally made of scarlet cloth.
  10. Mulled red wine.

cardiac

noun
  1. A person with heart disease.
  2. Heart disease.
  3. A medicine that excites action in the stomach.
adjective
  1. Pertaining to the heart.
  2. Pertaining to the cardia.
  3. Exciting action in the heart, through the medium of the stomach; cordial; stimulant.

chad

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Small pieces of paper punched out from the edges of continuous stationery, or from ballot papers, paper tape, punched cards, etc.
  2. One of these pieces of paper.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (pickup community) A very handsome, usually tall, man whom women find sexually attractive; at times seen as an alpha male of a group.

chard

noun
  1. An edible leafy vegetable, Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla, with a slightly bitter taste.
  2. Artichoke leaves and shoots, blanched to eat.

cicada

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

circadian

adjective
  1. Of, relating to, or showing rhythmic behaviour with a period of 24 hours; especially of a biological process

dacha

noun
  1. A Russian villa or summer house in the countryside.

darn

Etymology 1

verb
  1. Euphemism of damn.
adjective
  1. Damn.
adverb
  1. (degree) Damned.
interjection
  1. Damn.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A place mended by darning.
verb
  1. To repair by stitching with thread or yarn, particularly by using a needle to construct a weave across a damaged area of fabric.

dinar

noun
  1. The official currency of several countries, including Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Serbia and Tunisia.
  2. An ancient Arab gold coin of 65 grains in weight.

drain

noun
  1. A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume; a plughole (UK)
  2. An access point or conduit for rainwater that drains directly downstream in a (drainage) basin without going through sewers or water treatment in order to prevent or belay floods.
  3. Something consuming resources and providing nothing in return.
  4. An act of urination.
  5. One terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).
  6. An outhole.
  7. A drink.
verb
  1. To lose liquid.
  2. To flow gradually.
  3. To cause liquid to flow out of.
  4. To convert a perennially wet place into a dry one.
  5. To deplete of energy or resources.
  6. To draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to exhaust.
  7. To filter.
  8. To fall off the bottom of the playfield.

hand

noun
  1. The part of the forelimb below the forearm or wrist in a human, and the corresponding part in many other animals.
  2. That which resembles, or to some extent performs the office of, a human hand.
  3. In linear measurement:
  4. A side; part, camp; direction, either right or left.
  5. Power of performance; means of execution; ability; skill; dexterity.
  6. An agent; a servant, or manual laborer, especially in compounds; a workman, trained or competent for special service or duty; a performer more or less skillful.
  7. An instance of helping.
  8. Handwriting; style of penmanship.
  9. A person's autograph or signature.
  10. Personal possession; ownership.
  11. (usually in the plural, hands) Management, domain, control.
  12. That which is, or may be, held in a hand at once.
  13. Applause.
  14. A Native American gambling game, involving guessing the whereabouts of bits of ivory or similar, which are passed rapidly from hand to hand.
  15. The small part of a gunstock near the lock, which is grasped by the hand in taking aim.
  16. A whole rhizome of ginger.
  17. The feel of a fabric; the impression or quality of the fabric as judged qualitatively by the sense of touch.
  18. Actual performance; deed; act; workmanship; agency; hence, manner of performance.
  19. Agency in transmission from one person to another.
  20. Rate; price.
verb
  1. To give, pass, or transmit with the hand, literally or figuratively.
  2. To lead, guide, or assist with the hand; to conduct.
  3. To manage.
  4. To seize; to lay hands on.
  5. To pledge by the hand; to handfast.
  6. (said of a sail) To furl.
  7. To cooperate.

hard

noun
  1. A firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water.
  2. A tyre whose compound is softer than superhards, and harder than mediums.
  3. Crack cocaine.
  4. Hard labor.
adjective
  1. (of material or fluid) Having a severe property; presenting difficulty.
  2. (personal or social) Having a severe property; presenting difficulty.
  3. Unquestionable.
  4. (of a road intersection) Having a comparatively larger or a ninety-degree angle.
  5. (of a male) Sexually aroused.
  6. Having muscles that are tightened as a result of intense, regular exercise.
  7. Plosive.
  8. Unvoiced
  9. Velarized or plain, rather than palatalized
  10. Having a severe property; presenting a barrier to enjoyment.
  11. In a physical form, not digital.
  12. Using a manual or physical process, not by means of a software command.
  13. Far, extreme.
  14. Of silk: not having had the natural gum boiled off.
adverb
  1. (manner) With much force or effort.
  2. (manner) With difficulty.
  3. So as to raise difficulties.
  4. (manner) Compactly.
  5. Near, close.

harridan

noun
  1. A vicious and scolding woman, especially an older one.

hind

Etymology 1

adjective
  1. Located at the rear (most often said of animals' body parts).

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A female deer, especially a red deer at least two years old.
  2. A spotted food fish of the genus Epinephelus.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A servant, especially an agricultural labourer.

indicia

noun
  1. A preprinted marking on a mailpiece which shows that postage has been paid by the sender.
noun
  1. An indication; a sign.

nada

pronoun
  1. Nothing.

nadir

noun
  1. The point of the celestial sphere, directly opposite the zenith; inferior pole of the horizon; point of the celestial sphere directly under the place of observation.
  2. The lowest point; time of greatest depression.
  3. The axis of a projected conical shadow; the direction of the force of gravity at a location; down.
  4. An empty box added beneath a full one in a beehive to give the colony more room to expand or store honey.
verb
  1. To extend (a beehive) by adding an empty box at the base.

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.

radar

noun
  1. A method of detecting distant objects and determining their position, velocity, or other characteristics by analysis of sent radio waves (usually microwaves) reflected from their surfaces
  2. A type of system using such method, differentiated by platform, configuration, frequency, power, and other technical attributes.
  3. An installation of such a system or of the transmitting and receiving apparatus.
  4. A superior ability to detect something.
verb
  1. To scan with radar, or as if with radar.

radian

noun
  1. In the International System of Units, the derived unit of plane angular measure of angle equal to the angle subtended at the centre of a circle by an arc of its circumference equal in length to the radius of the circle. Symbol: rad

radii

noun
  1. The long bone in the forearm, on the side of the thumb.
  2. The lighter bone (or fused portion of bone) in the forelimb of an animal.
  3. One of the major veins of the insect wing, between the subcosta and the media; the vein running along the costal edge of the discal cell.
  4. A line segment between any point of a circle or sphere and its center.
  5. The length of this line segment.
  6. Anything resembling a radius, such as the spoke of a wheel, the movable arm of a sextant, or one of the radiating lines of a spider's web.

raid

noun
  1. A quick hostile or predatory incursion or invasion in a battle.
  2. An attack or invasion for the purpose of making arrests, seizing property, or plundering
  3. An attacking movement.
  4. An activity initiated at or towards the end of a live broadcast by the broadcaster that sends its viewers to a different broadcast, primarily intended to boost the viewership of the receiving broadcaster. This is frequently accompanied by a message in the form of a hashtag that is posted in the broadcast's chat by the viewers.
  5. A large group in a massively multiplayer online game, consisting of multiple parties who team up to defeat a powerful enemy.
verb
  1. To engage in a raid against.
  2. To lure from another; to entice away from.
  3. To indulge oneself by taking from.

rancid

adjective
  1. Rank in taste or smell.
  2. Offensive.

rand

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The border of an area of land, especially marshland.
  2. A strip of meat; a long fleshy piece of beef, cut from the flank or leg; a sort of steak.
  3. A border, edge or rim.
  4. A strip of leather used to fit the heels of a shoe.
  5. (basket-making) A single rod woven in and out of the stakes.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A rocky slope, especially the area over a river valley; specifically, the Rand
  2. The currency of South Africa, divided into 100 cents.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. To rant; to storm.

rind

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Tree bark
  2. A hard, tough outer layer, particularly on food such as fruit, cheese, etc
  3. (usually "the") The gall, the crust, the insolence; often as "the immortal rind"
verb
  1. To remove the rind from.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. An iron support fitting used on the upper millstone of a grist mill.

indica

noun
  1. Any of the indica subspecies of the rice Oryza sativa, which (unlike the japonica or sinica subspecies) are non-sticky and long-grained.
  2. Marijuana of the species Cannabis indica.