Thursday, March 6, 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: 237

Number of Answers: 47

Points Needed for Genius: 166

Genius requires between 23 and 41 words. You need at least an 8-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangrams, you need 81% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangrams, you only need 65% of the remaining points to reach genius.

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 237 was in the 79th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on March 5, 2025.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 47 possible answers rank it in the 70th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on March 5, 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 February 28, 2025.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.6.
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 192
  • loll 184
  • toot 181
  • naan 168
  • nana 168
  • lilt 135
  • till 135
  • tilt 135
  • tint 134
  • nene 126
  • mama 125
  • mamma 125
  • acacia 119
  • acai 119
  • onto 118
  • toon 118
  • anal 113
  • onion 113
  • anon 109
  • boob 109
  • booboo 109
  • baba 107
  • olio 105
  • dodo 103
  • lull 103
  • lulu 103
  • papa 103
  • tact 103
  • call 102
  • calla 102
  • mitt 102
  • poop 101
  • ratatat 100
  • tart 100
  • tartar 100
  • tatty 100
  • allay 99
  • ally 99
  • attar 99
  • tattoo 99
  • tutu 99
  • cocci 97
  • epee 97
  • peep 97
  • ammo 96
  • momma 96
  • mono 96
  • moon 96
  • nada 93
  • loon 92


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 98,089 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,486 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*:

  • atavic
  • aviatic
  • cavaletti
  • cavalla
  • cavalletti
  • cavetti
  • cavie
  • cavitate
  • civie
  • clavate
  • clavi
  • cleveite
  • clivia
  • elative
  • evite
  • illative
  • lavalava
  • leva
  • lieve
  • teevee
  • titillative
  • tittivate
  • vail
  • vallate
  • valval
  • valvate
  • valvelet
  • vatic
  • vatical
  • vela
  • velate
  • vellicate
  • viatic
  • viatica
  • viatical
  • vielle
  • vill
  • villae
  • villatic
  • villi
  • vita
  • vitae
  • vitelli
  • vitta
  • vittae
  • vittate
  • vittle
  • viva
  • vivat
  • vive
  • vlei

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

activate

verb
  1. To encourage development or induce increased activity; to stimulate.
  2. To put a device, mechanism (alarm etc.) or system into action or motion; to trigger, to actuate, to set off, to enable.
  3. To render more reactive; excite.
  4. To render a molecule reactive, active, or effective in performing its function.
  5. To render a substance radioactive.
  6. To hasten a chemical reaction, especially by heating.
  7. To remove the limitations of demoware by providing a license; to unlock.
  8. To aerate in order to aid decomposition of organic matter.
  9. To organize or create a military unit or station.
  10. To bring a player back after an injury.

active

noun
  1. A person or thing that is acting or capable of acting.
  2. Any component that is not passive. See Passivity (engineering).
adjective
  1. Having the power or quality of acting; causing change; communicating action or motion; acting;—opposed to passive, that receives.
  2. Quick in physical movement; of an agile and vigorous body; nimble.
  3. In action; actually proceeding; working; in force
  4. Given to action; constantly engaged in action; energetic; diligent; busy
  5. Requiring or implying action or exertion
  6. Given to action rather than contemplation; practical; operative
  7. Brisk; lively.
  8. Implying or producing rapid action.
  9. (heading, grammar) About verbs.
  10. (of source code) Eligible to be processed by a compiler or interpreter.
  11. Not passive.
  12. (gay sexual slang) (of a homosexual man) enjoying a role in anal sex in which he penetrates, rather than being penetrated by his partner.

alive

adjective
  1. Having life; living; not dead
  2. In a state of action; in force or operation; existent
  3. Busy with activity of many living beings; swarming; thronged; busy.
  4. Sprightly; lively; brisk.
  5. Susceptible; easy to impress; having keen feelings, as opposed to apathy
  6. (as an intensifier) out of all living creatures.
adjective
  1. (only used attributively) Having life; that is alive.
  2. Being in existence; actual
  3. Having active properties; being energized.
  4. Operational; in actual use rather than in testing etc.
  5. Taken from a living animal.
  6. Imparting power; having motion.
  7. Still in active play.
  8. Seen or heard from a broadcast, as it happens.
  9. (of a performance or speech) In person.
  10. (entertainment, performing) Recorded in front of an audience and not having been edited after recording.
  11. Of firearms or explosives, capable of causing harm.
  12. (circuitry) Electrically charged or energized, usually indicating that the item may cause electrocution if touched.
  13. Being a bet which can be raised by the bettor, usually in reference to a blind or straddle.
  14. Featuring humans; not animated, in the phrases “live actors” or “live action”.
  15. Being in a state of ignition; burning.
  16. Full of earnestness; active; wide awake; glowing.
  17. Vivid; bright.

alleviate

verb
  1. To make less severe, as a pain or difficulty.

avail

noun
  1. Effect in achieving a goal or aim; purpose, use (now usually in negative constructions).
  2. Proceeds; profits from business transactions.
  3. An advertising slot or package.
  4. A press avail.
  5. Non-binding notice of availability for work.
  6. A readily available stock of oil.
  7. Benefit; value, profit; advantage toward success.
  8. Effort; striving.
verb
  1. To turn to the advantage of.
  2. To be of service to.
  3. To promote; to assist.
  4. To be of use or advantage; to answer or serve the purpose; to have strength, force, or efficacy sufficient to accomplish the object.
  5. To provide; to make available.

aviate

verb
  1. To operate an aircraft.

calve

verb
  1. To give birth to a calf
  2. To assist in a cow's giving birth to a calf
  3. To give birth to (a calf)
  4. (especially of an ice shelf, a glacier, an ice sheet, or even an iceberg) to shed a large piece, e.g. an iceberg or a smaller block of ice (coming off an iceberg)
  5. (especially of an iceberg) to break off
  6. (especially of an ice shelf, a glacier, an ice sheet, or even an iceberg) to shed (a large piece, e.g. an iceberg); to set loose (a mass of ice), e.g. a block of ice (coming off an iceberg)

cava

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A Spanish white sparkling wine made using the méthode champenoise.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The vena cava.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A cavity

cave

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground or in the face of a cliff or a hillside.
  2. A hole, depression, or gap in earth or rock, whether natural or man-made.
  3. A storage cellar, especially for wine or cheese.
  4. A place of retreat, such as a man cave.
  5. A naturally-occurring cavity in bedrock which is large enough to be entered by an adult.
  6. A shielded area where nuclear experiments can be carried out.
  7. (drilling) Debris, particularly broken rock, which falls into a drill hole and interferes with drilling.
  8. A collapse or cave-in.
  9. The vagina.
  10. (often "Cave") A group that breaks from a larger political party or faction on a particular issue.
  11. Any hollow place, or part; a cavity.
  12. A code cave.
verb
  1. To surrender.
  2. To collapse.
  3. To hollow out or undermine.
  4. To engage in the recreational exploration of caves.
  5. In room-and-pillar mining, to extract a deposit of rock by breaking down a pillar which had been holding it in place.
  6. To work over tailings to dress small pieces of marketable ore.
  7. To dwell in a cave.

Etymology 2

interjection
  1. (public school slang) look out!; beware!

caveat

noun
  1. A warning.
  2. A qualification or exemption.
  3. A formal objection.
  4. A notice requesting a postponement of a court proceeding.
verb
  1. To qualify a statement with a caveat or proviso.
  2. To formally object to something.
  3. To issue a notice requesting that proceedings be suspended.
  4. To warn or caution against some event.

cavil

noun
  1. A petty or trivial objection or criticism.
verb
  1. To criticise for petty or frivolous reasons.

civet

noun
  1. A carnivorous catlike animal, Civettictis civetta, that produces a musky secretion. It is two to three feet long, with black bands and spots on the body and tail.
  2. The musky perfume produced by the animal.
  3. Any animal in the family Viverridae or the similar family Nandiniidae
  4. Any of several species of spotted skunk, in the genus Spilogale.

civic

adjective
  1. Of, relating to, or belonging to a city, a citizen, or citizenship; municipal or civil.
  2. Of or relating to the citizen, or of good citizenship and its rights and duties.

civil

adjective
  1. Having to do with people and government office as opposed to the military or religion.
  2. Behaving in a reasonable or polite manner.
  3. Relating to private relations among citizens, as opposed to criminal matters.
  4. Secular.

clave

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument.
  2. To break a single crystal (such as a gemstone or semiconductor wafer) along one of its more symmetrical crystallographic planes (often by impact), forming facets on the resulting pieces.
  3. To make or accomplish by or as if by cutting.
  4. To split (a complex molecule) into simpler molecules.
  5. To split.
  6. Of a crystal, to split along a natural plane of division.
verb
  1. To cling, adhere or stick fast to something; used with to or unto.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A characteristic pattern of beats, especially the 3-2 son clave.
noun
  1. Singular of claves

clavicle

noun
  1. The collarbone; the prominent bone at the top of the chest between the shoulder and the neck connecting the shoulder and the breastbone.

cleave

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Flat, smooth surface produced by cleavage, or any similar surface produced by similar techniques, as in glass.
verb
  1. To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument.
  2. To break a single crystal (such as a gemstone or semiconductor wafer) along one of its more symmetrical crystallographic planes (often by impact), forming facets on the resulting pieces.
  3. To make or accomplish by or as if by cutting.
  4. To split (a complex molecule) into simpler molecules.
  5. To split.
  6. Of a crystal, to split along a natural plane of division.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To cling, adhere or stick fast to something; used with to or unto.

eave

noun
  1. Eaves: the underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building.

elective

noun
  1. Something that is an option or that may be elected, like a course of tertiary study or a medical procedure.
adjective
  1. Of, or pertaining to voting or elections; involving a choice between options.
  2. Optional or discretionary; chosen, not mandatory.

elevate

verb
  1. To raise (something) to a higher position.
  2. To promote (someone) to a higher rank.
  3. To confer honor or nobility on (someone).
  4. To make (something or someone) more worthy or of greater value.
  5. To direct (the mind, thoughts, etc.) toward more worthy things.
  6. To increase the intensity or degree of (something).
  7. To lift the spirits of (someone)
  8. To intoxicate in a slight degree; to make (someone) tipsy.
  9. (Latinism) To attempt to make (something) seem less important, remarkable, etc.
adjective
  1. Elevated; raised aloft.

evict

verb
  1. To expel (one or more people) from their property; to force (one or more people) to move out.

evictee

No Definition Found.

evil

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Moral badness; wickedness; malevolence; the forces or behaviors that are the opposite or enemy of good.
  2. Something which impairs the happiness of a being or deprives a being of any good; something which causes suffering of any kind to sentient beings; harm; injury; mischief.
  3. A malady or disease; especially in the phrase king's evil (scrofula).
adjective
  1. Intending to harm; malevolent.
  2. Morally corrupt.
  3. Unpleasant, foul (of odour, taste, mood, weather, etc.).
  4. Producing or threatening sorrow, distress, injury, or calamity; unpropitious; calamitous.
  5. Having harmful qualities; not good; worthless or deleterious.
  6. Undesirable; harmful; bad practice

Etymology 2

adverb
  1. Wickedly, evilly, iniquitously
  2. Injuriously, harmfully; in a damaging way.
  3. Badly, poorly; in an insufficient way.

lava

noun
  1. The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides.
  2. Magma.
  3. A shade of red, named after the volcanic lava.

lave

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To pour or throw out, as water; lade out; bail; bail out.
  2. To draw, as water; drink in.
  3. To give bountifully; lavish.
  4. To run down or gutter, as a candle.
  5. To hang or flap down.
  6. To wash.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (archaic or dialectal) The remainder, rest; that which is left, remnant; others.
  2. (dialectal) A crowd

leave

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To have a consequence or remnant.
  2. To depart; to separate from.
  3. To transfer something.
  4. To remain (behind); to stay.
  5. To stop, desist from; to "leave off" (+ noun / gerund).

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The action of the batsman not attempting to play at the ball.
  2. The arrangement of balls in play that remains after a shot is made (which determines whether the next shooter — who may be either the same player, or an opponent — has good options, or only poor ones).

Etymology 3

noun
  1. Permission to be absent; time away from one's work.
  2. Permission.
  3. Farewell, departure.

Etymology 4

verb
  1. To give leave to; allow; permit; let; grant.

Etymology 5

verb
  1. To produce leaves or foliage.

Etymology 6

verb
  1. To raise; to levy.

levee

Etymology 1

noun
  1. An embankment to prevent inundation; as, the levees along the Mississippi.
  2. The steep bank of a river.
  3. The border of an irrigated field.
  4. A pier or other landing place on a river.
verb
  1. To keep within a channel by means of levees.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The act of rising; getting up, especially in the morning after rest.
  2. A reception of visitors held after getting up.
  3. A formal reception, especially one given by royalty or other leaders.
verb
  1. To attend the levee or levees of.

level

noun
  1. A tool for finding whether a surface is level, or for creating a horizontal or vertical line of reference.
  2. A distance relative to a given reference elevation.
  3. Degree or amount.
  4. Achievement or qualification.
  5. Distance from the root node of a tree structure.
  6. One of several discrete segments of a game, generally increasing in difficulty and representing different locations in the game world.
  7. A numeric value that quantifies a character's experience and power.
  8. A floor of a multi-storey building.
  9. An area of almost perfectly flat land.
  10. A school grade or year.
verb
  1. To adjust so as to make as flat or perpendicular to the ground as possible.
  2. To destroy by reducing to ground level; to raze.
  3. To progress to the next level.
  4. To aim or direct (a weapon, a stare, an accusation, etc).
  5. To direct or impose (a penalty, fine, etc) at or upon (someone).
  6. To make the score of a game equal.
  7. To bring to a common level or plane, in respect of rank, condition, character, privilege, etc.
  8. To adjust or adapt to a certain level.
  9. (usually with "with") To speak honestly and openly with.
adjective
  1. The same height at all places; parallel to a flat ground.
  2. At the same height as some reference; constructed as level with.
  3. Unvaried in frequency.
  4. Unvaried in volume.
  5. Calm.
  6. In the same position or rank.
  7. Straightforward; direct; clear.
  8. Well balanced; even; just; steady; impartial.
  9. Of even tone; without rising or falling inflection; monotonic.
  10. Perpendicular to a gravitational force.

levitate

verb
  1. To cause to rise in the air and float, as if in defiance of gravity.
  2. To be suspended in the air, as if in defiance of gravity.

live

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To be alive; to have life.
  2. To have permanent residence somewhere, to inhabit, to reside.
  3. To survive; to persevere; to continue.
  4. To cope.
  5. To pass life in a specified manner.
  6. To spend, as one's life; to pass; to maintain; to continue in, constantly or habitually.
  7. To act habitually in conformity with; to practice; to exemplify in one's way of life.
  8. To outlast danger; to float (said of a ship, boat, etc).
  9. (followed by "on" or "upon") To maintain or support one's existence; to provide for oneself; to feed; to subsist.
  10. To make the most of life; to experience a full, rich life.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Life
adjective
  1. (only used attributively) Having life; that is alive.
  2. Being in existence; actual
  3. Having active properties; being energized.
  4. Operational; in actual use rather than in testing etc.
  5. Taken from a living animal.
  6. Imparting power; having motion.
  7. Still in active play.
  8. Seen or heard from a broadcast, as it happens.
  9. (of a performance or speech) In person.
  10. (entertainment, performing) Recorded in front of an audience and not having been edited after recording.
  11. Of firearms or explosives, capable of causing harm.
  12. (circuitry) Electrically charged or energized, usually indicating that the item may cause electrocution if touched.
  13. Being a bet which can be raised by the bettor, usually in reference to a blind or straddle.
  14. Featuring humans; not animated, in the phrases “live actors” or “live action”.
  15. Being in a state of ignition; burning.
  16. Full of earnestness; active; wide awake; glowing.
  17. Vivid; bright.
adverb
  1. Of an event, as it happens; in real time; direct.
  2. Of making a performance or speech, in person.

titivate

verb
  1. To make small improvements or alterations to (one's appearance etc.); to add some finishing touches to.

vacate

verb
  1. To move out of a dwelling, either by choice or by eviction.
  2. To leave an office or position.
  3. To have a court judgement set aside; to annul.
  4. To leave an area, usually as a result of orders from public authorities in the event of a riot or natural disaster.

vacillate

verb
  1. To sway unsteadily from one side to the other; oscillate.
  2. To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another.

vale

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A valley.

Etymology 2

interjection
  1. (usually seen in obituaries) Farewell.

valet

noun
  1. A man's personal male attendant, responsible for his clothes and appearance.
  2. A hotel employee performing such duties for guests.
  3. (professional wrestling) A female performer in professional wrestling, acting as either a manager or personal chaperone; often used to attract and titillate male members of the audience.
  4. A female chaperone who accompanies a man, and is usually not married to him.
  5. A person employed to clean or park cars.
  6. A person employed to assist the jockey and trainer at a racecourse.
  7. A wooden stand on which to hold clothes and accessories in preparation for dressing.
  8. A kind of goad or stick with an iron point.
verb
  1. To serve (someone) as a valet.
  2. To clean and service (a car), as a valet does.
  3. To leave (a car) with a valet to park it.

valve

noun
  1. A device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid through a pipe.
  2. A device that admits fuel and air into the cylinder of an internal combustion engine, or one that allows combustion gases to exit.
  3. One or more membranous partitions, flaps, or folds, which permit the passage of the contents of a vessel or cavity in one direction, but stop or control the flow in the opposite direction
  4. One of the leaves of a folding-door, or a window-sash.
  5. A vacuum tube.
  6. One of the pieces into which certain fruits naturally separate when they dehisce.
  7. A small portion of certain anthers, which opens like a trapdoor to allow the pollen to escape, such as in the barberry.
  8. One of the pieces or divisions of bivalve or multivalve shells.
  9. One of the two similar portions of the shell of a diatom.
verb
  1. To control (flow) by means of a valve.

veal

noun
  1. The flesh of a calf (i.e. a young bovine) used for food.

veil

noun
  1. Something hung up or spread out to hide or protect the face, or hide an object from view; usually of gauze, crepe, or similar diaphanous material.
  2. A cover; disguise; a mask; a pretense.
  3. The calyptra of mosses.
  4. A membrane connecting the margin of the pileus of a mushroom with the stalk; a velum.
  5. A covering for a person or thing; as, a caul (especially over the head)
  6. Velum (A circular membrane round the cap of medusa)
  7. A thin layer of tissue which is attached to or covers a mushroom.
  8. An obscuration of the clearness of the tones in pronunciation.
verb
  1. To dress in, or decorate with, a veil.
  2. To conceal as with a veil.

velvet

noun
  1. A closely woven fabric (originally of silk, now also of cotton or man-made fibres) with a thick short pile on one side.
  2. Very fine fur, including the skin and fur on a deer's antlers.
  3. A female chinchilla; a sow.
  4. The drug dextromethorphan.
  5. Money acquired by gambling.
verb
  1. To cover with velvet or with a covering of a similar texture.
  2. To coat raw meat in starch, then in oil, preparatory to frying.
  3. To remove the velvet from a deer's antlers.
  4. To soften; to mitigate.
  5. (of a cat's claws) to retract.
adjective
  1. Made of velvet.
  2. Soft and delicate, like velvet; velvety.
  3. Peaceful, carried out without violence; especially as pertaining to the peaceful breakup of Czechoslovakia.

vial

noun
  1. A glass vessel or bottle, especially a small tube-shaped bottle used to store medicine, perfume or other chemical.
verb
  1. To put or keep in, or as in, a vial.

vice

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A bad habit.
  2. Any of various crimes related (depending on jurisdiction) to prostitution, pornography, gambling, alcohol, or drugs.
  3. A defect in the temper or behaviour of a horse, such as to make the animal dangerous, to injure its health, or to diminish its usefulness.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A mechanical screw apparatus used for clamping or holding (also spelled vise).
  2. A tool for drawing lead into cames, or flat grooved rods, for casements.
  3. A grip or grasp.
  4. A winding or spiral staircase.
verb
  1. To hold or squeeze with a vice, or as if with a vice.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. One who acts in place of a superior.
adjective
  1. In place of; subordinate to; designating a person below another in rank
preposition
  1. Instead of, in place of

vile

adjective
  1. Morally low; base; despicable.
  2. Causing physical or mental repulsion; horrid.

villa

noun
  1. (plural "villas") A house, often larger and more expensive than average, in the countryside or on the coast, often used as a retreat.
  2. (plural "villas") A family house, often semi-detached, in a middle class street.
  3. (plural "villae") A country house, with farm buildings around a courtyard.

vital

adjective
  1. Relating to, or characteristic of life.
  2. Necessary to the continuation of life; being the seat of life; being that on which life depends.
  3. Invigorating or life-giving.
  4. Necessary to continued existence.
  5. Relating to the recording of life events.
  6. Very important.
  7. Containing life; living.
  8. Capable of living; in a state to live; viable.

vitiate

verb
  1. To spoil, make faulty; to reduce the value, quality, or effectiveness of something
  2. To debase or morally corrupt
  3. To violate, to rape
  4. To make something ineffective, to invalidate

vivace

No Definition Found.

cavatelli

noun
  1. A type of pasta, with rolled edges.