Wednesday, June 18, 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: 248

Number of Answers: 42

Points Needed for Genius: 174

Genius requires between 21 and 36 words. You need at least an 8-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangrams, you need 82% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangrams, you only need 65% 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 248 was in the 82nd percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on June 12, 2025.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 42 possible answers rank it in the 57th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on June 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 an 8-letter word for genius.
The last time this happened was on June 16, 2025.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 6.2.
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 203
  • loll 198
  • toot 189
  • naan 173
  • nana 173
  • lilt 140
  • till 140
  • tilt 140
  • tint 137
  • nene 134
  • mama 133
  • mamma 133
  • onto 125
  • toon 125
  • acacia 124
  • acai 124
  • onion 122
  • anal 118
  • anon 116
  • olio 116
  • boob 112
  • booboo 112
  • dodo 112
  • baba 109
  • papa 109
  • poop 109
  • tact 109
  • call 106
  • calla 106
  • lull 106
  • lulu 106
  • mitt 105
  • ratatat 105
  • tart 105
  • tartar 105
  • attar 104
  • tatty 104
  • mono 103
  • moon 103
  • allay 102
  • ally 102
  • tattoo 102
  • ammo 101
  • cocci 101
  • momma 101
  • tutu 101
  • epee 99
  • loon 99
  • peep 99
  • roar 96


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 102,802 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,628 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*:

  • chinch
  • chine
  • cine
  • cline
  • echini
  • elenchi
  • elenchic
  • helicline
  • hinnie
  • inclip
  • licence
  • licencee
  • lichenin
  • linin
  • linn
  • lipin
  • lippen
  • neep
  • nellie
  • nepheline
  • nephelinic
  • nielli
  • nihil
  • nill
  • pein
  • pencel
  • penicil
  • penni
  • pennine
  • pinene
  • plench

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

chenille

noun
  1. An extremely soft and bunchy fabric often used to make sweaters.

chin

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The bottom of a face, (specifically) the typically jutting jawline below the mouth.
  2. Talk.
  3. A lie, a falsehood.
  4. The ability to withstand being punched in the chin without being knocked out.
  5. The lower part of the front of an aircraft, below the nose.
  6. The bottom part of a mobile phone, below the screen.
verb
  1. To talk.
  2. To talk to or with (someone).
  3. To perform a chin-up (exercise in which one lifts one's own weight while hanging from a bar).
  4. To punch or hit (someone)'s chin (part of the body).
  5. To put or hold (a musical instrument) up to one's chin.
  6. To turn on or operate (a device) using one's chin; to select (a particular setting) using one's chin.
  7. To put one's chin on (something).
  8. To indicate or point toward (someone or something) with one's chin.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A chinchilla.

cinch

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A simple saddle girth used in Mexico.
  2. Something that is very easy to do.
  3. A firm hold.
verb
  1. To bring to certain conclusion.
  2. To tighten down.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A variety of auction pitch in which a draw to improve the hand is added, and the five of trumps (called "right Pedro") and the five of the same colour (called "left Pedro", and ranking between the five and the four of trumps) are each worth five. Fifty-one points make a game.
verb
  1. In the game of cinch, to protect (a trick) by playing a higher trump than the five.

cinephile

noun
  1. An enthusiast of films and the cinema; a cineast.

clench

noun
  1. Tight grip.
  2. A seal that is applied to formed thin-wall bushings.
  3. A local chapter of the Church of the SubGenius parody religion.
verb
  1. To grip or hold fast.
  2. To close tightly.

clinch

noun
  1. Any of several fastenings.
  2. The act or process of holding fast; that which serves to hold fast; a grip or grasp.
  3. A pun.
  4. A hitch or bend by which a rope is made fast to the ring of an anchor, or the breeching of a ship's gun to the ringbolts.
  5. A passionate embrace.
  6. In combat sports, the act of one or both fighters holding onto the other to prevent being hit or engage in standup grappling.
verb
  1. To clasp; to interlock.
  2. To make certain; to finalize.
  3. To fasten securely or permanently.
  4. To bend and hammer the point of (a nail) so it cannot be removed.
  5. To embrace passionately.
  6. To hold firmly; to clench.
  7. To set closely together; to close tightly.

clinic

noun
  1. A medical facility, such as a hospital, especially one for the treatment and diagnosis of outpatients.
  2. (by extension) A hospital session to diagnose or treat patients.
  3. A school, or a session of a school or class, in which medicine or surgery is taught by the examination and treatment of patients in the presence of the pupils.
  4. A group practice of several physicians.
  5. A meeting for the diagnosis of problems, or training, on a particular subject.
  6. A temporary office arranged on a regular basis to allow politicians to meet their constituents.
  7. A series of workouts used to build skills of practitioners regardless of team affiliation.
  8. One confined to bed by sickness.
  9. One who receives baptism on a sickbed.

epicene

noun
  1. An epicene word; preceded by the: the epicene words of a language as a class.
  2. An epicene person, whether biologically asexual, androgynous, hermaphrodite, or intersex; an androgyne, a hermaphrodite.
  3. (by extension) A transsexual; also, a transvestite.
  4. (by extension, usually derogatory) An effeminate man.
adjective
  1. Of or relating to a class of Greek and Latin nouns that may refer to males or females but have a fixed grammatical gender (feminine, masculine, neuter, etc.).
  2. Of or relating to nouns or pronouns in any language that have a single form for male and female referents.
  3. (by extension) Suitable for use regardless of sex; unisex.
  4. Of indeterminate sex, whether asexual, androgynous, hermaphrodite, or intersex; of a human face, intermediate in form between a man's face and a woman's face.
  5. (by extension) Indeterminate; mixed.
  6. (by extension, usually derogatory) Of a man: effeminate.

heinie

noun
  1. The buttocks.

helpline

noun
  1. A telephone service (or (by extension) one using email, SMS or the Web) which offers help to those who call, as either a public emergency service or customer service.

hence

adverb
  1. From here, from this place, away
  2. From the living or from this world
  3. (of a length of time) in the future from now
  4. As a result; therefore, for this reason

hipline

No Definition Found.

inch

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot, or exactly 2.54 centimetres.
  2. The amount of water which would cover a surface to the depth of an inch, used as a measurement of rainfall.
  3. The amount of an alcoholic beverage which would fill a glass or bottle to the depth of an inch.
  4. A very short distance.
verb
  1. (followed by a preposition) To advance very slowly, or by a small amount (in a particular direction).
  2. To drive by inches, or small degrees.
  3. To deal out by inches; to give sparingly.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A small island

incipience

No Definition Found.

incline

noun
  1. A slope.
verb
  1. To bend or move (something) out of a given plane or direction, often the horizontal or vertical.
  2. To slope.
  3. (chiefly in the passive) To tend to do or believe something, or move or be moved in a certain direction, away from a point of view, attitude, etc.

lenience

noun
  1. Leniency: mercy or forgiveness in the assignment of punishment.

lichen

noun
  1. Any of many symbiotic organisms, being associations of algae and fungi, often found as white or yellow patches on old walls, etc.
  2. Something which gradually spreads across something else, causing damage.

lien

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A tendon.
  2. A right to take possession of a debtor’s property as security until a debt or duty is discharged.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (possibly obsolete) The spleen.

linchpin

noun
  1. A pin inserted through holes at the end of an axle or shaft, so as to secure a wheel or shaft-mounted device.
  2. A central cohesive source of stability and security; a person or thing that is critical to a system or organisation.

line

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
  2. A rope, cord, string, or thread, of any thickness.
  3. A hose or pipe, of any size.
  4. Direction, path.
  5. The wire connecting one telegraphic station with another, a telephone or internet cable between two points: a telephone or network connection.
  6. A clothesline.
  7. A letter, a written form of communication.
  8. A connected series of public conveyances, as a roadbed or railway track; and hence, an established arrangement for forwarding merchandise, etc.
  9. A trench or rampart, or the non-physical demarcation of the extent of the territory occupied by specified forces.
  10. The exterior limit of a figure or territory: a boundary, contour, or outline; a demarcation.
  11. A long tape or ribbon marked with units for measuring; a tape measure.
  12. A measuring line or cord.
  13. That which was measured by a line, such as a field or any piece of land set apart; hence, allotted place of abode.
  14. A threadlike crease or wrinkle marking the face, hand, or body; hence, a characteristic mark.
  15. Lineament; feature; figure (of one's body).
  16. A more-or-less straight sequence of people, objects, etc., either arranged as a queue or column and often waiting to be processed or dealt with, or arranged abreast of one another in a row (and contrasted with a column), as in a military formation.
  17. The regular infantry of an army, as distinguished from militia, guards, volunteer corps, cavalry, artillery etc.
  18. A series or succession of ancestors or descendants of a given person; a family or race; compare lineage.
  19. A small amount of text. Specifically:
  20. Course of conduct, thought, occupation, or policy; method of argument; department of industry, trade, or intellectual activity.
  21. The official, stated position (or set of positions) of an individual or group, particularly a political or religious faction.
  22. A set of products or services sold by a business, or by extension, the business itself.
  23. A number of shares taken by a jobber.
  24. A measure of length:
  25. A maxwell, a unit of magnetic flux.
  26. (1800s, with "the") The batter’s box.
  27. The position in which the fencers hold their swords.
  28. Proper relative position or adjustment (of parts, not as to design or proportion, but with reference to smooth working).
  29. A small path-shaped portion or serving of a powdery illegal drug, especially cocaine.
  30. Instruction; doctrine.
  31. Population of cells derived from a single cell and containing the same genetic makeup.
  32. (perfusion line) a set composed of a spike, a drip chamber, a clamp, a Y-injection site, a three-way stopcock and a catheter.
  33. A group of forwards that play together.
  34. A vascular catheter.
verb
  1. To place (objects) into a line (usually used with "up"); to form into a line; to align.
  2. To place persons or things along the side of for security or defense; to strengthen by adding; to fortify.
  3. To form a line along.
  4. To mark with a line or lines, to cover with lines.
  5. To represent by lines; to delineate; to portray.
  6. To read or repeat line by line.
  7. To hit a line drive; to hit a line drive which is caught for an out. Compare fly and ground.
  8. To track (wild bees) to their nest by following their line of flight.
  9. To measure.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Flax; linen, particularly the longer fiber of flax.
verb
  1. To cover the inner surface of (something), originally especially with linen.
  2. To reinforce (the back of a book) with glue and glued scrap material such as fabric or paper.
  3. To fill or supply (something), as a purse with money.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. (of a dog) To copulate with, to impregnate.

linen

noun
  1. Thread or cloth made from flax fiber.
  2. Domestic textiles, such as tablecloths, bedding, towels, underclothes, etc., that are made of linen or linen-like fabrics of cotton or other fibers; linens.
  3. A light beige colour, like that of linen cloth undyed.
adjective
  1. Made from linen cloth or thread.
  2. Having the colour linen, light beige.

nene

noun
  1. The Hawaiian goose, Branta sandvicensis, which was designated the state bird of Hawaii in 1957.

nice

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Niceness.
adjective
  1. Pleasant, satisfactory.
  2. Of a person: friendly, attractive.
  3. Respectable; virtuous.
  4. (with and) Shows that the given adjective is desirable, or acts as a mild intensifier; pleasantly, quite.
  5. Silly, ignorant; foolish.
  6. Particular in one's conduct; scrupulous, painstaking; choosy.
  7. Particular as regards rules or qualities; strict.
  8. Showing or requiring great precision or sensitive discernment; subtle.
  9. Easily injured; delicate; dainty.
  10. Doubtful, as to the outcome; risky.
adverb
  1. Nicely.
interjection
  1. Used to signify a job well done.
  2. Used to signify approval.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To run a process with a specified (usually lower) priority.

niche

noun
  1. A cavity, hollow, or recess, generally within the thickness of a wall, for a statue, bust, or other erect ornament. Hence, any similar position, literal or figurative.
  2. A function within an ecological system to which an organism is especially suited.
  3. (by extension) Any position of opportunity for which one is well-suited, such as a particular market in business.
  4. An arrow woven into a prayer rug pointing in the direction of qibla.
verb
  1. To place in a niche.
  2. To specialize in a niche, or particular narrow section of the market.
adjective
  1. Pertaining to or intended for a market niche; having specific appeal.

niece

noun
  1. A daughter of one’s sibling, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; either the daughter of one's brother ("fraternal niece"), or of one's sister ("sororal niece").

nine

noun
  1. The digit or figure 9.
  2. A playing card with nine pips.
  3. A nine-millimeter semi-automatic pistol.
  4. (usually in the plural) A statistical unit of proportion (of reliability, purity, etc.).
  5. A baseball club, team, or lineup (composed of nine players).
numeral
  1. A numerical value equal to 9; the number following eight and preceding ten.
  2. Describing a group or set with nine elements.

ninepin

No Definition Found.

nipple

noun
  1. The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female mammals, milk is secreted.
  2. A mechanical device through which liquids or gases can be passed in a regulated manner.
  3. An artificial nipple (definition 1) used for bottle-feeding infants.
  4. Any small physical protrusion, such as the lumps on the F and J keys on computer keyboards.
  5. Any small physical protrusion on an automotive, a machine part or any other part that fits into a groove on another part.
  6. A perforated segment that fits into part of the breech of a muzzle-loading gun, on which the percussion cap is fixed.
  7. A short tube threaded at both ends, used as a connector.
  8. An internally threaded piece which holds a bicycle spoke in place on the rim.
verb
  1. To fit (a baby's bottle, etc.) with a nipple.
  2. To give one's nipple to (a baby) to allow breastfeeding.

peen

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The (often spherical) end of the head of a hammer opposite the main hammering end.
verb
  1. To shape metal by striking it, especially with a peen.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Penis.

pence

noun
  1. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a copper coin worth 1/240 of a pound sterling or Irish pound before decimalisation. Abbreviation: d.
  2. In the United Kingdom, a copper coin worth 1/100 of a pound sterling. Abbreviation: p.
  3. In Ireland, a coin worth 1/100 of an Irish pound before the introduction of the euro. Abbreviation: p.
  4. In the US and Canada, a one-cent coin, worth 1/100 of a dollar. Abbreviation: ¢.
  5. In various countries, a small-denomination copper or brass coin.
  6. A unit of nail size, said to be either the cost per 100 nails, or the number of nails per penny. Abbreviation: d.
  7. Money in general.

pencil

noun
  1. A paintbrush.
  2. A writing utensil with a graphite (commonly referred to as lead) shaft, usually blended with clay, clad in wood, and sharpened to a taper.
  3. An aggregate or collection of rays of light, especially when diverging from, or converging to, a point.
  4. A family of geometric objects with a common property, such as the set of lines that pass through a given point in a projective plane.
  5. A small medicated bougie.
verb
  1. To write (something) using a pencil.
  2. To mark with, or as if with, a pencil.

penicillin

noun
  1. Any of a group of narrow-spectrum antibiotics obtained from Penicillium molds or synthesized; they have a beta-lactam structure; most are active against gram-positive bacteria and used in the treatment of various infections and diseases.

penile

adjective
  1. Pertaining to the penis.

penne

noun
  1. A type of short, diagonally cut pasta.

philhellene

noun
  1. A lover of Greek culture and Greece.
  2. A supporter of the cause of Greek independence, especially during the Greek war of independence in 1821-29 (see Philhellenism).

philhellenic

No Definition Found.

picnic

noun
  1. An informal social gathering, usually in a natural outdoor setting, to which the participants bring their own food and drink.
  2. The meal eaten at such a gathering.
  3. An easy or pleasant task.
  4. An entertainment at which each person contributed some dish to a common table.
verb
  1. To take part in a picnic.

pinch

noun
  1. The action of squeezing a small amount of a person's skin and flesh, making it hurt.
  2. A close compression of anything with the fingers.
  3. A small amount of powder or granules, such that the amount could be held between fingertip and thumb tip.
  4. An awkward situation of some kind (especially money or social) which is difficult to escape.
  5. A metal bar used as a lever for lifting weights, rolling wheels, etc.
  6. An organic herbal smoke additive.
  7. A magnetic compression of an electrically-conducting filament.
  8. The narrow part connecting the two bulbs of an hourglass.
  9. An arrest.
verb
  1. To squeeze a small amount of a person's skin and flesh, making it hurt.
  2. To squeeze between the thumb and forefinger.
  3. To squeeze between two objects.
  4. To steal, usually something inconsequential.
  5. To arrest or capture.
  6. To cut shoots or buds of a plant in order to shape the plant, or to improve its yield.
  7. To sail so close-hauled that the sails begin to flutter.
  8. To take hold; to grip, as a dog does.
  9. To be stingy or covetous; to live sparingly.
  10. To seize; to grip; to bite; said of animals.
  11. To cramp; to straiten; to oppress; to starve.
  12. To move, as a railroad car, by prying the wheels with a pinch.
  13. To complain or find fault.

pine

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Any coniferous tree of the genus Pinus.
  2. Any tree (usually coniferous) which resembles a member of this genus in some respect.
  3. The wood of this tree.
  4. (obsolete except South Africa) A pineapple.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A painful longing.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. To languish; to lose flesh or wear away through distress.
  2. To long, to yearn so much that it causes suffering.
  3. To grieve or mourn for.
  4. To inflict pain upon; to torment.

pipeline

noun
  1. A conduit made of pipes used to convey water, gas or petroleum etc.
  2. A channel (either physical or logical) by which information is transmitted sequentially (that is, the first information in is the first information out).
  3. A system or process through which something is conducted.
  4. The inside of a wave that a surfer is riding, when the wave has started closing over it.
verb
  1. To design (a microchip etc.) so that processing takes place in efficient stages, the output of each stage being fed as input to the next.
  2. To convey something by a system of pipes
  3. To lay a system of pipes through something

pippin

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A seed

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Any of several varieties of eating apple that have a yellow or green skin with patches of red
  2. Any of several roundish or oblate apple varieties
  3. An apple tree raised from a seed (not grafted)

innie

noun
  1. A navel that is formed of a hollow in the abdomen (as opposed to one that protrudes from the abdomen).
  2. A vagina with inner labia minora