Saturday, July 12, 2025

Answers to yesterday's Bee

Jump to answers for


The official answers for today's puzzle are:

Click on the arrow to show the definition.
Click outside the pop-up to close it.



Number of Pangrams: 2

Maximum Puzzle Score: 290

Number of Answers: 53

Points Needed for Genius: 203

Genius requires between 28 and 44 words. You need at least a 7-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangrams, you need 78% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangrams, 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 290 was in the 92nd percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on July 9, 2025.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 53 possible answers rank it in the 82nd percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on July 10, 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 July 10, 2025.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.8.
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 205
  • loll 200
  • toot 192
  • naan 174
  • nana 174
  • lilt 142
  • till 142
  • tilt 142
  • tint 138
  • nene 135
  • mama 133
  • mamma 133
  • acacia 128
  • acai 128
  • onto 127
  • toon 127
  • onion 123
  • anon 119
  • anal 118
  • olio 116
  • boob 113
  • booboo 113
  • dodo 113
  • papa 111
  • poop 111
  • tact 111
  • baba 109
  • lull 108
  • lulu 108
  • call 107
  • calla 107
  • mitt 107
  • ratatat 106
  • tart 106
  • tartar 106
  • attar 105
  • tattoo 104
  • tatty 104
  • cocci 103
  • mono 103
  • moon 103
  • allay 102
  • ally 102
  • ammo 102
  • momma 102
  • tutu 102
  • epee 100
  • loon 100
  • peep 100
  • roar 98


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 103,923 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,668 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*:

  • acicula
  • acini
  • acinic
  • aclinic
  • acta
  • actin
  • actinal
  • actinia
  • actinian
  • actinic
  • alcaic
  • allicin
  • anaclitic
  • ancilla
  • anticlinal
  • anticult
  • atactic
  • aulic
  • caca
  • cain
  • calcic
  • calcitic
  • callan
  • callant
  • calluna
  • canaliculi
  • cantal
  • cantala
  • cantic
  • canula
  • catalatic
  • catlin
  • cicala
  • clinal
  • clit
  • clitic
  • culti
  • cunit
  • cunt
  • cuticula
  • cutin
  • ictic
  • illitic
  • incitant
  • incult
  • lacunal
  • linac
  • nictitant
  • tacan
  • tantalic
  • tical
  • tictac
  • tincal
  • tunica
  • unci
  • uncia
  • uncial
  • uncinal
  • uncini
  • unica

*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.

actual

noun
  1. An actual, real one; notably:
adjective
  1. Relating to a person's acts or deeds; active, practical
  2. Existing in reality, not just potentially; really acted or acting; occurring in fact.
  3. In action at the time being; now existing; current.
  4. Used as intensifier to emphasise a following noun; exact, very.

antic

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A grotesque representation of a figure; a gargoyle.
  2. A caricature.
  3. (often in plural) A ludicrous gesture or act; ridiculous behaviour; caper.
  4. A grotesque performer or clown, buffoon.
verb
  1. To perform antics, caper.
  2. To make a fool of, to cause to look ridiculous.
  3. To perform (an action) as an antic; to mimic ridiculously.
adjective
  1. Playful, funny, absurd
  2. Grotesque, incongruous.
  3. Grotesque, bizarre
adjective
  1. Having existed in ancient times, descended from antiquity; used especially in reference to Greece and Rome.
  2. Belonging to former times, not modern, out of date, old-fashioned.
  3. Designating a style of type.
  4. Embossed without gilt.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A pose, often exaggerated, in anticipation of an action; for example, a brief squat before jumping

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.

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.

calculi

noun
  1. Calculation; computation.
  2. Any formal system in which symbolic expressions are manipulated according to fixed rules.
  3. (often definite, the calculus) Differential calculus and integral calculus considered as a single subject; analysis.
  4. A stony concretion that forms in a bodily organ.
  5. Deposits of calcium phosphate salts on teeth.
  6. A decision-making method, especially one appropriate for a specialised realm.

call

noun
  1. A telephone conversation.
  2. A short visit, usually for social purposes.
  3. A visit by a ship or boat to a port.
  4. A cry or shout.
  5. A decision or judgement.
  6. The characteristic cry of a bird or other animal.
  7. A beckoning or summoning.
  8. The right to speak at a given time during a debate or other public event; the floor.
  9. An option to buy stock at a specified price during or at a specified time.
  10. The act of calling to the other batsman.
  11. The state of being the batsman whose role it is to call (depends on where the ball goes.)
  12. A work shift which requires one to be available when requested (see on call).
  13. The act of jumping to a subprogram, saving the means to return to the original point.
  14. A statement of a particular state, or rule, made in many games such as bridge, craps, jacks, and so on.
  15. The act of matching a bet made by a player who has previously bet in the same round of betting.
  16. A note blown on the horn to encourage the dogs in a hunt.
  17. A whistle or pipe, used by the boatswain and his mate to summon the sailors to duty.
  18. A pipe or other instrument to call birds or animals by imitating their note or cry. A game call.
  19. An invitation to take charge of or serve a church as its pastor.
  20. Vocation; employment; calling.
  21. A reference to, or statement of, an object, course, distance, or other matter of description in a survey or grant requiring or calling for a corresponding object, etc., on the land.
  22. (prostitution) A meeting with a client for paid sex; hookup; job.
verb
  1. (heading) To use one's voice.
  2. (heading) To visit.
  3. (heading) To name, identify or describe.
  4. (heading) Direct or indirect use of the voice.
  5. (sometimes with for) To require, demand.
  6. To announce the early extinction of a debt by prepayment, usually at a premium.
  7. To demand repayment of a loan.
  8. To jump to (another part of a program) to perform some operation, returning to the original point on completion.

calla

noun
  1. A marsh plant native to cooler areas throughout the northern hemisphere, Calla palustris, having pale green flowers in a white spathe.
  2. The calla lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica.

canal

noun
  1. An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
  2. A tubular channel within the body.
  3. One of the faint, hazy markings resembling straight lines on early telescopic images of the surface of Mars.
verb
  1. To dig an artificial waterway in or to (a place), especially for drainage
  2. To travel along a canal by boat

cancan

noun
  1. A high-kicking chorus line dance originating in France.
  2. (motocross) A trick where one leg is brought over the seat, so that both legs are on one side.
verb
  1. To dance the cancan.

canna

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Any member of the genus Canna of tropical plants with large leaves and often showy flowers.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A measure of length in Italy, varying from six to seven feet.

cannula

noun
  1. A tube inserted in the body to drain or inject fluid.
  2. A hose or tube that connects directly to an oxygen (O2) bottle/source from the user's nose, commonly used by aircraft pilots or others needing direct oxygen breathing apparatus.

cant

Etymology 1

noun
  1. An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup.
  2. A private or secret language used by a religious sect, gang, or other group.
  3. A language spoken by some Irish Travellers; Shelta.
  4. Empty, hypocritical talk.
  5. Whining speech, such as that used by beggars.
  6. A blazon of a coat of arms that makes a pun upon the name (or, less often, some attribute or function) of the bearer, canting arms.
  7. A call for bidders at a public fair; an auction.
verb
  1. To speak with the jargon of a class or subgroup.
  2. To speak in set phrases.
  3. To preach in a singsong fashion, especially in a false or empty manner.
  4. Of a blazon, to make a pun that references the bearer of a coat of arms.
  5. To sell by auction, or bid at an auction.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Side, edge, corner, niche.
  2. Slope, the angle at which something is set.
  3. A corner (of a building).
  4. An outer or external angle.
  5. An inclination from a horizontal or vertical line; a slope or bevel; a tilt.
  6. A movement or throw that overturns something.
  7. A sudden thrust, push, kick, or other impulse, producing a bias or change of direction; also, the bias or turn so given.
  8. (coopering) A segment forming a side piece in the head of a cask.
  9. A segment of the rim of a wooden cogwheel.
  10. A piece of wood laid upon the deck of a vessel to support the bulkheads.
verb
  1. To set (something) at an angle.
  2. To give a sudden turn or new direction to.
  3. To bevel an edge or corner.
  4. To overturn so that the contents are emptied.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A parcel, a division.
verb
  1. To divide or parcel out.

Etymology 4

adjective
  1. Lively, lusty.

cantata

noun
  1. A vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement, typical of 17th and 18th century Italian music.

cantina

noun
  1. A drinking establishment, often specifically of the type found in Latin America.
  2. Abbreviated form of cantina truck, cantina wagon or cantina trailer

catcall

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A shout or whistle expressing dislike, especially from a crowd or audience; a jeer, a boo.
  2. A shout, whistle, or comment of a sexual nature, usually made toward a passing woman.
  3. A whistle blown by a theatre-goer to express disapproval.
verb
  1. To make such an exclamation.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. In the Eiffel programming language, a run-time error caused by use of the wrong data type.

cattail

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

caul

noun
  1. A style of close-fitting circular cap worn by women in the sixteenth century and later, often made of linen.
  2. (often capitalized, used on maps) An entry to a mill lead taken from a burn or stream (a mill lead (or mill waterway) is generally smaller than a canal but moves a large volume of water).
  3. A membrane.
  4. The thin membrane which covers the lower intestines; the omentum.
  5. The amnion which encloses the foetus before birth, especially that part of it which sometimes shrouds a baby’s head at birth (traditionally considered to be good luck).
  6. The surface of a press that makes contact with panel product, especially a removable plate or sheet.
  7. A strip or block of wood used to distribute or direct clamping force.
  8. Caul fat.

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.

clan

noun
  1. A group of people all descended from a common ancestor, in fact or belief.
  2. A traditional social group of families in the Scottish Highlands having a common hereditary chieftain
  3. Any group defined by family ties with some sort of political unity.
  4. A group of players who habitually play on the same team in multiplayer games.
  5. A badger colony.

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.

clinical

noun
  1. A medical student's session spent in a real-world nursing environment.
adjective
  1. Of or pertaining to a medical clinic or facility.
  2. Dealing with practical management of patients; contrasting with prehealth sciences.
  3. Cool and emotionless.
  4. Of or relating to a bed.

clinician

noun
  1. A healthcare provider working in a clinic or hospital.

cull

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A selection.
  2. An organised killing of selected animals.
  3. (farming) An individual animal selected to be killed, or item of produce to be discarded.
  4. (seafood industry) A lobster having only one claw.
  5. A piece unfit for inclusion within a larger group; an inferior specimen.
verb
  1. To pick or take someone or something (from a larger group).
  2. To gather, collect.
  3. To select animals from a group and then kill them in order to reduce the numbers of the group in a controlled manner.
  4. To kill (animals etc).
  5. To lay off in order to reduce the size of, get rid of.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A fool, gullible person; a dupe.

cult

noun
  1. A group or sect of people with a deviant religious, philosophical or cultural identity, often existing on the margins of society or exploitative towards its members.
  2. Devotion to a saint.
  3. The veneration and religious rites given to a deity, esp. in a historical polytheistic context.
  4. A religion that evolved out of another religion but has become a different religion through developing a radically different theology.
  5. A group of people having an obsession with or intense admiration for a particular activity, idea, person or thing.
adjective
  1. Of or relating to a cult.
  2. Enjoyed by a small, loyal group.
adjective
  1. True to the ideology of black metal or a stereotypical manifestation of that subculture.

cultic

No Definition Found.

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.

incant

verb
  1. To state solemnly, to chant.
  2. To recite an incantation.

intact

adjective
  1. Left complete or whole; not touched, defiled, sullied or otherwise damaged
  2. Of animals, not castrated: an intact bull.
  3. Uncircumcised; commonly used to describe a penis with a foreskin in intactivism.

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

lacuna

noun
  1. A small opening; a small pit or depression.
  2. A small blank space; a gap or vacancy; a hiatus.
  3. An absent part, especially in a book or other piece of writing, often referring to an ancient manuscript or similar.
  4. Any gap, break, hole, or lack in a set of things; something missing.
  5. A space visible between cells, allowing free passage of light.
  6. A language gap, which occurs when there is no direct translation in the target language for a lexical term found in the source language.

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.

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.

lunatic

noun
  1. An insane person.
adjective
  1. Crazed, mad, insane, demented.

nautical

adjective
  1. Relating to or involving ships or shipping or navigation or seamen.

niacin

noun
  1. A water-soluble vitamin, a component of vitamin B complex, found in meat, yeast, and dairy products; it is essential to metabolism.

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.

tact

noun
  1. The sense of touch; feeling.
  2. The stroke in beating time.
  3. Sensitive mental touch; special skill or faculty; keen perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances; the ability to say the right thing.
  4. A verbal operant which is controlled by a nonverbal stimulus (such as an object, event, or property of an object) and is maintained by nonspecific social reinforcement (praise).
verb
  1. To use a tact (a kind of verbal operant; see noun sense).
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.

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

tactician

noun
  1. A person skilled in the planning and execution of tactics.

tactual

adjective
  1. Of, or relating to the sense of touch.

talc

noun
  1. Originally a large range of transparent or glistening foliated minerals. Examples include mica, selenite and the hydrated magnesium silicate that the term talc generally has referred to in modern times (see below). Also an item made of such a mineral and depending for its function on the special nature of the mineral (see next). Mediaeval writers adopted the term from the Arabic.
  2. A microscope slide made of a plate of mica, generally in use from the start of modern microscopy until the early nineteenth century, after which glass slides became the standard medium.
  3. A soft mineral, composed of hydrated magnesium silicate, that has a soapy feel and a greenish, whitish, or grayish color, and usually occurs in foliated masses.
  4. Talcum powder.
verb
  1. To apply talc to.

tannic

adjective
  1. Pertaining to, containing, or obtained from tannin.

tinct

No Definition Found.

titanic

Etymology 1

adjective
  1. Having great size, or great strength, force or power.

Etymology 2

adjective
  1. Of or relating to titanium, especially tetravalent titanium

tunic

noun
  1. A garment worn over the torso, with or without sleeves, and of various lengths reaching from the hips to the ankles.
  2. Any covering, such as seed coat or the organ that covers a membrane.

uncut

adjective
  1. Not cut.
  2. (of a gemstone) Not cut or ground to the desired shape.
  3. (of a book) Not having the page edges trimmed.
  4. (of a play, film etc) Not edited or abridged by a censor.
  5. Not circumcised.