Sunday, August 24, 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: 6

Maximum Puzzle Score: 306

Number of Answers: 49

Points Needed for Genius: 214

Genius requires between 22 and 44 words. You need at least a 9-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangrams, you need 104% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangrams, you only need 55% 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 306 was in the 94th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on August 17, 2025.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 49 possible answers rank it in the 74th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on August 19, 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 9-letter word for genius.
The last time this happened was on July 8, 2025.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 6.1.
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 210
  • loll 202
  • toot 194
  • naan 177
  • nana 177
  • lilt 144
  • till 144
  • tilt 144
  • nene 138
  • tint 138
  • mama 135
  • mamma 135
  • acacia 131
  • acai 131
  • onto 129
  • toon 129
  • onion 125
  • anon 120
  • anal 119
  • olio 116
  • dodo 115
  • tact 115
  • boob 113
  • booboo 113
  • baba 112
  • papa 112
  • poop 112
  • lull 111
  • lulu 111
  • call 108
  • calla 108
  • mitt 108
  • mono 106
  • moon 106
  • ratatat 106
  • tart 106
  • tartar 106
  • tutu 106
  • attar 105
  • cocci 105
  • tatty 105
  • ammo 104
  • momma 104
  • tattoo 104
  • allay 103
  • ally 103
  • loon 102
  • epee 100
  • peep 100
  • roar 99


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 105,829 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,735 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*:

  • abaya
  • abba
  • abbatial
  • abri
  • alba
  • albata
  • arbitral
  • arriba
  • atabal
  • baal
  • babbitry
  • babbitt
  • babbittry
  • balata
  • bally
  • balti
  • barbal
  • barbital
  • barilla
  • barratry
  • barry
  • baryta
  • batata
  • batt
  • battalia
  • biali
  • bibb
  • bilby
  • birl
  • birr
  • bitt
  • bittily
  • bitty
  • brail
  • brill
  • brit
  • britt
  • brittly
  • brrr
  • byrl
  • labara
  • labiality
  • labially
  • labra
  • labral
  • liblab
  • libra
  • libri
  • rabat
  • rabbitry
  • rabbity
  • ratably
  • titbit
  • yabby

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

ability

noun
  1. Suitableness.
  2. The quality or state of being able; capacity to do or of doing something; having the necessary power.
  3. The legal wherewithal to act.
  4. Physical power.
  5. Financial ability.
  6. A unique power of the mind; a faculty.
  7. A skill or competence in doing; mental power; talent; aptitude.

ably

adverb
  1. In an able manner; with great ability.

alibi

noun
  1. The plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove being in another place when the alleged act was committed
verb
  1. To provide an alibi for.
  2. To provide an excuse for.

arability

No Definition Found.

arbitrarily

adverb
  1. In an arbitrary manner.
  2. To an arbitrary degree.

arbitrary

noun
  1. Anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee.
adjective
  1. (usually of a decision) Based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random.
  2. Determined by impulse rather than reason; heavy-handed.
  3. Any, out of all that are possible.
  4. Determined by independent arbiter.
  5. Not representative or symbolic; not iconic.

baba

noun
  1. A kind of sponge cake soaked in rum-flavoured syrup.
  2. (esp. among people of East European ancestry) A grandmother.
  3. An old woman, especially a traditional old woman from an eastern European culture.
  4. (esp. among people of Indian ancestry) A father.
  5. (Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism) A holy man, a spiritual leader.
  6. A baby, child.
  7. In baby talk, often used for a variety of words beginning with b, such as bottle or blanket.

baby

noun
  1. A very young human, particularly from birth to a couple of years old or until walking is fully mastered.
  2. Any very young animal, especially a vertebrate; many species have specific names for their babies, such as kittens for the babies of cats, puppies for the babies of dogs, and chickens for the babies of birds. See for more.
  3. Unborn young; a fetus.
  4. A person who is immature, infantile or feeble.
  5. A person who is new to or inexperienced in something.
  6. The lastborn of a family; the youngest sibling, irrespective of age.
  7. A term of endearment used to refer to or address one's girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse.
  8. A form of address to a man or a woman considered to be attractive.
  9. A pet project or responsibility.
  10. An affectionate term for anything.
  11. A small image of an infant; a doll.
verb
  1. To coddle; to pamper somebody like an infant.
  2. To tend (something) with care; to be overly attentive to (something), fuss over.
adjective
  1. Of a child: very young; of the age when he or she would be termed a baby or infant.
  2. Of an animal: young.
  3. Intended for babies.
  4. (of vegetables, etc.) Picked when small and immature (as in baby corn, baby potatoes).

bail

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial.
  2. Release from imprisonment on payment of such money.
  3. The person providing such payment.
  4. A bucket or scoop used for removing water from a boat etc.
  5. A person who bails water out of a boat.
  6. Custody; keeping.
verb
  1. To secure the release of an arrested person by providing bail.
  2. To release a person under such guarantee.
  3. To hand over personal property to be held temporarily by another as a bailment.
  4. To remove (water) from a boat by scooping it out.
  5. To remove water from (a boat) by scooping it out.
  6. To set free; to deliver; to release.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To exit quickly.
  2. To fail to meet a commitment.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A hoop, ring or handle (especially of a kettle or bucket).
  2. A stall for a cow (or other animal) (usually tethered with a semi-circular hoop).
  3. A hinged bar as a restraint for animals, or on a typewriter.
  4. A frame to restrain a cow during milking or feeding.
  5. A hoop, ring, or other object used to connect a pendant to a necklace.
  6. One of the two wooden crosspieces that rest on top of the stumps to form a wicket.
  7. (furniture) Normally curved handle suspended between sockets as a drawer pull. This may also be on a kettle or pail.
verb
  1. To secure the head of a cow during milking.

Etymology 4

verb
  1. To confine.
  2. To secure (a cow) by placing its head in a bail for milking.
  3. To keep (a traveller) detained in order to rob them; to corner (a wild animal); loosely, to detain, hold up. (Usually with up.)

bait

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Any substance, especially food, used in catching fish, or other animals, by alluring them to a hook, snare, trap, or net.
  2. Food containing poison or a harmful additive to kill animals that are pests.
  3. Anything which allures; something used to lure or entice someone or something into doing something
  4. A portion of food or drink, as a refreshment taken on a journey; also, a stop for rest and refreshment.
verb
  1. To attract with bait; to entice.
  2. To affix bait to a trap or a fishing hook or fishing line.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To set dogs on (an animal etc.) to bite or worry; to attack with dogs, especially for sport.
  2. To intentionally annoy, torment, or threaten by constant rebukes or threats; to harass.
  3. To feed and water (a horse or other animal), especially during a journey.
  4. (of a horse or other animal) To take food, especially during a journey.
  5. (of a person) To stop to take a portion of food and drink for refreshment during a journey.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. To flap the wings; to flutter as if to fly; or to hover, as a hawk when she stoops to her prey.

Etymology 4

adjective
  1. Obvious; blatant.
  2. Well-known; famous; renowned.

ball

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.
  2. A round or ellipsoidal object.
  3. (mildly, usually in the plural) A testicle.
  4. A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; formerly used by printers for inking the form, then superseded by the roller.
  5. A large pill, a form in which medicine was given to horses; a bolus.
verb
  1. To form or wind into a ball.
  2. To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling.
  3. To have sexual intercourse with.
  4. To gather balls which cling to the feet, as of damp snow or clay; to gather into balls.
  5. (usually in present participle) To be hip or cool.
  6. To play basketball.
  7. To punish by affixing a ball and chain
interjection
  1. An appeal by the crowd for holding the ball against a tackled player. This is heard almost any time an opposition player is tackled, without regard to whether the rules about "prior opportunity" to dispose of the ball are fulfilled.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A formal dance.
  2. A very enjoyable time.

barb

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else.
  2. A hurtful or disparaging remark.
  3. A beard, or that which resembles it, or grows in the place of it.
  4. Armor for a horse, corrupted from bard.
  5. A horse.
  6. One of the side branches of a feather, which collectively constitute the vane.
  7. Any of various species of freshwater carp-like fish that have barbels and belong to the cyprinid family.
  8. Menticirrhus americanus (Carolina whiting, king whiting, southern kingcroaker, and southern kingfish), found along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States.
  9. A hair or bristle ending in a double hook.
  10. A blackish or dun variety of the pigeon, originally brought from Barbary.
  11. A muffler, worn by nuns and mourners.
  12. Paps, or little projections, of the mucous membrane, which mark the opening of the submaxillary glands under the tongue in horses and cattle. The name is mostly applied when the barbs are inflamed and swollen. [Written also barbel and barble.]
  13. A bit for a horse.
  14. A plastic fastener, shaped roughly like a capital I (with serifs), used to attach socks etc. to their packaging.
verb
  1. To furnish with barbs, or with that which will hold or hurt like barbs, as an arrow, fishhook, spear, etc.
  2. To cover a horse in armor, corrupted from bard.
  3. To cut (hair).
  4. To shave or dress the beard of.
  5. To clip; to mow.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The Barbary horse, a superior breed introduced from Barbary into Spain by the Moors.
  2. A blackish or dun variety of pigeon, originally brought from Barbary.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A barbiturate.

barbarity

noun
  1. The state of being barbarous; brutality
  2. A barbaric act
  3. Crudity
  4. A crude act

battily

No Definition Found.

batty

Etymology 1

adjective
  1. Mad, crazy, silly.
  2. Belonging to, or resembling, a bat (mammal).

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (West Indian slang) The buttocks or anus.
  2. A homosexual man.

bialy

noun
  1. A flat bread roll topped with onion flakes. Instead of a hole like a bagel, it has a depression in the middle.

bilabial

noun
  1. A speech sound articulated with both lips.
adjective
  1. Articulated with both lips.

biliary

adjective
  1. Of or pertaining to bile or the bile duct

bill

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Any of various bladed or pointed hand weapons, originally designating an Anglo-Saxon sword, and later a weapon of infantry, especially in the 14th and 15th centuries, commonly consisting of a broad, heavy, double-edged, hook-shaped blade, with a short pike at the back and another at the top, attached to the end of a long staff.
  2. A cutting instrument, with hook-shaped point, and fitted with a handle, used in pruning, etc.; a billhook.
  3. Somebody armed with a bill; a billman.
  4. A pickaxe, or mattock.
  5. The extremity of the arm of an anchor; the point of or beyond the fluke (also called the peak).
verb
  1. To dig, chop, etc., with a bill.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The beak of a bird, especially when small or flattish; sometimes also used with reference to a platypus, turtle, or other animal.
  2. A beak-like projection, especially a promontory.
  3. Of a cap or hat: the brim or peak, serving as a shade to keep sun off the face and out of the eyes.
verb
  1. To peck
  2. To stroke bill against bill, with reference to doves; to caress in fondness

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A written list or inventory. (Now obsolete except in specific senses or set phrases; bill of lading, bill of goods, etc.)
  2. A document, originally sealed; a formal statement or official memorandum. (Now obsolete except with certain qualifying words; bill of health, bill of sale etc.)
  3. A draft of a law, presented to a legislature for enactment; a proposed or projected law.
  4. A declaration made in writing, stating some wrong the complainant has suffered from the defendant, or a fault committed by some person against a law.
  5. A piece of paper money; a banknote.
  6. A written note of goods sold, services rendered, or work done, with the price or charge; an invoice.
  7. A paper, written or printed, and posted up or given away, to advertise something, as a lecture, a play, or the sale of goods
  8. A writing binding the signer or signers to pay a certain sum at a future day or on demand, with or without interest, as may be stated in the document; a bill of exchange. In the United States, it is usually called a note, a note of hand, or a promissory note.
  9. A set of items presented together.
verb
  1. To advertise by a bill or public notice.
  2. To charge; to send a bill to.

Etymology 4

noun
  1. The bell, or boom, of the bittern.

billy

noun
  1. A billy club.
  2. A billy goat.
  3. A good friend.
  4. A tin used by bushmen to boil tea; a billycan; a billypot.
  5. A condom (from the E-Rotic song "Willy, Use a Billy... Boy")
  6. A slubbing or roving machine.

blab

noun
  1. One who blabs; a babbler; a telltale; a gossip or gossiper.
  2. Gossip; prattle.
verb
  1. To tell tales; to gossip without reserve or discretion.

blabby

No Definition Found.

blat

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To cry, as a calf or sheep; to bleat.
  2. To make a senseless noise.
  3. To talk inconsiderately.
  4. To produce an overrich or overblown sound on a brass instrument such as a trumpet, trombone, or tuba.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Connections; relationships; one's social or business network (in Russian or Soviet society).

brat

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A child who is regarded as mischievous, unruly, spoiled, or selfish.
  2. A son or daughter (at any age) of an active military service member.
  3. A turbot or flatfish
  4. A rough cloak or ragged garment
  5. A coarse kind of apron for keeping the clothes clean; a bib.
  6. The young of an animal.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Bratwurst

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A thin bed of coal mixed with pyrites or carbonate of lime.

Etymology 4

noun
  1. Acronym of Born, Raised, And Transferred.

bratty

adjective
  1. Characteristic of a brat; unruly and impolite.

bray

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The cry of an animal, now chiefly that of animals related to the ass or donkey, or the camel.
  2. (by extension) Any discordant, grating, or harsh sound.
verb
  1. Of an animal (now chiefly of animals related to the ass or donkey, and the camel): to make its cry.
  2. (by extension) To make a harsh, discordant sound like a donkey's bray.
  3. To make or utter (a shout, sound, etc.) discordantly, loudly, or in a harsh and grating manner.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To crush or pound, especially using a pestle and mortar.
  2. (by extension) To hit (someone or something).

briar

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Any of many plants with thorny stems growing in dense clusters, such as many in the Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax genera.
  2. Anything sharp or unpleasant to the feelings.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The white heath, Erica arborea, a thorny Mediterranean shrub.
  2. A pipe for smoking, made from the roots of that shrub.

briary

No Definition Found.

irritability

noun
  1. The state or quality of being irritable; quick excitability
  2. A natural susceptibility, characteristic of all living organisms, tissues, and cells, to the influence of certain stimuli, response being manifested in a variety of ways.
  3. A condition of morbid excitability of an organ or part of the body; undue susceptibility to the influence of stimuli.

irritably

No Definition Found.

labia

noun
  1. The folds of tissue at the opening of the vulva, at either side of the vagina.
noun
  1. A liplike structure; especially one of the two pairs of folds of skin either side of the vulva.
  2. The lip of a labiate corolla.
  3. The lip against which pressured air is driven to produce sound in a recorder and in a pipe organ with flue pipes.

labial

noun
  1. A consonant articulated by the lips.
  2. An organ pipe having a lip that influences its sound.
  3. Any of the scales bordering the mouth opening of a reptile.
adjective
  1. Of or pertaining to the lips or labia.
  2. Articulated by the lips, as the consonants b, m and w.
  3. Of an incisor or canine, on the side facing the lips. See mesial.
  4. Furnished with lips.

lability

No Definition Found.

liability

noun
  1. An obligation, debt or responsibility owed to someone.
  2. A handicap that holds something back, a drawback, someone or something that is a burden to whoever is required to take care of them; an individual or action that exposes others to greater risk.
  3. The likelihood of something happening.
  4. The condition of being susceptible to something.

library

noun
  1. An institution which holds books and/or other forms of media for use by the public or qualified people often lending them out, as well as providing various other services for its users.
  2. (by extension) Any institution that lends out its goods for use by the public or a community.
  3. A collection of books or other forms of stored information.
  4. An equivalent collection of analogous information in a non-printed form, e.g. record library.
  5. A room dedicated to storing books.
  6. A collection of software routines that provide functionality to be incorporated into or used by a computer program.
  7. A collection of DNA material from a single organism or relative to a single disease.
  8. The deck or draw pile.

rabbi

noun
  1. A Jewish scholar or teacher of halacha (Jewish law), capable of making halachic decisions.
  2. A Jew who is or is qualified to be the leader of a Jewish congregation.
  3. (police) A senior officer who acts as a mentor.

rabbit

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A mammal of the family Leporidae, with long ears, long hind legs and a short, fluffy tail.
  2. The meat from this animal.
  3. The fur of a rabbit typically used to imitate another animal's fur.
  4. A runner in a distance race whose goal is mainly to set the pace, either to tire a specific rival so that a teammate can win or to help another break a record; a pacesetter.
  5. A very poor batsman; selected as a bowler or wicket-keeper.
  6. A large element at the beginning of a list of items to be bubble sorted, and thus tending to be quickly swapped into its correct position. Compare turtle.
  7. Rarebit; Welsh rabbit or a similar dish: melted cheese served atop toast.
verb
  1. To hunt rabbits.
  2. To flee.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To talk incessantly and in a childish manner; to babble annoyingly.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. Confound; damn; drat.

ribbit

noun
  1. The vocal sound made by a frog or toad.
verb
  1. To make the sound of a frog or toad.
interjection
  1. The vocal sound made by a frog or toad.

ribby

adjective
  1. Pertaining to or having ribs; ribbed.
  2. Specifically, thin so as to have prominent ribs; emaciated.
  3. Shabby, in poor condition.

tabby

noun
  1. A kind of waved silk, usually called watered silk, manufactured like taffeta, but thicker and stronger. The watering is given to it by calendering.
  2. A mixture of lime with shells, gravel, or stones, in equal proportions, with an equal proportion of water. When dry, this becomes as hard as rock.
  3. A brindled cat.
  4. An old maid or gossip.
verb
  1. To give a wavy or watered appearance to (a textile).
adjective
  1. Having a wavy or watered appearance
  2. Brindled; diversified in color

tabla

noun
  1. A pair of tuned hand drums, used in various musical genres of the Indian subcontinent, that are similar to bongos.

tibia

noun
  1. The inner and usually the larger of the two bones of the leg or hind limb below the knee, the shinbone
  2. The second segment from the end of an insect's leg, between the femur and tarsus.
  3. The third segment from the end of an arachnid's leg, between the patella and metatarsus.
  4. A musical instrument of the flute kind, originally made of the leg bone of an animal.

tibial

No Definition Found.

tribal

noun
  1. A design or image that has been influenced by indigenous peoples; especially such a tattoo.
adjective
  1. Of or relating to tribes.
  2. Based on or organized according to tribes.

tribally

No Definition Found.

trilby

noun
  1. A narrow-brimmed felt hat.

airball

noun
  1. A shot that misses the backboard, rim and net entirely.
verb
  1. To throw an airball

birria

No Definition Found.

ratability

No Definition Found.