Sunday, December 14, 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: 266

Number of Answers: 52

Points Needed for Genius: 186

Genius requires between 25 and 44 words. You need at least an 8-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangram, you need 74% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangram, you only need 68% 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 266 was in the 87th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on December 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 52 possible answers rank it in the 80th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on December 12, 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 December 7, 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 225
  • loll 209
  • toot 203
  • naan 186
  • nana 186
  • lilt 149
  • till 149
  • tilt 149
  • nene 145
  • tint 144
  • mama 141
  • mamma 141
  • onion 136
  • onto 135
  • toon 135
  • acacia 134
  • acai 134
  • anal 128
  • anon 127
  • olio 122
  • dodo 120
  • baba 118
  • tact 118
  • papa 117
  • boob 116
  • booboo 116
  • poop 115
  • lull 114
  • lulu 114
  • call 112
  • calla 112
  • cocci 112
  • mitt 112
  • mono 112
  • moon 112
  • tutu 110
  • loon 109
  • ratatat 109
  • tart 109
  • tartar 109
  • allay 108
  • ally 108
  • attar 108
  • ammo 107
  • momma 107
  • tattoo 107
  • tatty 106
  • roar 104
  • epee 103
  • meme 103


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 110,837 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,875 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*:

  • abba
  • abbe
  • abele
  • abelia
  • abelian
  • alba
  • albinal
  • alible
  • alliable
  • anabaena
  • baal
  • bailable
  • bailee
  • bailie
  • balneal
  • bani
  • banian
  • bannable
  • beal
  • beebee
  • belive
  • bene
  • benne
  • benni
  • biali
  • bibb
  • bibe
  • biennale
  • bilevel
  • billie
  • binal
  • bine
  • blae
  • blain
  • bleb
  • inviable
  • labelable
  • labella
  • leben
  • leviable
  • libellee
  • liblab
  • lienable
  • linable
  • lineable
  • nabe

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

able

Etymology 1

adjective
  1. Easy to use.
  2. Suitable; competent.
  3. Liable to.
  4. Having the necessary powers or the needed resources to accomplish a task.
  5. Free from constraints preventing completion of task; permitted to; not prevented from.
  6. Having the physical strength; robust; healthy.
  7. Rich; well-to-do.
  8. Gifted with skill, intelligence, knowledge, or competence.
  9. Legally qualified or competent.
  10. Capable of performing all the requisite duties; as an able seaman.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To make ready.
  2. To make capable; to enable.
  3. To dress.
  4. To give power to; to reinforce; to confirm.
  5. To vouch for; to guarantee.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. The letter "A" in Navy Phonetic Alphabet.

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.

alienable

adjective
  1. Capable of being alienated, sold, or transferred to another

available

adjective
  1. Such as one may avail oneself of; capable of being used for the accomplishment of a purpose.
  2. Readily obtainable.
  3. Valid.
  4. Having sufficient power, force, or efficacy to achieve the purpose; availing, effective.
  5. Free to meet someone, speak on the telephone, enter a romantic relationship or the like.

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.

babble

noun
  1. Idle talk; senseless prattle
  2. Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur.
  3. A sound like that of water gently flowing around obstructions.
verb
  1. To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds
  2. To talk incoherently; to utter meaningless words.
  3. To talk too much; to chatter; to prattle.
  4. To make a continuous murmuring noise, like shallow water running over stones.
  5. To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat words or sounds in a childish way without understanding.
  6. To reveal; to give away (a secret).

babe

noun
  1. A baby or infant; a very young human or animal.
  2. An attractive person, especially a young woman.
  3. Darling (term of endearment).

babel

noun
  1. A confused mixture of sounds and voices, especially in different languages.
  2. A place or scene of noise and confusion.
  3. A tall, looming structure.

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.)

bale

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Evil, especially considered as an active force for destruction or death.
  2. Suffering, woe, torment.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A large fire, a conflagration or bonfire.
  2. A funeral pyre.
  3. A beacon-fire.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A rounded bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for storage or transportation.
  2. A bundle of compressed wool or hay, compacted for shipping and handling.
  3. A measurement of hay equal to 10 flakes. Approximately 70-90 lbs (32-41 kg).
  4. A measurement of paper equal to 10 reams.

Etymology 4

verb
  1. To remove water from a boat with buckets etc.

baleen

noun
  1. The bony material that makes up the plates in the mouth of the baleen whale, Mysticeti, which it uses to trap its food; formerly used in corsetry
  2. A baleen whale

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.

banal

adjective
  1. Common in a boring way, to the point of being predictable; containing nothing new or fresh.
  2. (history) Relating to a type of feudal jurisdiction or service.

banana

noun
  1. An elongated curved tropical fruit that grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin.
  2. The tropical tree-like plant which bears clusters of bananas. The plant, usually of the genus Musa but sometimes also including plants from Ensete, has large, elongated leaves and is related to the plantain.
  3. A yellow colour, like that of a banana's skin.
  4. (mildly) A person of Asian descent, especially a Chinese American, who has assimilated into Western culture or married a Caucasian (from the "yellow" outside and "white" inside). Compare coconut or Oreo.
  5. A banana equivalent dose.
  6. A catamorphism (from the use of banana brackets in the notation).
  7. The penis.
  8. A banana kick.
adjective
  1. Curved like a banana, especially of a ball in flight.

bane

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A cause of misery or death.
  2. Poison, especially any of several poisonous plants.
  3. A killer, murderer, slayer.
  4. Destruction; death.
  5. A disease of sheep.
verb
  1. To kill, especially by poison; to be the poison of.
  2. To be the bane of.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Bone

bean

noun
  1. A reusable software component written in Java.
noun
  1. Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic family Fabaceae that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods.
  2. The large edible seed of such a plant (for example, a broad bean, navy bean or garbanzo bean).
  3. The edible seedpod of such a plant.
  4. (by extension) The bean-like seed of certain other plants, such a a vanilla bean or (especially) a coffee bean.
  5. (by extension) An object resembling a pea or bean in shape, often made from plastic or styrofoam and used in large numbers as packing material or as stuffing for beanbags and similar items.
  6. The head or brain.
  7. The clitoris.
  8. A person.
  9. A guinea coin.
  10. (usually in the negative) Money.
verb
  1. To hit deliberately with a projectile, especially in the head.

beanball

No Definition Found.

beanie

noun
  1. A cap that fits the head closely, usually knitted from wool.
  2. A head-hugging brimless cap, with or without a visor, made from triangular sections of cloth, leather, or silk joined by a button at the crown and seamed together around the sides.
  3. A Beanie Baby, a small soft toy filled with beans or similar stuffing.

beeline

noun
  1. A very direct or quick path or trip.
  2. A dynamite fuse made with a small quantity of dynamite powder along its length, so that the spark travels quickly and at a specific known rate.
verb
  1. To travel in a straight course, ignoring established paths of travel.

been

noun
  1. A flying insect, of the clade Anthophila within the hymenopteran superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies (though only a minority have them), for collecting pollen and (in some species) producing wax and honey.

belie

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To lie around; encompass.
  2. (of an army) To surround; beleaguer.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To tell lies about.
  2. To give a false representation of.
  3. To contradict, to show (something) to be false.
  4. To conceal the contradictory or ironic presence of (something).
  5. To show, evince, demonstrate: to show (something) to be present, particularly something deemed contradictory or ironic.
  6. To mimic; to counterfeit.
  7. To fill with lies.

believable

adjective
  1. Capable of being believed; credible.

believe

verb
  1. To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing)
  2. To accept that someone is telling the truth.
  3. To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.
  4. To opine, think, reckon

bell

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A percussive instrument made of metal or other hard material, typically but not always in the shape of an inverted cup with a flared rim, which resonates when struck.
  2. The sounding of a bell as a signal.
  3. A telephone call.
  4. A signal at a school that tells the students when a class is starting or ending.
  5. The flared end of a brass or woodwind instrument.
  6. Any of a series of strokes on a bell (or similar), struck every half hour to indicate the time (within a four hour watch)
  7. The flared end of a pipe, designed to mate with a narrow spigot.
  8. A device control code that produces a beep (or rings a small electromechanical bell on older teleprinters etc.).
  9. Anything shaped like a bell, such as the cup or corolla of a flower.
  10. The part of the capital of a column included between the abacus and neck molding; also used for the naked core of nearly cylindrical shape, assumed to exist within the leafage of a capital.
  11. An instrument situated on a bicycle's handlebar, used by the cyclist to warn of his or her presence.
verb
  1. To attach a bell to.
  2. To shape so that it flares out like a bell.
  3. To telephone.
  4. To develop bells or corollas; to take the form of a bell; to blossom.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The bellow or bay of certain animals, such as a hound on the hunt or a stag in rut.
verb
  1. To bellow or roar.
  2. To utter in a loud manner; to thunder forth.

belle

noun
  1. An attractive woman.

bevel

noun
  1. An edge that is canted, one that is not a 90-degree angle; a chamfer.
  2. An instrument consisting of two rules or arms, jointed together at one end, and opening to any angle, for adjusting the surfaces of work to the same or a given inclination; a bevel square.
verb
  1. To give a canted edge to a surface; to chamfer.
adjective
  1. Having the slant of a bevel; slanting.
  2. Morally distorted; not upright.

bible

noun
  1. An exemplar of the Bible.
  2. A comprehensive manual that describes something. (e.g., handyman’s bible).
  3. (at certain US universities) A compilation of problems and solutions from previous years of a given course, used by some students to cheat on tests or assignments.
  4. Omasum, the third compartment of the stomach of ruminants
noun
  1. A piece of soft sandstone used for scouring the wooden decks of ships, usually with sand and seawater.
  2. A stone with a naturally-formed hole, used by Yorkshiremen for good luck.

biennia

noun
  1. A period of two years.

biennial

noun
  1. A plant that requires two years to complete its life-cycle, germinating and growing in its first year, then producing its flowers and fruit in its second year, after which it usually dies
  2. An event that happens every two years
adjective
  1. Happening every two years.
  2. Lasting for two years.

bilabial

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

bile

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A bitter brownish-yellow or greenish-yellow secretion produced by the liver, stored in the gall bladder, and discharged into the duodenum where it aids the process of digestion.
  2. Bitterness of temper; ill humour; irascibility.
  3. Two of the four humours, black bile or yellow bile, in ancient and medieval physiology.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A boil (kind of swelling).
verb
  1. (of liquids) To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas.
  2. To cook in boiling water.
  3. (of liquids) To begin to turn into a gas, seethe.
  4. To bring to a boil, to heat so as to cause the contents to boil.
  5. (used only in progressive tenses, of weather) To be uncomfortably hot.
  6. (used only in progressive tenses) To feel uncomfortably hot.
  7. To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation.
  8. To steep or soak in warm water.
  9. To be agitated like boiling water; to bubble; to effervesce.
  10. To be moved or excited with passion; to be hot or fervid.

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.

billable

noun
  1. Something that is billed for.
adjective
  1. Capable of being billed for.

bivalve

noun
  1. Any mollusc belonging to the taxonomic class Bivalvia, characterized by a shell consisting of two hinged sections, such as a scallop, clam, mussel or oyster.
  2. A pericarp in which the seed case opens or splits into two parts or valves.

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.

blin

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Cessation; end.
verb
  1. To cease (from); to stop; to desist, to let up.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A blintz.

blini

noun
  1. A small pancake, of Russian origin, made from buckwheat flour; traditionally served with melted butter, sour cream and caviar or smoked salmon.

enable

verb
  1. To make somebody able (to do, or to be, something); to give sufficient ability or power to do or to be; to give strength or ability to.
  2. To affirm; to make firm and strong.
  3. To qualify or approve for some role or position; to render sanction or authorization to; to confirm suitability for.
  4. To yield the opportunity or provide the possibility for something; to provide with means, opportunities, and the like.
  5. To imply or tacitly confer excuse for an action or a behavior.
  6. To put a circuit element into action by supplying a suitable input pulse.
  7. To activate, to make operational (especially of a function of an electronic or mechanical device).

enviable

adjective
  1. Arousing or likely to arouse envy.

inalienable

adjective
  1. Incapable of being alienated, surrendered, or transferred to another; not alienable.
  2. (grammar) Of or pertaining to a noun belonging to a special class in which the possessive construction differs from the norm, especially for particular familial relationships and body parts.

label

noun
  1. A small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached.
  2. A name given to something or someone to categorise them as part of a particular social group.
  3. A company that sells records.
  4. A user-defined alias for a numerical designation, the reverse of an enumeration.
  5. A named place in source code that can be jumped to using a GOTO or equivalent construct.
  6. A charge resembling the strap crossing the horse’s chest from which pendants are hung.
  7. A tassel.
  8. A piece of writing added to something, such as a codicil appended to a will.
  9. A brass rule with sights, formerly used with a circumferentor to take altitudes.
  10. The projecting moulding by the sides, and over the tops, of openings in mediaeval architecture.
  11. In mediaeval art, the representation of a band or scroll containing an inscription.
  12. A non-interactive control or widget displaying text, often used to describe the purpose of another control.
verb
  1. To put a label (a ticket or sign) on (something).
  2. (ditransitive) To give a label to (someone or something) in order to categorise that person or thing.
  3. To replace specific atoms by their isotope in order to track the presence or movement of this isotope through a reaction, metabolic pathway or cell.
  4. To add a detectable substance, either transiently or permanently, to a biological substance in order to track the presence of the label-substance combination either in situ or in vitro

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.

labile

adjective
  1. Liable to slip, err, fall, or apostatize.
  2. Apt or likely to change.
  3. (of a compound or bond) Kinetically unstable; rapidly cleaved (and possibly reformed).
  4. (of a verb) Able to change valency without changing its form; especially, able to be used both transitively and intransitively without changing its form.

liable

adjective
  1. Bound or obliged in law or equity; responsible; answerable.
  2. Subject; susceptible.
  3. Exposed to a certain contingency or causality, more or less probable.
  4. (as predicate, with "to" and an infinitive) likely.

libel

noun
  1. A written or pictorial false statement which unjustly seeks to damage someone's reputation.
  2. The act or crime of displaying such a statement publicly.
  3. Any defamatory writing; a lampoon; a satire.
  4. A written declaration or statement by the plaintiff of their cause of action, and of the relief they seek.
  5. A brief writing of any kind, especially a declaration, bill, certificate, request, supplication, etc.
verb
  1. To defame someone, especially in a manner that meets the legal definition of libel.
  2. To proceed against (a ship, goods, etc.) by filing a libel.

libelee

No Definition Found.

livable

adjective
  1. Endurable, survivable, suitable for living in, inhabitable.

liveable

adjective
  1. Endurable, survivable, suitable for living in, inhabitable.

nibble

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A small, quick bite taken with the front teeth.
  2. (in the plural, nibbles) Small snacks such as crisps/potato chips or nuts, often eaten to accompany drinks.
verb
  1. To eat with small, quick bites.
  2. To bite lightly.
  3. To consume gradually.
  4. To find fault; to cavil.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A unit of memory equal to half a byte, or four bits.

viable

noun
  1. An organism that is able to live and develop.
adjective
  1. Able to live on its own (as for a newborn).
  2. Able to be done, possible.
  3. Able to live and develop.

vibe

noun
  1. A vibraphone.
  2. Vibration.
  3. A vibrator (sex toy).
  4. (originally New Age jargon) An atmosphere or aura felt to belong to a person, place or thing.
verb
  1. To stimulate with a vibrator.
  2. To relax and enjoy oneself.
  3. To agree.
  4. To get along; to hit it off.