Thursday, December 25, 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: 94

Number of Answers: 26

Points Needed for Genius: 66

Genius requires between 10 and 23 words. You need at least a 6-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangram, you need 82% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangram, 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 94 was in the 10th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this low was on November 7, 2025.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 26 possible answers rank it in the 14th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were fewer answers than this was on November 7, 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 6-letter word for genius.
The last time this happened was on December 13, 2025.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 4.8.
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 226
  • loll 209
  • toot 205
  • naan 186
  • nana 186
  • lilt 150
  • till 150
  • tilt 150
  • nene 146
  • tint 144
  • mama 141
  • mamma 141
  • onion 137
  • onto 136
  • toon 136
  • acacia 134
  • acai 134
  • anal 128
  • anon 127
  • olio 123
  • dodo 120
  • papa 119
  • tact 119
  • baba 118
  • boob 116
  • booboo 116
  • lull 115
  • lulu 115
  • poop 115
  • cocci 113
  • call 112
  • calla 112
  • mitt 112
  • mono 112
  • moon 112
  • ratatat 110
  • tart 110
  • tartar 110
  • tutu 110
  • attar 109
  • loon 109
  • tattoo 109
  • allay 108
  • ally 108
  • ammo 107
  • momma 107
  • tatty 106
  • roar 104
  • epee 103
  • meme 103


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 111,336 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,879 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*:

  • exine
  • exon
  • hexone
  • hinnie
  • inion
  • ionone
  • neep
  • ninon
  • nixe
  • nixie
  • pein
  • penni
  • pennine
  • pennon
  • pepino
  • phenix
  • phon
  • phonon
  • pinene
  • pinon
  • pion
  • poon

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

heinie

noun
  1. The buttocks.

hone

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A sharpening stone composed of extra-fine grit used for removing the burr or curl from the blade of a razor or some other edge tool.
  2. A machine tool used in the manufacture of precision bores.
verb
  1. To sharpen with a hone; to whet.
  2. To use a hone to produce a precision bore.
  3. To refine or master (a skill).
  4. To make more acute, intense, or effective.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A kind of swelling in the cheek.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. To grumble.
  2. To pine, lament, or long.

nene

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

neon

noun
  1. The chemical element (symbol Ne) with an atomic number of 10. The lightest of the noble gases, it is a colourless, odorless inert gas.
  2. A form or sample of the element.
  3. Neon signs or lights, collectively.
  4. A neon tetra fish.
adjective
  1. (of a color) That resembles a neon light; extremely bright; fluorescent

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.

none

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A person without religious affiliation.
adverb
  1. To no extent, in no way.
  2. Not at all, not very.
  3. No, not.
pronoun
  1. Not any of a given number or group.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Those without any religious affiliation: atheists and others outside any organized religion.
noun
  1. A light meal usually eaten around midday, notably when not as main meal of the day.
  2. A break in play between the first and second sessions.
  3. (Minnesota) Any small meal, especially one eaten at a social gathering.
noun
  1. The middle of the afternoon, normally between 2 and 4 pm.
noun
  1. (often capitalized) The notional first-quarter day of a Roman month, occurring on the 7th day of the four original 31-day months (March, May, Quintilis or July, and October) and on the 5th day of all other months.
  2. (sometimes capitalized) The ninth hour after dawn (about 3 pm).
  3. The divine office appointed to the hour.
noun
  1. The ninth hour of the day counted from sunrise; around three o'clock in the afternoon.
  2. Time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.
  3. The corresponding time in the middle of the night; midnight.
  4. The highest point; culmination.
noun
  1. The letter ن in the Arabic script.

noon

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The ninth hour of the day counted from sunrise; around three o'clock in the afternoon.
  2. Time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.
  3. The corresponding time in the middle of the night; midnight.
  4. The highest point; culmination.
verb
  1. To relax or sleep around midday

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The letter ن in the Arabic script.

nope

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A negative reply, no.
  2. An intensely undesirable thing, such as a circumstance or an animal, eliciting immediate repulsion without possibility of further consideration.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (except near Staffordshire) A bullfinch

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A blow to the head.
verb
  1. To hit someone on the head.

onion

noun
  1. A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.
  2. The bulb of such a plant.
  3. The genus as a whole.
  4. A ball.
  5. A person from Bermuda or of Bermudian descent.

open

Etymology 1

adjective
  1. Not closed
  2. Not physically drawn together, closed, folded or contracted; extended
  3. Actively conducting or prepared to conduct business.
  4. Receptive.
  5. Public
  6. Candid, ingenuous, not subtle in character.
  7. (of a formula) Having a free variable.
  8. (of a set) Which is part of a predefined collection of subsets of X, that defines a topological space on X.
  9. (of a walk) Whose first and last vertices are different.
  10. (of a file, document, etc.) In current use; mapped to part of memory.
  11. Not fulfilled.
  12. Not settled or adjusted; not decided or determined; not closed or withdrawn from consideration.
  13. (stringed instruments) Of a note, played without pressing the string against the fingerboard.
  14. (wind instruments) Of a note, played without closing any finger-hole, key or valve.
  15. Not of a quality to prevent communication, as by closing waterways, blocking roads, etc.; hence, not frosty or inclement; mild; used of the weather or the climate.
  16. (Of correspondence) Written or sent with the intention that it may made public or referred to at any trial, rather than by way of confidential private negotiation for a settlement. (Opposite of "without prejudice")
  17. Uttered with a relatively wide opening of the articulating organs; said of vowels.
  18. Uttered, as a consonant, with the oral passage simply narrowed without closure.
  19. (of a syllable) That ends in a vowel; not having a coda.
  20. Made public, usable with a free licence and without proprietary components.
  21. Resulting from an incision, puncture or any other process by which the skin no longer protects an internal part of the body.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To make something accessible or allow for passage by moving from a shut position.
  2. To make (an open space, etc.) by clearing away an obstacle or obstacles, in order to allow for passage, access, or visibility.
  3. To bring up, broach.
  4. To enter upon, begin.
  5. To spread; to expand into an open or loose position.
  6. To make accessible to customers or clients.
  7. To start (a campaign).
  8. To become open.
  9. To begin conducting business.
  10. To begin a side's innings as one of the first two batsmen.
  11. To bet before any other player has in a particular betting round in a game of poker.
  12. To reveal one's hand.
  13. (of a file, document, etc.) To load into memory for viewing or editing.
  14. To disclose; to reveal; to interpret; to explain.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. (with the) Open or unobstructed space; an exposed location.
  2. (with the) Public knowledge or scrutiny; full view.
  3. A defect in an electrical circuit preventing current from flowing.
  4. A sports event in which anybody can compete

opine

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To have or express an opinion; to state as an opinion; to suppose, consider (that).
  2. To give one's formal opinion (on or upon something).

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Any of a class of organic compounds, derived from amino acids, found in some plant tumours

opinion

noun
  1. A subjective belief, judgment or perspective that a person has formed about a topic, issue, person or thing.
  2. The judgment or sentiment which the mind forms of persons or things; estimation.
  3. Favorable estimation; hence, consideration; reputation; fame; public sentiment or esteem.
  4. Obstinacy in holding to one's belief or impression; opiniativeness; conceitedness.
  5. The formal decision, or expression of views, of a judge, an umpire, a doctor, or other party officially called upon to consider and decide upon a matter or point submitted.
  6. (European Union law) a judicial opinion delivered by an Advocate General to the European Court of Justice where he or she proposes a legal solution to the cases for which the court is responsible
verb
  1. To have or express as an opinion.

oxen

noun
  1. An adult castrated male of cattle (B. taurus).
  2. Any bovine animal (genus Bos). A neat, a beef.
adjective
  1. Of, relating to, or resembling an ox; oxlike

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.

penne

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

peon

noun
  1. A lowly person; a peasant or serf; a labourer who is obliged to do menial work.
  2. A person of low rank or importance.
  3. A messenger, foot soldier, or native policeman.

phoenix

noun
  1. A mythological bird, said to be the only one of its kind, which lives for 500 years and then dies by burning to ashes on a pyre of its own making, ignited by the sun. It then arises anew from the ashes.
  2. Anything that is reborn after apparently being destroyed.
  3. A mythological Chinese chimerical bird whose physical body symbolizes the six celestial bodies.
  4. A Greek silver coin used briefly from 1828 to 1832, divided into 100 lepta.

phone

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A device for transmitting conversations and other sounds in real time across distances, now often a small portable unit also capable of running software etc.
verb
  1. To call (someone) using a telephone.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties, considered as a physical event without regard to its place in the phonology of a language.

phono

noun
  1. A phonograph.

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.

pinion

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A wing.
  2. The joint of a bird's wing farthest from the body.
  3. Any of the outermost primary feathers on a bird's wing.
  4. A moth of the genus Lithophane.
  5. A fetter for the arm.
verb
  1. To cut off the pinion of a bird’s wing, or otherwise disable or bind its wings, in order to prevent it from flying.
  2. To bind the arms of someone, so as to deprive him of their use; to disable by so binding.
  3. (transferred sense) To restrain; to limit.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The smallest gear in a gear train.

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)

pone

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A writ in law used by the superior courts to remove cases from inferior courts.
  2. A writ to enforce appearance in court by attaching goods or requiring securities.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A baked or fried cornbread (bread made of cornmeal), often made without milk or eggs.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. The last player to bet or play in turn.

xenon

noun
  1. The chemical element (symbol Xe) with an atomic number of 54. It is a colorless, odorless, unreactive noble gas, used notably in camera flash technology.

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