Friday, December 26, 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: 171

Number of Answers: 37

Points Needed for Genius: 120

Genius requires between 18 and 32 words. You need at least a 7-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangram, you need 77% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangram, 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 171 was in the 50th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on December 24, 2025.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 37 possible answers rank it in the 44th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were fewer answers than this was on December 24, 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 December 24, 2025.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.4.
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 187
  • nana 187
  • lilt 150
  • till 150
  • tilt 150
  • nene 147
  • 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 111,373 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*:

  • accedence
  • acned
  • adjacence
  • ananda
  • anna
  • cadenced
  • cadency
  • cayenned
  • dancey
  • deaned
  • decadency
  • decan
  • decane
  • dedenda
  • dene
  • denned
  • eyen
  • eyne
  • jacana
  • jane
  • janney
  • janneyed
  • janny
  • jeaned
  • jnana
  • nance
  • nancy
  • nanna
  • neddy
  • yean
  • yeaned

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

acne

noun
  1. A skin condition, usually of the face, that is common in adolescents. It is characterised by red pimples, and is caused by the inflammation of sebaceous glands through bacterial infection.
  2. A pattern of blemishes in an area of skin resulting from the skin condition.

addend

noun
  1. Any one of two or more numbers or other terms that are to be added together.
  2. A moiety added to another molecule.
verb
  1. To furnish with an addendum.
  2. To furnish with an addend.

addenda

noun
  1. Something to be added; especially text added as an appendix or supplement to a document.
  2. A postscript.
  3. The height by which the tooth of a gear projects beyond (outside for external, or inside for internal) the standard pitch circle or pitch line.

adjacency

No Definition Found.

cadence

noun
  1. The act or state of declining or sinking.
  2. Balanced, rhythmic flow.
  3. The measure or beat of movement.
  4. The general inflection or modulation of the voice, or of any sound.
  5. A progression of at least two chords which conclude a piece of music, section or musical phrases within it. Sometimes referred to analogously as musical punctuation.
  6. A cadenza, or closing embellishment; a pause before the end of a strain, which the performer may fill with a flight of fancy.
  7. (speech) A fall in inflection of a speaker’s voice, such as at the end of a sentence.
  8. A dance move which ends a phrase.
  9. The rhythm and sequence of a series of actions.
  10. (running) The number of steps per minute.
  11. The number of revolutions per minute of the cranks or pedals of a bicycle.
  12. A chant that is sung by military personnel while running or marching; a jody call.
  13. Cadency
  14. (horse-riding) Harmony and proportion of movement, as in a well-managed horse.
verb
  1. To give a cadence to.
  2. To give structure to.

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.

candy

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Edible, sweet-tasting confectionery containing sugar, or sometimes artificial sweeteners, and often flavored with fruit, chocolate, nuts, herbs and spices, or artificial flavors.
  2. A piece of confectionery of this kind.
  3. (slang, chiefly US) crack cocaine.
verb
  1. To cook in, or coat with, sugar syrup.
  2. To have sugar crystals form in or on.
  3. To be formed into candy; to solidify in a candylike form or mass.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A unit of mass used in southern India, equal to twenty maunds, roughly equal to 500 pounds avoirdupois but varying locally.

cane

noun
  1. A plant with simple stems, like bamboo or sugar cane, or the stem thereof
  2. The stem of such a plant adapted for use as a tool
  3. A rod-shaped tool or device, somewhat like a cane
  4. Split rattan, as used in wickerwork, basketry and the like
  5. A local European measure of length; the canna.
verb
  1. To strike or beat with a cane or similar implement
  2. To destroy; to comprehensively defeat
  3. To do something well, in a competent fashion
  4. To produce extreme pain
  5. To make or furnish with cane or rattan.

caned

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To strike or beat with a cane or similar implement
  2. To destroy; to comprehensively defeat
  3. To do something well, in a competent fashion
  4. To produce extreme pain
  5. To make or furnish with cane or rattan.
adjective
  1. Intoxicated by alcohol or drugs

Etymology 2

adjective
  1. Filled with white flakes; mothery; said of vinegar when containing mother.

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.

canned

verb
  1. To seal in a can.
  2. To preserve by heating and sealing in a jar or can.
  3. To discard, scrap or terminate (an idea, project, etc.).
  4. To shut up.
  5. To fire or dismiss an employee.
  6. To hole the ball.
adjective
  1. Preserved in cans.
  2. (by extension) Previously prepared; not fresh or new; standardized, mass produced, or lacking originality or customization.
  3. Drunk.
  4. Terminated, fired from a job.

canny

Etymology 1

adjective
  1. Careful, prudent, cautious.
  2. Knowing, shrewd, astute.
  3. Frugal, thrifty.
  4. Pleasant, fair, favorable or agreeable to deal with.
  5. Gentle, quiet, steady.
adverb
  1. Very, considerably; quite, rather.
  2. Gently, quietly; carefully, skilfully.

Etymology 2

adjective
  1. (especially of sound) Sounding as if it is coming through a tin can.

cayenne

noun
  1. Cayenne pepper.

cyan

noun
  1. A vibrant pale greenish-blue colour between blue and green in the visible spectrum; the complementary colour of red; the colour obtained by subtracting red from white light.
adjective
  1. Of the colour cyan.

dance

noun
  1. A sequence of rhythmic steps or movements usually performed to music, for pleasure or as a form of social interaction.
  2. A social gathering where dancing is the main activity.
  3. A normally horizontal stripe called a fess that has been modified to zig-zag across the center of a coat of arms from dexter to sinister.
  4. A genre of modern music characterised by sampled beats, repetitive rhythms and few lyrics.
  5. The art, profession, and study of dancing.
  6. A piece of music with a particular dance rhythm.
  7. A battle of wits, especially one commonly fought between two rivals.
verb
  1. To move with rhythmic steps or movements, especially in time to music.
  2. To leap or move lightly and rapidly.
  3. To perform the steps to.
  4. To cause to dance, or move nimbly or merrily about.
  5. To make love or have sex.

danced

verb
  1. To move with rhythmic steps or movements, especially in time to music.
  2. To leap or move lightly and rapidly.
  3. To perform the steps to.
  4. To cause to dance, or move nimbly or merrily about.
  5. To make love or have sex.

dandy

noun
  1. A man very concerned about his clothes and his appearance.
  2. A yawl, or a small after-sail on a yawl.
  3. A dandy roller.
adjective
  1. Like a dandy, foppish.
  2. Very good; better than expected but not as good as could be.
  3. Excellent; first-rate.

deaden

verb
  1. To render less lively; to diminish; to muffle.
  2. To become less lively; to diminish (by itself).
  3. To make soundproof.

deadened

verb
  1. To render less lively; to diminish; to muffle.
  2. To become less lively; to diminish (by itself).
  3. To make soundproof.

dean

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A senior official in a college or university, who may be in charge of a division or faculty (for example, the dean of science) or have some other advisory or disciplinary function (for example, the dean of students).
  2. A dignitary or presiding officer in certain church bodies, especially an ecclesiastical dignitary, subordinate to a bishop, in charge of a chapter of canons.
  3. The senior member of some group of people.
verb
  1. To serve as a dean.
  2. To send (a student) to see the dean of a university.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (chiefly in place names) A hill.

decadence

noun
  1. A state of moral or artistic decline or deterioration; decay

decency

noun
  1. The quality of being decent; propriety.
  2. That which is proper or becoming.

deny

verb
  1. To disallow or reject.
  2. To assert that something is not true.
  3. (ditransitive) To refuse to give or grant something to someone.
  4. To take something away from someone; to deprive of.
  5. To prevent from scoring.
  6. To disclaim connection with, responsibility for, etc.; to refuse to acknowledge; to disown; to abjure; to disavow.
  7. To refuse (to do or accept something).

dyne

noun
  1. A unit of force in the CGS system; the force required to accelerate a mass of one gram by one centimetre per second per second. Symbol: dyn.

ended

verb
  1. To come to an end
  2. To finish, terminate.
adjective
  1. (in combination) Having (a specified kind or number of) ends.

ennead

noun
  1. The number nine.
  2. Any grouping or system containing nine objects.

jean

noun
  1. Denim.

jenny

noun
  1. A device for spinning thread from fiber onto multiple spindles (also called spinning jenny).
  2. A female creature of certain kinds, such as wren and donkey.
  3. A catmill.

naan

noun
  1. A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.

nada

pronoun
  1. Nothing.

nana

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A banana
  2. A fool

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (term of endearment) one's grandmother
  2. A nanny

nanny

noun
  1. A child's nurse.
  2. A grandmother.
  3. A godmother.
  4. A female goat.
verb
  1. To serve as a nanny.
  2. To treat like a nanny's charges; to coddle.

need

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A requirement for something; something needed.
  2. Lack of means of subsistence; poverty; indigence; destitution.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To have an absolute requirement for.
  2. To want strongly; to feel that one must have something.
  3. (modal verb) To be obliged or required (to do something).
  4. To be required; to be necessary.
  5. To be necessary (to someone).

needed

verb
  1. To have an absolute requirement for.
  2. To want strongly; to feel that one must have something.
  3. (modal verb) To be obliged or required (to do something).
  4. To be required; to be necessary.
  5. To be necessary (to someone).
adjective
  1. Necessary; being required.

needy

adjective
  1. In need; poor.
  2. Desiring constant affirmation; lacking self-confidence.
  3. Needful; necessary.

nene

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

yenned

verb
  1. To have a strong desire for.