Sunday, March 08, 2026

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: 393

Number of Answers: 63

Points Needed for Genius: 275

Genius requires between 34 and 53 words. You need at least a 9-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangrams, you need 77% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangrams, you only need 67% 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 393 was in the 99th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on February 01, 2026.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 63 possible answers rank it in the 94th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on February 21, 2026.
The highest number of answers was 81 on June 08, 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 February 21, 2026.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 6.4.
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 233
  • loll 216
  • toot 211
  • nana 192
  • naan 192
  • tilt 152
  • till 152
  • lilt 152
  • nene 150
  • tint 148
  • mamma 147
  • mama 147
  • onion 141
  • toon 140
  • onto 140
  • acai 139
  • acacia 139
  • anon 131
  • anal 130
  • olio 126
  • papa 124
  • dodo 123
  • tact 122
  • lulu 122
  • lull 122
  • baba 122
  • poop 119
  • booboo 118
  • boob 118
  • mitt 117
  • cocci 116
  • moon 115
  • mono 115
  • calla 114
  • call 114
  • tartar 113
  • tart 113
  • ratatat 113
  • loon 113
  • tutu 112
  • tattoo 112
  • attar 112
  • ally 110
  • allay 110
  • tatty 109
  • momma 109
  • ammo 109
  • meme 108
  • roar 107
  • peep 106


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 114,637 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,930 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*:

  • acini
  • acinic
  • aconitic
  • actin
  • actinia
  • actinian
  • actinic
  • actinon
  • anatoxin
  • anionic
  • antitax
  • antitoxic
  • atactic
  • ataxic
  • atonia
  • atonic
  • attaint
  • axion
  • axonic
  • cain
  • cantic
  • cationic
  • cion
  • coaction
  • cocain
  • coccic
  • coition
  • conation
  • coni
  • conin
  • connation
  • ictic
  • inanition
  • incitant
  • incitation
  • inia
  • inion
  • inti
  • intinction
  • ixia
  • naoi
  • natation
  • nicotiana
  • nicotin
  • nicotinic
  • nictation
  • nictitant
  • ninon
  • niton
  • nonaction
  • nonintoxicant
  • nonionic
  • nontonic
  • ocicat
  • oiticica
  • ontic
  • otic
  • otitic
  • ototoxic
  • oxic
  • taction
  • tain
  • taxitic
  • tian
  • tictac
  • tictoc
  • titania
  • titi
  • titian
  • toit
  • toxicant

*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.

action

noun
  1. Something done so as to accomplish a purpose.
  2. A way of motion or functioning.
  3. Fast-paced activity.
  4. A mechanism; a moving part or assembly.
  5. The mechanism, that is the set of moving mechanical parts, of a keyboard instrument, like a piano, which transfers the motion of the key to the sound-making device.
  6. The distance separating the strings and the fretboard on a guitar.
  7. Sexual intercourse.
  8. Combat.
  9. A charge or other process in a law court (also called lawsuit and actio).
  10. A mapping from a pairing of mathematical objects to one of them, respecting their individual structures. The pairing is typically a Cartesian product or a tensor product. The object that is not part of the output is said to act on the other object. In any given context, action is used as an abbreviation for a more fully named notion, like group action or left group action.
  11. The product of energy and time, especially the product of the Lagrangian and time.
  12. The event or connected series of events, either real or imaginary, forming the subject of a play, poem, or other composition; the unfolding of the drama of events.
  13. (painting and sculpture) The attitude or position of the several parts of the body as expressive of the sentiment or passion depicted.
  14. Spin put on the bowling ball.
  15. A share in the capital stock of a joint-stock company, or in the public funds.
verb
  1. To act on a request etc, in order to put it into effect.
  2. To initiate a legal action against someone.
interjection
  1. Demanding or signifying the start of something, usually an act or scene of a theatric performance.

anion

noun
  1. A negatively charged ion.

annotation

noun
  1. A critical or explanatory commentary or analysis
  2. A comment added to a text
  3. The process of writing such comment or commentary
  4. Metadata added to a document or program
  5. Information relating to the genetic structure of sequences of bases

anoint

verb
  1. To smear or rub over with oil or an unctuous substance; also, to spread over, as oil.
  2. To apply oil to or to pour oil upon, etc., as a sacred rite, especially for consecration.
  3. To choose or nominate somebody for a leading or otherwise important position, especially formally or officially, or as an intended successor.
  4. To mark somebody as an official ruler, especially a king or queen, as a part of a religious ceremony.

anoxia

noun
  1. A condition in which a tissue or environment is severely or totally deprived of oxygen, severe hypoxia.

anoxic

No Definition Found.

anti

noun
  1. A person opposed to a concept or principle.
adjective
  1. Opposed to something.
  2. That has a torsion angle between 90° and 180°
preposition
  1. Alternative form of anti-

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

antitoxin

noun
  1. An antibody that is capable of neutralising specific toxins that are causative agents of disease.

ataxia

noun
  1. Lack of coordination while performing voluntary movements, which may appear to be clumsiness, inaccuracy, or instability.
  2. The condition of a polymer in which the orientation of the subunits is random
  3. Disorder; irregularity.

attain

verb
  1. To gain (an object or desired result).
  2. To reach or come to, by progression or motion; to arrive at (a place, time, state, etc.).
  3. To come or arrive, by motion, growth, bodily exertion, or efforts toward a place, object, state, etc.
  4. To get at the knowledge of.
  5. To reach in excellence or degree.
  6. To reach a person after being behind them.

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.

canonic

adjective
  1. Canonical

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

catatonia

noun
  1. A severe psychiatric condition, often associated with schizophrenia, characterized by a tendency to remain in a rigid state of stupor for long periods which give way to short periods of extreme agitation.
  2. A frozen, unresponsive state, as of electronic equipment.

catatonic

noun
  1. A patient in a state of catatonia.
adjective
  1. Of, relating to, or suffering from catatonia.
  2. Motionless and unresponsive, as from shock; withdrawn.

cation

noun
  1. A positively charged ion, i.e. one that would be attracted to the cathode in electrolysis.

ciao

noun
  1. A greeting or farewell using the word "ciao".
interjection
  1. Hello, hi.
  2. Bye, goodbye.

citation

noun
  1. An official summons or notice given to a person to appear.
  2. The paper containing such summons or notice.
  3. The act of citing a passage from a book, or from another person, in his/her own words.
  4. An entry in a list of source(s) from which one took information, words or literary or verbal context.
  5. The passage or words quoted; quotation.
  6. A quotation with attached bibliographical details demonstrating the use of a particular lexical item in a dictionary, especially a dictionary on historical principles.
  7. Enumeration; mention.
  8. A reference to decided cases, or books of authority, to prove a point in law.
  9. A commendation in recognition of some achievement, or a formal statement of an achievement.

coati

noun
  1. Any of several omnivorous mammals, of the genus Nasua or Nasuella, in order Carnivora, that live in the range from southern United States to northern Argentina.

cocci

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Any approximately spherical bacterium.
  2. One of the carpels or seed-vessels of a dry fruit.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Coccidioidomycosis

coin

noun
  1. (money) A piece of currency, usually metallic and in the shape of a disc, but sometimes polygonal, or with a hole in the middle.
  2. A token used in a special establishment like a casino.
  3. That which serves for payment or recompense.
  4. Money in general, not limited to coins.
  5. One of the suits of minor arcana in tarot, or a card of that suit.
  6. A corner or external angle.
  7. A small circular slice of food.
  8. A cryptocurrency.
verb
  1. To make of a definite fineness, and convert into coins, as a mass of metal.
  2. (by extension) To make or fabricate.
  3. To acquire rapidly, as money; to make.

concoction

noun
  1. The preparing of a medicine, food or other substance out of many ingredients.
  2. A mixture prepared in such a way.
  3. Something made up, an invention.
  4. Digestion (of food etc.).
  5. The act of digesting in the mind; rumination.
  6. Abatement of a morbid process, such as fever, and return to a normal condition.
  7. The act of perfecting or maturing.

conic

noun
  1. A conic section.
adjective
  1. Of or relating to a cone or cones.
  2. Shaped like a cone.
  3. Describing a map projection in which meridians are mapped to equally spaced lines radiating out from the apex and parallels of latitude are mapped to circular arcs centred on the apex.

connotation

noun
  1. A meaning of a word or phrase that is suggested or implied, as opposed to a denotation, or literal meaning. A characteristic of words or phrases, or of the contexts that words and phrases are used in.
  2. The attribute or aggregate of attributes connoted by a term, contrasted with denotation.

contain

verb
  1. To hold inside.
  2. To include as a part.
  3. To put constraint upon; to restrain; to confine; to keep within bounds.
  4. (of a set etc.) To have as an element or subset.
  5. To restrain desire; to live in continence or chastity.

icon

noun
  1. An image, symbol, picture, or other representation usually as an object of religious devotion.
  2. (especially Eastern Christianity) A type of religious painting portraying a saint or scene from Scripture, often done on wooden panels.
  3. (by extension) A person or thing that is the best example of a certain profession or some doing.
  4. A small picture that represents something (such as an icon on a computer screen which when clicked performs some function.)
  5. A word, character, or sign whose form reflects and is determined by the referent; onomatopoeic words are necessarily all icons.

iconic

adjective
  1. Relating to, or having the characteristics of, an icon.
  2. Famously and distinctively representative of its type.
  3. Representing something; symbolic.

inaction

noun
  1. Lack of action or activity or labor

incant

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

incantation

noun
  1. The act or process of using formulas and/or usually rhyming words, sung or spoken, with occult ceremonies, for the purpose of raising spirits, producing enchantment, or creating other magical results.
  2. A formula of words used as above.
  3. Any esoteric command or procedure.

initiation

noun
  1. The act of initiating, or the process of being initiated or introduced
  2. The form or ceremony by which a person is introduced into any society; mode of entrance into an organized body; especially, the rite of admission into a secret society or order.
  3. The first step of transcription or of transduction.

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.

into

preposition
  1. To or towards the inside of.
  2. To or towards the region of.
  3. Against, especially with force or violence.
  4. Indicates transition into another form or substance.
  5. After the start of.
  6. Interested in or attracted to.
  7. Expressing the operation of multiplication.
  8. Expressing the operation of division, with the denominator given first. Usually with "goes".
  9. Investigating the subject (of).

intonation

noun
  1. The rise and fall of the voice in speaking.
  2. The act of sounding the tones of the musical scale.
  3. Singing or playing in good tune or otherwise.
  4. Reciting in a musical prolonged tone; intonating or singing of the opening phrase of a plain-chant, psalm, or canticle by a single voice, as of a priest.
  5. A thundering; thunder.

intoxicant

noun
  1. Something which intoxicates; an intoxicating agent
  2. Poison.
adjective
  1. Intoxicating.

intoxication

noun
  1. A poisoning, as by a spirituous or a narcotic substance.
  2. The state of being intoxicated or drunk.
  3. The act of intoxicating or making drunk.
  4. A high excitement of mind; an elation which rises to enthusiasm, frenzy, or madness.

ionic

adjective
  1. Of, relating to, or containing ions

iota

noun
  1. The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet.
  2. A jot; a very small, insignificant quantity.

nation

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.
  2. A sovereign state.
  3. An association of students based on its members' birthplace or ethnicity.
  4. A great number; a great deal.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Damnation.
adverb
  1. Extremely, very.

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.

nontoxic

adjective
  1. Not toxic; not poisonous.

notation

noun
  1. The act, process, method, or an instance of representing by a system or set of marks, signs, figures, or characters.
  2. A system of characters, symbols, or abbreviated expressions used in an art or science or in mathematics or logic to express technical facts or quantities.
  3. A specific note or piece of information written in such a notation.

notion

noun
  1. Mental apprehension of whatever may be known, thought, or imagined; idea, concept.
  2. A sentiment; an opinion.
  3. Sense; mind.
  4. An invention; an ingenious device; a knickknack.
  5. Any small article used in sewing and haberdashery, either for attachment to garments or as a tool, such as a button, zipper, or thimble.
  6. Inclination; intention; disposition.

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.

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.

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.

tactician

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

taint

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food
  2. A mark of disgrace, especially on one's character; blemish
  3. Tincture; hue; colour
  4. Infection; corruption; deprivation
  5. A marker indicating that a variable is unsafe and should be subjected to additional security checks.
verb
  1. To contaminate or corrupt (something) with an external agent, either physically or morally.
  2. To spoil (food) by contamination.
  3. To be infected or corrupted; to be touched by something corrupting.
  4. To be affected with incipient putrefaction.
  5. To mark (a variable) as unsafe, so that operations involving it are subject to additional security checks.
  6. To invalidate (a share capital account) by transferring profits into it.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A thrust with a lance, which fails of its intended effect.
  2. An injury done to a lance in an encounter, without its being broken; also, a breaking of a lance in an encounter in a dishonorable or unscientific manner.
verb
  1. To damage, as a lance, without breaking it; also, to break, as a lance, but usually in an unknightly or unscientific manner.
  2. To hit or touch lightly, in tilting.
  3. To thrust ineffectually with a lance.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. The perineum.

tannic

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

tannin

noun
  1. Tannic acid or any of its derivatives.

taxation

noun
  1. The act of imposing taxes and the fact of being taxed.
  2. A particular system of taxing people or companies
  3. The revenue gained from taxes

taxi

noun
  1. A vehicle that may be hired for single journeys by members of the public, driven by a taxi driver.
  2. A share taxi.
verb
  1. To move an aircraft on the ground under its own power.
  2. To travel by taxicab.

tinct

No Definition Found.

tint

noun
  1. A slight coloring.
  2. A pale or faint tinge of any color; especially, a variation of a color obtained by adding white (contrast shade)
  3. A color considered with reference to other very similar colors.
  4. A shaded effect in engraving, produced by the juxtaposition of many fine parallel lines.
verb
  1. To shade, to color.

titan

noun
  1. Something or someone of very large stature, greatness, or godliness.

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

tonic

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A substance with medicinal properties intended to restore or invigorate.
  2. Tonic water.
  3. (Massachusetts) Any of various carbonated, non-alcoholic beverages; soda pop.
  4. Someone or something that revitalises or reinvigorates.
adjective
  1. Pertaining to tension, especially of muscles.
  2. Restorative, curative or invigorating.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The first note of a diatonic scale; the keynote.
  2. The triad built on the tonic note.
  3. A tonic element or letter; a vowel or a diphthong.
adjective
  1. Pertaining to or based upon the first note of a diatonic scale.
  2. Pertaining to the accent or stress in a word or in speech.
  3. Of or relating to tones or sounds; specifically being or relating to a speech sound made with tone unmixed and undimmed by obstruction, i.e. a vowel or diphthong.

toxic

adjective
  1. Having a chemical nature that is harmful to health or lethal if consumed or otherwise entering into the body in sufficient quantities.
  2. Appearing grossly unwell; characterised by serious, potentially life-threatening compromise in the respiratory, circulatory or other body systems.
  3. Severely negative or harmful.
  4. (of a person) Hateful or strongly antipathetic.

toxin

noun
  1. A toxic or poisonous substance produced by the biological processes of biological organisms.