Sunday, May 24, 2026

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: 131

Number of Answers: 26

Points Needed for Genius: 92

Genius requires between 12 and 23 words. You need at least an 8-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangram, you need 81% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangram, you only need 66% 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 131 was in the 29th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this low was on May 18, 2026.
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 13th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were fewer answers than this was on May 18, 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 an 8-letter word for genius.
The last time this happened was on May 20, 2026.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.9.
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 240
  • loll 221
  • toot 215
  • nana 200
  • naan 200
  • nene 158
  • tilt 156
  • till 156
  • lilt 156
  • mamma 152
  • mama 152
  • tint 149
  • onion 146
  • toon 145
  • onto 145
  • acai 143
  • acacia 143
  • anon 135
  • anal 134
  • olio 132
  • papa 127
  • tact 126
  • baba 126
  • lulu 125
  • lull 125
  • dodo 124
  • poop 120
  • booboo 120
  • boob 120
  • mitt 119
  • moon 118
  • mono 118
  • loon 118
  • cocci 118
  • calla 118
  • call 118
  • tattoo 116
  • tartar 116
  • tart 116
  • ratatat 116
  • attar 115
  • tutu 114
  • ally 113
  • allay 113
  • momma 111
  • aria 111
  • ammo 111
  • tatty 110
  • cancan 110
  • roar 109


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 118,229 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,995 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*:

  • gingko
  • gink
  • gook
  • gunking
  • ikon
  • kinin
  • kino
  • kitting
  • knout
  • knouting
  • kongoni
  • konk
  • konking
  • koto

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

ginkgo

noun
  1. Ginkgo biloba, a tree native to China with small, fan-shaped leaves and edible seeds.
  2. The seed of the ginkgo tree.

gunk

noun
  1. Dirt or grime; any vague or unknown substance
  2. A subculture of 21st century American males, combining elements of modern gothic culture with punk rock.
  3. A member of the gunk subculture.
verb
  1. To soil or make dirty

inking

verb
  1. To apply ink to; to cover or smear with ink.
  2. To sign (a contract or similar document).
  3. To apply a tattoo to (someone).
  4. (of a squid or octopus) to eject ink (sense 3)
noun
  1. An application of ink.
  2. Work done by an inker, one kind of commercial artist
  3. Inputting text or drawings into a computer, tablet, or similar apparatus using a stylus.
  4. A defensive activity where ink is released by squids, cuttlefish, etc.

king

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy. If it's an absolute monarchy, then he is the supreme ruler of his nation.
  2. A powerful or majorly influential person.
  3. Something that has a preeminent position.
  4. A component of certain games.
  5. A king skin.
  6. A male dragonfly; a drake.
  7. A king-sized bed.
  8. A male person.
verb
  1. To crown king, to make (a person) king.
  2. To rule over as king.
  3. To perform the duties of a king.
  4. To assume or pretend preeminence (over); to lord it over.
  5. To promote a piece of draughts/checkers that has traversed the board to the opposite side, that piece subsequently being permitted to move backwards as well as forwards.
  6. To dress and perform as a drag king.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A sounding stone, a Chinese musical instrument.

kinging

verb
  1. To crown king, to make (a person) king.
  2. To rule over as king.
  3. To perform the duties of a king.
  4. To assume or pretend preeminence (over); to lord it over.
  5. To promote a piece of draughts/checkers that has traversed the board to the opposite side, that piece subsequently being permitted to move backwards as well as forwards.
  6. To dress and perform as a drag king.

kink

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A convulsive fit of coughing or laughter; a sonorous indraft of breath; a whoop; a gasp of breath caused by laughing, coughing, or crying.
verb
  1. To laugh loudly.
  2. To gasp for breath as in a severe fit of coughing.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A tight curl, twist, or bend in a length of thin material, hair etc.
  2. A difficulty or flaw that is likely to impede operation, as in a plan or system.
  3. An unreasonable notion; a crotchet; a whim; a caprice.
  4. Peculiarity or deviation in sexual behaviour or taste.
  5. A positive 1-soliton solution to the Sine–Gordon equation
verb
  1. To form a kink or twist.
  2. To be formed into a kink or twist.

kinking

verb
  1. To laugh loudly.
  2. To gasp for breath as in a severe fit of coughing.
verb
  1. To form a kink or twist.
  2. To be formed into a kink or twist.

kiting

noun
  1. The act of writing a check on an account with insufficient funds, expecting that funds will become available by the time the check clears.
  2. The act of tampering with a medical prescription, increasing the number of pills or other item.

knit

noun
  1. A knitted garment.
  2. A session of knitting.
verb
  1. To turn thread or yarn into a piece of fabric by forming loops that are pulled through each other. This can be done by hand with needles or by machine.
  2. To join closely and firmly together.
  3. To become closely and firmly joined; become compacted.
  4. To grow together.
  5. To combine from various elements.
  6. Of bones: to heal following a fracture.
  7. To form into a knot, or into knots; to tie together, as cord; to fasten by tying.
  8. To draw together; to contract into wrinkles.

knitting

verb
  1. To turn thread or yarn into a piece of fabric by forming loops that are pulled through each other. This can be done by hand with needles or by machine.
  2. To join closely and firmly together.
  3. To become closely and firmly joined; become compacted.
  4. To grow together.
  5. To combine from various elements.
  6. Of bones: to heal following a fracture.
  7. To form into a knot, or into knots; to tie together, as cord; to fasten by tying.
  8. To draw together; to contract into wrinkles.
noun
  1. The action of the verb to knit; the process of producing knitted material.
  2. Material that has been, or is being knitted.
  3. Overhead electrification wires, OHLE

knot

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A looping of a piece of string or of any other long, flexible material that cannot be untangled without passing one or both ends of the material through its loops.
  2. (of hair, etc) A tangled clump.
  3. A maze-like pattern.
  4. A non-self-intersecting closed curve in (e.g., three-dimensional) space that is an abstraction of a knot (in sense 1 above).
  5. A difficult situation.
  6. The whorl left in lumber by the base of a branch growing out of the tree's trunk.
  7. Local swelling in a tissue area, especially skin, often due to injury.
  8. A protuberant joint in a plant.
  9. Any knob, lump, swelling, or protuberance.
  10. The swelling of the bulbus glandis in members of the dog family, Canidae
  11. The point on which the action of a story depends; the gist of a matter.
  12. A node.
  13. A kind of epaulet; a shoulder knot.
  14. A group of people or things.
  15. A bond of union; a connection; a tie.
  16. A unit of speed, equal to one nautical mile per hour. (From the practice of counting the number of knots in the log-line (as it is paid out) in a standard time. Traditionally spaced at one every 1/120 of a mile.)
  17. A nautical mile
  18. The bulbus glandis
  19. In omegaverse fiction, a bulbus glandis-like structure on the penis of a male alpha, which ties him to an omega during intercourse.
verb
  1. To form into a knot; to tie with a knot or knots.
  2. To form wrinkles in the forehead, as a sign of concentration, concern, surprise, etc.
  3. To unite closely; to knit together.
  4. To entangle or perplex; to puzzle.
  5. To form knots.
  6. To knit knots for a fringe.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. One of a variety of shore birds; the red-breasted sandpiper (variously Calidris canutus or Tringa canutus).

knotting

verb
  1. To form into a knot; to tie with a knot or knots.
  2. To form wrinkles in the forehead, as a sign of concentration, concern, surprise, etc.
  3. To unite closely; to knit together.
  4. To entangle or perplex; to puzzle.
  5. To form knots.
  6. To knit knots for a fringe.
noun
  1. The formation of a knot.
  2. The swelling of the bulbus glandis.

kook

noun
  1. An eccentric, strange or crazy person.
  2. (kiteboarding, wakeboarding) A boardsport participant who lacks style or skill; a newbie who acts as if they are better at the sport than they are.

nook

noun
  1. A small corner formed by two walls; an alcove.
  2. A hidden or secluded spot; a secluded retreat.
  3. A recess, cove or hollow.
  4. An English unit of land area, originally 1/4 of a yardland but later 12 1/2 or 20 acres.
  5. A corner of a piece of land; an angled piece of land, especially one extending into other land.
verb
  1. To withdraw into a nook.
  2. To situate in a nook.

nuking

verb
  1. To use a nuclear weapon on a target.
  2. To destroy or erase completely.
  3. (by extension) To carry out a denial-of-service attack against (an IRC user).
  4. To expose to some form of radiation.
  5. To cook in a microwave oven.
  6. To over-analyze or overly despair over something.

oink

noun
  1. The sound made by a pig, or an imitation thereof.
verb
  1. Of a pig or in imitation thereof, to make its characteristic sound.
interjection
  1. Representing the sound made by a pig.
  2. Drawing attention to male chauvinism (from the term male chauvinist pig).

oinking

verb
  1. Of a pig or in imitation thereof, to make its characteristic sound.

tiki

noun
  1. Carved talisman in humanoid form, common to the cultures of the Pacific Ocean.

toking

verb
  1. To give a gratuity to.
verb
  1. To smoke marijuana.
  2. To inhale a puff of marijuana

took

verb
  1. To get into one's hands, possession or control, with or without force.
  2. To receive or accept (something) (especially something given or bestowed, awarded, etc).
  3. To remove.
  4. To have sex with.
  5. To defeat (someone or something) in a fight.
  6. To grasp or grip.
  7. To select or choose; to pick.
  8. To adopt (select) as one's own.
  9. To carry or lead (something or someone).
  10. To use as a means of transportation.
  11. To visit; to include in a course of travel.
  12. To obtain for use by payment or lease.
  13. To consume.
  14. To experience, undergo, or endure.
  15. To cause to change to a specified state or condition.
  16. To regard in a specified way.
  17. To conclude or form (a decision or an opinion) in the mind.
  18. To understand (especially in a specified way).
  19. To accept or be given (rightly or wrongly); assume (especially as if by right).
  20. To believe, to accept the statements of.
  21. To assume or suppose; to reckon; to regard or consider.
  22. To draw, derive, or deduce (a meaning from something).
  23. To derive (as a title); to obtain from a source.
  24. To catch or contract (an illness, etc).
  25. To come upon or catch (in a particular state or situation).
  26. To captivate or charm; to gain or secure the interest or affection of.
  27. (of a material) To absorb or be impregnated by (dye, ink, etc); to be susceptible to being treated by (polish, etc).
  28. (of a ship) To let in (water).
  29. To require.
  30. To proceed to fill.
  31. To fill, to use up (time or space).
  32. To avail oneself of.
  33. To practice; perform; execute; carry out; do.
  34. To assume or perform (a form or role).
  35. To bind oneself by.
  36. To move into.
  37. To go into, through, or along.
  38. To have and use one's recourse to.
  39. To ascertain or determine by measurement, examination or inquiry.
  40. To write down; to get in, or as if in, writing.
  41. To make (a photograph, film, or other reproduction of something).
  42. To take a picture, photograph, etc of (a person, scene, etc).
  43. To obtain money from, especially by swindling.
  44. (now chiefly by enrolling in a class or course) To apply oneself to the study of.
  45. To deal with.
  46. To consider in a particular way, or to consider as an example.
  47. To decline to swing at (a pitched ball); to refrain from hitting at, and allow to pass.
  48. To accept as an input to a relation.
  49. To get or accept (something) into one's possession.
  50. To engage, take hold or have effect.
  51. To become; to be affected in a specified way.
  52. (possibly obsolete) To be able to be accurately or beautifully photographed.
  53. An intensifier.
  54. To deliver, bring, give (something) to (someone).
  55. (obsolete outside dialectal and slang) To give or deliver (a blow, to someone); to strike or hit.

unkink

verb
  1. To remove the kinks from.

unkinking

verb
  1. To remove the kinks from.

unknit

verb
  1. To unravel.
  2. To undo knitted stitches by reversing the knitting motion.

unknitting

verb
  1. To unravel.
  2. To undo knitted stitches by reversing the knitting motion.

unknot

noun
  1. In knot theory, a loop that is not knotted.
verb
  1. To unfasten (a knot).

unknotting

verb
  1. To unfasten (a knot).
noun
  1. The act of untying a knot.