Tuesday, May 26, 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: 187

Number of Answers: 46

Points Needed for Genius: 131

Genius requires between 20 and 40 words. You need at least a 6-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 187 was in the 57th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on May 25, 2026.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 46 possible answers rank it in the 65th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on May 23, 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 6-letter word for genius.
The last time this happened was on May 14, 2026.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.2.
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 150
  • 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
  • mitt 120
  • booboo 120
  • boob 120
  • moon 118
  • mono 118
  • loon 118
  • cocci 118
  • calla 118
  • call 118
  • tartar 117
  • tart 117
  • ratatat 117
  • tattoo 116
  • attar 116
  • 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 118,318 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*:

  • abbe
  • abele
  • abelia
  • ackee
  • aecia
  • aecial
  • akebia
  • akee
  • akela
  • alae
  • alec
  • alee
  • alible
  • alkie
  • allee
  • allelic
  • alliable
  • baccae
  • bailable
  • bailee
  • bailie
  • beaklike
  • beal
  • beebee
  • beelike
  • belike
  • belleek
  • bibe
  • biblike
  • bice
  • bikie
  • billie
  • blae
  • bleb
  • caeca
  • caecal
  • calicle
  • callee
  • ceca
  • cecal
  • ceiba
  • ceil
  • ceili
  • cella
  • cellae
  • cicale
  • cilice
  • cleek
  • eellike
  • ekka
  • icelike
  • ilea
  • ileac
  • ileal
  • kebbie
  • keck
  • keckle
  • keek
  • kibbe
  • kibe
  • kibei
  • kickable
  • kike
  • killable
  • killie
  • labelable
  • labella
  • lacelike
  • lakelike
  • leal
  • leke
  • libellee

*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.

alike

adjective
  1. Having resemblance or similitude; similar; without difference.
adverb
  1. In the same manner, form, or degree; in common; equally.

allele

noun
  1. One of a number of alternative forms of the same gene occupying a given position, or locus, on a chromosome.

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.

bake

noun
  1. The act of cooking food by baking.
  2. Any of various baked dishes resembling casserole.
  3. A social event at which food (such as seafood) is baked, or at which baked food is served.
  4. (Barbadian, sometimes US and UK) A small, flat (or ball-shaped) cake of dough eaten in Barbados and sometimes elsewhere, similar in appearance and ingredients to a pancake but fried (or in some places sometimes roasted).
  5. Any item that is baked.
verb
  1. (with person as subject) To cook (something) in an oven.
  2. (with baked thing as subject) To be cooked in an oven.
  3. To be warmed to drying and hardening.
  4. To dry by heat.
  5. To be hot.
  6. To cause to be hot.
  7. To smoke marijuana.
  8. To harden by cold.
  9. To fix (lighting, reflections, etc.) as part of the texture of an object to improve rendering performance.
  10. (with "in" or "into") To incorporate into something greater.

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.

beak

noun
  1. Anatomical uses.
  2. Figurative uses.
  3. Colloquial uses.
verb
  1. Strike with the beak.
  2. Seize with the beak.
  3. To play truant.

beck

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A stream or small river.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A significant nod, or motion of the head or hand, especially as a call or command.
verb
  1. To nod or motion with the head.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A vat.

Etymology 4

noun
  1. Anatomical uses.
  2. Figurative uses.
  3. Colloquial uses.

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.

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.

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.

bike

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A vehicle that has two wheels, one behind the other, a steering handle, and a saddle seat or seats and is usually propelled by the action of a rider’s feet upon pedals.
  2. A traveling block used on a cable in skidding logs.
  3. The best possible hand in lowball.
  4. A motorbike.
  5. (usually in compounds specifying a context) a slut; a promiscuous woman
verb
  1. To ride a bike.
  2. To travel by bike.
  3. To transport by bicycle
noun
  1. A motorcycle.
  2. A small and light motorcycle.
noun
  1. A local woman who is sexually promiscuous.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A hive of bees, or a nest of wasps, hornets, or ants.
  2. (by extension, collective) A crowd of people.

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.

billable

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

bleak

Etymology 1

adjective
  1. Without color; pale; pallid.
  2. Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds.
  3. Unhappy; cheerless; miserable; emotionally desolate.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A small European river fish (Alburnus alburnus), of the family Cyprinidae.

cabbie

noun
  1. A cabdriver, someone who drives a taxi.

cable

noun
  1. (material) A long object used to make a physical connection.
  2. (communications) A system for transmitting television or Internet services over a network of coaxial or fibreoptic cables.
  3. A telegram, notably when sent by (submarine) telegraph cable.
  4. A unit of length equal to one tenth of a nautical mile.
  5. (unit, chiefly nautical) 100 fathoms, 600 imperial feet, approximately 185 m.
  6. The currency pair British Pound against United States Dollar.
  7. A moulding, shaft of a column, or any other member of convex, rounded section, made to resemble the spiral twist of a rope.
  8. A textural pattern achieved by passing groups of stitches over one another.
verb
  1. To provide with cable(s)
  2. To fasten (as if) with cable(s)
  3. To wrap wires to form a cable
  4. To send a telegram by cable
  5. To communicate by cable
  6. To ornament with cabling.
  7. To create cable stitches.

cackle

noun
  1. The cry of a hen or goose, especially when laying an egg.
  2. A laugh resembling the cry of a hen or goose.
  3. Futile or excessively noisy talk.
  4. A group of hyenas.
verb
  1. To make a sharp, broken noise or cry, as a hen or goose does.
  2. To laugh with a broken sound similar to a hen's cry.
  3. To talk in a silly manner; to prattle.

cake

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A rich, sweet dessert food, typically made of flour, sugar and eggs and baked in an oven, and often covered in icing.
  2. A small mass of baked dough, especially a thin loaf from unleavened dough.
  3. A thin wafer-shaped mass of fried batter; a griddlecake or pancake.
  4. A block of any of various dense materials.
  5. A trivially easy task or responsibility; from a piece of cake.
  6. Money.
  7. Used to describe the doctrine of having one's cake and eating it too.
  8. A buttock, especially one that is exceptionally plump.
verb
  1. Coat (something) with a crust of solid material.
  2. To form into a cake, or mass.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To cackle like a goose.

callable

noun
  1. An object of a type that can be called, such as a function.
  2. A callable bond.
adjective
  1. That can be called.
  2. That may be redeemed by its holder before it matures.

celeb

noun
  1. A celebrity; a famous person.

celiac

noun
  1. Someone who has celiac disease.
adjective
  1. Of, pertaining to or located within the abdomen or abdominal cavity.
  2. Of or pertaining to celiac disease.

cell

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A single-room dwelling for a hermit.
  2. A small monastery or nunnery dependent on a larger religious establishment.
  3. A small room in a monastery or nunnery accommodating one person.
  4. A room in a prison or jail for one or more inmates.
  5. Each of the small hexagonal compartments in a honeycomb.
  6. Any of various chambers in a tissue or organism having specific functions.
  7. The discal cell of the wing of a lepidopteran insect.
  8. Specifically, any of the supposed compartments of the brain, formerly thought to be the source of specific mental capacities, knowledge, or memories.
  9. A section or compartment of a larger structure.
  10. Any small dwelling; a remote nook, a den.
  11. A device which stores electrical power; used either singly or together in batteries; the basic unit of a battery.
  12. The basic unit of a living organism, consisting of a quantity of protoplasm surrounded by a cell membrane, which is able to synthesize proteins and replicate itself.
  13. A small thunderstorm, caused by convection, that forms ahead of a storm front.
  14. The minimal unit of a cellular automaton that can change state and has an associated behavior.
  15. In FreeCell-type games, a space where one card can be placed.
  16. A small group of people forming part of a larger organization, often an outlawed one.
  17. (communication) A short, fixed-length packet as in asynchronous transfer mode.
  18. (communication) A region of radio reception that is a part of a larger radio network.
  19. A three-dimensional facet of a polytope.
  20. The unit in a statistical array (a spreadsheet, for example) where a row and a column intersect.
  21. The space between the ribs of a vaulted roof.
  22. A cella.
  23. An area of an insect wing bounded by veins
verb
  1. To place or enclose in a cell.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A cellular phone.

celli

No Definition Found.

clickable

noun
  1. Any element that can be clicked by the user.
adjective
  1. (entertainment) That establishes rapport with an audience.
  2. (of a rigid plastic foam) That retains its shape after being cut by a blade or punched by a die.
  3. Causing some action to occur when clicked with a mouse or other pointing device.

icicle

noun
  1. A drooping, tapering shape of ice.

kale

noun
  1. An edible plant, similar to cabbage, with curled leaves that do not form a dense head (Brassica oleracea var. acephala)
  2. Any of several cabbage-like food plants that are kinds of Brassica oleracea.
  3. Broth containing kale as a chief ingredient.
  4. Money.

kebab

noun
  1. A dish of pieces of meat, fish, or vegetables roasted on a skewer or spit, especially a doner kebab.
  2. A shish kebab or any other food on a skewer.
  3. The outward growing portions of a shish kebab structure.
  4. A Muslim, usually of southern European, Middle Eastern, or North African descent.
  5. The vulva.
verb
  1. To roast in the style of a kebab
  2. To stab or skewer

keel

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Red chalk; ruddle.
verb
  1. To mark with ruddle.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To put to death; to extinguish the life of.
  2. To render inoperative.
  3. To stop, cease or render void; to terminate.
  4. To amaze, exceed, stun or otherwise incapacitate.
  5. To cause great pain, discomfort or distress to.
  6. To produce feelings of dissatisfaction or revulsion in.
  7. To use up or to waste.
  8. To exert an overwhelming effect on.
  9. To overpower, overwhelm or defeat.
  10. To force a company out of business.
  11. To produce intense pain.
  12. To punish severely.
  13. To strike (a ball, etc.) with such force and placement as to make a shot that is impossible to defend against, usually winning a point.
  14. To cause (a ball, etc.) to be out of play, resulting in a stoppage of gameplay.
  15. To succeed with an audience, especially in comedy.
  16. To cause to assume the value zero.
  17. (IRC) To disconnect (a user) involuntarily from the network.
  18. To deadmelt.

kibble

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Something that has been kibbled, especially grain for use as animal feed.
verb
  1. To grind coarsely.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. An iron bucket used in mines for hoisting anything to the surface.

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

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.

lace

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread. Wp
  2. A cord or ribbon passed through eyelets in a shoe or garment, pulled tight and tied to fasten the shoe or garment firmly. Wp
  3. A snare or gin, especially one made of interwoven cords; a net.
  4. Spirits added to coffee or another beverage.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To fasten (something) with laces.
  2. To add alcohol, poison, a drug or anything else potentially harmful to (food or drink).
  3. To interweave items.
  4. To interweave the spokes of a bicycle wheel.
  5. To beat; to lash; to make stripes on.
  6. To adorn with narrow strips or braids of some decorative material.

lake

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A small stream of running water; a channel for water; a drain.
  2. A large, landlocked stretch of water.
  3. A large amount of liquid; as, a wine lake.
  4. A pit, or ditch

Etymology 2

noun
  1. An offering, sacrifice, gift.
  2. Play; sport; game; fun; glee.
verb
  1. To present an offering.
  2. To leap, jump, exert oneself, play.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A kind of fine, white linen.

Etymology 4

noun
  1. In dyeing and painting, an often fugitive crimson or vermillion pigment derived from an organic colorant (cochineal or madder, for example) and an inorganic, generally metallic mordant.
  2. In the composition of colors for use in products intended for human consumption, made by extending on a substratum of alumina, a salt prepared from one of the certified water-soluble straight colors.
verb
  1. To make lake-red.

leak

noun
  1. A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape.
  2. The entrance or escape of a fluid through a crack, fissure, or other aperture.
  3. A divulgation, or disclosure, of information previously held secret.
  4. The person through whom such divulgation, or disclosure, occurs.
  5. A loss of electricity through imperfect insulation, or the point where it occurs.
  6. The gradual loss of a system resource caused by failure to deallocate previously reserved portions.
  7. (especially with the verb "take") An act of urination.
verb
  1. To allow fluid or gas to pass through an opening that should be sealed.
  2. (of a fluid or gas) To pass through an opening that should be sealed.
  3. To disclose secret information surreptitiously or anonymously.
adjective
  1. Leaky.

leek

noun
  1. The vegetable Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum, having edible leaves and an onion-like bulb but with a milder flavour than the onion.
  2. Any of several species of Allium, broadly resembling the domesticated plant in appearance in the wild.

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.

lice

noun
  1. A small parasitic wingless insect of the order Psocodea.
  2. (not usually used in plural form) A contemptible person; one who is deceitful or causes harm.

likable

adjective
  1. Capable of being liked.
  2. (of a person) Having qualities tending to result in being liked; friendly, personable.

like

Etymology 1

noun
  1. (usually in the plural) Something that a person likes (prefers).
  2. An individual vote showing support for, or approval of, something posted on the Internet.
verb
  1. To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of.
  2. To please.
  3. To derive pleasure of, by or with someone or something.
  4. To prefer and maintain (an action) as a regular habit or activity.
  5. To have an appearance or expression; to look; to seem to be (in a specified condition).
  6. To come near; to avoid with difficulty; to escape narrowly.
  7. To find attractive; to prefer the company of; to have mild romantic feelings for.
  8. To liken; to compare.
  9. To show support for, or approval of, something posted on the Internet by marking it with a vote.
  10. (with 'would' and in certain other phrases) To want, desire. See also would like.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (sometimes as the likes of') Someone similar to a given person, or something similar to a given object; a comparative; a type; a sort.
  2. The stroke that equalizes the number of strokes played by the opposing player or side.
adjective
  1. Similar.
  2. Likely; probable.
adverb
  1. Likely.
  2. In a like or similar manner.
preposition
  1. Similar to, reminiscent of.
  2. Typical of
  3. Approximating
  4. In the manner of, similarly to.
  5. Such as
  6. As if there would be.
conjunction
  1. As, the way.
  2. As if; as though.
interjection
  1. Used to place emphasis upon a statement.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. To be likely.

likeable

adjective
  1. Capable of being liked.
  2. (of a person) Having qualities tending to result in being liked; friendly, personable.