Sunday, July 28, 2024

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: 96

Number of Answers: 28

Points Needed for Genius: 67

Genius requires between 11 and 25 words. You need at least a 6-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangram, you need 83% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangram, you only need 64% 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 96 was in the 12th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this low was on July 24, 2024.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 28 possible answers rank it in the 21st percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were fewer answers than this was on July 24, 2024.
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 July 24, 2024.

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 176
  • loll 170
  • toot 159
  • naan 158
  • nana 158
  • lilt 128
  • till 128
  • tilt 128
  • tint 118
  • mama 113
  • mamma 113
  • nene 107
  • acacia 106
  • acai 106
  • anal 105
  • onto 103
  • toon 103
  • anon 101
  • boob 101
  • booboo 101
  • onion 100
  • lull 99
  • lulu 99
  • olio 99
  • papa 97
  • call 96
  • calla 96
  • poop 94
  • allay 93
  • ally 93
  • baba 93
  • dodo 93
  • mitt 93
  • tatty 93
  • ratatat 91
  • tact 91
  • tart 91
  • tartar 91
  • attar 90
  • nanny 90
  • cocci 89
  • mono 89
  • moon 89
  • radar 89
  • tutu 89
  • loon 88
  • array 87
  • epee 87
  • peep 87
  • tattoo 87


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 88,503 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,169 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*:

  • amia
  • amir
  • arvo
  • faff
  • faro
  • fiar
  • foram
  • maar
  • maffia
  • mair
  • mara
  • maria
  • marram
  • moira
  • moirai
  • mora
  • offa
  • orra
  • raff
  • raia
  • rami
  • ramiform
  • vair
  • vara
  • varia
  • varoom
  • varroa
  • viva
  • vivaria

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

afar

adverb
  1. At, to, or from a great distance; far away.

affair

noun
  1. (often in the plural) Something which is done or is to be done; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public.
  2. Any proceeding or action which it is wished to refer to or characterize vaguely.
  3. An action or engagement not of sufficient magnitude to be called a battle.
  4. A material object (vaguely designated).
  5. An adulterous relationship. (from affaire de cœur).
  6. A romantic relationship with someone who is not one's regular partner (boyfriend, girlfriend).
  7. A person with whom someone has an adulterous relationship.
  8. A party or social gathering, especially of a formal nature.
  9. The (male or female) genitals.

affirm

verb
  1. To agree, verify or concur; to answer positively.
  2. To assert positively; to tell with confidence; to aver; to maintain as true.
  3. To support or encourage.
  4. To make firm; to confirm, or ratify; especially to assert or confirm, as a judgment, decree, or order, brought before an appellate court for review.

afro

noun
  1. A hairstyle characterized by a tightly curled locks and a rounded shape.

ammo

noun
  1. Ammunition.
verb
  1. To load up on ammunition.

aria

noun
  1. A musical piece written typically for a solo voice with orchestral accompaniment in an opera or cantata.

armor

noun
  1. A protective layer over a body, vehicle, or other object intended to deflect or diffuse damaging forces.
  2. A natural form of this kind of protection on an animal's body.
  3. Metal plate, protecting a ship, military vehicle, or aircraft.
  4. A tank, or other heavy mobile assault vehicle.
  5. A military formation consisting primarily of tanks or other armoured fighting vehicles, collectively.
  6. The naturally occurring surface of pebbles, rocks or boulders that line the bed of a waterway or beach and provide protection against erosion.
verb
  1. To equip something with armor or a protective coating or hardening.
  2. To provide something with an analogous form of protection.

aroma

noun
  1. A smell; especially a pleasant spicy or fragrant one.

fair

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Something which is fair (in various senses of the adjective).
  2. A woman, a member of the ‘fair sex’; also as a collective singular, women.
  3. Fairness, beauty.
  4. A fair woman; a sweetheart.
  5. Good fortune; good luck.
verb
  1. To smoothen or even a surface (especially a connection or junction on a surface).
  2. To bring into perfect alignment (especially about rivet holes when connecting structural members).
  3. To construct or design a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline or reduce air drag or water resistance.
  4. To make fair or beautiful.
adjective
  1. Beautiful, of a pleasing appearance, with a pure and fresh quality.
  2. Unblemished (figuratively or literally); clean and pure; innocent.
  3. Light in color, pale, particularly with regard to skin tone but also referring to blond hair.
  4. Just, equitable.
  5. Adequate, reasonable, or decent.
  6. (of a wind) Favorable to a ship's course.
  7. Not overcast; cloudless; clear; pleasant; propitious; said of the sky, weather, or wind, etc.
  8. Free from obstacles or hindrances; unobstructed; unencumbered; open; direct; said of a road, passage, etc.
  9. Without sudden change of direction or curvature; smooth; flowing; said of the figure of a vessel, and of surfaces, water lines, and other lines.
  10. Between the baselines.
  11. (of a catch) Taken direct from an opponent's foot, without the ball touching the ground or another player.
  12. (of a ball delivered by the bowler) Not a no-ball.
  13. Of a coin or die, having equal chance of landing on any side, unbiased.
adverb
  1. Clearly, openly, frankly, civilly, honestly, favorably, auspiciously, agreeably

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A community gathering to celebrate and exhibit local achievements.
  2. An event for public entertainment and trade, a market.
  3. An event for professionals in a trade to learn of new products and do business, a trade fair.
  4. A travelling amusement park (called a funfair in British English and a (travelling) carnival in US English).

farm

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A place where agricultural and similar activities take place, especially the growing of crops or the raising of livestock.
  2. A tract of land held on lease for the purpose of cultivation.
  3. (usually in combination) A location used for an industrial purpose, having many similar structures
  4. A group of coordinated servers.
  5. Food; provisions; a meal.
  6. A banquet; feast.
  7. A fixed yearly amount (food, provisions, money, etc.) payable as rent or tax.
  8. A fixed yearly sum accepted from a person as a composition for taxes or other moneys which he is empowered to collect; also, a fixed charge imposed on a town, county, etc., in respect of a tax or taxes to be collected within its limits.
  9. The letting-out of public revenue to a ‘farmer’; the privilege of farming a tax or taxes.
  10. The body of farmers of public revenues.
  11. The condition of being let at a fixed rent; lease; a lease.
verb
  1. To work on a farm, especially in the growing and harvesting of crops.
  2. To devote (land) to farming.
  3. To grow (a particular crop).
  4. To give up to another, as an estate, a business, the revenue, etc., on condition of receiving in return a percentage of what it yields; to farm out.
  5. To lease or let for an equivalent, e.g. land for a rent; to yield the use of to proceeds.
  6. To take at a certain rent or rate.
  7. To engage in grinding (repetitive activity) in a particular area or against specific enemies for a particular drop or item.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To cleanse; clean out; put in order; empty; empty out

fava

noun
  1. A fava bean; a bean (seed or seed pod) of the plant Vicia faba or the plant itself.

favor

noun
  1. A kind or helpful deed; an instance of voluntarily assisting (someone).
  2. Goodwill; benevolent regard.
  3. A small gift; a party favor.
  4. Mildness or mitigation of punishment; lenity.
  5. The object of regard; person or thing favoured.
  6. Appearance; look; countenance; face.
  7. Partiality; bias.
  8. A letter, a written communication.
  9. Anything worn publicly as a pledge of a woman's favor.
  10. (in the plural) Lovelocks.
verb
  1. To look upon fondly; to prefer.
  2. To encourage, conduce to
  3. To do a favor [noun sense 1] for; to show beneficence toward.
  4. To treat with care.
  5. (including) To resemble, to look like (another person).

foam

noun
  1. A substance composed of a large collection of bubbles or their solidified remains.
  2. A substance formed by trapping pockets of gas in a liquid or solid.
  3. (by extension) Sea foam; the sea.
  4. Fury.
verb
  1. To form or emit foam.
  2. To spew saliva as foam, to foam at the mouth.

fora

noun
  1. A place for discussion.
  2. A gathering for the purpose of discussion.
  3. A form of discussion involving a panel of presenters and often participation by members of the audience.
  4. An Internet message board where users can post messages regarding one or more topics of discussion.
  5. A square or marketplace in a Roman town, used for public business and commerce.

friar

noun
  1. A member of a mendicant Christian order such as the Augustinians, Carmelites (white friars), Franciscans (grey friars) or the Dominicans (black friars).
  2. A white or pale patch on a printed page.
  3. An American fish, the silverside.

imam

noun
  1. (usually capitalized) A Shi'ite Muslim leader.
  2. One who leads the salat prayers in a mosque.

mafia

noun
  1. A hierarchically structured secret organisation engaged in illegal activities like distribution of narcotics, gambling and extortion.
  2. A crime syndicate.
  3. A trusted group of associates, as of a political leader.
  4. (in compound terms such as "moral mafia") An entity which attempts to control a specified arena.

maim

noun
  1. A serious wound
verb
  1. To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body.

mama

noun
  1. (hypocoristic, usually childish) Mother, female parent.

mamma

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat; a breast; an udder. (plural: mammae)
  2. An accessory cloud like a mammary in appearance, which can form on the underside of most cloud genera

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (hypocoristic, usually childish) Mother, female parent.

momma

noun
  1. Mother
  2. A voluptuous woman.
  3. One's wife or girlfriend.

raffia

noun
  1. A fibrous material used for tying plants, originating from the leaves of the raffia palm tree (genus Raphia).

riffraff

noun
  1. The rabble; crowds; the common people.
  2. Sweepings; refuse.

roam

verb
  1. To wander or travel freely and with no specific destination.
  2. To use a network or service from different locations or devices.
  3. To transmit (resources) between different locations or devices, to allow comparable usage from any of them.
  4. To range or wander over.

roar

noun
  1. A long, loud, deep shout, as of rage or laughter, made with the mouth wide open.
  2. The cry of the lion.
  3. The deep cry of the bull.
  4. A loud resounding noise.
  5. A show of strength or character.
verb
  1. To make a loud, deep cry, especially from pain, anger, or other strong emotion.
  2. To laugh in a particularly loud manner.
  3. Of animals (especially the lion), to make a loud deep noise.
  4. Generally, of inanimate objects etc., to make a loud resounding noise.
  5. To proceed vigorously.
  6. To cry aloud; to proclaim loudly.
  7. To be boisterous; to be disorderly.
  8. To make a loud noise in breathing, as horses do when they have a certain disease.
  9. (North Midlands) to cry

variform

adjective
  1. That can take various forms.

marm

noun
  1. Madam; a polite term of address for a lady.

farro

noun
  1. Emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum).