The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

BCDILOA

Saturday, July 19, 2025

Words
54
Points
239
Genius
167
Pangrams
2

Official answers

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Pangrams highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • abaci

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • aboil

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • acacia

    noun — A shrub or tree of the tribe Acacieae.

    noun — (history) A roll or bag, filled with dust, borne by Byzantine emperors, as a memento of mortality. It is represented on medals.

    noun — The thickened or dried juice of several species in Acacieae, in particular Vachellia nilotica (syn. Acacia nilotica), the Egyptian acacia.

    noun — A false acacia; robinia tree, Robinia pseudoacacia.

    noun — Gum arabic; gum acacia.

    noun — Any of several related trees, such as the locust tree.

    Appeared in 23 recorded puzzles.

  • acai

    noun — The fruit of these trees, harvested for its juice.

    noun — Any of several South American palms, of the genus Euterpe, having a dark purple drupe.

    Appeared in 23 recorded puzzles.

  • acid

    noun — A sour substance.

    adjective — Sour, sharp, or biting to the taste; tart; having the taste of vinegar.

    noun — Any of several classes of compound having the following properties:

    noun — Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)

    adjective — Sour-tempered.

    adjective — Of or pertaining to an acid; acidic.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • acidic

    adjective — Having a pH less than 7, or being sour, or having the strength to neutralize alkalis, or turning a litmus paper red.

    adjective — Containing a high percentage of silica; opposed to basic.

    adjective — Of or relating to acid; having the character of an acid.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • adobo

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • aioli

    noun — A type of sauce, similar to mayonnaise, made from garlic, egg, lemon juice and olive oil.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • alibi

    noun — The plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove being in another place when the alleged act was committed

    verb — To provide an excuse for.

    verb — To provide an alibi for.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • baba

    noun — A kind of sponge cake soaked in rum-flavoured syrup.

    noun — (esp. among people of East European ancestry) A grandmother.

    noun — An old woman, especially a traditional old woman from an eastern European culture.

    noun — (esp. among people of Indian ancestry) A father.

    noun — (Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism) A holy man, a spiritual leader.

    noun — A baby, child.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • bacilli

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • bail

    noun — Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial.

    noun — Release from imprisonment on payment of such money.

    verb — To exit quickly.

    verb — To fail to meet a commitment.

    noun — A hoop, ring or handle (especially of a kettle or bucket).

    verb — To secure the release of an arrested person by providing bail.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • bald

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • ball

    noun — A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.

    noun — A round or ellipsoidal object.

    verb — To play basketball.

    noun — A very enjoyable time.

    verb — To form or wind into a ball.

    noun — A formal dance.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • ballad

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • baobab

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • biblical

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • bilabial

    adjective — Articulated with both lips.

    noun — A speech sound articulated with both lips.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • blab

    verb — To tell tales; to gossip without reserve or discretion.

    noun — Gossip; prattle.

    noun — One who blabs; a babbler; a telltale; a gossip or gossiper.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • boba

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • bola

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • cabal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • cabala

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • cacao

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • calico

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • call

    noun — A telephone conversation.

    verb — (heading) To use one's voice.

    noun — A decision or judgement.

    noun — The characteristic cry of a bird or other animal.

    noun — A cry or shout.

    noun — A short visit, usually for social purposes.

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • calla

    noun — The calla lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica.

    noun — A marsh plant native to cooler areas throughout the northern hemisphere, Calla palustris, having pale green flowers in a white spathe.

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • callaloo

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • ciao

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • cicada

    noun — Any of several insects in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with small eyes wide apart on the head and transparent well-veined wings.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • cilia

    noun — Hairs or similar protrusions along the margin of a plant organ.

    noun — A hairlike organelle projecting from a eukaryotic cell (such as a unicellular organism or one cell of a multicelled organism). These structures serve either for locomotion by moving or as sensors.

    noun — One of the fine hairs along an insect's wing.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • clad

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • cloaca

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • coal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • coca

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • cocoa

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • coda

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • cola

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • collab

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • diabolic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • diabolical

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • diabolo

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • dial

    noun — A graduated, circular scale over which a needle moves to show a measurement (such as speed).

    noun — A clock face.

    verb — To control or select something with a dial, or (figuratively) as if with a dial.

    verb — To select a number, or to call someone, on a telephone.

    noun — A sundial.

    noun — A panel on a radio etc showing wavelengths or channels; a knob that is turned to change the wavelength etc.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • doodad

    noun — A thing (used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one cannot recall); especially an unspecified gadget, device, or part.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • iliac

    adjective — Of or pertaining to the ilium.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • labia

    noun — The folds of tissue at the opening of the vulva, at either side of the vagina.

    noun — A liplike structure; especially one of the two pairs of folds of skin either side of the vulva.

    noun — The lip of a labiate corolla.

    noun — The lip against which pressured air is driven to produce sound in a recorder and in a pipe organ with flue pipes.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • labial

    adjective — Of or pertaining to the lips or labia.

    adjective — Articulated by the lips, as the consonants b, m and w.

    noun — A consonant articulated by the lips.

    adjective — Of an incisor or canine, on the side facing the lips. See mesial.

    noun — Any of the scales bordering the mouth opening of a reptile.

    noun — An organ pipe having a lip that influences its sound.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • laic

    noun — A layperson, as opposed to a member of the clergy.

    adjective — Lay, relating to laypersons, as opposed to clerical.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • laical

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • laid

    verb — To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.

    verb — To produce and deposit an egg.

    verb — To have sex with.

    verb — To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.

    verb — To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).

    verb — To state; to allege.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • lilac

    noun — A large shrub of the genus Syringa, especially Syringa vulgaris, bearing white, pale-pink or purple flowers.

    adjective — Having a pale purple colour.

    noun — A flower of the lilac shrub.

    noun — (color) A pale purple color, the color of some lilac flowers.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • load

    noun — A burden; a weight to be carried.

    noun — (often in the plural) A large number or amount.

    noun — A quantity of washing put into a washing machine for a wash cycle.

    verb — To put a load on or in (a means of conveyance or a place of storage).

    verb — To insert (an item or items) into an apparatus so as to ready it for operation, such as a reel of film into a camera, sheets of paper into a printer etc.

    noun — A certain number of articles or quantity of material that can be transported or processed at one time.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • local

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • oddball

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ab×2
  • ac×4
  • ad×1
  • ai×1
  • al×1
  • ba×7
  • bi×2
  • bl×1
  • bo×2
  • ca×7
  • ci×3
  • cl×2
  • co×6
  • di×4
  • do×1
  • il×1
  • la×5
  • li×1
  • lo×2
  • od×1

Words by first letter and length

4567810Σ
a 252··· 9
b 7·212· 12
c 755·1· 18
d 1·1111 5
i ·1···· 1
l 332··· 8
o ···1·· 1
Σ 201412341 54

The numbers

Genius today takes 167 points of 239 available. The average answer runs 5.3 letters.

Total points vs. all 384 recorded puzzles
66th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
69th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17432 recorded answers

420 today34.6% all-time514 today22.8% all-time612 today20.0% all-time73 today12.1% all-time84 today6.3% all-time92.6% all-time101 today1.2% all-time110.3% all-time120.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
a ● Friday, July 18, 2025 Sunday, July 13, 2025
b Tuesday, July 15, 2025 Tuesday, July 1, 2025
c Thursday, July 17, 2025 Saturday, July 12, 2025
d Friday, July 18, 2025 first recorded time
i Friday, July 18, 2025 Friday, July 18, 2025
l Thursday, July 17, 2025 Thursday, July 10, 2025
o Tuesday, July 15, 2025 Friday, July 11, 2025

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 42
  2. naan 30
  3. nana 30
  4. onion 29
  5. toot 28
  6. loll 28
  7. mama 25
  8. mamma 25
  9. cocoon 23
  10. acacia 23
  11. acai 23
  12. loon 23
  13. nene 23
  14. bill 22
  15. neon 22
  16. none 22
  17. olio 22
  18. aria 21
  19. onto 21
  20. toon 21
  21. cancan 21
  22. canna 21
  23. lull 20
  24. lulu 20
  25. lilt 20

Valid words the Bee rejected

Dictionary words the Bee never takes

Legitimate words (per the ENABLE list) that fit the letters but aren't official answers — usually judged too obscure.