The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

BEIMOZL

Friday, October 17, 2025

Words
38
Points
139
Genius
97
Pangrams
2

Official answers

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Pangrams highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • belie

    verb — To contradict, to show (something) to be false.

    verb — To give a false representation of.

    verb — To conceal the contradictory or ironic presence of (something).

    verb — To show, evince, demonstrate: to show (something) to be present, particularly something deemed contradictory or ironic.

    verb — To tell lies about.

    verb — (of an army) To surround; beleaguer.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • bell

    noun — 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.

    noun — The sounding of a bell as a signal.

    noun — A signal at a school that tells the students when a class is starting or ending.

    noun — A telephone call.

    noun — An instrument situated on a bicycle's handlebar, used by the cyclist to warn of his or her presence.

    noun — Anything shaped like a bell, such as the cup or corolla of a flower.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • belle

    noun — An attractive woman.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • bezel

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • bible

    noun — An exemplar of the Bible.

    noun — A comprehensive manual that describes something. (e.g., handyman’s bible).

    noun — (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.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • bile

    noun — 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.

    noun — Bitterness of temper; ill humour; irascibility.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • bill

    noun — A piece of paper money; a banknote.

    noun — A written note of goods sold, services rendered, or work done, with the price or charge; an invoice.

    verb — To charge; to send a bill to.

    noun — A draft of a law, presented to a legislature for enactment; a proposed or projected law.

    noun — The beak of a bird, especially when small or flattish; sometimes also used with reference to a platypus, turtle, or other animal.

    noun — Of a cap or hat: the brim or peak, serving as a shade to keep sun off the face and out of the eyes.

    Appeared in 22 recorded puzzles.

  • blob

    noun — A shapeless or amorphous mass; a vague shape or amount, especially of a liquid or semisolid substance; a clump, group or collection that lacks definite shape.

    verb — To drop in the form of a blob or blobs

    noun — Acronym of binary large object. (a data type that allows storage of binary data often of indeterminate length).

    noun — In astronomy, a large cloud of gas. In particular, an extended Lyman-Alpha blob is a huge body of gas that may be the precursor to a galaxy.

    noun — A bubble; a bleb.

    noun — A small freshwater fish (Cottus bairdii); the miller's thumb.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • bloom

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • bobble

    noun — Elasticated band used for securing hair (for instance in a ponytail), a hair tie

    noun — A furry ball attached on top of a hat.

    noun — A pill (a ball formed on the surface of the fabric, as on laundered clothes).

    verb — To make a mistake in.

    verb — To bob up and down.

    noun — A wobbling motion.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • boil

    noun — A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection.

    noun — The point at which fluid begins to change to a vapour.

    verb — (of liquids) To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas.

    noun — A dish of boiled food, especially based on seafood.

    noun — The collective noun for a group of hawks.

    verb — To cook in boiling water.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • boll

    noun — The rounded seed-bearing capsule of a cotton or flax plant.

    verb — To form a boll or seed vessel; to go to seed.

    noun — An old dry measure equal to six bushels.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • bolo

    noun — A long, heavy, single-edged machete.

    verb — To attack or despatch with a bolo knife.

    noun — A soldier not capable of the minimum standards of marksmanship.

    verb — To fail to meet the minimum standards of marksmanship.

    noun — A string or leather necktie secured with an ornamental slide.

    verb — To dress (somebody) in a bolo.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • embezzle

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • emblem

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • immobile

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • immobilize

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • libel

    noun — A written or pictorial false statement which unjustly seeks to damage someone's reputation.

    verb — To defame someone, especially in a manner that meets the legal definition of libel.

    noun — The act or crime of displaying such a statement publicly.

    noun — A written declaration or statement by the plaintiff of their cause of action, and of the relief they seek.

    noun — Any defamatory writing; a lampoon; a satire.

    noun — A brief writing of any kind, especially a declaration, bill, certificate, request, supplication, etc.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • libelee

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • limb

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • limbo

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • lime

    noun — Any of several green citrus fruit, somewhat smaller and sharper-tasting than a lemon.

    adjective — Lime-green.

    adjective — Containing lime or lime juice.

    adjective — Having the aroma or flavor of lime.

    noun — A brilliant, sometimes yellowish, green colour associated with the fruits of a lime tree.

    noun — Any of the trees that bear limes, especially Key lime, Citrus aurantiifolia.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • limo

    noun — An automobile body with seats and permanent top like a coupe, and with the top projecting over the driver and a projecting front.

    noun — An automobile with such a body.

    noun — A luxury sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur.

    noun — An automobile for transportation to or from an airport, including sedans, vans, and buses.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • lobe

    noun — Any projection or division, especially one of a somewhat rounded form.

    noun — A clear division of an organ that can be determined at the gross anatomy level, especially one of the parts of the brain, liver or lung.

    noun — A semicircular pattern left on the ice as the skater travels across it.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • lobo

    noun — A wolf.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • loll

    verb — To act lazily or indolently while reclining; to lean; to lie at ease.

    verb — To hang extended from the mouth, like the tongue of an animal heated from exertion.

    verb — To let (the tongue) hang from the mouth in this way.

    Appeared in 28 recorded puzzles.

  • loom

    noun — A utensil; tool; a weapon; (usually in compound) an article in general.

    noun — Loon (bird of order Gaviiformes)

    noun — A distorted appearance of something as seen indistinctly or from afar.

    verb — To appear indistinctly, eg. when seen on the horizon or through the murk.

    noun — A frame or machine of wood or other material, in which a weaver forms cloth out of thread; a machine for interweaving yarn or threads into a fabric, as in knitting or lace making.

    noun — The part of an oar which is between the grip or handle and the blade, the shaft.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • melee

    noun — A noisy, confused or tumultuous fight, argument or scrap.

    noun — Any any confused, disorganised, disordered or chaotic situation.

    noun — A battle fought at close range; hand-to-hand combat; brawling.

    noun — Lively contention or debate, skirmish.

    verb — To physically hit in close quarters, as opposed to shooting, blowing up, or other ranged means of damage. Often refers to the usage of a hand-to-hand weapon.

    noun — A cavalry exercise in which two groups of riders try to cut paper plumes off the helmets of their opponents, the contest continuing until no member of one group retains his plume.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • mile

    noun — The international mile: a unit of length precisely equal to 1.609344 kilometers established by treaty among Anglophone nations in 1959, divided into 5,280 feet or 1,760 yards.

    noun — One mile per hour, as a measure of speed.

    noun — (travel) An airline mile in a frequent flier program.

    noun — Any of several customary units of length derived from the 1593 English statute mile of 8 furlongs, equivalent to 5,280 feet or 1,760 yards of various precise values.

    noun — Any similarly large distance.

    noun — A race of 1 mile's length; a race of around 1 mile's length (usually 1500 or 1600 meters)

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • mill

    noun — A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc.

    verb — (followed by around, about, etc.) To move about in an aimless fashion.

    noun — A manufacturing plant for paper, steel, textiles, etc.

    noun — An establishment that handles a certain type of situation or procedure routinely, or produces large quantities of an item without much regard to quality, such as a divorce mill, a puppy mill, etc.

    noun — An institution awarding educational certificates not officially recognised

    noun — The building housing such a grinding apparatus.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • mobile

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • mobilize

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • moil

    noun — Hard work.

    verb — To toil, to work hard.

    noun — The glass circling the tip of a blowpipe or punty, such as the residual glass after detaching a blown vessel, or the lower part of a gather.

    noun — Confusion, turmoil.

    noun — A spot; a defilement.

    verb — To churn continually; to swirl.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • mole

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • moll

    noun — A female companion of a gangster, especially a former or current prostitute.

    adjective — Minor; in the minor mode

    noun — A prostitute or woman with loose sexual morals.

    noun — Bitch, slut; an insulting epithet applied to a female.

    noun — A girlfriend of a bikie.

    noun — A girlfriend of a surfie; blends with pejorative sense.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • oleo

    noun — Margarine

    noun — The various fats and oils that go into the making of margarine.

    Appeared in 19 recorded puzzles.

  • olio

    noun — A medley or mixture; a hotchpotch.

    noun — A collection of various musical, theatrical or other artistic works; a miscellany.

    noun — A rich, thick, Spanish stew consisting of meat and vegetables.

    noun — (by extension) Vaudeville or similar miscellaneous musical or theatrical entertainment skits presented between the main acts of burlesque or minstrel shows.

    Appeared in 22 recorded puzzles.

  • ollie

    noun — An aerial maneuver in which one catches air by leaping off the ground with the skateboard and into the air.

    verb — To perform an ollie.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • be×4
  • bi×3
  • bl×2
  • bo×4
  • em×2
  • im×2
  • li×6
  • lo×4
  • me×1
  • mi×2
  • mo×5
  • ol×3

Words by first letter and length

4567810Σ
b 751··· 13
e ··1·1· 2
i ····11 2
l 72·1·· 10
m 511·1· 8
o 21···· 3
Σ 2193131 38

The numbers

Genius today takes 97 points of 139 available. The average answer runs 4.9 letters.

Total points vs. all 381 recorded puzzles
19th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
33rd percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17278 recorded answers

421 today34.6% all-time59 today22.8% all-time63 today19.9% all-time71 today12.1% all-time83 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
b Sunday, October 12, 2025 Sunday, October 12, 2025
e Thursday, October 16, 2025 Friday, September 19, 2025
i Wednesday, October 15, 2025 Tuesday, September 30, 2025
l ● Thursday, October 16, 2025 Friday, October 10, 2025
m Monday, October 13, 2025 Saturday, October 11, 2025
o Wednesday, October 15, 2025 Wednesday, October 15, 2025
z Monday, October 6, 2025 first recorded time

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. loon 23
  11. nene 23
  12. acacia 22
  13. acai 22
  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. lilt 20
  24. till 20
  25. tilt 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.