The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

AEFILMC

Friday, January 16, 2026

Words
45
Points
178
Genius
124
Pangram
1

Official answers

Show the 45 answersHide answers

Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • 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.

  • acclaim

    verb — To shout; to call out.

    noun — An acclamation; a shout of applause.

    verb — To express great approval (for).

    verb — To salute or praise with great approval; to compliment; to applaud; to welcome enthusiastically.

    verb — To claim.

    verb — To declare by acclamations.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • acme

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • cafe

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • calf

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 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.

  • calm

    noun — (in a person) The state of being calm; peacefulness; absence of worry, anger, fear or other strong negative emotion.

    verb — To make calm.

    adjective — (of a person) Peaceful, quiet, especially free from anger and anxiety.

    noun — (in a place or situation) The state of being calm; absence of noise and disturbance.

    noun — A period of time without wind.

    verb — To become calm.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • came

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • camel

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • camellia

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • cami

    noun — A camisole.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • celiac

    noun — Someone who has celiac disease.

    adjective — Of, pertaining to or located within the abdomen or abdominal cavity.

    adjective — Of or pertaining to celiac disease.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • cell

    noun — 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.

    noun — A cellular phone.

    noun — A room in a prison or jail for one or more inmates.

    noun — The unit in a statistical array (a spreadsheet, for example) where a row and a column intersect.

    noun — A device which stores electrical power; used either singly or together in batteries; the basic unit of a battery.

    noun — Each of the small hexagonal compartments in a honeycomb.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • celli

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 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.

  • claim

    noun — A demand of ownership made for something.

    verb — To demand ownership of.

    noun — The thing claimed.

    noun — The right or ground of demanding.

    noun — A new statement of something one believes to be the truth, usually when the statement has yet to be verified or without valid evidence provided.

    noun — A demand of ownership for previously unowned land.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • clam

    noun — A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; for example the soft-shell clam (Mya arenaria), the hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), the sea clam or hen clam (Spisula solidissima), and other species. The name is said to have been given originally to the Tridacna gigas, a huge East Indian bivalve.

    verb — To dig for clams.

    noun — A crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once.

    verb — To produce, in bellringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang.

    noun — Clamminess; moisture

    verb — To be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • clef

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • cliff

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • clime

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • efface

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • emcee

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • face

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • facial

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • facile

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • fecal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • fleece

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • icefall

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • icicle

    noun — A drooping, tapering shape of ice.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • iliac

    adjective — Of or pertaining to the ilium.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • lace

    noun — A cord or ribbon passed through eyelets in a shoe or garment, pulled tight and tied to fasten the shoe or garment firmly. Wp

    noun — A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread. Wp

    verb — To fasten (something) with laces.

    verb — To add alcohol, poison, a drug or anything else potentially harmful to (food or drink).

    noun — Spirits added to coffee or another beverage.

    verb — To interweave items.

    Appeared in 7 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.

  • lice

    noun — A small parasitic wingless insect of the order Psocodea.

    noun — (not usually used in plural form) A contemptible person; one who is deceitful or causes harm.

    Appeared in 11 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.

  • mace

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • malefic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • malic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • malice

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • mecca

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • mica

    noun — Any of a group of hydrous aluminosilicate minerals characterized by highly perfect cleavage, so that they readily separate into very thin leaves, more or less elastic.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • mice

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • mimic

    noun — A person who practices mimicry, or mime.

    verb — To imitate, especially in order to ridicule.

    adjective — Pertaining to mimicry; imitative.

    noun — An imitation.

    verb — To take on the appearance of another, for protection or camouflage.

    adjective — Mock, pretended.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

malefic is a perfect pangram — all seven letters, each used exactly once.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ac×4
  • ca×9
  • ce×3
  • ci×1
  • cl×5
  • ef×1
  • em×1
  • fa×3
  • fe×1
  • fl×1
  • ic×2
  • il×1
  • la×3
  • li×2
  • ma×4
  • me×1
  • mi×3

Words by first letter and length

45678Σ
a 2·11· 4
c 971·1 18
e ·11·· 2
f 113·· 5
i ·111· 3
l 311·· 5
m 3311· 8
Σ 1814931 45

The numbers

Genius today takes 124 points of 178 available. The average answer runs 5.0 letters.

Total points vs. all 384 recorded puzzles
38th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
47th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17432 recorded answers

418 today34.6% all-time514 today22.8% all-time69 today20.0% all-time73 today12.1% all-time81 today6.3% all-time92.6% all-time101.2% all-time110.3% all-time120.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
a Wednesday, January 14, 2026 Thursday, January 8, 2026
c ● Wednesday, January 14, 2026 Saturday, January 3, 2026
e Thursday, January 15, 2026 Friday, December 5, 2025
f Sunday, January 4, 2026 Sunday, January 4, 2026
i Thursday, January 15, 2026 Thursday, January 15, 2026
l Wednesday, January 14, 2026 Tuesday, December 9, 2025
m Tuesday, January 13, 2026 Tuesday, January 13, 2026

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.