The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

EGHLOYT

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Words
29
Points
125
Genius
87
Pangram
1

Official answers

Show the 29 answersHide answers

Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • ethyl

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • eyelet

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • eyeteeth

    noun — A canine tooth of the upper jaw in humans.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • eyetooth

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • gelt

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • ghetto

    noun — An (often walled) area of a city in which Jews are concentrated by force and law. (Used particularly of areas in medieval Italy and in Nazi-controlled Europe.)

    verb — To confine (a specified group of people) to a ghetto.

    adjective — Of or relating to a ghetto or to ghettos in general.

    noun — An (often impoverished) area of a city inhabited predominantly by members of a specific nationality, ethnicity or race.

    noun — An area in which people who are distinguished by sharing something other than ethnicity concentrate or are concentrated.

    noun — (sometimes derogatory) An isolated, self-contained, segregated subsection, area or field of interest; often of minority or specialist interest.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • goth

    noun — A punk-derived subculture of people who predominantly dress in black, associated with mournful music and attitudes.

    adjective — Relating to this music or these people.

    noun — A style of punk rock influenced by glam rock; gothic rock.

    noun — A person who is part of the goth subculture.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • holt

    noun — A small piece of woodland or a woody hill; a copse.

    noun — The lair of an animal, especially of an otter.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • hoot

    noun — A derisive cry or shout.

    verb — To cry out or shout in contempt.

    noun — The cry of an owl.

    noun — A fun event or person. (See hootenanny)

    noun — A small particle.

    verb — To make the cry of an owl, a hoo.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • hotel

    noun — A large town house or mansion; a grand private residence, especially in France.

    noun — An establishment that provides accommodation and other services for paying guests; normally larger than a guesthouse, and often one of a chain.

    noun — A restaurant; any dining establishment.

    noun — The letter H in the ICAO spelling alphabet.

    noun — The larger red property in the game of Monopoly, in contradistinction to houses.

    noun — The guest accommodation and dining section of a cruise ship.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • hotly

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • loot

    noun — A kind of scoop or ladle, chiefly used to remove the scum from brine-pans in saltworks.

    noun — The act of plundering.

    verb — To steal, especially as part of war, riot or other group violence.

    noun — Plunder, booty, especially from a ransacked city.

    noun — Any prize or profit received for free, especially Christmas presents

    noun — Items dropped by defeated enemies.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • lotto

    noun — A game of chance similar to bingo

    noun — A lottery

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • otology

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • teeth

    noun — The ability to be enforced, or to be enforced to any useful effect.

    verb — To grow teeth.

    noun — A hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of many vertebrate animals, generally used for eating.

    verb — To bite on something to relieve discomfort caused by growing teeth.

    noun — A sharp projection on the blade of a saw or similar implement.

    noun — A projection on the edge of a gear that meshes with similar projections on adjacent gears, or on the circumference of a cog that engages with a chain.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • teethe

    verb — To grow teeth.

    verb — To bite on something to relieve discomfort caused by growing teeth.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • teleology

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • tell

    verb — To convey by speech; to say.

    verb — To narrate.

    verb — To instruct or inform.

    verb — To order; to direct, to say to someone.

    verb — To reveal.

    verb — To discern, notice, identify or distinguish.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • thee

    verb — To address (a person) using the pronoun thee.

    pronoun — Objective and reflexive case of thou.

    verb — To thrive; prosper.

    noun — The letter ⟨(⟩, which stands for the th sound /ð/ in Pitman shorthand.

    verb — To use the word thee.

    pronoun — Thou.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • theology

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • they

    pronoun — (the third-person plural) A group of people, animals, plants or objects previously mentioned.

    pronoun — There (especially as an expletive subject of be).

    pronoun — (the third-person singular, sometimes proscribed) A single person, previously mentioned, especially if of unknown or non-binary gender, but typically not if previously named and identified as male or female.

    pronoun — (indefinite pronoun, vague meaning) People; some people; people in general; someone, excluding the speaker.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • toggle

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • toll

    noun — Loss or damage incurred through a disaster.

    verb — To impose a fee for the use of.

    noun — The act or sound of tolling

    verb — To ring (a bell) slowly and repeatedly.

    verb — To draw; pull; tug; drag.

    verb — To take away; to vacate; to annul.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • tool

    noun — A mechanical device intended to make a task easier.

    verb — To work on or shape with tools, e.g., hand-tooled leather.

    noun — Equipment used in a profession, e.g., tools of the trade.

    noun — Something to perform an operation; an instrument; a means.

    noun — A piece of software used to develop software or hardware, or to perform low-level operations.

    noun — A person or group which is used or controlled, usually unwittingly, by another person or group.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • toot

    noun — The noise of a horn or whistle.

    verb — To stand out, or be prominent.

    noun — A toilet.

    noun — (by extension) A fart; flatus.

    noun — Cocaine.

    noun — A portion of cocaine that a person snorts.

    Appeared in 29 recorded puzzles.

  • tooth

    noun — A hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of many vertebrate animals, generally used for eating.

    verb — To provide or furnish with teeth.

    noun — A sharp projection on the blade of a saw or similar implement.

    noun — A projection on the edge of a gear that meshes with similar projections on adjacent gears, or on the circumference of a cog that engages with a chain.

    noun — A projection or point in other parts of the body resembling the tooth of a vertebrate animal.

    noun — A pointed projection from the margin of a leaf.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • toothy

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • tootle

    verb — To go (somewhere); to amble aimlessly.

    verb — To make a soft toot sound.

    verb — To play (a musical instrument) making such a sound.

    noun — A soft toot sound.

    noun — A trip or excursion.

    verb — To transport (someone somewhere).

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • tote

    noun — A tote bag.

    verb — To carry or bear.

    verb — To add up; to calculate a total.

    noun — A heavy burden.

    noun — (logistics) A kind of plastic box used for transporting goods.

    noun — A pari-mutuel machine; a totalizator.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • et×1
  • ey×3
  • ge×1
  • gh×1
  • go×1
  • ho×4
  • lo×2
  • ot×1
  • te×4
  • th×3
  • to×8

Words by first letter and length

456789Σ
e ·11·2· 4
g 2·1··· 3
h 22···· 4
l 11···· 2
o ···1·· 1
t 724·11 15
Σ 1266131 29

The numbers

Genius today takes 87 points of 125 available. The average answer runs 5.3 letters.

Total points vs. all 409 recorded puzzles
13th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
12th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 18482 recorded answers

412 today34.5% all-time56 today22.9% all-time66 today19.9% all-time71 today12.0% all-time83 today6.3% all-time91 today2.6% all-time101.3% all-time110.3% all-time120.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
e Monday, January 26, 2026 Saturday, January 24, 2026
g Tuesday, January 27, 2026 Thursday, January 22, 2026
h Tuesday, January 27, 2026 Friday, January 9, 2026
l Wednesday, January 28, 2026 Wednesday, January 28, 2026
o Wednesday, January 28, 2026 Wednesday, January 21, 2026
t ● Monday, January 26, 2026 Tuesday, January 6, 2026
y Monday, January 26, 2026 Saturday, January 17, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 43
  2. naan 32
  3. nana 32
  4. onion 31
  5. toot 29
  6. loll 29
  7. mama 26
  8. mamma 26
  9. nene 25
  10. acacia 24
  11. acai 24
  12. olio 24
  13. cocoon 23
  14. loon 23
  15. neon 23
  16. none 23
  17. aria 22
  18. imam 22
  19. maim 22
  20. cancan 22
  21. canna 22
  22. bill 22
  23. mini 22
  24. minim 22
  25. lilt 21

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.