The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

DENOUVL

Friday, February 13, 2026

Words
59
Points
272
Genius
190
Pangrams
2

Official answers

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Pangrams highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • dell

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • delude

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • deluded

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • delve

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • delved

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • devolve

    verb — To fall as a duty or responsibility on or upon someone.

    verb — To delegate (a responsibility, duty, etc.) on or upon someone.

    verb — To degenerate; to break down.

    verb — To be inherited by someone else; to pass down upon the next person in a succession, especially through failure or loss of an earlier holder.

    verb — To roll (something) down; to unroll.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • devolved

    verb — To fall as a duty or responsibility on or upon someone.

    verb — To delegate (a responsibility, duty, etc.) on or upon someone.

    verb — To degenerate; to break down.

    verb — To be inherited by someone else; to pass down upon the next person in a succession, especially through failure or loss of an earlier holder.

    verb — To roll (something) down; to unroll.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • dole

    verb — To distribute in small amounts; to share out small portions of a meager resource.

    noun — Payment by the state to the unemployed.

    noun — Money or other goods given as charity.

    noun — Distribution; dealing; apportionment.

    noun — A boundary; a landmark.

    noun — Sorrow or grief; dolour.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • doled

    verb — To distribute in small amounts; to share out small portions of a meager resource.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • doll

    noun — A toy in the form of a human.

    noun — A term of endearment: darling, sweetheart.

    noun — (sometimes offensive) An attractive young woman

    noun — A dollar.

    noun — (now possibly offensive) A good-natured, cooperative or helpful girl.

    noun — The smallest or pet pig in a litter.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • dolled

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • doodle

    verb — To draw or scribble aimlessly.

    noun — A small mindless sketch, etc.

    noun — Any crossbreed of a poodle with a different breed of dog.

    noun — A fool, a simpleton, a mindless person.

    noun — (sometimes childish) Penis.

    verb — To drone like a bagpipe.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • doodled

    verb — To draw or scribble aimlessly.

    verb — To drone like a bagpipe.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • duel

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • dueled

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • dull

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • dulled

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • eleven

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • elude

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • eluded

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • evolve

    verb — To change; transform.

    verb — Of a population, to change genetic composition over successive generations through the process of evolution.

    verb — To come into being; develop.

    verb — To cause something to change or transform.

    verb — To move in regular procession through a system.

    verb — To give off (gas, such as oxygen or carbon dioxide during a reaction).

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • evolved

    verb — To change; transform.

    verb — Of a population, to change genetic composition over successive generations through the process of evolution.

    adjective — Having arisen through a process of evolution or iterative development.

    verb — To come into being; develop.

    verb — To cause something to change or transform.

    verb — To move in regular procession through a system.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • lede

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • lend

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • levee

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • level

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • leveled

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • lode

    noun — A vein of metallic ore that lies within definite boundaries, or within a fissure.

    noun — (by extension) A rich source of supply.

    noun — A way or path; a road.

    noun — A watercourse.

    Appeared in 3 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.

  • lolled

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

    verb — To laugh out loud.

    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 3 recorded puzzles.

  • lone

    adjective — Solitary; having no companion.

    adjective — Isolated or lonely; lacking companionship.

    adjective — Sole; being the only one of a type.

    adjective — Situated by itself or by oneself, with no neighbours.

    adjective — Unfrequented by human beings; solitary.

    adjective — Single; unmarried, or in widowhood.

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • loon

    noun — An idler, a lout.

    noun — Any of various birds, of the order Gaviiformes, of North America and Europe that dive for fish and have a short tail, webbed feet and a yodeling cry.

    noun — A boy, a lad.

    noun — A harlot; mistress.

    noun — A simpleton.

    noun — A crazy or deranged person.

    Appeared in 23 recorded puzzles.

  • loud

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • louden

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • loudened

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • love

    noun — Strong affection.

    verb — (usually transitive, sometimes intransitive, stative) To have a strong affection for (someone or something).

    noun — A person who is the object of romantic feelings; a darling, a sweetheart, a beloved.

    noun — A thing, activity etc which is the object of one's deep liking or enthusiasm.

    verb — To be strongly inclined towards something; an emphatic form of like.

    verb — (usually transitive, sometimes intransitive) To care deeply about, to be dedicated to (someone or something).

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • loved

    verb — (usually transitive, sometimes intransitive, stative) To have a strong affection for (someone or something).

    adjective — Being the object of love.

    verb — To be strongly inclined towards something; an emphatic form of like.

    verb — (usually transitive, sometimes intransitive) To care deeply about, to be dedicated to (someone or something).

    verb — To derive delight from a fact or situation.

    verb — To need, thrive on.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • lull

    noun — A period of rest or soothing.

    verb — To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm

    noun — A period of reduced activity; a respite

    noun — A period without waves or wind.

    noun — An extended pause between sets of waves.

    verb — To become gradually calm; to subside; to cease or abate.

    Appeared in 20 recorded puzzles.

  • lulled

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • lulu

    noun — A remarkable person, object or idea.

    noun — A very attractive or alluring person.

    noun — A very bad mistake or error.

    noun — A fixed allowance paid to a legislator in lieu of reimbursement for actual expenses.

    Appeared in 20 recorded puzzles.

  • lune

    noun — A fit of lunacy or madness; a period of frenzy; a crazy or unreasonable freak.

    noun — A concave figure formed by the intersection of the arcs of two circles on a plane, or on a sphere the intersection between two great semicircles.

    noun — (hawking) A leash for a hawk.

    noun — Anything crescent-shaped.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • needle

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • needled

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • nodule

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • noel

    noun — Christmas

    noun — A kind of hymn, or canticle, of mediaeval origin, sung in honor of the birth of Christ; a Christmas carol.

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • noodle

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • noodled

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • nouvelle

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • novel

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • null

    noun — A non-existent or empty value or set of values.

    verb — To nullify; to annul.

    adjective — Having no validity; "null and void"

    noun — Zero quantity of expressions; nothing.

    noun — Something that has no force or meaning.

    noun — The ASCII or Unicode character (␀), represented by a zero value, that indicates no character and is sometimes used as a string terminator.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • olden

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    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.

  • ovule

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • unevolved

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • unlevel

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • unloved

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • veld

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • venule

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • vole

    noun — Any of a large number of species of small rodents of the subfamily Arvicolinae of the family Cricetidae which are not lemmings or muskrats.

    noun — A deal in a card game, écarté, that draws all the tricks.

    verb — To win all the tricks by a vole.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

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

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • de×7
  • do×6
  • du×4
  • el×3
  • ev×2
  • le×5
  • lo×10
  • lu×4
  • ne×2
  • no×6
  • nu×1
  • ol×2
  • ov×1
  • un×3
  • ve×2
  • vo×1

Words by first letter and length

456789Σ
d 52631· 17
e ·131·· 5
l 113311· 19
n 21321· 9
o 12···· 3
u ···2·1 3
v 2·1··· 3
Σ 21916931 59

The numbers

Genius today takes 190 points of 272 available. The average answer runs 5.4 letters.

Total points vs. all 383 recorded puzzles
78th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
81st percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17359 recorded answers

421 today34.7% all-time59 today22.8% all-time616 today19.9% all-time79 today12.1% all-time83 today6.3% all-time91 today2.6% 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
d Thursday, February 5, 2026 Monday, January 26, 2026
e Wednesday, February 11, 2026 Friday, February 6, 2026
l ● Monday, February 9, 2026 Friday, January 30, 2026
n Thursday, February 12, 2026 Thursday, February 12, 2026
o Thursday, February 12, 2026 Thursday, February 5, 2026
u Sunday, February 8, 2026 Saturday, December 27, 2025
v Wednesday, February 4, 2026 Wednesday, February 4, 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. 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. 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.