The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

ACNOTXI

Sunday, March 8, 2026

Words
63
Points
393
Genius
275
Pangrams
2

Official answers

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Pangrams 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 24 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 24 recorded puzzles.

  • action

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • anion

    noun — A negatively charged ion.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • annotation

    noun — A critical or explanatory commentary or analysis

    noun — A comment added to a text

    noun — The process of writing such comment or commentary

    noun — Metadata added to a document or program

    noun — Information relating to the genetic structure of sequences of bases

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • anoint

    verb — To smear or rub over with oil or an unctuous substance; also, to spread over, as oil.

    verb — To apply oil to or to pour oil upon, etc., as a sacred rite, especially for consecration.

    verb — To choose or nominate somebody for a leading or otherwise important position, especially formally or officially, or as an intended successor.

    verb — To mark somebody as an official ruler, especially a king or queen, as a part of a religious ceremony.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • anoxia

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • anoxic

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  • anti

    adjective — Opposed to something.

    noun — A person opposed to a concept or principle.

    preposition — Alternative form of anti-

    adjective — That has a torsion angle between 90° and 180°

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • antic

    noun — A grotesque representation of a figure; a gargoyle.

    verb — To perform antics, caper.

    adjective — Playful, funny, absurd

    adjective — Having existed in ancient times, descended from antiquity; used especially in reference to Greece and Rome.

    noun — A pose, often exaggerated, in anticipation of an action; for example, a brief squat before jumping

    noun — A caricature.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • antitoxin

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • ataxia

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • attain

    verb — To gain (an object or desired result).

    verb — To reach or come to, by progression or motion; to arrive at (a place, time, state, etc.).

    verb — To reach in excellence or degree.

    verb — To come or arrive, by motion, growth, bodily exertion, or efforts toward a place, object, state, etc.

    verb — To get at the knowledge of.

    verb — To reach a person after being behind them.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • attic

    noun — The space, often unfinished and with sloped walls, directly below the roof in the uppermost part of a house or other building, generally used for storage or habitation.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • cacti

    noun — Any member of the family Cactaceae, a family of flowering New World succulent plants suited to a hot, semi-desert climate.

    noun — Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, such as euphorbs.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • canonic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • cantina

    noun — A drinking establishment, often specifically of the type found in Latin America.

    noun — Abbreviated form of cantina truck, cantina wagon or cantina trailer

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • catatonia

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  • catatonic

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  • cation

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • ciao

    noun — A greeting or farewell using the word "ciao".

    interjection — Hello, hi.

    interjection — Bye, goodbye.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • citation

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • coati

    noun — Any of several omnivorous mammals, of the genus Nasua or Nasuella, in order Carnivora, that live in the range from southern United States to northern Argentina.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • cocci

    noun — Any approximately spherical bacterium.

    noun — Coccidioidomycosis

    noun — One of the carpels or seed-vessels of a dry fruit.

    Appeared in 19 recorded puzzles.

  • coin

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • concoction

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • conic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • connotation

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • contain

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • icon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • iconic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • inaction

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • incant

    verb — To state solemnly, to chant.

    verb — To recite an incantation.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • incantation

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • initiation

    noun — The act of initiating, or the process of being initiated or introduced

    noun — The form or ceremony by which a person is introduced into any society; mode of entrance into an organized body; especially, the rite of admission into a secret society or order.

    noun — The first step of transcription or of transduction.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • intact

    adjective — Left complete or whole; not touched, defiled, sullied or otherwise damaged

    adjective — Of animals, not castrated: an intact bull.

    adjective — Uncircumcised; commonly used to describe a penis with a foreskin in intactivism.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • into

    preposition — To or towards the inside of.

    preposition — To or towards the region of.

    preposition — Against, especially with force or violence.

    preposition — Indicates transition into another form or substance.

    preposition — After the start of.

    preposition — Interested in or attracted to.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • intonation

    noun — The rise and fall of the voice in speaking.

    noun — The act of sounding the tones of the musical scale.

    noun — Singing or playing in good tune or otherwise.

    noun — Reciting in a musical prolonged tone; intonating or singing of the opening phrase of a plain-chant, psalm, or canticle by a single voice, as of a priest.

    noun — A thundering; thunder.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • intoxicant

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • intoxication

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • ionic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • iota

    noun — The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet.

    noun — A jot; a very small, insignificant quantity.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • nation

    noun — A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.

    noun — Damnation.

    adverb — Extremely, very.

    noun — A sovereign state.

    noun — An association of students based on its members' birthplace or ethnicity.

    noun — A great number; a great deal.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • niacin

    noun — A water-soluble vitamin, a component of vitamin B complex, found in meat, yeast, and dairy products; it is essential to metabolism.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • nontoxic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • notation

    noun — The act, process, method, or an instance of representing by a system or set of marks, signs, figures, or characters.

    noun — A system of characters, symbols, or abbreviated expressions used in an art or science or in mathematics or logic to express technical facts or quantities.

    noun — A specific note or piece of information written in such a notation.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • notion

    noun — Mental apprehension of whatever may be known, thought, or imagined; idea, concept.

    noun — A sentiment; an opinion.

    noun — Sense; mind.

    noun — An invention; an ingenious device; a knickknack.

    noun — Any small article used in sewing and haberdashery, either for attachment to garments or as a tool, such as a button, zipper, or thimble.

    noun — Inclination; intention; disposition.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • onion

    noun — A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.

    noun — The bulb of such a plant.

    noun — The genus as a whole.

    noun — A ball.

    noun — A person from Bermuda or of Bermudian descent.

    Appeared in 31 recorded puzzles.

  • tacit

    adjective — Expressed in silence; implied, but not made explicit; silent.

    adjective — Not derived from formal principles of reasoning; based on induction rather than deduction.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • tactic

    noun — A maneuver, or action calculated to achieve some end.

    adjective — Tactical; of or relating to the art of military and naval tactics.

    noun — A maneuver used against an enemy.

    noun — A sequence of moves that limits the opponent's options and results in an immediate and tangible advantage, typically in the form of material.

    adjective — Describing a polymer whose repeat units are identical.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • tactician

    noun — A person skilled in the planning and execution of tactics.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • taint

    verb — To contaminate or corrupt (something) with an external agent, either physically or morally.

    noun — A mark of disgrace, especially on one's character; blemish

    noun — A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food

    verb — To spoil (food) by contamination.

    noun — Infection; corruption; deprivation

    noun — A marker indicating that a variable is unsafe and should be subjected to additional security checks.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • tannic

    adjective — Pertaining to, containing, or obtained from tannin.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • tannin

    noun — Tannic acid or any of its derivatives.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • taxation

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • taxi

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • tinct

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • tint

    verb — To shade, to color.

    noun — A slight coloring.

    noun — A pale or faint tinge of any color; especially, a variation of a color obtained by adding white (contrast shade)

    noun — A color considered with reference to other very similar colors.

    noun — A shaded effect in engraving, produced by the juxtaposition of many fine parallel lines.

    Appeared in 19 recorded puzzles.

  • titan

    noun — Something or someone of very large stature, greatness, or godliness.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • titanic

    adjective — Having great size, or great strength, force or power.

    adjective — Of or relating to titanium, especially tetravalent titanium

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • tonic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • toxic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • toxin

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ac×3
  • an×8
  • at×3
  • ca×6
  • ci×2
  • co×7
  • ic×2
  • in×9
  • io×2
  • na×1
  • ni×1
  • no×3
  • on×1
  • ta×8
  • ti×4
  • to×3

Words by first letter and length

456789101112Σ
a 237··11·· 14
c 24131211· 15
i 313·1·311 13
n ··3·2···· 5
o ·1······· 1
t 273111··· 15
Σ 91617454521 63

The numbers

Genius today takes 275 points of 393 available. The average answer runs 6.4 letters.

Total points vs. all 393 recorded puzzles
99th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
89th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17771 recorded answers

49 today34.6% all-time516 today22.8% all-time617 today19.9% all-time74 today12.0% all-time85 today6.3% all-time94 today2.6% all-time105 today1.3% all-time112 today0.3% all-time121 today0.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
a Thursday, March 5, 2026 Tuesday, March 3, 2026
c Thursday, March 5, 2026 Sunday, January 18, 2026
i ● Saturday, March 7, 2026 Saturday, February 28, 2026
n Saturday, March 7, 2026 Monday, March 2, 2026
o Saturday, March 7, 2026 Thursday, March 5, 2026
t Wednesday, March 4, 2026 Monday, February 9, 2026
x Thursday, December 25, 2025 first recorded time

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 42
  2. onion 31
  3. naan 30
  4. nana 30
  5. toot 29
  6. loll 29
  7. mama 25
  8. mamma 25
  9. acacia 24
  10. acai 24
  11. olio 24
  12. cocoon 23
  13. loon 23
  14. nene 23
  15. bill 22
  16. neon 22
  17. none 22
  18. lilt 21
  19. till 21
  20. tilt 21
  21. aria 21
  22. imam 21
  23. maim 21
  24. onto 21
  25. toon 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.