The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

ACDIRYL

Sunday, March 15, 2026

Words
62
Points
296
Genius
207
Pangrams
2

Official answers

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Pangrams highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • acidly

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • acridly

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  • acrylic

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  • acyclic

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    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • airily

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    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • allay

    noun — Alleviation; abatement; check.

    verb — To make quiet or put at rest; to pacify or appease; to quell; to calm.

    noun — An alloy.

    verb — To alleviate; to abate; to mitigate.

    verb — To subside, abate, become peaceful.

    verb — To mix (metals); to mix with a baser metal; to alloy; to deteriorate.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • ally

    noun — A person, group, or state (etc) which is associated with another for a common cause; one united to another by treaty or common purpose; a confederate.

    verb — To unite, or form a connection between, as between families by marriage, or between princes and states by treaty, league, or confederacy.

    noun — A narrow street or passageway, especially one through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots or buildings.

    noun — A glass marble or taw.

    noun — A person, group, concept (etc) which is associated with another as a helper; a supporter; an auxiliary.

    noun — Anything akin to something else by structure, etc.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • aril

    noun — A tissue surrounding the seed in certain fruits such as pomegranates.

    Appeared in 8 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.

  • carryall

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • 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.

  • clad

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    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • clay

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • cyclic

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    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • cyclical

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    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • cyclically

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    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • daily

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    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • dally

    verb — To waste time in trivial activities, or in idleness; to trifle.

    noun — Several wraps of rope around the saddle horn, used to stop animals in roping.

    verb — To wind the lasso rope (ie throw-rope) around the saddle horn (the saddle horn is attached to the pommel of a western style saddle) after the roping of an animal

    verb — To caress, especially of a sexual nature; to fondle or pet

    verb — To delay unnecessarily; to while away.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • daylily

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • dial

    noun — A graduated, circular scale over which a needle moves to show a measurement (such as speed).

    noun — A clock face.

    verb — To control or select something with a dial, or (figuratively) as if with a dial.

    verb — To select a number, or to call someone, on a telephone.

    noun — A sundial.

    noun — A panel on a radio etc showing wavelengths or channels; a knob that is turned to change the wavelength etc.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • diddly

    noun — A small amount of no worth.

    interjection — A written representation of a trill sound.

    noun — (sometimes childish) penis

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • dill

    noun — Anethum graveolens (the type species of the genus Anethum), a herb, the seeds of which are moderately warming, pungent, and aromatic, formerly used as a soothing medicine for children; also known as dillseed.

    verb — To cook or flavor with dill

    verb — To still; to assuage; to calm; to soothe, as one in pain.

    noun — A cucumber pickled with dill flavoring

    noun — A fool.

    Appeared in 19 recorded puzzles.

  • dilly

    adjective — Redolent of dill (the herb).

    noun — Someone or something that is remarkable or unusual.

    noun — A dilly bag.

    noun — A kind of stagecoach.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • dillydally

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • drill

    noun — A tool used to remove material so as to create a hole, typically by plunging a rotating cutting bit into a stationary workpiece.

    verb — To create (a hole) by removing material with a drill (tool).

    noun — An agricultural implement for making holes for sowing seed, and sometimes so formed as to contain seeds and drop them into the hole made.

    verb — To sow (seeds) by dribbling them along a furrow or in a row.

    noun — A small trickling stream; a rill.

    verb — To cause to flow in drills or rills or by trickling; to drain by trickling.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • dryly

    adverb — In a dry manner.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • icily

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • idly

    adverb — In an idle manner.

    adverb — Without specific purpose, intent or effort.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • idyl

    noun — Any poem or short written piece composed in the style of Theocritus' short pastoral poems, the Idylls.

    noun — An episode or series of events or circumstances of pastoral or rural simplicity, fit for an idyll; a carefree or lighthearted experience.

    noun — A composition, usually instrumental, of a pastoral or sentimental character, e.g. Siegfried Idyll by Richard Wagner.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • idyll

    noun — Any poem or short written piece composed in the style of Theocritus' short pastoral poems, the Idylls.

    noun — An episode or series of events or circumstances of pastoral or rural simplicity, fit for an idyll; a carefree or lighthearted experience.

    noun — A composition, usually instrumental, of a pastoral or sentimental character, e.g. Siegfried Idyll by Richard Wagner.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • idyllic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • idyllically

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  • iliac

    adjective — Of or pertaining to the ilium.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • illy

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • lacy

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • lady

    noun — An aristocratic title for a woman; the wife of a lord and/or a woman who holds the position in her own right; a title for a peeress, the wife of a peer or knight, and the daughters and daughters-in-law of certain peers.

    noun — The mistress of a household.

    noun — A high priestess.

    noun — A woman of breeding or higher class, a woman of authority.

    noun — The feminine of lord.

    noun — A title for someone married to a lord or gentleman.

    Appeared in 8 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.

  • laid

    verb — To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.

    verb — To produce and deposit an egg.

    verb — To have sex with.

    verb — To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.

    verb — To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).

    verb — To state; to allege.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • lair

    noun — A place inhabited by a wild animal, often a cave or a hole in the ground.

    noun — A place inhabited by a criminal or criminals, a superhero or a supervillain; a refuge, retreat, haven or hideaway.

    noun — A shed or shelter for domestic animals.

    noun — A bed or resting place.

    noun — A grave; a cemetery plot.

    verb — To rest; to dwell.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • lard

    noun — Fat from the abdomen of a pig, especially as prepared for use in cooking or pharmacy.

    verb — To garnish or strew, especially with reference to words or phrases in speech and writing.

    verb — To stuff (meat) with bacon or pork before cooking.

    noun — Fatty meat from a pig; bacon, pork.

    verb — To smear with fat or lard.

    verb — To fatten; to enrich.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • liar

    noun — One who tells lies.

    noun — A swabber responsible for cleaning the outside parts of the ship rather than the cabins, a role traditionally assigned to a person caught telling a lie the previous week.

    Appeared in 8 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.

  • lily

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • lira

    noun — The basic unit of currency in Turkey.

    noun — The former currency of Italy, Malta, San Marino, Cyprus and the Vatican City, superseded by the euro

    noun — The former currency of Israel, superseded by the sheqel.

    noun — The currency of Lebanon (also pound), Syria (also pound), Jordan (also dinar)

    noun — A Ukrainian folk musical instrument similar to the hurdy-gurdy.

    noun — Any of a set of fine ridges on the shells of some molluscs

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • lyric

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • lyrical

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  • lyrically

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  • racial

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • racially

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  • racily

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  • radial

    noun — A radial tire / radial tyre.

    adjective — Arranged like rays that radiate from, or converge to a common centre.

    adjective — Developing uniformly on all sides.

    adjective — Moving along a radius.

    adjective — Of, or relating to the radius bone.

    adjective — Of, or relating to the radius (vein), and/or the wing areas next to it.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • radially

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  • radical

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  • radically

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  • rail

    noun — The metal bar that makes the track for a railroad.

    noun — A horizontal bar extending between supports and used for support or as a barrier; a railing.

    noun — A railroad; a railway, as a means of transportation.

    noun — A horizontal piece of wood that serves to separate sections of a door or window.

    verb — To criticize severely.

    noun — Any of several birds in the family Rallidae.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • railcar

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • rally

    noun — A public gathering or mass meeting that is not mainly a protest and is organized to inspire enthusiasm for a cause.

    verb — To collect, and reduce to order, as troops dispersed or thrown into confusion; to gather again; to reunite.

    noun — Good-humoured raillery.

    verb — To tease; to chaff good-humouredly.

    noun — A protest or demonstration for or against something, but often with speeches and often without marching, especially in North America.

    noun — A sequence of strokes between serving and scoring a point.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • rial

    noun — The official currencies of Iran, Oman, and Yemen.

    noun — An old gold coin of England.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • rill

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • riyal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

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

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ac×4
  • ai×1
  • al×2
  • ar×1
  • ca×3
  • ci×1
  • cl×2
  • cy×3
  • da×3
  • di×5
  • dr×2
  • ic×1
  • id×5
  • il×2
  • la×7
  • li×4
  • ly×3
  • ra×10
  • ri×3

Words by first letter and length

4567891011Σ
a 2123···· 8
c 321·2·1· 9
d 2511··1· 10
i 33·1···1 8
l 9211·1·· 14
r 323221·· 13
Σ 2215884221 62

The numbers

Genius today takes 207 points of 296 available. The average answer runs 5.6 letters.

Total points vs. all 428 recorded puzzles
84th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
87th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 19319 recorded answers

422 today34.4% all-time515 today22.9% all-time68 today20.0% all-time78 today12.1% all-time84 today6.3% all-time92 today2.6% all-time102 today1.3% all-time111 today0.3% all-time120.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
a Friday, March 13, 2026 Tuesday, March 3, 2026
c Friday, March 13, 2026 Thursday, March 12, 2026
d Thursday, March 12, 2026 Monday, January 26, 2026
i Friday, March 13, 2026 Friday, March 13, 2026
l ● Saturday, March 14, 2026 Sunday, February 22, 2026
r Saturday, March 14, 2026 Saturday, March 14, 2026
y Monday, March 9, 2026 Saturday, February 7, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 45
  2. naan 34
  3. nana 34
  4. toot 32
  5. onion 31
  6. loll 30
  7. mama 27
  8. mamma 27
  9. nene 26
  10. acacia 25
  11. acai 25
  12. cocoon 24
  13. onto 24
  14. toon 24
  15. mini 24
  16. minim 24
  17. loon 24
  18. olio 24
  19. aria 23
  20. imam 23
  21. maim 23
  22. mitt 23
  23. cancan 23
  24. canna 23
  25. neon 23

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.