The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

ACDEHTM

Friday, March 20, 2026

Words
56
Points
232
Genius
162
Pangram
1

Official answers

Show the 56 answersHide answers

Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • academe

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • acme

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • ahem

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • came

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • dame

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • dammed

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • deem

    noun — An opinion, a judgment, a surmise.

    verb — To judge, to pass judgment on; to doom, to sentence.

    verb — To adjudge, to decree.

    verb — To dispense (justice); to administer (law).

    verb — (ditransitive) To hold in belief or estimation; to adjudge as a conclusion; to regard as being; to evaluate according to one's beliefs; to account.

    verb — To think, judge, or have or hold as an opinion; to decide or believe on consideration; to suppose.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • deemed

    verb — To judge, to pass judgment on; to doom, to sentence.

    adjective — An accreditation awarded to higher educational institutions in India.

    verb — To adjudge, to decree.

    verb — To dispense (justice); to administer (law).

    verb — (ditransitive) To hold in belief or estimation; to adjudge as a conclusion; to regard as being; to evaluate according to one's beliefs; to account.

    verb — To think, judge, or have or hold as an opinion; to decide or believe on consideration; to suppose.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • edamame

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • edema

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • emcee

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • emceed

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • hamate

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • hammed

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • heme

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • hemmed

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • macadam

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • mace

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • maced

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • machete

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • madam

    noun — A polite form of address for a woman or lady.

    verb — To address as "madam".

    noun — The mistress of a household.

    noun — A conceited or quarrelsome girl.

    noun — A woman who runs a brothel, particularly one that specializes in finding prostitutes for rich and important clients.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • madame

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • made

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • mahatma

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • mama

    noun — (hypocoristic, usually childish) Mother, female parent.

    Appeared in 27 recorded puzzles.

  • mamma

    noun — The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat; a breast; an udder. (plural: mammae)

    noun — (hypocoristic, usually childish) Mother, female parent.

    noun — An accessory cloud like a mammary in appearance, which can form on the underside of most cloud genera

    Appeared in 27 recorded puzzles.

  • match

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • matcha

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • matched

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • mate

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • mated

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • math

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • matte

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • matted

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • mead

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • meat

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • meathead

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • mecca

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • meet

    verb — To make contact (with) while in proximity.

    verb — To make physical or perceptual contact.

    verb — To satisfy; to comply with.

    noun — A meeting.

    noun — A sports competition, especially for track and field (a track meet) or swimming (a swim meet).

    verb — (Of groups) To come together.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • meme

    noun — Something, usually humorous, which is copied and circulated online with slight adaptations, including quizzes, basic pictures, video templates etc.

    noun — A myth circulating as truth; something ineffective presented as effective, or similar.

    noun — Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes.

    verb — To turn into a meme; to use a meme, especially to achieve something in real life.

    verb — To create and use humorous memes.

    verb — To joke around.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • memed

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • meta

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • metadata

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • mete

    verb — (usually with “out”) To dispense, measure (out), allot (especially punishment, reward etc.).

    verb — To measure.

    adjective — Suitable; right; proper.

    noun — A boundary or other limit; a boundary-marker; mere.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • meted

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • meth

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • tame

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • tamed

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • team

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • teamed

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • teammate

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • teem

    verb — To be prolific; to abound; to be rife.

    verb — To be stocked to overflowing.

    verb — To pour (especially with rain)

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • teemed

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • them

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • theme

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • themed

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

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

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ac×2
  • ah×1
  • ca×1
  • da×2
  • de×2
  • ed×2
  • em×2
  • ha×2
  • he×2
  • ma×18
  • me×12
  • ta×2
  • te×5
  • th×3

Words by first letter and length

45678Σ
a 2··1· 3
c 1···· 1
d 2·2·· 4
e ·211· 4
h 1·3·· 4
m 129342 30
t 423·1 10
Σ 22131263 56

The numbers

Genius today takes 162 points of 232 available. The average answer runs 5.2 letters.

Total points vs. all 411 recorded puzzles
62nd percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
74th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 18583 recorded answers

422 today34.5% all-time513 today23.0% all-time612 today20.0% all-time76 today12.0% all-time83 today6.2% all-time92.6% 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
a Wednesday, March 18, 2026 Tuesday, March 3, 2026
c Monday, March 16, 2026 Thursday, March 12, 2026
d Tuesday, March 17, 2026 Monday, January 26, 2026
e Thursday, March 19, 2026 Friday, February 6, 2026
h Thursday, March 19, 2026 Monday, February 23, 2026
m ● Thursday, March 19, 2026 Tuesday, March 10, 2026
t Wednesday, March 18, 2026 Monday, February 9, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 44
  2. naan 33
  3. nana 33
  4. onion 31
  5. toot 29
  6. loll 29
  7. mama 27
  8. mamma 27
  9. nene 25
  10. cocoon 24
  11. acacia 24
  12. acai 24
  13. loon 24
  14. olio 24
  15. imam 23
  16. maim 23
  17. cancan 23
  18. canna 23
  19. mini 23
  20. minim 23
  21. neon 23
  22. none 23
  23. aria 22
  24. mitt 22
  25. bill 22

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.