The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

BELNOVT

Monday, March 30, 2026

Words
46
Points
172
Genius
120
Pangram
1

Official answers

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Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • beet

    noun — A beetroot, a swollen root of such a plant.

    noun — Beta vulgaris, a plant with a swollen root which is eaten or used to make sugar.

    verb — To improve; to mend.

    verb — To kindle a fire.

    verb — To rouse.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • beetle

    noun — Any of numerous species of insect in the order Coleoptera characterized by a pair of hard, shell-like front wings which cover and protect a pair of rear wings when at rest.

    noun — A small car, the Volkswagen Beetle (original version made 1938–2003, similar models made 1997–2010 and since 2011)

    adjective — Protruding, jutting, overhanging. (As in beetle brows.)

    noun — A game of chance in which players attempt to complete a drawing of a beetle, different dice rolls allowing them to add the various body parts.

    verb — To move away quickly, to scurry away.

    verb — To loom over; to extend or jut.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • belt

    noun — A band worn around the waist to hold clothing to one's body (usually pants), hold weapons (such as a gun or sword), or serve as a decorative piece of clothing.

    noun — A band used as a restraint for safety purposes, such as a seat belt.

    noun — (usually capitalized) A geographical region known for a particular product, feature or demographic (Corn Belt, Bible Belt, Black Belt, Green Belt).

    verb — To scream or sing in a loud manner.

    verb — To hit someone or something.

    verb — To hit a pitched ball a long distance, usually for a home run.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • benevolent

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • bent

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • bento

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • betel

    noun — Either of two plants often used in combination:

    noun — A quid (chewing preparation) containing these and other plant materials; paan.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • blot

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • blotto

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • bolt

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • bonnet

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • boot

    noun — A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg.

    verb — To kick.

    noun — Remedy, amends.

    verb — To avail, benefit, profit.

    noun — The act or process of bootstrapping; the starting or re-starting of a computing device.

    verb — To bootstrap; to start a system, e.g. a computer, by invoking its boot process or bootstrap.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • bootee

    noun — A soft, woolen shoe, usually knitted, for a baby or small pet.

    noun — An overshoe or sock worn to cover dirty shoes or feet.

    noun — A thick sock worn under a wetsuit.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • botnet

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • bottle

    noun — A container, typically made of glass or plastic and having a tapered neck, used primarily for holding liquids.

    noun — The contents of such a container.

    noun — Intoxicating liquor; alcohol.

    noun — A container with a rubber nipple used for giving liquids to infants, a baby bottle.

    noun — Nerve, courage.

    verb — To seal (a liquid) into a bottle for later consumption. Also fig.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • entente

    noun — An informal alliance or friendly understanding between two states.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • event

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • lent

    noun — A period of the ecclesiastical year preceding Easter, traditionally involving temporary abstention from certain foods and pleasures.

    verb — To allow to be used by someone temporarily, on condition that it or its equivalent will be returned.

    noun — The second term of the academic year at some British schools.

    verb — To make a loan.

    verb — To be suitable or applicable, to fit.

    verb — To afford; to grant or furnish in general.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • lento

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • 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.

  • nettle

    noun — Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash.

    verb — Of the nettle plant and similar physical causes, to sting, causing a rash in someone.

    noun — Certain plants that have spines or prickles:

    noun — Certain non-stinging plants, mostly in the family Lamiaceae, that resemble the species of Urtica:

    noun — Loosely, anything which causes a similarly stinging rash, such as a jellyfish or sea nettle.

    verb — To pique, irritate, vex or provoke.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • nonet

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • nonevent

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • note

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • novelette

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • onto

    adjective — (of a function) Assuming each of the values in its codomain; having its range equal to its codomain.

    preposition — Upon; on top of.

    preposition — Aware of.

    preposition — Being an onto function with a codomain of (see below).

    Appeared in 22 recorded puzzles.

  • teen

    noun — A teenager.

    adjective — Of or having to do with teenagers; teenage

    noun — Grief; sorrow; trouble.

    verb — To excite; to provoke; to vex; to afflict; to injure.

    verb — (provincial) To hedge or fence in; to enclose.

    noun — Vexation; anger; hate.

    Appeared in 14 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.

  • tenet

    noun — An opinion, belief, or principle that is held as absolute truth by someone or especially an organization.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • tenon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • tent

    noun — A pavilion or portable lodge consisting of skins, canvas, or some strong cloth, stretched and sustained by poles, used for sheltering people from the weather.

    verb — To go camping.

    noun — Attention; regard, care.

    verb — To attend to; to heed

    noun — A roll of lint or linen, or a conical or cylindrical piece of sponge or other absorbent, used chiefly to dilate a natural canal, to keep open the orifice of a wound, or to absorb discharges.

    verb — (sometimes figurative) To probe or to search with a tent; to keep open with a tent.

    Appeared in 14 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.

  • tone

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • tonne

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 8 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.

  • toon

    noun — A cartoon, especially an animated television show.

    noun — A southeast Asian and Australian tree (Toona ciliata or Toona australis) of the mahogany family with fragrant dark red wood and flowers that yield a dye.

    noun — A town.

    noun — A melody.

    noun — A player's avatar or visible character in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

    noun — The wood of this tree.

    Appeared in 22 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 30 recorded puzzles.

  • 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.

  • velvet

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • velveteen

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • vent

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • veto

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • volt

    noun — In the International System of Units, the derived unit of electrical potential and electromotive force (voltage); the potential difference across a conductor when a current of one ampere uses one watt of power. Symbol: V

    noun — A circular tread; a gait by which a horse going sideways round a centre makes two concentric tracks.

    noun — A sudden movement to avoid a thrust.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • vote

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • be×7
  • bl×2
  • bo×6
  • en×1
  • ev×1
  • le×2
  • lo×2
  • ne×1
  • no×4
  • on×1
  • te×5
  • to×8
  • ve×4
  • vo×2

Words by first letter and length

45678910Σ
b 626···1 15
e ·1·1··· 2
l 22····· 4
n 111·11· 5
o 1······ 1
t 931···· 13
v 4·1··1· 6
Σ 23991121 46

The numbers

Genius today takes 120 points of 172 available. The average answer runs 5.1 letters.

Total points vs. all 417 recorded puzzles
35th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
50th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 18854 recorded answers

423 today34.4% all-time59 today23.0% all-time69 today20.0% all-time71 today12.0% all-time81 today6.3% all-time92 today2.6% all-time101 today1.3% all-time110.3% all-time120.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
b Sunday, March 29, 2026 Sunday, March 29, 2026
e Saturday, March 28, 2026 Saturday, March 21, 2026
l Sunday, March 29, 2026 Wednesday, March 25, 2026
n Sunday, March 29, 2026 Saturday, March 28, 2026
o Sunday, March 29, 2026 Thursday, March 5, 2026
t ● Saturday, March 28, 2026 Monday, February 9, 2026
v Saturday, March 21, 2026 Wednesday, February 4, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 44
  2. naan 33
  3. nana 33
  4. onion 31
  5. toot 30
  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. onto 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.