The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

AILNTUM

Sunday, April 19, 2026

Words
68
Points
363
Genius
254
Pangrams
2

Official answers

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Pangrams highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • allium

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • alum

    noun — An astringent salt, usually occurring in the form of pale crystals, much used in the dyeing and tanning trade and in certain medicines, and now understood to be a double sulphate of potassium and aluminium (K2SO4·Al2(SO4)3·24H2O).

    verb — To steep in, or otherwise impregnate with, a solution of alum; to treat with alum.

    noun — (shortening) A past attendee or graduate (of either gender) of a college, university or other educational institution.

    noun — Any similar double sulphate in which either or both of the potassium and aluminium is wholly or partly replaced by other univalent or tervalent cations.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • alumina

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • aluminum

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • alumna

    noun — A female pupil or student (especially of a university or college).

    noun — A female graduate.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • alumni

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • anima

    noun — The soul or animating principle of a living thing, especially as contrasted with the animus.

    noun — (Jungian psychology) The inner self (not the external persona) of a person that is in touch with the unconscious as opposed to the persona.

    noun — (Jungian psychology) The unconscious feminine aspect of a person.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • animal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • autumn

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • autumnal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • ilium

    noun — The upper and widest of the three bones that make up each side of the hipbone and pelvis.

    noun — The ileum, part of the small intestine.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • illuminati

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • imam

    noun — (usually capitalized) A Shi'ite Muslim leader.

    noun — One who leads the salat prayers in a mosque.

    Appeared in 23 recorded puzzles.

  • lama

    noun — A master of Tibetan Buddhism.

    noun — A South American mammal of the camel family, Lama glama, used as a domestic beast of burden and a source of wool and meat.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • lamina

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • laminal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • lima

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • liminal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • limit

    noun — A restriction; a bound beyond which one may not go.

    verb — To restrict; not to allow to go beyond a certain bound, to set boundaries.

    noun — The final, utmost, or furthest point; the border or edge.

    noun — A restriction; a check or curb; a hindrance.

    noun — A value to which a sequence converges. Equivalently, the common value of the upper limit and the lower limit of a sequence: if the upper and lower limits are different, then the sequence has no limit (i.e., does not converge).

    noun — (as "the limit") A person who is exasperating, intolerable, astounding, etc.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • limn

    verb — To draw or paint; to delineate.

    verb — To illuminate, as a manuscript; to decorate with gold or some other bright colour.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • llama

    noun — A South American mammal of the camel family, Lama glama, used as a domestic beast of burden and a source of wool and meat.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • mail

    noun — A bag or wallet.

    verb — (ditransitive) To send (a letter, parcel, etc.) through the mail.

    noun — Armour consisting of metal rings or plates linked together.

    verb — To arm with mail.

    noun — An old French coin worth half a denier.

    noun — A bag containing letters to be delivered by post.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • mailman

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • maim

    noun — A serious wound

    verb — To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body.

    Appeared in 23 recorded puzzles.

  • main

    verb — Short for mainline.

    adjective — Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal.

    adverb — Exceedingly, extremely, greatly, mightily, very, very much.

    noun — That which is chief or principal; the chief or main portion; the bulk, the greater part, gross.

    noun — A hand or match in a game of dice.

    noun — A basket for gathering grapes.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • maintain

    verb — To support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action.

    verb — To keep up; to preserve; to uphold (a state, condition etc.).

    verb — To declare or affirm (a clause) to be true; to assert.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • mall

    noun — A pedestrianised street, especially a shopping precinct.

    verb — To beat with a mall, or mallet; to beat with something heavy; to bruise

    noun — An enclosed shopping centre.

    noun — An alley where the game of pall mall was played.

    noun — A public walk; a level shaded walk, a promenade.

    noun — A heavy wooden mallet or hammer used in the game of pall mall.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • malt

    noun — Malted grain (sprouted grain) (usually barley), used in brewing and otherwise.

    verb — To convert a cereal grain into malt by causing it to sprout (by soaking in water) and then halting germination (by drying with hot air) in order to develop enzymes that can break down starches and proteins in the grain.

    noun — Malt liquor, especially malt whisky.

    noun — A milkshake with malted milk powder added for flavor.

    noun — Maltose-rich sugar derived from malted grain.

    verb — To become malt.

    Appeared in 5 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.

  • mammal

    noun — An animal of the class Mammalia, characterized by being warm-blooded, having hair and feeding milk to its young.

    noun — A vertebrate with three bones in the inner ear and one in the jaw.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • mammalian

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • mania

    noun — Violent derangement of mind; madness; insanity.

    noun — Excessive or unreasonable desire; insane passion affecting one or many people; fanaticism.

    noun — The state of abnormally elevated or irritable mood, arousal, and/or energy levels.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • manila

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • manna

    noun — Food miraculously produced for the Israelites in the desert in the book of Exodus.

    noun — (by extension) Any boon which comes into one's hands by good luck.

    noun — The sugary sap of the manna gum tree which oozes out from holes drilled by insects and falls to the ground around the tree.http//www.museum.vic.gov.au/forest/plants/gum.html

    Appeared in 20 recorded puzzles.

  • manta

    noun — A kind of fabric or blanket used in Latin America and southwestern United States.

    noun — Any of several very large pelagic rays of the genus Manta, with winglike pectoral fins, a long tail, and two fins resembling horns that project from the head.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • mantilla

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • manual

    noun — A handbook.

    adjective — Performed with the hands (of an activity).

    noun — Mechanical transmission which shifts gears by the action of the driver's hand on the gearstick or gear lever, rather than automatically; a manual gearbox.

    noun — A booklet that instructs on the usage of a particular machine or product.

    noun — A drill in the use of weapons, etc.

    noun — An old office-book like the modern Roman Catholic ritual.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • manumit

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • matutinal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • maul

    noun — A heavy long-handled hammer, used for splitting logs by driving a wedge into them, or in combat.

    verb — To handle someone or something in a rough way.

    noun — A situation where the player carrying the ball, who must be on his feet, is held by one or more opponents, and one or more of the ball carrier's team mates bind onto the ball carrier.

    verb — To savage; to cause serious physical wounds (usually used of an animal).

    verb — To criticise harshly.

    verb — To beat with the heavy hammer called a maul.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • militant

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • militia

    noun — An army of trained civilians, which may be an official reserve army, called upon in time of need, the entire able-bodied population of a state which may also be called upon, or a private force not under government control.

    noun — The police in the Soviet Union and some related or successor states (e.g. modern Belarus).

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • militiaman

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • mill

    noun — A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc.

    verb — (followed by around, about, etc.) To move about in an aimless fashion.

    noun — A manufacturing plant for paper, steel, textiles, etc.

    noun — An establishment that handles a certain type of situation or procedure routinely, or produces large quantities of an item without much regard to quality, such as a divorce mill, a puppy mill, etc.

    noun — An institution awarding educational certificates not officially recognised

    noun — The building housing such a grinding apparatus.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • mini

    adjective — Miniature, tiny, small.

    noun — A miniskirt.

    noun — A minicomputer.

    Appeared in 24 recorded puzzles.

  • minim

    noun — A half note, drawn as a semibreve with a stem.

    noun — Anything very minute; applied to animalcula and the like.

    noun — A unit of volume, in the Imperial and U.S. customary systems, 1/60 fluid drachm. Approximately equal to 1 drop, 62 μL or 0.9 grain (weight) of water.

    noun — A short vertical stroke used in handwriting.

    noun — A little man or being; a dwarf.

    noun — A small fish; a minnow.

    Appeared in 24 recorded puzzles.

  • minima

    noun — The lowest limit.

    noun — The smallest amount.

    noun — A period of minimum brightness or energy intensity (of a star).

    noun — A lower bound of a set which is also an element of that set.

    noun — The smallest member of a batch or sample or the lower bound of a probability distribution.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • minimal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • minimum

    noun — The lowest limit.

    adjective — To the lowest degree.

    noun — The smallest amount.

    noun — A period of minimum brightness or energy intensity (of a star).

    noun — A lower bound of a set which is also an element of that set.

    noun — The smallest member of a batch or sample or the lower bound of a probability distribution.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • mint

    adjective — (with condition) Like new.

    noun — Any plant in the genus Mentha in the family Lamiaceae, typically aromatic with square stems.

    noun — A mint-flavored candy, often eaten to sweeten the smell of the breath.

    noun — The flavouring of the plant, either a sweet, a jelly or sauce.

    noun — A large amount of money. A vast sum or amount, etc.

    noun — A building or institution where money (originally, only coins) is produced under government licence.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • minutia

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • mitt

    noun — An oversized, protective glove such as an oven mitt or a baseball mitt.

    noun — A mitten

    noun — (especially in plural) A hand.

    Appeared in 23 recorded puzzles.

  • mull

    noun — A thin, soft muslin.

    verb — (usually with over) To work (over) mentally; to cogitate; to ruminate.

    noun — A promontory.

    noun — Dirt; rubbish

    noun — Marijuana that has been chopped to prepare it for smoking.

    noun — A stew of meat, broth, milk, butter, vegetables, and seasonings, thickened with soda crackers.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • mutant

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • mutt

    noun — A mongrel dog (or sometimes cat); an animal of mixed breed or uncertain origin.

    noun — A monastic or similar religious establishment in Hinduism and Jainism, usually more formal and hierarchical than an ashram.

    noun — (sometimes derogatory) A person of diverse ancestry.

    noun — An idiot, a stupid person.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • mutual

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • muumuu

    noun — A long loose-fitting dress made of lightweight fabric printed with bright, stylized Hawaiian themes (such as flowers and palm branches).

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • tantalum

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • tatami

    noun — Straw matting, in a standard size, used as a floor covering in Japanese houses

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • titanium

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • tumult

    noun — Confused, agitated noise as made by a crowd.

    verb — To make a tumult; to be in great commotion.

    noun — Violent commotion or agitation, often with confusion of sounds.

    noun — A riot or uprising.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • ultima

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • ultimata

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • ultimatum

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • umami

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • umlaut

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • unman

    verb — To castrate; to remove the manhood of.

    verb — To sap (a person) of the strength, whether physical or emotional, required to deal with a situation.

    verb — To deprive of men.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • al×6
  • an×2
  • au×2
  • il×2
  • im×1
  • la×3
  • li×4
  • ll×1
  • ma×20
  • mi×12
  • mu×5
  • ta×2
  • ti×1
  • tu×1
  • ul×3
  • um×2
  • un×1

Words by first letter and length

45678910Σ
a 11512·· 10
i 11····1 3
l 3212··· 8
m 13576321 37
t ··2·2·· 4
u ·22·11· 6
Σ 1811179832 68

The numbers

Genius today takes 254 points of 363 available. The average answer runs 5.9 letters.

Total points vs. all 420 recorded puzzles
95th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
95th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 18971 recorded answers

418 today34.4% all-time511 today23.0% all-time617 today20.0% all-time79 today12.0% all-time88 today6.3% all-time93 today2.6% all-time102 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
a Saturday, April 18, 2026 Wednesday, April 15, 2026
i Friday, April 17, 2026 Thursday, March 26, 2026
l Thursday, April 16, 2026 Saturday, April 11, 2026
m ● Saturday, April 18, 2026 Wednesday, April 1, 2026
n Friday, April 17, 2026 Sunday, April 12, 2026
t Thursday, April 16, 2026 Wednesday, April 8, 2026
u Monday, April 13, 2026 Monday, March 23, 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. acacia 25
  10. acai 25
  11. nene 25
  12. cocoon 24
  13. mini 24
  14. minim 24
  15. loon 24
  16. olio 24
  17. aria 23
  18. imam 23
  19. maim 23
  20. mitt 23
  21. cancan 23
  22. canna 23
  23. neon 23
  24. none 23
  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.