The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

ABMNOTC

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Words
38
Points
201
Genius
140
Pangrams
2

Official answers

Show the 38 answersHide answers

Pangrams highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • bacon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • banc

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • bobcat

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • cabana

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • cacao

    noun — A tree, Theobroma cacao, whose seed is used to make chocolate.

    noun — This tree's seed, the cocoa bean.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • camo

    noun — A pattern on clothing consisting of irregularly shaped patches that are either greenish/brownish, brownish/whitish, or bluish/whitish, as used by ground combat forces.

    verb — To camouflage.

    noun — Clothes made from camouflage fabric, for concealment in combat or hunting.

    verb — To put on camouflage clothing.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • cancan

    noun — A high-kicking chorus line dance originating in France.

    verb — To dance the cancan.

    noun — (motocross) A trick where one leg is brought over the seat, so that both legs are on one side.

    Appeared in 23 recorded puzzles.

  • canna

    noun — Any member of the genus Canna of tropical plants with large leaves and often showy flowers.

    noun — A measure of length in Italy, varying from six to seven feet.

    Appeared in 23 recorded puzzles.

  • cannon

    noun — A complete assembly, consisting of an artillery tube and a breech mechanism, firing mechanism or base cap, which is a component of a gun, howitzer or mortar. It may include muzzle appendages.

    verb — To bombard with cannons.

    noun — A generally accepted principle; a rule.

    noun — A clergy member serving a cathedral or collegiate church.

    noun — A Near Eastern and Caucasian musical instrument related to the zither, dulcimer, or harp having either 26 strings and a single bridge, or twice that number and two bridges.

    noun — Any similar device for shooting material out of a tube.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • cannot

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • canon

    noun — A generally accepted principle; a rule.

    noun — A clergy member serving a cathedral or collegiate church.

    noun — A Near Eastern and Caucasian musical instrument related to the zither, dulcimer, or harp having either 26 strings and a single bridge, or twice that number and two bridges.

    noun — A group of literary works that are generally accepted as representing a field.

    noun — The works of a writer that have been accepted as authentic.

    noun — A eucharistic prayer, particularly the Roman Canon.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • cant

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • cantata

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • canton

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • catacomb

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • coat

    noun — An outer garment covering the upper torso and arms.Wp

    verb — To cover with a coating of some material.

    noun — A covering of material, such as paint.Wp

    noun — The fur or feathers covering an animal's skin.Wp

    noun — Canvas painted with thick tar and secured round a mast or bowsprit to prevent water running down the sides into the hold (now made of rubber or leather).

    noun — A petticoat.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • coca

    noun — Any of the four cultivated plants which belong to the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America.

    noun — A pastry typically made and consumed in the Spanish Mediterranean coast.

    noun — The dried leaf of one of these plants, the South American shrub (Erythroxylum coca), widely cultivated in Andean countries, which is the source of cocaine.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • cocoa

    noun — The dried and partially fermented fatty seeds of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made.

    adjective — Of a light to medium brown colour, like that of cocoa powder.

    noun — Coconut palm.

    noun — An unsweetened brown powder made from roasted, ground cocoa beans, used in making chocolate, and in cooking.

    noun — A hot drink made with milk, cocoa powder, and sugar.

    noun — A serving of this drink.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • cocoon

    noun — The silky protective case spun by the larvae of some insects in which they metamorphose, the pupa.

    verb — To envelop in a protective case

    noun — Any similar protective case, whether real or metaphorical.

    verb — To withdraw into such a case.

    Appeared in 24 recorded puzzles.

  • coma

    noun — A state of unconsciousness from which one may not wake up, usually induced by some form of trauma.

    noun — A cloud of dust surrounding the nucleus of a comet.

    noun — A defect characterized by diffuse, pear-shaped images that in an ideal image would appear as points.

    noun — A tuft or bunch, such as the assemblage of branches forming the head of a tree, a cluster of bracts when empty and terminating the inflorescence of a plant, or a tuft of long hairs on certain seeds.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • comb

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • combat

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • combatant

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • combo

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • comma

    noun — The punctuation mark ⟨,⟩ used to indicate a set off parts of a sentence or between elements of a list.

    verb — To place a comma or commas within text; to follow, precede, or surround a portion of text with commas.

    noun — A similar-looking subscript diacritical mark.

    noun — Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Polygonia, having a comma-shaped white mark on the underwings, especially Polygonia c-album and Polygonia c-aureum of North Africa, Europe, and Asia.

    noun — A difference in the calculation of nearly identical intervals by different ways.

    noun — A delimiting marker between items in a genetic sequence.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • common

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • concoct

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • contact

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • coot

    noun — Any of various aquatic birds of the genus Fulica that are mainly black with a prominent frontal shield on the forehead.

    noun — A foolish or eccentric fellow

    noun — (with the) A success; something excellent.

    noun — Body louse (Pediculus humanus).

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • cotton

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • noncom

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • noncombatant

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • octant

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • taco

    noun — A Mexican snack food; a small tortilla (soft or hard shelled), with typically some type of meat, rice, beans, cheese, diced vegetables (usually tomatoes and lettuce, as served in the United States, and cilantro, onion, and avocado, as served in México) and salsa.

    verb — To fold or cause to buckle in half, similar to the way a taco is folded.

    noun — The vulva.

    noun — A yellow stain on a shirt armpit caused by sweat or deodorant.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • tact

    noun — The sense of touch; feeling.

    verb — To use a tact (a kind of verbal operant; see noun sense).

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

    noun — The stroke in beating time.

    noun — Sensitive mental touch; special skill or faculty; keen perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances; the ability to say the right thing.

    noun — A verbal operant which is controlled by a nonverbal stimulus (such as an object, event, or property of an object) and is maintained by nonspecific social reinforcement (praise).

    Appeared in 20 recorded puzzles.

  • tobacco

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • toccata

    noun — A piece of music (usually for a keyboard instrument) designed to emphasise the dexterity of the performer.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • tomcat

    noun — A tom, a male cat.

    verb — To prowl for sexual gratification.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ba×2
  • bo×1
  • ca×12
  • co×15
  • no×2
  • oc×1
  • ta×2
  • to×3

Words by first letter and length

45678912Σ
b 111···· 3
c 769311· 27
n ··1···1 2
o ··1···· 1
t 2·12··· 5
Σ 107135111 38

The numbers

Genius today takes 140 points of 201 available. The average answer runs 5.7 letters.

Total points vs. all 410 recorded puzzles
47th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
33rd percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 18521 recorded answers

410 today34.5% all-time57 today23.0% all-time613 today20.0% all-time75 today12.0% all-time81 today6.3% all-time91 today2.6% all-time101.3% all-time110.3% all-time121 today0.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
a Saturday, May 9, 2026 Wednesday, May 6, 2026
b Tuesday, May 5, 2026 Tuesday, April 21, 2026
c ● Monday, May 11, 2026 Friday, May 8, 2026
m Saturday, May 9, 2026 Sunday, April 19, 2026
n Sunday, May 10, 2026 Thursday, May 7, 2026
o Sunday, May 10, 2026 Saturday, April 25, 2026
t Monday, May 11, 2026 Monday, May 11, 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 26
  8. mamma 26
  9. nene 25
  10. cocoon 24
  11. acacia 24
  12. acai 24
  13. loon 24
  14. olio 24
  15. cancan 23
  16. canna 23
  17. neon 23
  18. none 23
  19. aria 22
  20. imam 22
  21. maim 22
  22. bill 22
  23. mini 22
  24. minim 22
  25. lilt 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.