The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

EFILNXO

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Words
27
Points
90
Genius
62
Pangram
1

Official answers

Show the 27 answersHide answers

Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • felon

    noun — A person who has committed a felony.

    adjective — Wicked; cruel

    noun — A bacterial infection at the end of a finger or toe.

    noun — A person who has been tried and convicted of a felony.

    noun — A wicked person.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • flexion

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • floe

    noun — A low, flat mass of floating ice.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • foil

    noun — A very thin sheet of metal.

    noun — Thin aluminium/aluminum (or, formerly, tin) used for wrapping food.

    verb — To prevent (something) from being accomplished.

    noun — (authorship) In literature, theatre/theater, etc., a character who helps emphasize the traits of the main character and who usually acts as an opponent or antagonist.

    verb — To cover or wrap with foil.

    noun — A very thin sword with a blunted (or foiled) tip

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • folio

    noun — (books) A book made of sheets of paper each folded in half (two leaves or four pages to the sheet); hence, a book of the largest kind, exceeding 30 cm in height.

    noun — A leaf of a book or manuscript

    noun — A page of a book, that is, one side of a leaf of a book.

    noun — A page number. The even folios are on the left-hand pages and the odd folios on the right-hand pages.

    verb — To put a serial number on each folio or page of (a book); to page

    noun — A page in an account book; sometimes, two opposite pages bearing the same serial number.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • fool

    noun — A person with poor judgment or little intelligence.

    verb — To trick; to deceive

    verb — To act in an idiotic manner; to act foolishly

    noun — A jester; a person whose role was to entertain a sovereign and the court (or lower personages).

    noun — A type of dessert made of puréed fruit and custard or cream.

    noun — Buddy, dude, man.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • info

    noun — Information.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • leonine

    noun — A 13th-century coin minted in Europe and used in England as a debased form of the sterling silver penny, outlawed under Edward I.

    adjective — Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a lion.

    noun — A kind of Latin verse, generally alternate hexameter and pentameter, rhyming at the middle and end.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • lion

    noun — A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.

    adjective — Of the light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion.

    noun — (by extension) Any of various extant and extinct big cats, especially the mountain lion.

    noun — A Chinese foo dog.

    noun — An individual who shows strength and courage, attributes associated with the lion.

    noun — A famous person regarded with interest and curiosity.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • loin

    noun — The part of the body (of humans and quadrupeds) at each side of the backbone, between the ribs and hips

    noun — Any of several cuts of meat taken from this part of an animal

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • loll

    verb — To act lazily or indolently while reclining; to lean; to lie at ease.

    verb — To hang extended from the mouth, like the tongue of an animal heated from exertion.

    verb — To let (the tongue) hang from the mouth in this way.

    Appeared in 28 recorded puzzles.

  • lone

    adjective — Solitary; having no companion.

    adjective — Isolated or lonely; lacking companionship.

    adjective — Sole; being the only one of a type.

    adjective — Situated by itself or by oneself, with no neighbours.

    adjective — Unfrequented by human beings; solitary.

    adjective — Single; unmarried, or in widowhood.

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • loon

    noun — An idler, a lout.

    noun — Any of various birds, of the order Gaviiformes, of North America and Europe that dive for fish and have a short tail, webbed feet and a yodeling cry.

    noun — A boy, a lad.

    noun — A harlot; mistress.

    noun — A simpleton.

    noun — A crazy or deranged person.

    Appeared in 23 recorded puzzles.

  • loonie

    noun — The Canadian dollar (both the coin and the monetary unit).

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • neon

    noun — The chemical element (symbol Ne) with an atomic number of 10. The lightest of the noble gases, it is a colourless, odorless inert gas.

    adjective — (of a color) That resembles a neon light; extremely bright; fluorescent

    noun — A form or sample of the element.

    noun — Neon signs or lights, collectively.

    noun — A neon tetra fish.

    Appeared in 22 recorded puzzles.

  • noel

    noun — Christmas

    noun — A kind of hymn, or canticle, of mediaeval origin, sung in honor of the birth of Christ; a Christmas carol.

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • none

    noun — A person without religious affiliation.

    adverb — To no extent, in no way.

    pronoun — Not any of a given number or group.

    noun — Those without any religious affiliation: atheists and others outside any organized religion.

    noun — A light meal usually eaten around midday, notably when not as main meal of the day.

    noun — The middle of the afternoon, normally between 2 and 4 pm.

    Appeared in 22 recorded puzzles.

  • nonillion

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • noon

    noun — The ninth hour of the day counted from sunrise; around three o'clock in the afternoon.

    verb — To relax or sleep around midday

    noun — The letter ن in the Arabic script.

    noun — Time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.

    noun — The corresponding time in the middle of the night; midnight.

    noun — The highest point; culmination.

    Appeared in 42 recorded puzzles.

  • offline

    verb — To take (a system, etc.) offline; to demote from an active or online state.

    adjective — Of a system, currently not connected (generally electrically) to a larger network. For example, a power plant which is not connected to the grid, or a computer which is not connected to the Internet or to any other communications service.

    adverb — While offline; with an offline system.

    adjective — (by extension) Happening in the physical world (the real world) as opposed to on the internet.

    adverb — Outside the current meeting, in a more private setting.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • oleo

    noun — Margarine

    noun — The various fats and oils that go into the making of margarine.

    Appeared in 19 recorded puzzles.

  • olio

    noun — A medley or mixture; a hotchpotch.

    noun — A collection of various musical, theatrical or other artistic works; a miscellany.

    noun — A rich, thick, Spanish stew consisting of meat and vegetables.

    noun — (by extension) Vaudeville or similar miscellaneous musical or theatrical entertainment skits presented between the main acts of burlesque or minstrel shows.

    Appeared in 22 recorded puzzles.

  • ollie

    noun — An aerial maneuver in which one catches air by leaping off the ground with the skateboard and into the air.

    verb — To perform an ollie.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • onion

    noun — A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.

    noun — The bulb of such a plant.

    noun — The genus as a whole.

    noun — A ball.

    noun — A person from Bermuda or of Bermudian descent.

    Appeared in 29 recorded puzzles.

  • online

    verb — To bring (a system, etc.) online; to promote to an active or running state.

    adjective — Of a system: connected (generally electrically) to a larger network.

    adverb — While online; while in a running or active state, or connected to the Internet.

    adjective — Available over, or delivered from, the Internet.

    adjective — Connected to the Internet.

    adjective — Available on a computer system, even if not networked.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • oxen

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • xenon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

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

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • fe×1
  • fl×2
  • fo×3
  • in×1
  • le×1
  • li×1
  • lo×5
  • ne×1
  • no×4
  • of×1
  • ol×3
  • on×2
  • ox×1
  • xe×1

Words by first letter and length

45679Σ
f 32·1· 6
i 1···· 1
l 5·11· 7
n 4···1 5
o 3211· 7
x ·1··· 1
Σ 165231 27

The numbers

Genius today takes 62 points of 90 available. The average answer runs 4.9 letters.

Total points vs. all 381 recorded puzzles
4th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
8th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17278 recorded answers

416 today34.6% all-time55 today22.8% all-time62 today19.9% all-time73 today12.1% all-time86.3% all-time91 today2.6% all-time101.2% all-time110.3% all-time120.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
e Tuesday, May 26, 2026 Tuesday, May 26, 2026
f Sunday, May 10, 2026 Thursday, April 16, 2026
i Tuesday, May 26, 2026 Thursday, May 14, 2026
l Tuesday, May 26, 2026 Sunday, May 17, 2026
n Monday, May 25, 2026 Thursday, May 7, 2026
o ● Sunday, May 24, 2026 Friday, May 22, 2026
x Friday, April 10, 2026 first recorded time

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 42
  2. naan 30
  3. nana 30
  4. onion 29
  5. toot 28
  6. loll 28
  7. mama 25
  8. mamma 25
  9. cocoon 23
  10. loon 23
  11. nene 23
  12. acacia 22
  13. acai 22
  14. bill 22
  15. neon 22
  16. none 22
  17. olio 22
  18. aria 21
  19. onto 21
  20. toon 21
  21. cancan 21
  22. canna 21
  23. lilt 20
  24. till 20
  25. tilt 20

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.