The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

ABCKLOR

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Words
42
Points
170
Genius
118
Pangram
1

Official answers

Show the 42 answersHide answers

Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • arbor

    noun — A shady sitting place or pergola usually in a park or garden, surrounded by climbing shrubs, vines or other vegetation.

    noun — An axis or shaft supporting a rotating part on a lathe.

    noun — A grove of trees.

    noun — A bar for supporting cutting tools.

    noun — A spindle of a wheel.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • arco

    adverb — A note in string instrument musical notation indicating that the bow is to be used in the usual way, usually following a passage that is played pizzicato.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • barb

    noun — The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else.

    verb — To furnish with barbs, or with that which will hold or hurt like barbs, as an arrow, fishhook, spear, etc.

    noun — The Barbary horse, a superior breed introduced from Barbary into Spain by the Moors.

    noun — A barbiturate.

    noun — A hurtful or disparaging remark.

    noun — A beard, or that which resembles it, or grows in the place of it.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • barback

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • barbacoa

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • bark

    noun — The short, loud, explosive sound uttered by a dog, a fox, and some other animals.

    verb — To make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs).

    noun — The exterior covering of the trunk and branches of a tree.

    verb — To strip the bark from; to peel.

    noun — A small sailing vessel, e.g. a pinnace or a fishing smack; a rowing boat or barge.

    noun — An abrupt loud vocal utterance.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • barrack

    noun — (chiefly in the plural) A building for soldiers, especially within a garrison; originally referred to temporary huts, now usually to a permanent structure or set of buildings.

    verb — To house military personnel; to quarter.

    verb — To jeer and heckle; to attempt to disconcert by verbal means.

    noun — (chiefly in the plural) primitive structure resembling a long shed or barn for (usually temporary) housing or other purposes

    noun — (chiefly in the plural) any very plain, monotonous, or ugly large building

    noun — A movable roof sliding on four posts, to cover hay, straw, etc.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • boar

    noun — A wild boar (Sus scrofa), the wild ancestor of the domesticated pig.

    noun — A male pig.

    noun — A male boar (sense 1).

    noun — A male bear.

    noun — A male guinea pig.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • bookrack

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • boor

    noun — A peasant.

    noun — A Boer, white South African of Dutch or Huguenot descent.

    noun — A yokel, country bumpkin.

    noun — An uncultured person.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • brook

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • carb

    noun — Clipping of carburettor / carburetor.

    noun — (nutrition) A sugar, starch, or cellulose that is a food source of energy for an animal or plant.

    noun — (by extension, metonym) Any food rich in starch or other carbohydrates.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • carob

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • carol

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • cobra

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • collar

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • color

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • coral

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • cork

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • corolla

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • corral

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • crab

    noun — A crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace.

    verb — To fish for crabs.

    noun — The crab apple or wild apple.

    verb — (obsolete) To irritate, make surly or sour

    noun — The tree species Carapa guianensis, native to South America.

    noun — Short for carabiner.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • crack

    noun — A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material.

    verb — To form cracks.

    adjective — Highly trained and competent.

    noun — A narrow opening.

    noun — A sharply humorous comment; a wisecrack.

    noun — Crack cocaine, a potent, relatively cheap, addictive variety of cocaine; often a rock, usually smoked through a crack-pipe.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • croak

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • croc

    noun — A crocodile.

    noun — A plastic slip-on shoe.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • crock

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • crook

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • labor

    noun — Effort expended on a particular task; toil, work.

    verb — To toil, to work.

    noun — That which requires hard work for its accomplishment; that which demands effort.

    noun — Workers in general; the working class, the workforce; sometimes specifically the labour movement, organised labour.

    noun — A political party or force aiming or claiming to represent the interests of labour.

    noun — The act of a mother giving birth.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • lark

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • oarlock

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • okra

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • oral

    adjective — Spoken rather than written.

    adjective — Relating to the mouth.

    noun — Oral sex.

    noun — A spoken test or examination, particularly in a language class.

    noun — A physical examination of the mouth.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • orca

    noun — A sea mammal (Orcinus orca) related to dolphins and porpoises, commonly called the killer whale.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • rack

    noun — A series of one or more shelves, stacked one above the other

    verb — To place in or hang on a rack.

    verb — To stretch a person's joints.

    noun — Thin, flying, broken clouds, or any portion of floating vapour in the sky.

    verb — To drive; move; go forward rapidly; stir

    verb — To clarify, and thereby deter further fermentation of, beer, wine or cider by draining or siphoning it from the dregs.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • roar

    noun — A long, loud, deep shout, as of rage or laughter, made with the mouth wide open.

    verb — To make a loud, deep cry, especially from pain, anger, or other strong emotion.

    verb — To laugh in a particularly loud manner.

    noun — A loud resounding noise.

    verb — Generally, of inanimate objects etc., to make a loud resounding noise.

    verb — Of animals (especially the lion), to make a loud deep noise.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • robocall

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • rock

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • rococo

    noun — A style of baroque architecture and decorative art, from 18th-century France, having elaborate ornamentation.

    adjective — Of or relating to the rococo style.

    adjective — Over-elaborate or complicated; opulent.

    adjective — Old-fashioned.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • roll

    noun — The act or result of rolling, or state of being rolled.

    verb — To cause to revolve by turning over and over; to move by turning on an axis; to impel forward by causing to turn over and over on a supporting surface.

    noun — That which is rolled up.

    noun — A forward or backward roll in gymnastics; going head over heels. A tumble.

    noun — Something which rolls.

    noun — A swagger or rolling gait.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • rollback

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • rollbar

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • rook

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ar×2
  • ba×5
  • bo×3
  • br×1
  • ca×3
  • co×7
  • cr×6
  • la×2
  • oa×1
  • ok×1
  • or×2
  • ra×1
  • ro×8

Words by first letter and length

45678Σ
a 11··· 2
b 41·22 9
c 4921· 16
l 11··· 2
o 3··1· 4
r 5·112 9
Σ 1812354 42

The numbers

Genius today takes 118 points of 170 available. The average answer runs 5.2 letters.

Total points vs. all 428 recorded puzzles
33rd percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
43rd percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 19319 recorded answers

418 today34.4% all-time512 today22.9% all-time63 today20.0% all-time75 today12.1% all-time84 today6.3% 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 Tuesday, June 16, 2026 Wednesday, June 3, 2026
b Monday, June 8, 2026 Tuesday, April 21, 2026
c Monday, June 15, 2026 Sunday, June 7, 2026
k Saturday, June 13, 2026 Sunday, May 24, 2026
l Tuesday, June 16, 2026 Tuesday, June 2, 2026
o Thursday, June 11, 2026 Tuesday, June 9, 2026
r ● Friday, June 5, 2026 Sunday, April 26, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 45
  2. naan 34
  3. nana 34
  4. toot 32
  5. onion 31
  6. loll 30
  7. mama 27
  8. mamma 27
  9. nene 26
  10. acacia 25
  11. acai 25
  12. cocoon 24
  13. onto 24
  14. toon 24
  15. mini 24
  16. minim 24
  17. loon 24
  18. olio 24
  19. aria 23
  20. imam 23
  21. maim 23
  22. mitt 23
  23. cancan 23
  24. canna 23
  25. neon 23

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.