The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

ACHLOYN

Thursday, August 13, 2026

Edited by Sam Ezersky

Words
39
Points
182
Genius
127
Pangram
1

Official answers

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Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • anal

    adjective — Of a person, compulsive and stubborn, obsessed with neatness and accuracy, supposedly from not having progressed beyond the anal stage.

    adjective — Of, related to, intended for or involving the anus.

    adjective — Of the stage in psychosexual development when the child's interest is alleged to be concentrated on the anal region.

    noun — Anal sex.

    noun — Any of the anal scales of a reptile.

    adjective — (of a vein) Proximate to the thorax.

    Appeared in 21 recorded puzzles.

  • anally

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • ancho

    noun — A broad, flat, dried poblano pepper, often ground into a powder.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • annal

    noun — The record of a single event or item.

    Appeared in 21 recorded puzzles.

  • annoy

    noun — A feeling of discomfort or vexation caused by what one dislikes.

    verb — To disturb or irritate, especially by continued or repeated acts; to bother with unpleasant deeds.

    noun — That which causes such a feeling.

    verb — To do something to upset or anger someone; to be troublesome.

    verb — To molest; to harm; to injure.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • anon

    noun — An anonymous person, especially an author.

    adverb — Straight away; at once.

    adverb — Soon; in a little while.

    adverb — At another time; then; again.

    adjective — Anonymous

    noun — A work with an unknown author.

    Appeared in 21 recorded puzzles.

  • anyhoo

    adverb — Anyhow

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • canal

    noun — An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.

    noun — A tubular channel within the body.

    verb — To dig an artificial waterway in or to (a place), especially for drainage

    verb — To travel along a canal by boat

    Appeared in 11 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.

  • canny

    adjective — Careful, prudent, cautious.

    adverb — Very, considerably; quite, rather.

    adjective — (especially of sound) Sounding as if it is coming through a tin can.

    adjective — Knowing, shrewd, astute.

    adjective — Frugal, thrifty.

    adjective — Pleasant, fair, favorable or agreeable to deal with.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • canola

    noun — Any of a number of cultivars of rapeseed (Brassica napus) and closely related field mustard (Brassica rapa), which have a lower erucic acid and glucosinolate content than traditional rapeseed.

    Appeared in 5 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.

  • canyon

    noun — A valley, especially a long, narrow, steep valley, cut in rock by a river.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • chancy

    adjective — Uncertain, risky, hazardous

    adjective — Subject to chance; random

    adjective — Lucky; bringing good luck

  • clan

    noun — A group of people all descended from a common ancestor, in fact or belief.

    noun — Any group defined by family ties with some sort of political unity.

    noun — A group of players who habitually play on the same team in multiplayer games.

    noun — A traditional social group of families in the Scottish Highlands having a common hereditary chieftain

    noun — A badger colony.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • clonal

    adjective — Relating to, or created by asexual reproduction (cloning)

    adjective — That lives with others of the same kind

  • 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.

  • colcannon

    noun — A traditional Irish dish made from mashed potatoes and cabbage or kale, with scallions, butter, salt and pepper added.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • colon

    noun — The punctuation mark ":".

    noun — Part of the large intestine; the final segment of the digestive system, after (distal to) the ileum and before (proximal to) the anus.

    noun — A husbandman.

    noun — The triangular colon (especially in context of not being able to type the actual triangular colon).

    noun — A rhetorical figure consisting of a clause which is grammatically, but not logically, complete.

    noun — A clause or group of clauses written as a line, or taken as a standard of measure in ancient manuscripts or texts.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • colony

    noun — A governmental unit created on land of another country owned by colonists from a country.

    noun — A settlement of emigrants who move to a new place, but remain culturally tied to their place of origin

    noun — Region or governmental unit created by another country and generally ruled by another country.

    noun — An apartment complex or neighborhood.

    noun — A group of people with the same interests or ethnic origin concentrated in a particular geographic area

    noun — A group of organisms of same or different species living together in close association.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • conch

    noun — A marine gastropod of the family Strombidae which lives in its own spiral shell.

    verb — To refine the flavour and texture of chocolate by warming and grinding, either in a traditional concher, or between rollers.

    noun — A machine (rather like a rotating pestle and mortar) used to refine the flavour and texture of chocolate by warming and grinding.

    noun — The shell of this sea animal.

    noun — A musical instrument made from a large spiral seashell, somewhat like a trumpet.

    noun — The semidome of an apse, or the apse itself.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • cyan

    noun — A vibrant pale greenish-blue colour between blue and green in the visible spectrum; the complementary colour of red; the colour obtained by subtracting red from white light.

    adjective — Of the colour cyan.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • halcyon

    noun — A kingfisher said in classical mythology to nest on the sea, thereby calming the waters.

    adjective — Pertaining to the halcyon or kingfisher.

    noun — A tropical kingfisher of the genus Halcyon, such as the sacred kingfisher (Halcyon sancta) of Australia.

    adjective — Calm, undisturbed, peaceful, serene.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • honcho

    noun — Boss, leader

    verb — To lead or manage.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • llano

    noun — A plain or steppe in parts of Latin America.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • loan

    noun — A sum of money or other property that a natural or legal person borrows from another with the condition that it be returned or repaid over time or at a later date (sometimes with interest).

    verb — To lend (something) to (someone).

    noun — An act or instance of lending, an act or instance of granting something for temporary use.

    noun — The contract and array of legal or ethical obligations surrounding a loan.

    noun — The permission to borrow any item.

    Appeared in 10 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 24 recorded puzzles.

  • loony

    noun — An insane or very foolish person.

    adjective — (of a person) Insane.

    adjective — (of a thing) Very silly, absurd.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • naan

    noun — A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.

    Appeared in 33 recorded puzzles.

  • nacho

    noun — A single tortilla chip from a dish of nachos.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • nana

    noun — (term of endearment) one's grandmother

    noun — A banana

    noun — A fool

    noun — A nanny

    Appeared in 33 recorded puzzles.

  • nanny

    noun — A child's nurse.

    verb — To serve as a nanny.

    noun — A grandmother.

    noun — A godmother.

    noun — A female goat.

    verb — To treat like a nanny's charges; to coddle.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • nonlocal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 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 44 recorded puzzles.

  • nylon

    noun — Originally, the DuPont company trade name for polyamide, a copolymer whose molecules consist of alternating diamine and dicarboxylic acid monomers bonded together; now generically used for this type of polymer.

    noun — (in the plural) A stocking originally fabricated from nylon; also used generically for any long, sheer stocking worn on a woman's legs.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • onlay

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • only

    noun — An only child.

    adjective — Alone in a category.

    adverb — Without others or anything further; exclusively.

    conjunction — Under the condition that; but.

    adjective — Singularly superior; the best.

    adjective — Without sibling; without a sibling of the same gender.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

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

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • an×7
  • ca×8
  • ch×1
  • cl×2
  • co×5
  • cy×1
  • ha×1
  • ho×1
  • ll×1
  • lo×3
  • na×4
  • no×2
  • ny×1
  • on×2

Words by first letter and length

456789Σ
a 232··· 7
c 268··1 17
h ··11·· 2
l 22···· 4
n 33··1· 7
o 11···· 2
Σ 101511111 39

The numbers

Genius today takes 127 points of 182 available. The average answer runs 5.3 letters.

Total points vs. all 411 recorded puzzles
40th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
36th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 18583 recorded answers

410 today34.5% all-time515 today23.0% all-time611 today20.0% all-time71 today12.0% all-time81 today6.2% all-time91 today2.6% 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, August 11, 2026 Friday, July 3, 2026
c Sunday, August 9, 2026 Saturday, July 18, 2026
h Wednesday, August 12, 2026 Sunday, August 9, 2026
l Tuesday, August 11, 2026 Tuesday, June 2, 2026
n ● Tuesday, August 11, 2026 Tuesday, August 11, 2026
o Monday, August 10, 2026 Tuesday, August 4, 2026
y Wednesday, August 12, 2026 Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Other days with this pangram

Same seven letters

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 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. bill 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.