Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Edited by Sam Ezersky
- Words
- 42
- Points
- 228
- Genius
- 159
- Pangrams
- 2
Official answers
Show the 42 answersHide answers
Pangrams highlighted. Click a word for its definition.
-
abed
adverb — In bed, or on the bed; confined to bed.
adverb — To childbed
Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.
-
baaed
verb — To make the characteristic cry of a sheep.
Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.
-
baba
noun — A kind of sponge cake soaked in rum-flavoured syrup.
noun — (esp. among people of East European ancestry) A grandmother.
noun — An old woman, especially a traditional old woman from an eastern European culture.
noun — (esp. among people of Indian ancestry) A father.
noun — (Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism) A holy man, a spiritual leader.
noun — A baby, child.
Appeared in 20 recorded puzzles.
-
babe
noun — A baby or infant; a very young human or animal.
noun — An attractive person, especially a young woman.
noun — Darling (term of endearment).
Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.
-
bade
verb — To issue a command; to tell.
verb — To invite; to summon.
verb — To utter a greeting or salutation.
Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.
-
badge
noun — A distinctive mark, token, sign, emblem or cognizance, worn on one's clothing, as an insignia of some rank, or of the membership of an organization.
verb — To mark or distinguish with a badge.
noun — A small nameplate, identifying the wearer, and often giving additional information.
noun — A card, sometimes with a barcode or magnetic strip, granting access to a certain area.
noun — Something characteristic; a mark; a token.
noun — (thieves' cant) A brand on the hand of a thief, etc.
Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.
-
badged
verb — To mark or distinguish with a badge.
verb — To show a badge to.
verb — To enter a restricted area by showing one's badge.
Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.
-
baggage
noun — (usually uncountable) Luggage; traveling equipment
noun — Factors, especially psychological ones, which interfere with a person's ability to function effectively.
noun — A woman.
noun — An army's portable equipment; its baggage train.
-
bagged
verb — To put into a bag.
adjective — Having been placed in a bag.
verb — To catch or kill, especially when fishing or hunting.
verb — To gain possession of something, or to make first claim on something.
verb — To furnish or load with a bag.
verb — (African American Vernacular) To bring a woman one met on the street with one.
Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.
-
banana
noun — An elongated curved tropical fruit that grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin.
adjective — Curved like a banana, especially of a ball in flight.
noun — The tropical tree-like plant which bears clusters of bananas. The plant, usually of the genus Musa but sometimes also including plants from Ensete, has large, elongated leaves and is related to the plantain.
noun — A yellow colour, like that of a banana's skin.
noun — (mildly) A person of Asian descent, especially a Chinese American, who has assimilated into Western culture or married a Caucasian (from the "yellow" outside and "white" inside). Compare coconut or Oreo.
noun — A banana equivalent dose.
Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.
-
band
noun — A strip of material used for strengthening or coupling.
verb — To fasten with a band.
noun — A group of musicians who perform together as an ensemble, usually for a professional recording artist.
verb — To group together for a common purpose; to confederate.
verb — To tie; to confine by any ligature.
noun — A long strip of material, color, etc, that is different from the surrounding area.
Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.
-
bandage
noun — A strip of gauze or similar material used to protect or support a wound or injury.
verb — To apply a bandage to something.
noun — A strip of cloth bound round the head and eyes as a blindfold.
noun — (by extension) A provisional or makeshift solution that provides insufficient coverage or relief.
-
bandaged
verb — To apply a bandage to something.
-
bandana
noun — A large kerchief, usually colourful and used either as headgear or as a handkerchief, neckerchief, bikini, or sweatband.
noun — A style of calico printing, in which white or bright spots are produced upon cloth previously dyed a uniform red or dark colour, by discharging portions of the color by chemical means, while the rest of the cloth is under pressure.
Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.
-
bandanna
noun — A large kerchief, usually colourful and used either as headgear or as a handkerchief, neckerchief, bikini, or sweatband.
noun — A style of calico printing, in which white or bright spots are produced upon cloth previously dyed a uniform red or dark colour, by discharging portions of the color by chemical means, while the rest of the cloth is under pressure.
Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.
-
banded
verb — To fasten with a band.
verb — To group together for a common purpose; to confederate.
adjective — Marked with bands of colour
verb — To fasten an identifying band around the leg of (a bird).
verb — To group (students) together by perceived ability; to stream.
adjective — Divided into bands
-
bane
noun — A cause of misery or death.
verb — To kill, especially by poison; to be the poison of.
noun — Bone
noun — Poison, especially any of several poisonous plants.
noun — A killer, murderer, slayer.
noun — Destruction; death.
Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.
-
bang
noun — A sudden percussive noise.
verb — To make sudden loud noises, and often repeatedly, especially by exploding or hitting something.
adverb — Right, directly.
interjection — A sudden percussive sound, such as made by the firing of a gun, slamming of a door, etc.
noun — Hair hanging over the forehead.
noun — Brucellosis, a bacterial disease.
Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.
-
banged
verb — To make sudden loud noises, and often repeatedly, especially by exploding or hitting something.
adjective — Having the hair styled in bangs.
verb — To hit hard.
verb — To engage in sexual intercourse.
verb — (with "in") To hammer or to hit anything hard.
verb — To cut squarely across, as the tail of a horse, or a person's forelock; to cut (the hair).
-
banned
verb — To summon; to call out.
adjective — Forbidden; not allowed.
verb — To anathematize; to pronounce an ecclesiastical curse upon; to place under a ban.
verb — To curse; to execrate.
verb — To prohibit; to interdict; to proscribe; to forbid or block from participation.
verb — To curse; to utter curses or maledictions.
-
bead
noun — Prayer, later especially with a rosary.
verb — To form into a bead.
noun — Each in a string of small balls making up the rosary or paternoster.
noun — A small, round object.
noun — (heading) A ridge, band, or molding.
noun — Knowledge sufficient to direct one's activities to a purpose.
Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.
-
beaded
verb — To form into a bead.
adjective — Made from, or decorated with, beads.
verb — To apply beads to.
verb — To cause beads to form on (something).
adjective — Having formed in beads or a bead-like shape.
Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.
-
bean
noun — A reusable software component written in Java.
noun — Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic family Fabaceae that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods.
verb — To hit deliberately with a projectile, especially in the head.
noun — The large edible seed of such a plant (for example, a broad bean, navy bean or garbanzo bean).
noun — The edible seedpod of such a plant.
noun — (by extension) The bean-like seed of certain other plants, such a a vanilla bean or (especially) a coffee bean.
Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.
-
beanbag
noun — A piece of soft furniture consisting of a leather or vinyl covering stuffed with dry beans or other similar pellets.
noun — A small cloth bag filled with dry beans, used as a toy or for exercising the hands.
noun — A type of juggling ball usually made from leather or cloth stuffed with dry beans.
noun — (usually in the plural) A testicle.
noun — An idiot.
-
beaned
verb — To hit deliberately with a projectile, especially in the head.
-
bedded
verb — Senses relating to a bed as a place for resting or sleeping.
verb — Senses relating to a bed as a place or layer on which something else rests or is laid.
Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.
-
bedhead
noun — The condition of having unkempt hair, generally as a result of having just woken up from sleep.
noun — A vertical panel or board at the end of a bed where the pillow is placed.
noun — The end of a bed where the pillow is placed, the head of the bed.
Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.
-
been
noun — A flying insect, of the clade Anthophila within the hymenopteran superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies (though only a minority have them), for collecting pollen and (in some species) producing wax and honey.
Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.
-
began
verb — To start, to initiate or take the first step into something.
verb — To be in the first stage of some situation
verb — To come into existence.
-
begged
verb — To request the help of someone, often in the form of money.
verb — To plead with someone for help, a favor, etc.; to entreat.
verb — In the phrase beg the question: to assume.
verb — In the phrase beg the question: to raise (a question).
verb — To ask to be appointed guardian for, or to ask to have a guardian appointed for.
Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.
-
behead
verb — To remove the head of; to cut someone's head off.
Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.
-
beheaded
verb — To remove the head of; to cut someone's head off.
adjective — Having had one's head cut off.
Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.
-
bend
noun — A curve.
verb — To cause (something) to change its shape into a curve, by physical force, chemical action, or any other means.
noun — Any of the various knots which join the ends of two lines.
noun — (in the plural, underwater diving, with the) A severe condition caused by excessively quick decompression, causing bubbles of nitrogen to form in the blood; decompression sickness.
noun — One of the honourable ordinaries formed by two diagonal lines drawn from the dexter chief to the sinister base; it generally occupies a fifth part of the shield if uncharged, but if charged one third.
noun — Turn; purpose; inclination; ends.
Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.
-
dabbed
verb — To press lightly in a repetitive motion with a soft object without rubbing.
verb — To apply a substance in this way.
verb — To strike by a thrust; to hit with a sudden blow or thrust.
verb — To apply hash oil to a heated surface for the purpose of efficient combustion.
verb — To perform the dab dance move, by moving both arms to one side of the body parallel with your head.
Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.
-
ebbed
verb — To flow back or recede
verb — To fall away or decline
verb — To fish with stakes and nets that serve to prevent the fish from getting back into the sea with the ebb
verb — To cause to flow back.
Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.
-
gabbed
verb — To jest; to tell lies in jest; exaggerate; lie.
verb — To talk or chatter a lot, usually on trivial subjects.
verb — To speak or tell falsely.
Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.
-
handbag
noun — (mainly Commonwealth) A small bag used by women (or sometimes by men) for carrying various small personal items.
verb — Figuratively, to hit with a handbag; to attack verbally or subject to criticism (used of Margaret Thatcher).
noun — An subgenre of house music of the late 1980s, often with booming vocals.
-
headband
noun — A strip of fabric worn around the head.
noun — A hair-accessory, made of a flexible material and curved like a horseshoe, for holding one's hair back.
noun — A strip of fabric attached to the top of the spine of a book; used as decoration and reinforcement.
noun — A thin slip of iron on the tympan of a printing-press.
-
headbang
No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.
-
headbanged
No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.
-
henbane
noun — A poisonous plant, Hyoscyamus niger, used sometimes as a drug that causes at least hallucinations, dilated pupils, restlessness, and flushed skin.
noun — Any other plant of the genus Hyoscyamus.
-
nabbed
verb — To seize, arrest or take into custody (a criminal or fugitive).
verb — To grab or snatch something.
Hints, no spoilers
Words by first two letters
- ab×1
- ba×19
- be×13
- da×1
- eb×1
- ga×1
- ha×1
- he×4
- na×1
Words by first letter and length
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | Σ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | 1 | · | · | · | · | · | 1 |
| b | 10 | 3 | 11 | 5 | 3 | · | 32 |
| d | · | · | 1 | · | · | · | 1 |
| e | · | 1 | · | · | · | · | 1 |
| g | · | · | 1 | · | · | · | 1 |
| h | · | · | · | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| n | · | · | 1 | · | · | · | 1 |
| Σ | 11 | 4 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 42 |
The numbers
Genius today takes 159 points of 228 available. The average answer runs 5.9 letters.
Word lengths, today vs. 18807 recorded answers
History
Today's letters, last seen
| Letter | Last in a puzzle | Last as center |
|---|---|---|
| a | Saturday, August 15, 2026 | Friday, July 3, 2026 |
| b ● | Sunday, August 16, 2026 | Wednesday, July 29, 2026 |
| d | Monday, August 17, 2026 | Thursday, August 6, 2026 |
| e | Sunday, August 16, 2026 | Friday, July 10, 2026 |
| g | Monday, August 17, 2026 | Monday, August 10, 2026 |
| h | Saturday, August 15, 2026 | Sunday, August 9, 2026 |
| n | Friday, August 14, 2026 | Thursday, August 13, 2026 |
Most common answers, all recorded puzzles
- noon 44
- naan 33
- nana 33
- onion 31
- toot 29
- loll 29
- mama 27
- mamma 27
- nene 25
- cocoon 24
- acacia 24
- acai 24
- loon 24
- olio 24
- imam 23
- maim 23
- cancan 23
- canna 23
- mini 23
- minim 23
- neon 23
- none 23
- aria 22
- mitt 22
- 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.
- abba
- abbe
- anabaena
- baned
- beebee
- bended
- bendee
- bene
- benne
- bhang
- dahabeah
- gangbang
- hebe
- nabe