The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

GINOQUT

Thursday, August 20, 2026

Edited by Sam Ezersky

Words
47
Points
262
Genius
183
Pangram
1

Official answers

Show the 47 answersHide answers

Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • gout

    noun — An extremely painful inflammation of joints, especially of the big toe, caused by a metabolic defect resulting in the accumulation of uric acid in the blood and the deposition of urates around the joints.

    verb — To spurt.

    noun — Taste; relish

    noun — (usually followed by of) A spurt or splotch.

    noun — A disease of wheat and cornstalks, caused by insect larvae.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • gutting

    verb — To eviscerate.

    noun — (chiefly in the plural) The remains after gutting a fish.

    adjective — Disheartening, crushing.

    verb — To remove or destroy the most important parts of.

  • igniting

    verb — To set fire to (something), to light (something)

    verb — To spark off (something), to trigger

    verb — To commence burning.

    verb — To subject to the action of intense heat; to heat strongly; often said of incombustible or infusible substances.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • ignition

    noun — The act of igniting.

    noun — The initiation of combustion.

    noun — A system for activating combustion in a combustion engine.

    noun — Receptacle for a key used to start the engine in a vehicle.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • ingot

    noun — A solid block of more or less pure metal, often but not necessarily bricklike in shape and trapezoidal in cross-section, the result of pouring out and cooling molten metal, often immediately after smelting from raw ore or alloying from constituents.

    verb — To form (scraps of metal) into ingots.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • into

    preposition — To or towards the inside of.

    preposition — To or towards the region of.

    preposition — Against, especially with force or violence.

    preposition — Indicates transition into another form or substance.

    preposition — After the start of.

    preposition — Interested in or attracted to.

    Appeared in 19 recorded puzzles.

  • intoning

    verb — To give tone or variety of tone to; to vocalize.

    noun — Intonation

    verb — To utter with a musical or prolonged note or tone; to speak or recite with singing voice; to chant.

    verb — To utter a tone; utter a protracted sound.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • intuit

    verb — To know intuitively or by immediate perception.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • intuiting

    verb — To know intuitively or by immediate perception.

    noun — Intuition

  • intuition

    noun — Immediate cognition without the use of conscious rational processes.

    noun — A perceptive insight gained by the use of this faculty.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • noting

    verb — To notice with care; to observe; to remark; to heed.

    pronoun — Not any thing; no thing.

    noun — A note; a written remark.

    verb — To record in writing; to make a memorandum of.

    verb — To denote; to designate.

    verb — To annotate.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • notion

    noun — Mental apprehension of whatever may be known, thought, or imagined; idea, concept.

    noun — A sentiment; an opinion.

    noun — Sense; mind.

    noun — An invention; an ingenious device; a knickknack.

    noun — Any small article used in sewing and haberdashery, either for attachment to garments or as a tool, such as a button, zipper, or thimble.

    noun — Inclination; intention; disposition.

    Appeared in 19 recorded puzzles.

  • onto

    adjective — (of a function) Assuming each of the values in its codomain; having its range equal to its codomain.

    preposition — Upon; on top of.

    preposition — Aware of.

    preposition — Being an onto function with a codomain of (see below).

    Appeared in 22 recorded puzzles.

  • outgo

    noun — The act or process of going out.

    verb — To go out, to set forth.

    noun — A quantity of a substance or thing that has flowed out; an outflow.

    noun — An expenditure, cost or outlay.

    verb — To go further; to exceed or surpass; go beyond.

    verb — To overtake; to travel faster than.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • outgoing

    verb — To go out, to set forth.

    noun — The act of leaving or going out; exit, departure.

    adjective — Extraverted: talkative, friendly, and social, especially with respect to meeting new people easily and comfortably.

    verb — To go further; to exceed or surpass; go beyond.

    verb — To overtake; to travel faster than.

    verb — To outdo; exceed; surpass.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • outgun

    verb — To defeat in terms of firepower.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • outgunning

    verb — To defeat in terms of firepower.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • outing

    verb — To eject; to expel.

    noun — A pleasure trip or excursion.

    verb — To reveal (a person) as LGBT+ (gay, trans, etc).

    verb — To reveal (a person or organization) as having a certain secret, such as a being a secret agent or undercover detective.

    verb — To reveal (a secret).

    verb — To come or go out; to get out or away; to become public or apparent.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • quint

    noun — An interval of one fifth.

    noun — The E string of a violin.

    noun — In piquet, a sequence of five playing cards of the same suit; equivalent to a straight flush in poker

    noun — A quin or quintuplet.

    noun — A vehicle used by firefighters that combines the capabilities of a fire engine and a fire truck, having the ability to provide vertical access as well as pump water to fight a fire.

    noun — Quinte; the fifth fencer in parrying or attacking position.

  • quit

    verb — To pay (a debt, fine etc.).

    adjective — (usually followed by of) Released from obligation, penalty, etc; free, clear, or rid.

    noun — Any of numerous species of small passerine birds native to tropical America.

    verb — To repay (someone) for (something).

    verb — To repay, pay back (a good deed, injury etc.).

    verb — To conduct or acquit (oneself); to behave (in a specified way).

  • quitting

    verb — To pay (a debt, fine etc.).

    noun — The deliberate ending of something.

    verb — To repay (someone) for (something).

    verb — To repay, pay back (a good deed, injury etc.).

    verb — To conduct or acquit (oneself); to behave (in a specified way).

    verb — To carry through; to go through to the end.

  • quoting

    verb — To repeat the exact words of (a person).

    noun — A quoted statement; a quote.

    verb — To repeat (the exact words of a person).

    verb — To prepare a summary of work to be done and set a price.

    verb — (Commerce) To name the current price, notably of a financial security.

    verb — To indicate verbally or by equivalent means the start of a quotation.

  • tinging

    verb — To add a small amount of colour; to tint; (by extension) to add a small amount of some other thing.

    verb — To make a high sharp sound like a small bell being struck.

    verb — To affect or alter slightly, particularly due to the actual or metaphorical influence of some element or thing.

    verb — To change slightly in shade due to the addition of colour; (by extension) to change slightly in quality due to the addition of some other thing.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • tinning

    verb — To place into a tin in order to preserve.

    noun — A covering or lining of tin.

    verb — To cover with tin.

    verb — To coat with solder in preparation for soldering.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • tint

    verb — To shade, to color.

    noun — A slight coloring.

    noun — A pale or faint tinge of any color; especially, a variation of a color obtained by adding white (contrast shade)

    noun — A color considered with reference to other very similar colors.

    noun — A shaded effect in engraving, produced by the juxtaposition of many fine parallel lines.

    Appeared in 20 recorded puzzles.

  • tinting

    verb — To shade, to color.

    noun — The application of a tint or shade of color.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • togging

    verb — To dress (often with up or out).

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • tong

    noun — An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands.

    verb — To use tongs.

    noun — A Chinese secret society or gang.

    noun — The flexible muscular organ in the mouth that is used to move food around, for tasting and that is moved into various positions to modify the flow of air from the lungs in order to produce different sounds in speech.

    verb — To grab, manipulate or transport something using tongs.

    noun — This organ, as taken from animals used for food (especially cows).−

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • tonging

    verb — To use tongs.

    noun — The action of seizing, grabbing, holding, or manipulating a given object with tongs.

    verb — To grab, manipulate or transport something using tongs.

    noun — The action of seizing an object with tongs for the purpose of pictorially documenting the event.

    noun — The action of opening wine bottles with port tongs by superheating the glass with the heated tongs, and then rapidly cooling the glass neck by applying a cold substance, thereby fracturing the glass neck open through heat stress.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • tonguing

    verb — On a wind instrument, to articulate a note by starting the air with a tap of the tongue, as though by speaking a 'd' or 't' sound (alveolar plosive).

    noun — A licking or lapping with the tongue.

    verb — To manipulate with the tongue, as in kissing or oral sex.

    verb — To protrude in relatively long, narrow sections.

    verb — To join by means of a tongue and groove.

    verb — To talk; to prate.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • toning

    verb — To give a particular tone to

    noun — Use of colour; tone.

    verb — To change the colour of

    verb — To make (something) firmer

    verb — To harmonize, especially in colour

    verb — To utter with an affected tone.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • toon

    noun — A cartoon, especially an animated television show.

    noun — A southeast Asian and Australian tree (Toona ciliata or Toona australis) of the mahogany family with fragrant dark red wood and flowers that yield a dye.

    noun — A town.

    noun — A melody.

    noun — A player's avatar or visible character in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

    noun — The wood of this tree.

    Appeared in 22 recorded puzzles.

  • toot

    noun — The noise of a horn or whistle.

    verb — To stand out, or be prominent.

    noun — A toilet.

    noun — (by extension) A fart; flatus.

    noun — Cocaine.

    noun — A portion of cocaine that a person snorts.

    Appeared in 30 recorded puzzles.

  • tooting

    verb — To stand out, or be prominent.

    noun — The sound of a toot.

    verb — To peep; to look narrowly.

    verb — To see; to spy.

    verb — To flatulate.

    verb — To make the sound of a horn or whistle.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • toting

    verb — To carry or bear.

    verb — To add up; to calculate a total.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • tout

    noun — Someone advertising for customers in an aggressive way.

    verb — To flaunt, to publicize/publicise; to boast or brag; to promote.

    noun — In the game of solo, a proposal to win all eight tricks.

    noun — A person, at a racecourse, who offers supposedly inside information on which horse is likely to win.

    noun — A spy for a smuggler, thief, or similar.

    noun — An informer in the Irish Republican Army.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • touting

    verb — To flaunt, to publicize/publicise; to boast or brag; to promote.

    noun — The act of one who touts.

    verb — To look upon or watch.

    verb — To spy out information about (a horse, a racing stable, etc.).

    verb — To give a tip on (a racehorse) to a person, with the expectation of sharing in any winnings.

    verb — To spy out the movements of racehorses at their trials, or to get by stealth or other improper means the secrets of the stable, for betting purposes.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • tugging

    verb — To pull or drag with great effort

    noun — The action of something that tugs; a pull.

    verb — To pull hard repeatedly

    verb — To tow by tugboat

  • tuition

    noun — A sum of money paid for instruction (such as in a high school, boarding school, university, or college).

    noun — The training or instruction provided by a teacher or tutor.

    noun — Care, guardianship.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • tuning

    verb — To adjust (a musical instrument) so that it produces the correct pitches.

    noun — Action of the verb to tune.

    verb — To adjust or modify (esp. a mechanical or electrical device) so that it functions optimally.

    verb — To adjust the frequency on a radio or TV set, so as to receive the desired channel.

    verb — (e.g. of senses or faculties) To adapt to or direct towards a particular target.

    verb — To make more precise, intense, or effective; to put into a proper state or disposition.

  • tutti

    noun — A passage in which all members of an orchestra are playing

    adjective — All together; with all playing at once.

    adverb — All together. Indicates that the remainder of a group should join in playing after a solo or other passage with a reduced number of voices.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • tutting

    verb — To make a tut tut sound of disapproval.

    verb — To work by the piece; to carry out tut-work.

    noun — The act of making a tut sound in disapproval.

  • tutu

    noun — A ballet skirt made of layered stiff but light netting.

    noun — Any of the genus Coriaria of shrubs and trees found in New Zealand.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • unit

    noun — An organized group comprising people and/or equipment.

    noun — A measure of housing equivalent to the living quarters of one household; an apartment where a group of apartments is contained in one or more multi-storied buildings or a group of dwellings is in one or more single storey buildings, usually arranged around a driveway.

    noun — A standard measure of a quantity.

    noun — An item which may be sold singly.

    noun — A unit of alcohol.

    noun — The number one.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • uniting

    verb — To bring together as one.

    noun — The act by which things are united; the formation of a union.

    verb — To come together as one.

  • unto

    preposition — Up to, indicating a motion towards a thing and then stopping at it.

    conjunction — Up to the time or degree that; until.

    preposition — To, indicating an indirect object.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • untuning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

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

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • go×1
  • gu×1
  • ig×2
  • in×6
  • no×2
  • on×1
  • ou×5
  • qu×4
  • ti×4
  • to×11
  • tu×6
  • un×4

Words by first letter and length

45678910Σ
g 1··1··· 2
i 111·32· 8
n ··2···· 2
o 112·1·1 6
q 11·11·· 4
t 613101·· 21
u 2··11·· 4
Σ 124813721 47

The numbers

Genius today takes 183 points of 262 available. The average answer runs 6.2 letters.

Total points vs. all 418 recorded puzzles
74th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
52nd percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 18877 recorded answers

412 today34.5% all-time54 today23.0% all-time68 today20.0% all-time713 today12.0% all-time87 today6.3% all-time92 today2.6% all-time101 today1.3% all-time110.3% all-time120.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
g Tuesday, August 18, 2026 Monday, August 10, 2026
i Monday, August 17, 2026 Monday, July 27, 2026
n Wednesday, August 19, 2026 Thursday, August 13, 2026
o Wednesday, August 19, 2026 Monday, August 17, 2026
q Friday, May 29, 2026 first recorded time
t ● Friday, August 14, 2026 Wednesday, August 12, 2026
u Sunday, August 16, 2026 Friday, July 17, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 44
  2. naan 33
  3. nana 33
  4. onion 31
  5. toot 30
  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. onto 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.