The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

ADMORTN

Monday, August 24, 2026

Edited by Sam Ezersky

Words
57
Points
274
Genius
191
Pangrams
2

Official answers

Show the 57 answersHide answers

Pangrams highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • adamant

    noun — An imaginary rock or mineral of impenetrable hardness; a name given to the diamond and other substances of extreme hardness.

    adjective — (said of people and their conviction) Firm; unshakeable; unyielding; determined.

    noun — An embodiment of impregnable hardness.

    noun — A lodestone.

    adjective — (of an object) Very difficult to break, pierce, or cut.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • adman

    noun — A person in the business of devising, writing, illustrating or selling advertisements.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • adorn

    verb — To make more beautiful and attractive; to decorate.

    adjective — Adorned; ornate

    noun — Adornment

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • annatto

    noun — A tropical American evergreen shrub, Bixa orellana; the lipstick tree; the fruit of the tree.

    noun — The seed of this tree used as a colouring or in Latin American cooking.

    noun — An orange-red dye obtained from this seed.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • annotator

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 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 22 recorded puzzles.

  • arrant

    adjective — Utter; complete (with a negative sense).

    adjective — Straying from the proper course or standard, or outside established limits.

    adjective — Wandering; roving around.

    adjective — Prone to making errors; misbehaved.

    adjective — Utter, complete (negative); arrant.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • damn

    noun — The use of "damn" as a curse.

    verb — To condemn to hell.

    adjective — Generic intensifier. Fucking; bloody.

    adverb — Very; extremely.

    interjection — Used to express anger, irritation, disappointment, annoyance, contempt or suprise, etc. See also dammit.

    noun — A small, negligible quantity, being of little value; a whit or jot.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • darn

    verb — Euphemism of damn.

    adjective — Damn.

    adverb — (degree) Damned.

    verb — To repair by stitching with thread or yarn, particularly by using a needle to construct a weave across a damaged area of fabric.

    noun — A place mended by darning.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • donor

    noun — One who makes a donation.

    noun — A group or molecule that donates either a radical, electrons or a moiety in a chemical reaction. Compare acceptor.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • doorman

    noun — A person who holds open the door at the entrance to a building, summons taxicabs, and provides an element of security; in apartment buildings, he also accepts deliveries and may perform certain concierge type services.

  • dormant

    noun — A crossbeam or joist.

    adjective — Inactive, sleeping, asleep, suspended.

    adjective — In a sleeping posture; distinguished from couchant.

    adjective — Leaning.

  • madman

    noun — A male who is insane or mentally disturbed.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • mammon

    noun — The desire for wealth personified as an evil spirit or a malign influence.

    noun — Often mammon: wealth, material avarice, profit.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • manna

    noun — Food miraculously produced for the Israelites in the desert in the book of Exodus.

    noun — (by extension) Any boon which comes into one's hands by good luck.

    noun — The sugary sap of the manna gum tree which oozes out from holes drilled by insects and falls to the ground around the tree.http//www.museum.vic.gov.au/forest/plants/gum.html

    Appeared in 21 recorded puzzles.

  • manor

    noun — A landed estate.

    noun — The main house of such an estate or a similar residence; a mansion.

    noun — A district over which a feudal lord could exercise certain rights and privileges in medieval western Europe.

    noun — The lord's residence and seat of control in such a district.

    noun — Any home area or territory in which authority is exercised, often in a police or criminal context.

    noun — One's neighbourhood.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • manta

    noun — A kind of fabric or blanket used in Latin America and southwestern United States.

    noun — Any of several very large pelagic rays of the genus Manta, with winglike pectoral fins, a long tail, and two fins resembling horns that project from the head.

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • mantra

    noun — The hymn portions of the Vedas; any passage of these used as a prayer.

    noun — (originally Hinduism) A phrase repeated to assist concentration during meditation.

    noun — (by extension) A slogan or phrase often repeated.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • maroon

    noun — An escaped negro slave of the Caribbean and the Americas or a descendant of escaped slaves.

    verb — To abandon in a remote, desolate place, as on a desert island.

    adjective — Associated with Maroon culture, communities or peoples.

    noun — A rich dark red, somewhat brownish, color.

    adjective — Of a maroon color

    noun — A rocket-propelled firework or skyrocket, often one used as a signal (e.g. to summon the crew of a lifeboat or warn of an air raid).

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • matron

    noun — A mature or elderly woman.

    noun — A wife or a widow, especially, one who has borne children.

    noun — A woman of staid or motherly manners.

    noun — A housekeeper, especially, a woman who manages the domestic economy of a public institution.

    noun — A senior female nurse in an establishment, especially a hospital or school.

    noun — A female prison officer.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • moan

    noun — A low, mournful cry of pain, sorrow or pleasure

    verb — To complain about; to bemoan, to bewail; to mourn.

    verb — To grieve.

    verb — To distress (someone); to sadden.

    verb — To make a moan or similar sound.

    verb — To say in a moan, or with a moaning voice.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • monad

    noun — An ultimate atom, or simple, unextended point; something ultimate and indivisible.

    noun — A single individual (such as a pollen grain) that is free from others, not united in a group.

    noun — A monoid object in the category of endofunctors of a fixed category.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • mondo

    noun — A dialogue between master and student designed to obtain an intuitive truth.

    adjective — Big, large; major, significant.

    adverb — Very, extremely, really.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • mono

    noun — A viral infection marked by extreme fatigue, high fever, and swollen lymph nodes.

    noun — A bicycle or motorcycle trick where the front wheel is lifted off the ground while riding

    adjective — Monaural or monophonic; having only a single audio channel.

    adjective — Monochrome.

    noun — An injective homomorphism

    noun — A monogamous person.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • monodrama

    noun — A play in the form of a monologue

  • moon

    proper noun — The Earth's moon Luna; the sole natural satellite of the Earth, represented in astronomy and astrology by ☾.

    noun — (by extension of Moon) Any natural satellite of a planet.

    verb — To display one's buttocks to, typically as a jest, insult, or protest.

    proper noun — The god of the Moon in Heathenry.

    proper noun — A surname.

    proper noun — The 54th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • mordant

    noun — Any substance used to facilitate the fixing of a dye to a fibre; usually a metallic compound which reacts with the dye using chelation.

    verb — To subject to the action of, or imbue with, a mordant.

    adjective — Having or showing a sharp or critical quality

    noun — Any corrosive substance used in etching.

    noun — A glutinous size used as a ground for gilding, to make the gold leaf adhere.

    adjective — Serving to fix a dye to a fibre.

  • morn

    noun — Morning.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • moron

    noun — A stupid person; an idiot; a fool.

    noun — A person of mild mental subnormality in the former classification of mental retardation, having an intelligence quotient of 50–70.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • naan

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

    Appeared in 34 recorded puzzles.

  • nada

    pronoun — Nothing.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • nana

    noun — (term of endearment) one's grandmother

    noun — A banana

    noun — A fool

    noun — A nanny

    Appeared in 34 recorded puzzles.

  • narrator

    noun — One who narrates or tells stories.

    noun — The person or the "voice" whose viewpoint is used in telling a story.

    noun — The person providing the voice-over in a documentary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • natant

    adjective — Floating or swimming (in water)

    adjective — In a horizontal position, as if swimming

    Appeared in 20 recorded puzzles.

  • nomad

    noun — A member of a society or class who herd animals from pasture to pasture with no fixed home.

    adjective — Of or relating to nomads, whether

    noun — One who wanders, who travels aimlessly.

    noun — A person who changes residence frequently.

    noun — A player who changes teams frequently.

    noun — Any of various far-migrating nymphalid butterflies of the genus Danaus.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • nonart

    noun — That which is not art

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • nonrandom

    adjective — Not at random, caused or manipulated, arranged.

  • 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 45 recorded puzzles.

  • norm

    noun — That which is normal or typical.

    verb — To endow (a vector space, etc) with a norm.

    noun — A rule that is enforced by members of a community.

    noun — A sentence with non-descriptive meaning, such as a command, permission or prohibition.

    noun — A function, generally denoted v\mapsto\left|v\right| or v\mapsto\left\|v\right\|, that maps vectors to non-negative scalars and has the following properties:

    noun — A high level of performance in a chess tournament, several of which are required for a player to receive a title.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • notator

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 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 23 recorded puzzles.

  • ottoman

    noun — An upholstered sofa, without arms or a back, sometimes with a compartment for storing linen, etc.

    noun — A low stool or thick cushion used to rest the feet or as a seat.

    noun — A fabric with a pronounced ribbed or corded effect, often made of silk or a mixture of cotton and silk-like yarns.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • radon

    noun — The chemical element (symbol Rn, formerly Ro) with atomic number 86. It is an odorless, colorless, chemically inert but radioactive noble gas.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • rand

    noun — The currency of South Africa, divided into 100 cents.

    noun — A border, edge or rim.

    noun — A rocky slope, especially the area over a river valley; specifically, the Rand

    noun — A strip of meat; a long fleshy piece of beef, cut from the flank or leg; a sort of steak.

    noun — A strip of leather used to fit the heels of a shoe.

    verb — To rant; to storm.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • rando

    noun — An arbitrary person with whom one has no shared social connection.

    noun — A person going to a party without being invited.

    adjective — Random; arbitrary.

    noun — Anything selected at random.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • random

    noun — A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.

    adjective — Having unpredictable outcomes and, in the ideal case, all outcomes equally probable; resulting from such selection; lacking statistical correlation.

    noun — Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force.

    noun — The full range of a bullet or other projectile; hence, the angle at which a weapon is tilted to allow the greatest range.

    noun — An undefined, unknown or unimportant person; a person of no consequence.

    noun — The direction of a rake-vein.

  • rant

    noun — A criticism done by ranting.

    verb — To speak or shout at length in uncontrollable anger.

    noun — A wild, emotional, and sometimes incoherent articulation.

    noun — A type of dance step usually performed in clogs, and particularly (but not exclusively) associated with the English North West Morris tradition. The rant step consists of alternately bringing one foot across and in front of the other and striking the ground, with the other foot making a little hop.

    verb — To criticize by ranting.

    verb — To speak extravagantly, as in merriment.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • rattan

    noun — Any of several species of climbing palm of the genus Calamus.

    verb — To beat with a rattan cane.

    noun — The plant used as a material for making furniture, baskets etc.

    noun — (by extension) A cane made from this material.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • roan

    noun — An animal such as a horse that has a coat of a dark base color with individual white hairs mixed in.

    adjective — Especially of a horse, having a coat of a dark base color with individual white hairs mixed in

    noun — The color of such an animal.

    noun — A kind of leather used for slippers, bookbinding, etc., made from sheepskin, tanned with sumac and colored to imitate ungrained morocco.

    noun — Sorbus aucuparia, the European rowan.

    noun — Any of various small deciduous trees or shrubs of genus Sorbus, belonging to the rose family, with pinnate leaves, corymbs of white flowers, and usually with orange-red berries.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • rondo

    noun — A musical composition, commonly of a lively, cheerful character, in which the first strain recurs after each of the other strains.

    noun — A small, disk-shaped piece of food, especially a single-serving dessert or small piece of candy.

    noun — A dark-skinned grape, a hybrid of Vitis vinifera with Vitis amurensis and others.

    noun — A game resembling keep-away, used to train soccer players: one group is tasked with completing a number of passes while the other group tries to take possession of the ball.

    noun — A gambling game played with small balls on a table.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • tandoor

    noun — A cylindrical clay oven used, in the cuisine of the Caucasus, Middle East, and Indian subcontinent, to make flat bread, or to cook meat.

  • tantara

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • tantra

    noun — A Hindu or Buddhist religious or esoteric text.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • tartan

    noun — A kind of woven woollen cloth with a distinctive pattern of coloured stripes intersecting at right angles, associated with Scottish Highlanders, different clans having their own distinctive patterns.

    verb — To clothe in tartan.

    adjective — Having a pattern like a tartan.

    noun — A type of one-masted vessel used in the Mediterranean.

    noun — The pattern associated with such material.

    noun — An individual or a group wearing tartan; a Highlander or Scotsman in general.

    Appeared in 6 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 23 recorded puzzles.

  • torn

    verb — To rend (a solid material) by holding or restraining in two places and pulling apart, whether intentionally or not; to destroy or separate.

    verb — To injure as if by pulling apart.

    verb — To destroy or reduce abstract unity or coherence, such as social, political or emotional.

    verb — To make (an opening) with force or energy.

    verb — (often with off or out) To remove by tearing.

    verb — (of structures, with down) To demolish

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • tornado

    noun — A violent windstorm characterized by a mobile, twisting, funnel-shaped cloud.

dormant, mordant are perfect pangrams — all seven letters, each used exactly once.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ad×3
  • an×3
  • ar×1
  • da×2
  • do×3
  • ma×8
  • mo×9
  • na×5
  • no×6
  • on×1
  • ot×1
  • ra×6
  • ro×2
  • ta×4
  • to×3

Words by first letter and length

456789Σ
a 1212·1 7
d 21·2·· 5
m 4651·1 17
n 512111 11
o 1··1·· 2
r 332··· 8
t 2·23·· 7
Σ 1813121013 57

The numbers

Genius today takes 191 points of 274 available. The average answer runs 5.5 letters.

Total points vs. all 422 recorded puzzles
78th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
77th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 19068 recorded answers

418 today34.4% all-time513 today22.9% all-time612 today20.0% all-time710 today12.0% all-time81 today6.2% all-time93 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
a Saturday, August 22, 2026 Friday, July 3, 2026
d Friday, August 21, 2026 Thursday, August 6, 2026
m Sunday, August 23, 2026 Sunday, August 23, 2026
n ● Sunday, August 23, 2026 Thursday, August 13, 2026
o Friday, August 21, 2026 Monday, August 17, 2026
r Saturday, August 22, 2026 Saturday, August 1, 2026
t Sunday, August 23, 2026 Thursday, August 20, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 45
  2. naan 34
  3. nana 34
  4. onion 31
  5. toot 30
  6. loll 29
  7. mama 27
  8. mamma 27
  9. acacia 25
  10. acai 25
  11. nene 25
  12. cocoon 24
  13. mini 24
  14. minim 24
  15. loon 24
  16. olio 24
  17. aria 23
  18. imam 23
  19. maim 23
  20. mitt 23
  21. onto 23
  22. toon 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.