The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

AGINTVC

Sunday, July 27, 2025

Words
38
Points
258
Genius
180
Pangrams
4

Official answers

Show the 38 answersHide answers

Pangrams highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • acacia

    noun — A shrub or tree of the tribe Acacieae.

    noun — (history) A roll or bag, filled with dust, borne by Byzantine emperors, as a memento of mortality. It is represented on medals.

    noun — The thickened or dried juice of several species in Acacieae, in particular Vachellia nilotica (syn. Acacia nilotica), the Egyptian acacia.

    noun — A false acacia; robinia tree, Robinia pseudoacacia.

    noun — Gum arabic; gum acacia.

    noun — Any of several related trees, such as the locust tree.

    Appeared in 24 recorded puzzles.

  • acai

    noun — The fruit of these trees, harvested for its juice.

    noun — Any of several South American palms, of the genus Euterpe, having a dark purple drupe.

    Appeared in 24 recorded puzzles.

  • acing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • acting

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • activating

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • antic

    noun — A grotesque representation of a figure; a gargoyle.

    verb — To perform antics, caper.

    adjective — Playful, funny, absurd

    adjective — Having existed in ancient times, descended from antiquity; used especially in reference to Greece and Rome.

    noun — A pose, often exaggerated, in anticipation of an action; for example, a brief squat before jumping

    noun — A caricature.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • attic

    noun — The space, often unfinished and with sloped walls, directly below the roof in the uppermost part of a house or other building, generally used for storage or habitation.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • cacti

    noun — Any member of the family Cactaceae, a family of flowering New World succulent plants suited to a hot, semi-desert climate.

    noun — Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, such as euphorbs.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • caging

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 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 21 recorded puzzles.

  • caning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 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 21 recorded puzzles.

  • canning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • cant

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • cantata

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • cantina

    noun — A drinking establishment, often specifically of the type found in Latin America.

    noun — Abbreviated form of cantina truck, cantina wagon or cantina trailer

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • cava

    noun — A Spanish white sparkling wine made using the méthode champenoise.

    noun — The vena cava.

    noun — A cavity

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • caving

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • citing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • civic

    adjective — Of, relating to, or belonging to a city, a citizen, or citizenship; municipal or civil.

    adjective — Of or relating to the citizen, or of good citizenship and its rights and duties.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • gigantic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • icing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • inactivating

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • incant

    verb — To state solemnly, to chant.

    verb — To recite an incantation.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • incanting

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • inciting

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • intact

    adjective — Left complete or whole; not touched, defiled, sullied or otherwise damaged

    adjective — Of animals, not castrated: an intact bull.

    adjective — Uncircumcised; commonly used to describe a penis with a foreskin in intactivism.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • niacin

    noun — A water-soluble vitamin, a component of vitamin B complex, found in meat, yeast, and dairy products; it is essential to metabolism.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • tacit

    adjective — Expressed in silence; implied, but not made explicit; silent.

    adjective — Not derived from formal principles of reasoning; based on induction rather than deduction.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • tact

    noun — The sense of touch; feeling.

    verb — To use a tact (a kind of verbal operant; see noun sense).

    noun — A maneuver, or action calculated to achieve some end.

    noun — The stroke in beating time.

    noun — Sensitive mental touch; special skill or faculty; keen perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances; the ability to say the right thing.

    noun — A verbal operant which is controlled by a nonverbal stimulus (such as an object, event, or property of an object) and is maintained by nonspecific social reinforcement (praise).

    Appeared in 20 recorded puzzles.

  • tactic

    noun — A maneuver, or action calculated to achieve some end.

    adjective — Tactical; of or relating to the art of military and naval tactics.

    noun — A maneuver used against an enemy.

    noun — A sequence of moves that limits the opponent's options and results in an immediate and tangible advantage, typically in the form of material.

    adjective — Describing a polymer whose repeat units are identical.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • tactician

    noun — A person skilled in the planning and execution of tactics.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • tannic

    adjective — Pertaining to, containing, or obtained from tannin.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • tinct

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • titanic

    adjective — Having great size, or great strength, force or power.

    adjective — Of or relating to titanium, especially tetravalent titanium

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • vacant

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • vacating

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • vaccinating

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ac×5
  • an×1
  • at×1
  • ca×11
  • ci×2
  • gi×1
  • ic×1
  • in×5
  • ni×1
  • ta×5
  • ti×2
  • va×3

Words by first letter and length

456789101112Σ
a 132···1·· 7
c 2353····· 13
g ····1···· 1
i ·12·11··1 6
n ··1······ 1
t 1221·1··· 7
v ··1·1··1· 3
Σ 4913432111 38

The numbers

Genius today takes 180 points of 258 available. The average answer runs 6.4 letters.

Total points vs. all 393 recorded puzzles
72nd percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
33rd percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17771 recorded answers

44 today34.6% all-time59 today22.8% all-time613 today19.9% all-time74 today12.0% all-time83 today6.3% all-time92 today2.6% all-time101 today1.3% all-time111 today0.3% all-time121 today0.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
a Friday, July 25, 2025 Saturday, July 19, 2025
c ● Saturday, July 26, 2025 Wednesday, July 23, 2025
g Sunday, July 20, 2025 first recorded time
i Friday, July 25, 2025 Friday, July 18, 2025
n Saturday, July 26, 2025 first recorded time
t Friday, July 25, 2025 Thursday, July 17, 2025
v Friday, July 25, 2025 first recorded time

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 42
  2. onion 31
  3. naan 30
  4. nana 30
  5. toot 29
  6. loll 29
  7. mama 25
  8. mamma 25
  9. acacia 24
  10. acai 24
  11. olio 24
  12. cocoon 23
  13. loon 23
  14. nene 23
  15. bill 22
  16. neon 22
  17. none 22
  18. lilt 21
  19. till 21
  20. tilt 21
  21. aria 21
  22. imam 21
  23. maim 21
  24. onto 21
  25. toon 21

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.