The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

ABNRTVI

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Words
31
Points
157
Genius
109
Pangram
1

Official answers

Show the 31 answersHide answers

Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • anti

    adjective — Opposed to something.

    noun — A person opposed to a concept or principle.

    preposition — Alternative form of anti-

    adjective — That has a torsion angle between 90° and 180°

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • aria

    noun — A musical piece written typically for a solo voice with orchestral accompaniment in an opera or cantata.

    Appeared in 23 recorded puzzles.

  • atria

    noun — A central room or space in ancient Roman homes, open to the sky in the middle; a similar space in other buildings.

    noun — A square hall lit by daylight from above, into which rooms open at one or more levels.

    noun — A cavity, entrance, or passage.

    noun — Any enclosed sexine and nexine layers, widening toward the interior of the grain.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • attain

    verb — To gain (an object or desired result).

    verb — To reach or come to, by progression or motion; to arrive at (a place, time, state, etc.).

    verb — To reach in excellence or degree.

    verb — To come or arrive, by motion, growth, bodily exertion, or efforts toward a place, object, state, etc.

    verb — To get at the knowledge of.

    verb — To reach a person after being behind them.

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • avian

    noun — A bird.

    adjective — Characteristic of or pertaining to birds, or to bird-like or flying creatures.

    noun — A bird-like or flying creature.

    noun — (furry fandom) Someone who roleplays or describes themselves as being a bird or bird-like animal character with human characteristics.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • bait

    noun — Any substance, especially food, used in catching fish, or other animals, by alluring them to a hook, snare, trap, or net.

    noun — Anything which allures; something used to lure or entice someone or something into doing something

    verb — To attract with bait; to entice.

    verb — To intentionally annoy, torment, or threaten by constant rebukes or threats; to harass.

    noun — Food containing poison or a harmful additive to kill animals that are pests.

    verb — To affix bait to a trap or a fishing hook or fishing line.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • barbarian

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • birria

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • brain

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • briar

    noun — Any of many plants with thorny stems growing in dense clusters, such as many in the Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax genera.

    noun — The white heath, Erica arborea, a thorny Mediterranean shrub.

    noun — Anything sharp or unpleasant to the feelings.

    noun — A pipe for smoking, made from the roots of that shrub.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • invariant

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • irritant

    noun — Any medication designed to cause irritation

    adjective — Causing irritation or inflammation.

    noun — A source of irritation.

    adjective — Rendering null and void; conditionally invalidating.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • nirvana

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • rabbi

    noun — A Jewish scholar or teacher of halacha (Jewish law), capable of making halachic decisions.

    noun — A Jew who is or is qualified to be the leader of a Jewish congregation.

    noun — (police) A senior officer who acts as a mentor.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • rabbit

    noun — A mammal of the family Leporidae, with long ears, long hind legs and a short, fluffy tail.

    verb — To hunt rabbits.

    verb — To talk incessantly and in a childish manner; to babble annoyingly.

    verb — Confound; damn; drat.

    noun — The meat from this animal.

    noun — The fur of a rabbit typically used to imitate another animal's fur.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • rain

    noun — Condensed water falling from a cloud.

    verb — To have rain fall from the sky.

    noun — Any matter moving or falling, usually through air, and especially if liquid or otherwise figuratively identifiable with raindrops.

    verb — To fall as or like rain.

    verb — To issue (something) in large quantities.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • raita

    noun — A condiment used as a dip or sauce in the cuisine of southern Asia, made from seasoned yogurt.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • rani

    noun — A Hindu princess or female ruler in India.

    noun — The wife of a rajah.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • ribbit

    noun — The vocal sound made by a frog or toad.

    verb — To make the sound of a frog or toad.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • taint

    verb — To contaminate or corrupt (something) with an external agent, either physically or morally.

    noun — A mark of disgrace, especially on one's character; blemish

    noun — A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food

    verb — To spoil (food) by contamination.

    noun — Infection; corruption; deprivation

    noun — A marker indicating that a variable is unsafe and should be subjected to additional security checks.

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • tannin

    noun — Tannic acid or any of its derivatives.

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • tiara

    noun — The papal crown.

    noun — An ornamental coronet.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • tibia

    noun — The inner and usually the larger of the two bones of the leg or hind limb below the knee, the shinbone

    noun — The second segment from the end of an insect's leg, between the femur and tarsus.

    noun — The third segment from the end of an arachnid's leg, between the patella and metatarsus.

    noun — A musical instrument of the flute kind, originally made of the leg bone of an animal.

    Appeared in 12 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 21 recorded puzzles.

  • titan

    noun — Something or someone of very large stature, greatness, or godliness.

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • train

    noun — Elongated portion.

    verb — To practice an ability.

    noun — Treachery; deceit.

    noun — Connected sequence of people or things.

    verb — To teach and form (someone) by practice; to educate (someone).

    verb — To improve one's fitness.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • trait

    noun — An identifying characteristic, habit or trend.

    noun — An uninstantiable collection of methods that provides functionality to a class by using the class’s own interface.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • trivia

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • vain

    adjective — Overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason.

    adjective — Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.

    adjective — Effecting no purpose; pointless, futile.

    adjective — Showy; ostentatious.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • variant

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • vibrant

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

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

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • an×1
  • ar×1
  • at×2
  • av×1
  • ba×2
  • bi×1
  • br×2
  • in×1
  • ir×1
  • ni×1
  • ra×5
  • ri×1
  • ta×2
  • ti×4
  • tr×3
  • va×2
  • vi×1

Words by first letter and length

456789Σ
a 221··· 5
b 121··1 5
i ····11 2
n ···1·· 1
r 222··· 6
t 162··· 9
v 1··2·· 3
Σ 7126312 31

The numbers

Genius today takes 109 points of 157 available. The average answer runs 5.5 letters.

Total points vs. all 419 recorded puzzles
27th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
17th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 18933 recorded answers

47 today34.4% all-time512 today23.0% all-time66 today20.0% all-time73 today12.0% all-time81 today6.3% all-time92 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, November 11, 2025 Monday, November 10, 2025
b Thursday, November 6, 2025 Sunday, October 12, 2025
i ● Tuesday, November 11, 2025 Tuesday, October 28, 2025
n Tuesday, November 11, 2025 Sunday, November 9, 2025
r Sunday, November 9, 2025 Thursday, October 30, 2025
t Friday, November 7, 2025 Friday, November 7, 2025
v Monday, November 10, 2025 Thursday, September 18, 2025

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. acacia 25
  10. acai 25
  11. nene 25
  12. cocoon 24
  13. loon 24
  14. olio 24
  15. aria 23
  16. imam 23
  17. maim 23
  18. cancan 23
  19. canna 23
  20. mini 23
  21. minim 23
  22. neon 23
  23. none 23
  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.