The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

CGHINUO

Sunday, November 30, 2025

Words
40
Points
234
Genius
163
Pangrams
3

Official answers

Show the 40 answersHide answers

Pangrams highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • chignon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • chino

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • cocci

    noun — Any approximately spherical bacterium.

    noun — Coccidioidomycosis

    noun — One of the carpels or seed-vessels of a dry fruit.

    Appeared in 20 recorded puzzles.

  • cocoon

    noun — The silky protective case spun by the larvae of some insects in which they metamorphose, the pupa.

    verb — To envelop in a protective case

    noun — Any similar protective case, whether real or metaphorical.

    verb — To withdraw into such a case.

    Appeared in 24 recorded puzzles.

  • cocooning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • coho

    noun — An anadromus and semelparous salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, found in the coastal regions of the northern Pacific Ocean, used as a symbol by several Native American tribes.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • coin

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • coining

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • conch

    noun — A marine gastropod of the family Strombidae which lives in its own spiral shell.

    verb — To refine the flavour and texture of chocolate by warming and grinding, either in a traditional concher, or between rollers.

    noun — A machine (rather like a rotating pestle and mortar) used to refine the flavour and texture of chocolate by warming and grinding.

    noun — The shell of this sea animal.

    noun — A musical instrument made from a large spiral seashell, somewhat like a trumpet.

    noun — The semidome of an apse, or the apse itself.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • conic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • conning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • cooing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • couch

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • couching

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • cough

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • coughing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • gnocchi

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • going

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • gong

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • gonging

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • goon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • gouging

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • hiccough

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • hiccoughing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • hogging

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • honcho

    noun — Boss, leader

    verb — To lead or manage.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • honing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • hooch

    noun — Alcoholic liquor, especially inferior or illicit whisky.

    noun — A thatched hut, CHU, or any simple dwelling.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • icon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • iconic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • ionic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • noggin

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • nonunion

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • 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 44 recorded puzzles.

  • noun

    noun — (grammar, narrow sense) A word that can be used to refer to a person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea; one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English.

    verb — To convert a word to a noun.

    noun — (grammar, now rare, broad sense) Either a word that can be used to refer to a person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality or idea, or a word that modifies or describes a previous word or its referent; a substantive or adjective, sometimes also including other parts of speech such as numeral or pronoun.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • nuncio

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • ongoing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • onion

    noun — A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.

    noun — The bulb of such a plant.

    noun — The genus as a whole.

    noun — A ball.

    noun — A person from Bermuda or of Bermudian descent.

    Appeared in 31 recorded puzzles.

  • ouch

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • union

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ch×2
  • co×14
  • gn×1
  • go×5
  • hi×2
  • ho×4
  • ic×2
  • io×1
  • no×4
  • nu×1
  • on×2
  • ou×1
  • un×1

Words by first letter and length

45678911Σ
c 262321· 16
g 21·3··· 6
h ·1211·1 6
i 111···· 3
n 2·2·1·· 5
o 11·1··· 3
u ·1····· 1
Σ 81178411 40

The numbers

Genius today takes 163 points of 234 available. The average answer runs 5.9 letters.

Total points vs. all 418 recorded puzzles
63rd percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
38th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 18877 recorded answers

48 today34.5% all-time511 today23.0% all-time67 today20.0% all-time78 today12.0% all-time84 today6.3% all-time91 today2.6% all-time101.3% all-time111 today0.3% all-time120.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
c Thursday, November 27, 2025 Tuesday, September 16, 2025
g Tuesday, November 25, 2025 Wednesday, September 3, 2025
h Saturday, November 29, 2025 Monday, October 20, 2025
i Saturday, November 29, 2025 Saturday, November 29, 2025
n Saturday, November 29, 2025 Monday, November 17, 2025
o ● Friday, November 28, 2025 Monday, November 24, 2025
u Saturday, November 22, 2025 Tuesday, November 4, 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. 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.