The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

ABCNORL

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Words
49
Points
208
Genius
145
Pangram
1

Official answers

Show the 49 answersHide answers

Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • anal

    adjective — Of a person, compulsive and stubborn, obsessed with neatness and accuracy, supposedly from not having progressed beyond the anal stage.

    adjective — Of, related to, intended for or involving the anus.

    adjective — Of the stage in psychosexual development when the child's interest is alleged to be concentrated on the anal region.

    noun — Anal sex.

    noun — Any of the anal scales of a reptile.

    adjective — (of a vein) Proximate to the thorax.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • annal

    noun — The record of a single event or item.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • ball

    noun — A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.

    noun — A round or ellipsoidal object.

    verb — To play basketball.

    noun — A very enjoyable time.

    verb — To form or wind into a ball.

    noun — A formal dance.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • balloon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • banal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • blab

    verb — To tell tales; to gossip without reserve or discretion.

    noun — Gossip; prattle.

    noun — One who blabs; a babbler; a telltale; a gossip or gossiper.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • blob

    noun — A shapeless or amorphous mass; a vague shape or amount, especially of a liquid or semisolid substance; a clump, group or collection that lacks definite shape.

    verb — To drop in the form of a blob or blobs

    noun — Acronym of binary large object. (a data type that allows storage of binary data often of indeterminate length).

    noun — In astronomy, a large cloud of gas. In particular, an extended Lyman-Alpha blob is a huge body of gas that may be the precursor to a galaxy.

    noun — A bubble; a bleb.

    noun — A small freshwater fish (Cottus bairdii); the miller's thumb.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • bloc

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • bola

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • boll

    noun — The rounded seed-bearing capsule of a cotton or flax plant.

    verb — To form a boll or seed vessel; to go to seed.

    noun — An old dry measure equal to six bushels.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • bolo

    noun — A long, heavy, single-edged machete.

    verb — To attack or despatch with a bolo knife.

    noun — A soldier not capable of the minimum standards of marksmanship.

    verb — To fail to meet the minimum standards of marksmanship.

    noun — A string or leather necktie secured with an ornamental slide.

    verb — To dress (somebody) in a bolo.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • cabal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • cabala

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • call

    noun — A telephone conversation.

    verb — (heading) To use one's voice.

    noun — A decision or judgement.

    noun — The characteristic cry of a bird or other animal.

    noun — A cry or shout.

    noun — A short visit, usually for social purposes.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • calla

    noun — The calla lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica.

    noun — A marsh plant native to cooler areas throughout the northern hemisphere, Calla palustris, having pale green flowers in a white spathe.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • callaloo

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • canal

    noun — An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.

    noun — A tubular channel within the body.

    verb — To dig an artificial waterway in or to (a place), especially for drainage

    verb — To travel along a canal by boat

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • cannonball

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • canola

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • carnal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • carol

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • clan

    noun — A group of people all descended from a common ancestor, in fact or belief.

    noun — Any group defined by family ties with some sort of political unity.

    noun — A group of players who habitually play on the same team in multiplayer games.

    noun — A traditional social group of families in the Scottish Highlands having a common hereditary chieftain

    noun — A badger colony.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • cloaca

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • coal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • cola

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • colcannon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • collab

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • collar

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • colon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • color

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • cool

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • coral

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • cornball

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • corolla

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • coronal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • corral

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • labor

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • llano

    noun — A plain or steppe in parts of Latin America.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • loan

    noun — A sum of money or other property that a natural or legal person borrows from another with the condition that it be returned or repaid over time or at a later date (sometimes with interest).

    verb — To lend (something) to (someone).

    noun — An act or instance of lending, an act or instance of granting something for temporary use.

    noun — The contract and array of legal or ethical obligations surrounding a loan.

    noun — The permission to borrow any item.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • lobo

    noun — A wolf.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • local

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • loco

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • loll

    verb — To act lazily or indolently while reclining; to lean; to lie at ease.

    verb — To hang extended from the mouth, like the tongue of an animal heated from exertion.

    verb — To let (the tongue) hang from the mouth in this way.

    Appeared in 28 recorded puzzles.

  • loon

    noun — An idler, a lout.

    noun — Any of various birds, of the order Gaviiformes, of North America and Europe that dive for fish and have a short tail, webbed feet and a yodeling cry.

    noun — A boy, a lad.

    noun — A harlot; mistress.

    noun — A simpleton.

    noun — A crazy or deranged person.

    Appeared in 23 recorded puzzles.

  • nonlocal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • oral

    adjective — Spoken rather than written.

    adjective — Relating to the mouth.

    noun — Oral sex.

    noun — A spoken test or examination, particularly in a language class.

    noun — A physical examination of the mouth.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • robocall

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • roll

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • rollbar

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • an×2
  • ba×3
  • bl×3
  • bo×3
  • ca×10
  • cl×2
  • co×13
  • la×1
  • ll×1
  • lo×6
  • no×1
  • or×1
  • ro×3

Words by first letter and length

45678910Σ
a 11····· 2
b 71·1··· 9
c 5772211 25
l 53····· 8
n ····1·· 1
o 1······ 1
r 1··11·· 3
Σ 201274411 49

The numbers

Genius today takes 145 points of 208 available. The average answer runs 5.3 letters.

Total points vs. all 381 recorded puzzles
50th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
56th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17278 recorded answers

420 today34.6% all-time512 today22.8% all-time67 today19.9% all-time74 today12.1% all-time84 today6.3% all-time91 today2.6% all-time101 today1.2% all-time110.3% all-time120.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
a Monday, December 8, 2025 Monday, December 8, 2025
b Monday, December 8, 2025 Sunday, October 12, 2025
c Saturday, December 6, 2025 Tuesday, December 2, 2025
l ● Sunday, December 7, 2025 Sunday, December 7, 2025
n Sunday, December 7, 2025 Monday, November 17, 2025
o Saturday, December 6, 2025 Saturday, December 6, 2025
r Sunday, December 7, 2025 Sunday, November 16, 2025

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 42
  2. naan 30
  3. nana 30
  4. onion 29
  5. toot 28
  6. loll 28
  7. mama 25
  8. mamma 25
  9. cocoon 23
  10. loon 23
  11. nene 23
  12. acacia 22
  13. acai 22
  14. bill 22
  15. neon 22
  16. none 22
  17. olio 22
  18. aria 21
  19. onto 21
  20. toon 21
  21. cancan 21
  22. canna 21
  23. lilt 20
  24. till 20
  25. tilt 20

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.