The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

ADGINTC

Sunday, January 18, 2026

Words
50
Points
324
Genius
226
Pangrams
3

Official answers

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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 23 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 23 recorded puzzles.

  • acid

    noun — A sour substance.

    adjective — Sour, sharp, or biting to the taste; tart; having the taste of vinegar.

    noun — Any of several classes of compound having the following properties:

    noun — Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)

    adjective — Sour-tempered.

    adjective — Of or pertaining to an acid; acidic.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • acidic

    adjective — Having a pH less than 7, or being sour, or having the strength to neutralize alkalis, or turning a litmus paper red.

    adjective — Containing a high percentage of silica; opposed to basic.

    adjective — Of or relating to acid; having the character of an acid.

    Appeared in 7 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.

  • addict

    noun — A person who is addicted, especially to a harmful drug

    verb — To deliver (someone or something) following a judicial decision.

    noun — An adherent or fan (of something)

    verb — To devote (oneself) to a given activity, occupation, thing etc.

    verb — To bind (a person or thing) to the service of something.

    verb — To devote or pledge (oneself) to a given person, cause etc.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • addicting

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • antacid

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • antic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 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 17 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 17 recorded puzzles.

  • cadging

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • 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.

  • candid

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • canid

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 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

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • cicada

    noun — Any of several insects in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with small eyes wide apart on the head and transparent well-veined wings.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • citing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • dancing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • dicing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • dicta

    noun — An authoritative statement; a dogmatic saying; a maxim, an apothegm.

    noun — A judicial opinion expressed by judges on points that do not necessarily arise in the case, and are not involved in it.

    noun — The report of a judgment made by one of the judges who has given it.

    noun — An arbitrament or award.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • dictating

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • didact

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • didactic

    noun — A treatise on teaching or education.

    adjective — Instructive or intended to teach or demonstrate, especially with regard to morality.

    adjective — Excessively moralizing.

    adjective — Teaching from textbooks rather than laboratory demonstration and clinical application.

    Appeared in 5 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.

  • incant

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 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.

  • indica

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • indicating

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • indicia

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • indict

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • indicting

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • intact

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 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 13 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 17 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 19 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 17 recorded puzzles.

  • tactician

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • tannic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • tinct

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • titanic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ac×6
  • ad×2
  • an×2
  • at×1
  • ca×12
  • ci×2
  • da×1
  • di×5
  • gi×1
  • ic×1
  • in×9
  • ni×1
  • ta×5
  • ti×2

Words by first letter and length

45678910Σ
a 2341·1· 11
c 1364··· 14
d ·12111· 6
g ····1·· 1
i ·141121 10
n ··1···· 1
t 1221·1· 7
Σ 410198351 50

The numbers

Genius today takes 226 points of 324 available. The average answer runs 6.3 letters.

Total points vs. all 384 recorded puzzles
91st percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
58th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17432 recorded answers

44 today34.6% all-time510 today22.8% all-time619 today20.0% all-time78 today12.1% all-time83 today6.3% all-time95 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 Saturday, January 17, 2026 Thursday, January 8, 2026
c ● Friday, January 16, 2026 Friday, January 16, 2026
d Thursday, January 15, 2026 Thursday, December 4, 2025
g Thursday, January 15, 2026 Saturday, December 20, 2025
i Friday, January 16, 2026 Thursday, January 15, 2026
n Tuesday, January 13, 2026 Friday, January 2, 2026
t Saturday, January 17, 2026 Tuesday, January 6, 2026

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. acacia 23
  11. acai 23
  12. loon 23
  13. nene 23
  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. lull 20
  24. lulu 20
  25. lilt 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.