The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

AGILNOB

Sunday, February 1, 2026

Words
80
Points
427
Genius
298
Pangrams
2

Official answers

Show the 80 answersHide answers

Pangrams highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • aboil

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • albino

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • alibi

    noun — The plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove being in another place when the alleged act was committed

    verb — To provide an excuse for.

    verb — To provide an alibi for.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • baaing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • baba

    noun — A kind of sponge cake soaked in rum-flavoured syrup.

    noun — (esp. among people of East European ancestry) A grandmother.

    noun — An old woman, especially a traditional old woman from an eastern European culture.

    noun — (esp. among people of Indian ancestry) A father.

    noun — (Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism) A holy man, a spiritual leader.

    noun — A baby, child.

    Appeared in 20 recorded puzzles.

  • babbling

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • baboon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • bagging

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • bail

    noun — Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial.

    noun — Release from imprisonment on payment of such money.

    verb — To exit quickly.

    verb — To fail to meet a commitment.

    noun — A hoop, ring or handle (especially of a kettle or bucket).

    verb — To secure the release of an arrested person by providing bail.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • bailing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • baling

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 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.

  • balling

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • balloon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • ballooning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • banal

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • banana

    noun — An elongated curved tropical fruit that grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin.

    adjective — Curved like a banana, especially of a ball in flight.

    noun — The tropical tree-like plant which bears clusters of bananas. The plant, usually of the genus Musa but sometimes also including plants from Ensete, has large, elongated leaves and is related to the plantain.

    noun — A yellow colour, like that of a banana's skin.

    noun — (mildly) A person of Asian descent, especially a Chinese American, who has assimilated into Western culture or married a Caucasian (from the "yellow" outside and "white" inside). Compare coconut or Oreo.

    noun — A banana equivalent dose.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • bang

    noun — A sudden percussive noise.

    verb — To make sudden loud noises, and often repeatedly, especially by exploding or hitting something.

    adverb — Right, directly.

    interjection — A sudden percussive sound, such as made by the firing of a gun, slamming of a door, etc.

    noun — Hair hanging over the forehead.

    noun — Brucellosis, a bacterial disease.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • banging

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • banning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • baobab

    noun — A tree, Adansonia digitata (and similar species), native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • bilabial

    adjective — Articulated with both lips.

    noun — A speech sound articulated with both lips.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • bill

    noun — A piece of paper money; a banknote.

    noun — A written note of goods sold, services rendered, or work done, with the price or charge; an invoice.

    verb — To charge; to send a bill to.

    noun — A draft of a law, presented to a legislature for enactment; a proposed or projected law.

    noun — The beak of a bird, especially when small or flattish; sometimes also used with reference to a platypus, turtle, or other animal.

    noun — Of a cap or hat: the brim or peak, serving as a shade to keep sun off the face and out of the eyes.

    Appeared in 22 recorded puzzles.

  • billabong

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • billing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • billion

    noun — (modern British & Australian, short scale) a thousand million (logic: 1,000 × 1,000^2): 1 followed by nine zeros, 109; a milliard

    noun — (British & Australian, long scale) A million million (logic: 1,000,000^2): a 1 followed by twelve zeros; 1012

    noun — An unspecified very large number.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • binging

    verb — To engage in a short period of excessive consumption, especially of excessive alcohol consumption.

    verb — To go; walk; come; run

    verb — Making the sound of a bounce

    verb — To bounce

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • bingo

    noun — A game of chance for two or more players, who mark off numbers on a grid as they are announced by the caller; the game is won by the first person to call out "bingo!" or "house!" after crossing off all numbers on the grid or in one line of the grid.

    verb — To play the game of bingo.

    adjective — Just sufficient to return to base (or, alternatively, to divert to an alternative airfield). (also written Bingo or BINGO)

    interjection — Used by players of bingo to claim a win.

    noun — Brandy.

    noun — A win in such a game.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • binning

    verb — To dispose of (something) by putting it into a bin, or as if putting it into a bin.

    noun — A data pre-processing technique in which original data values fall into a small interval ("bin") and are replaced by a value representative of that interval, often the central value. Wp

    verb — To throw away, reject, give up.

    verb — To convert continuous data into discrete groups.

    verb — To place into a bin for storage.

    noun — The process of grouping reads or contigs and assigning them to operational taxonomic units. Wp

    Appeared in 4 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.

  • blabbing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • blin

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • bling

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • blini

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 12 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.

  • blobbing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • blog

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • blogging

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • boba

    noun — Short for boba tea.

    noun — A small edible ball made primarily from tapioca starch; used in bubble tea.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • bobbin

    noun — A spool or cylinder around which wire is coiled.

    noun — In a sewing machine, the small spool that holds the lower thread.

    noun — The little rounded piece of wood at the end of a latch string, which is pulled to raise the latch.

    noun — (haberdashery) A fine cord or narrow braid.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • bobbing

    verb — To move gently and vertically, in either a single motion or repeatedly up and down, at or near the surface of a body of water, or similar medium.

    verb — To cut (hair) into a bob haircut.

    noun — The motion of something that bobs.

    verb — To move (something) as though it were bobbing in water.

    verb — To curtsy.

    verb — To strike with a quick, light blow; to tap.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • bobbling

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • bogging

    verb — (now often with "down") To sink or submerge someone or something into bogland.

    verb — To provoke, to bug.

    verb — (usually with "off") To go away.

    adjective — Stinking; disgusting.

    verb — To prevent or slow someone or something from making progress.

    verb — (now often with "down") To sink and stick in bogland.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • boggling

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • boil

    noun — A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection.

    noun — The point at which fluid begins to change to a vapour.

    verb — (of liquids) To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas.

    noun — A dish of boiled food, especially based on seafood.

    noun — The collective noun for a group of hawks.

    verb — To cook in boiling water.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • boiling

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • boing

    noun — The sound made by an elastic object (such as a spring) when bouncing; the sound of a bounce.

    verb — To make a boing sound or bouncing motion.

    Appeared in 2 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.

  • bologna

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • bonbon

    noun — A sweet, especially a small chocolate-covered candy.

    noun — A small, spherical savory snack or canapé.

    noun — A Christmas cracker.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • bong

    noun — The clang of a large bell.

    verb — To pull a bell.

    noun — A vessel, usually made of glass or ceramic and filled with water, used in smoking various substances; especially marijuana or pot.

    noun — A very wide piton.

    noun — (thieves' cant) A purse.

    noun — An Australian Aboriginal person.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • bongo

    noun — A striped bovine mammal found in Africa, Tragelaphus eurycerus.

    noun — Either of a pair of small drums of Cuban origin, played by beating with the hands.

    verb — To play the bongo drums.

    verb — Of the heart, etc.: to beat with an irregular rhythm.

    verb — To hit something rhythmically with the hands.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • boning

    verb — To prepare (meat, etc) by removing the bone or bones from.

    verb — To apprehend, steal.

    verb — To sight along an object or set of objects to check whether they are level or in line.

    noun — The removal of bones from a carcass; filleting.

    verb — To fertilize with bone.

    verb — To put whalebone into.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • bonobo

    noun — The pygmy chimpanzee, Pan paniscus, from Africa south of the Congo river.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • boob

    noun — Idiot, fool.

    verb — To behave stupidly; to act like a boob.

    adjective — Idiotic, foolish.

    noun — A breast, especially that of an adult or adolescent human female.

    noun — A prison; jail.

    verb — To make a mistake

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • booboo

    noun — A mistake or error.

    noun — (by or to young children) A minor injury, such as a cut or a bruise.

    noun — (by or to young children) Feces.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • boogaloo

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • booing

    verb — To shout extended boos derisively.

    noun — A disapproving exclamation by a member of an audience.

    verb — To shout extended boos at, as a form of derision.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • boon

    noun — A prayer; petition.

    adjective — Good; prosperous.

    noun — The woody portion of flax, separated from the fiber as refuse matter by retting, braking, and scutching.

    noun — That which is asked or granted as a benefit or favor; a gift or benefaction.

    noun — A good thing; a blessing or benefit; a thing to be thankful for.

    noun — An unpaid service due by a tenant to his lord.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • gabbing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • gabbling

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • gibbon

    noun — A small ape of the family Hylobatidae with long limbs, which it uses to travel through rainforests by swinging from branch to branch.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • gibing

    verb — Alternative spelling of gybe

    noun — A gibe.

    verb — Alternative spelling of jibe

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • glib

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • glob

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • global

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • gobbling

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • goblin

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • labia

    noun — The folds of tissue at the opening of the vulva, at either side of the vagina.

    noun — A liplike structure; especially one of the two pairs of folds of skin either side of the vulva.

    noun — The lip of a labiate corolla.

    noun — The lip against which pressured air is driven to produce sound in a recorder and in a pipe organ with flue pipes.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • labial

    adjective — Of or pertaining to the lips or labia.

    adjective — Articulated by the lips, as the consonants b, m and w.

    noun — A consonant articulated by the lips.

    adjective — Of an incisor or canine, on the side facing the lips. See mesial.

    noun — Any of the scales bordering the mouth opening of a reptile.

    noun — An organ pipe having a lip that influences its sound.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • lobbing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • lobo

    noun — A wolf.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • nabbing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • nabob

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • nibbling

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • noob

    noun — (often pejorative) A newb or newbie; refers to the idea that someone is new to a game, concept, or idea; implying a lack of experience. Also, in some areas the word noob can mean someone is obsessed with things.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • obliging

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • oblong

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ab×1
  • al×2
  • ba×18
  • bi×8
  • bl×9
  • bo×23
  • ga×2
  • gi×2
  • gl×3
  • go×2
  • la×2
  • lo×2
  • na×2
  • ni×1
  • no×1
  • ob×2

Words by first letter and length

45678910Σ
a ·21···· 3
b 1761114811 58
g 2·412·· 9
l 1111··· 4
n 11·11·· 4
o ··1·1·· 2
Σ 211018171211 80

The numbers

Genius today takes 298 points of 427 available. The average answer runs 6.0 letters.

Total points vs. all 422 recorded puzzles
100th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
100th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 19068 recorded answers

421 today34.4% all-time510 today22.9% all-time618 today20.0% all-time717 today12.0% all-time812 today6.2% 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 Saturday, January 31, 2026 Tuesday, January 20, 2026
b ● Monday, January 26, 2026 Monday, December 29, 2025
g Friday, January 30, 2026 Thursday, January 22, 2026
i Saturday, January 31, 2026 Tuesday, January 27, 2026
l Saturday, January 31, 2026 Friday, January 30, 2026
n Friday, January 30, 2026 Friday, January 2, 2026
o Saturday, January 31, 2026 Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 45
  2. naan 34
  3. nana 34
  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. mini 24
  14. minim 24
  15. loon 24
  16. olio 24
  17. aria 23
  18. imam 23
  19. maim 23
  20. mitt 23
  21. onto 23
  22. toon 23
  23. cancan 23
  24. canna 23
  25. neon 23

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.