The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

EGILNTM

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Edited by Sam Ezersky

Words
53
Points
258
Genius
180
Pangram
1

Official answers

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Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • element

    noun — One of the simplest or essential parts or principles of which anything consists, or upon which the constitution or fundamental powers of anything are based.

    noun — A small part of the whole.

    noun — A place or state of being that an individual or object is best suited to.

    noun — (with "the") Atmospheric forces such as strong winds and rains.

    noun — A group of people within a larger group having a particular common characteristic.

    noun — A component in electrical equipment, often in the form of a coil, having a high resistance, thereby generating heat when a current is passed through it.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • eminent

    adjective — (of a person) distinguished, important, noteworthy.

    adjective — Noteworthy, remarkable, great.

    adjective — High, lofty.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • emit

    verb — To send out or give off

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • emitting

    verb — To send out or give off

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • entitlement

    noun — The right to have something, whether actual or perceived.

    noun — Something that one is entitled to.

    noun — A legal obligation on a government to make payments to a person, business, or unit of government that meets the criteria set in law, such as social security in the US.

    noun — Power, authority to do something.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • gentlemen

    noun — (polite term of address) Any man.

    noun — A lavatory intended for use by men, often including urinals in addition to toilets.

    noun — Any well-bred, well-mannered, or charming man.

  • gimlet

    noun — A small screw-tipped tool for boring holes.

    noun — A cocktail, usually made with gin and lime juice.

    verb — To pierce or bore holes (as if using a gimlet).

  • gimme

    noun — That which is easily obtained, or certain to occur.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • imminent

    adjective — About to happen, occur, or take place very soon, especially of something which won't last long.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • item

    noun — A distinct physical object.

    noun — A line of text having a legal or other meaning; a separate particular in an account.

    noun — Two people who are having a relationship with each other.

    noun — A matter for discussion in an agenda.

    noun — (psychometrics) A question on a test, which may include its answers.

    noun — A short article in a newspaper.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • lemming

    noun — A small Arctic and Subarctic rodent from any of six genera of similar rodents.

    noun — Any member of a group given to conformity or groupthink, especially a group poised to follow a leader off a cliff.

  • lime

    noun — Any of several green citrus fruit, somewhat smaller and sharper-tasting than a lemon.

    adjective — Lime-green.

    adjective — Containing lime or lime juice.

    adjective — Having the aroma or flavor of lime.

    noun — A brilliant, sometimes yellowish, green colour associated with the fruits of a lime tree.

    noun — Any of the trees that bear limes, especially Key lime, Citrus aurantiifolia.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • limit

    noun — A restriction; a bound beyond which one may not go.

    verb — To restrict; not to allow to go beyond a certain bound, to set boundaries.

    noun — The final, utmost, or furthest point; the border or edge.

    noun — A restriction; a check or curb; a hindrance.

    noun — A value to which a sequence converges. Equivalently, the common value of the upper limit and the lower limit of a sequence: if the upper and lower limits are different, then the sequence has no limit (i.e., does not converge).

    noun — (as "the limit") A person who is exasperating, intolerable, astounding, etc.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • limiting

    verb — To restrict; not to allow to go beyond a certain bound, to set boundaries.

    noun — A limitation.

    verb — To have a limit in a particular set.

    verb — To beg, or to exercise functions, within a certain limited region.

  • limn

    verb — To draw or paint; to delineate.

    verb — To illuminate, as a manuscript; to decorate with gold or some other bright colour.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • limning

    verb — To draw or paint; to delineate.

    noun — A depiction.

    verb — To illuminate, as a manuscript; to decorate with gold or some other bright colour.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • linemen

    noun — A player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage

    noun — A person who installs and repairs overhead cables (either power or telephone); a linesman

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • liniment

    noun — A topical medical preparation intended to be rubbed into the skin with friction, as for example to relieve symptoms of arthritis.

    verb — To apply liniment to.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • meet

    verb — To make contact (with) while in proximity.

    verb — To make physical or perceptual contact.

    verb — To satisfy; to comply with.

    noun — A meeting.

    noun — A sports competition, especially for track and field (a track meet) or swimming (a swim meet).

    verb — (Of groups) To come together.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • meeting

    noun — A gathering of persons for a purpose; an assembly.

    noun — (gerund) The act of persons or things that meet.

    noun — An encounter between people, even accidental.

    noun — (collective) The people at such a gathering.

    noun — A place or instance of junction or intersection; a confluence.

    noun — A religious service held by a charismatic preacher in small towns in the United States.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • melee

    noun — A noisy, confused or tumultuous fight, argument or scrap.

    noun — Any any confused, disorganised, disordered or chaotic situation.

    noun — A battle fought at close range; hand-to-hand combat; brawling.

    noun — Lively contention or debate, skirmish.

    verb — To physically hit in close quarters, as opposed to shooting, blowing up, or other ranged means of damage. Often refers to the usage of a hand-to-hand weapon.

    noun — A cavalry exercise in which two groups of riders try to cut paper plumes off the helmets of their opponents, the contest continuing until no member of one group retains his plume.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • melt

    verb — To change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat.

    verb — To dissolve, disperse, vanish.

    verb — To soften, as by a warming or kindly influence; to relax; to render gentle or susceptible to mild influences; sometimes, in a bad sense, to take away the firmness of; to weaken.

    verb — To be emotionally softened or touched.

    noun — The transition of matter from a solid state to a liquid state.

    noun — Molten material, the product of melting.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • melting

    verb — To change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat.

    verb — To dissolve, disperse, vanish.

    verb — To soften, as by a warming or kindly influence; to relax; to render gentle or susceptible to mild influences; sometimes, in a bad sense, to take away the firmness of; to weaken.

    adjective — Which is melting, dissolving or liquefying.

    noun — The process of changing the state of a substance from solid to liquid by heating it past its melting point.

    verb — To be emotionally softened or touched.

  • meme

    noun — Something, usually humorous, which is copied and circulated online with slight adaptations, including quizzes, basic pictures, video templates etc.

    noun — A myth circulating as truth; something ineffective presented as effective, or similar.

    noun — Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes.

    verb — To turn into a meme; to use a meme, especially to achieve something in real life.

    verb — To create and use humorous memes.

    verb — To joke around.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • meming

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • mentee

    noun — A person who is being mentored

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • mete

    verb — (usually with “out”) To dispense, measure (out), allot (especially punishment, reward etc.).

    verb — To measure.

    adjective — Suitable; right; proper.

    noun — A boundary or other limit; a boundary-marker; mere.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • meting

    verb — (usually with “out”) To dispense, measure (out), allot (especially punishment, reward etc.).

    verb — To measure.

    noun — The act of one who metes; a distribution or handing out.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • mettle

    noun — A quality of endurance and courage.

    noun — Good temperament and character.

    noun — Metal; a metallic substance.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • mien

    noun — Demeanor; facial expression or attitude, especially one which is intended by its bearer.

    noun — A specific facial expression.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • mile

    noun — The international mile: a unit of length precisely equal to 1.609344 kilometers established by treaty among Anglophone nations in 1959, divided into 5,280 feet or 1,760 yards.

    noun — One mile per hour, as a measure of speed.

    noun — (travel) An airline mile in a frequent flier program.

    noun — Any of several customary units of length derived from the 1593 English statute mile of 8 furlongs, equivalent to 5,280 feet or 1,760 yards of various precise values.

    noun — Any similarly large distance.

    noun — A race of 1 mile's length; a race of around 1 mile's length (usually 1500 or 1600 meters)

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • mill

    noun — A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc.

    verb — (followed by around, about, etc.) To move about in an aimless fashion.

    noun — A manufacturing plant for paper, steel, textiles, etc.

    noun — An establishment that handles a certain type of situation or procedure routinely, or produces large quantities of an item without much regard to quality, such as a divorce mill, a puppy mill, etc.

    noun — An institution awarding educational certificates not officially recognised

    noun — The building housing such a grinding apparatus.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • millet

    noun — Any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food, widely cultivated in the developing world.

    noun — A semi-autonomous confessional community under the Ottoman Empire, especially a non-Muslim one.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • milling

    verb — (followed by around, about, etc.) To move about in an aimless fashion.

    noun — A circular or random motion of a herd or a crowd.

    verb — To grind or otherwise process in a mill or other machine.

    verb — To shape, polish, dress or finish using a machine.

    verb — To engrave one or more grooves or a pattern around the edge of (a cylindrical object such as a coin).

    verb — To cause to mill, or circle around.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • mime

    noun — A form of acting without words; pantomime.

    noun — A pantomime actor.

    verb — To act without words.

    verb — To represent an action or object through gesture, without the use of sound.

    verb — To mimic.

    noun — A person who mimics others in a comical manner.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • miming

    verb — To act without words.

    verb — To represent an action or object through gesture, without the use of sound.

    noun — A performance in mime.

    verb — To mimic.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • mine

    pronoun — My; belonging to me; that which belongs to me.

    noun — A device intended to explode when stepped upon or touched, or when approached by a ship, vehicle, or person.

    noun — An excavation from which ore or solid minerals are taken, especially one consisting of underground tunnels.

    noun — Any source of wealth or resources.

    verb — To earn new units of cryptocurrency by doing certain calculations.

    noun — A machine or network of machines used to extract units of a cryptocurrency.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • mingle

    verb — To socialize with different people at a social event.

    verb — To intermix; to combine or join, as an individual or part, with other parts, but commonly so as to be distinguishable in the product

    verb — To become mixed or blended.

    verb — To associate or unite in a figurative way, or by ties of relationship

    verb — To make or prepare by mixing the ingredients of.

    noun — The act of informally meeting numerous people in a group

  • mingling

    verb — To socialize with different people at a social event.

    verb — To intermix; to combine or join, as an individual or part, with other parts, but commonly so as to be distinguishable in the product

    verb — To become mixed or blended.

    verb — To associate or unite in a figurative way, or by ties of relationship

    verb — To make or prepare by mixing the ingredients of.

    verb — To cause or allow to intermarry

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • mini

    adjective — Miniature, tiny, small.

    noun — A miniskirt.

    noun — A minicomputer.

    Appeared in 19 recorded puzzles.

  • minim

    noun — A half note, drawn as a semibreve with a stem.

    noun — Anything very minute; applied to animalcula and the like.

    noun — A unit of volume, in the Imperial and U.S. customary systems, 1/60 fluid drachm. Approximately equal to 1 drop, 62 μL or 0.9 grain (weight) of water.

    noun — A short vertical stroke used in handwriting.

    noun — A little man or being; a dwarf.

    noun — A small fish; a minnow.

    Appeared in 19 recorded puzzles.

  • mining

    noun — The activity of removing solid valuables from the earth.

    verb — To remove (ore) from the ground.

    verb — To dig into, for ore or metal.

    noun — Creation of new units of cryptocurrency by validating transactions and demonstrating proof-of-work

    noun — The activity of placing explosives underground, rigged to explode

    verb — To earn new units of cryptocurrency by doing certain calculations.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • mint

    adjective — (with condition) Like new.

    noun — Any plant in the genus Mentha in the family Lamiaceae, typically aromatic with square stems.

    noun — A mint-flavored candy, often eaten to sweeten the smell of the breath.

    noun — The flavouring of the plant, either a sweet, a jelly or sauce.

    noun — A large amount of money. A vast sum or amount, etc.

    noun — A building or institution where money (originally, only coins) is produced under government licence.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • minting

    verb — To reproduce (coins), usually en masse, under licence.

    noun — The act by which money is minted.

    verb — To invent; to forge; to fabricate; to fashion.

    verb — (provincial) To try, attempt; take aim.

    verb — (provincial) To try, attempt, endeavor; to take aim at; to try to hit; to purpose.

    verb — To hint; suggest; insinuate.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • mite

    noun — Any of many minute arachnids which, along with the ticks, comprise subclass Acarina (aka Acari).

    noun — (sometimes used adverbially) Anything very small; a minute object; a very little quantity or particle

    noun — (often used affectionately) A small or naughty person, or one you take pity on; rascal

    noun — A small coin formerly circulated in England, rated at about a third of a farthing.

    noun — A lepton, a small coin used in Palestine in the time of Christ.

    noun — A small weight; one twentieth of a grain.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • mitt

    noun — An oversized, protective glove such as an oven mitt or a baseball mitt.

    noun — A mitten

    noun — (especially in plural) A hand.

    Appeared in 16 recorded puzzles.

  • mitten

    noun — A type of glove or garment that covers a hand with a separate sheath for the thumb, but not for other fingers, which are either enclosed in a single section or left uncovered.

    noun — A cat's or dog's paw that is a different colour from the main body.

    verb — To dress in mittens; to put a mitten on.

    noun — (as "the mitten") A romantic rejection; dismissal of a lover.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • teem

    verb — To be prolific; to abound; to be rife.

    verb — To be stocked to overflowing.

    verb — To pour (especially with rain)

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • teeming

    adjective — Abundantly filled with especially living things.

    adjective — Referring to large quantities of rain.

    verb — To be prolific; to abound; to be rife.

    verb — To be stocked to overflowing.

    verb — To pour (especially with rain)

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • tenement

    noun — A building that is rented to multiple tenants, especially a low-rent, run-down one.

    noun — Any form of property that is held by one person from another, rather than being owned.

    noun — Dwelling; abode; habitation.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • time

    noun — The measurement under some system of region of day or moment.

    noun — A duration of time.

    noun — The inevitable progression into the future with the passing of present and past events.

    noun — An instant of time.

    verb — To measure or record the time, duration, or rate of.

    verb — To choose when something begins or how long it lasts.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • timeline

    noun — A graphical representation of a chronological sequence of events (past or future); a chronology.

    noun — A schedule of activities; a timetable.

    noun — An individual universe or reality, especially a parallel/alternate one in which events differ from actual history, or differ from the established canon of a fictional world.

    verb — To analyse a sequence of events or activities.

    verb — To display such a sequence graphically.

    noun — A metaphorical conception of time as a stream, or flowing body of water.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • timing

    noun — The regulation of the pace of e.g. an athletic race, the speed of an engine, the delivery of a joke, or the occurrence of a series of events.

    noun — The time when something happens.

    verb — To measure or record the time, duration, or rate of.

    verb — To choose when something begins or how long it lasts.

    verb — To pass time; to delay.

    verb — To keep or beat time; to proceed or move in time.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

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

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • el×1
  • em×3
  • en×1
  • ge×1
  • gi×2
  • im×1
  • it×1
  • le×1
  • li×7
  • me×11
  • mi×18
  • te×3
  • ti×3

Words by first letter and length

45678911Σ
e 1··21·1 5
g ·11··1· 3
i 1···1·· 2
l 21·32·· 8
m 132941·· 29
t 2·112·· 6
Σ 1941110711 53

The numbers

Genius today takes 180 points of 258 available. The average answer runs 5.8 letters.

Total points vs. all 378 recorded puzzles
72nd percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
67th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17142 recorded answers

419 today34.5% all-time54 today22.8% all-time611 today20.0% all-time710 today12.1% all-time87 today6.3% all-time91 today2.5% all-time101.2% all-time111 today0.3% all-time120.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
e Wednesday, July 1, 2026 Wednesday, July 1, 2026
g Sunday, June 28, 2026 Sunday, June 21, 2026
i Wednesday, July 1, 2026 Thursday, June 25, 2026
l Monday, June 29, 2026 Tuesday, June 2, 2026
m ● Tuesday, June 30, 2026 Friday, June 26, 2026
n Tuesday, June 30, 2026 Friday, June 12, 2026
t Thursday, June 25, 2026 Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 41
  2. naan 30
  3. nana 30
  4. onion 28
  5. toot 27
  6. loll 27
  7. mama 24
  8. mamma 24
  9. cocoon 23
  10. nene 23
  11. acacia 22
  12. acai 22
  13. bill 22
  14. loon 22
  15. aria 21
  16. onto 21
  17. toon 21
  18. cancan 21
  19. canna 21
  20. neon 21
  21. none 21
  22. olio 21
  23. anon 20
  24. lull 19
  25. lulu 19

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.