The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

AEHLNVC

Monday, July 6, 2026

Edited by Sam Ezersky

Words
37
Points
174
Genius
121
Pangram
1

Official answers

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Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • ache

    verb — To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed.

    noun — Continued dull pain, as distinguished from sudden twinges, or spasmodic pain.

    verb — To cause someone or something to suffer pain.

    noun — The name of the Latin-script letter H.

    noun — Parsley

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • acne

    noun — A skin condition, usually of the face, that is common in adolescents. It is characterised by red pimples, and is caused by the inflammation of sebaceous glands through bacterial infection.

    noun — A pattern of blemishes in an area of skin resulting from the skin condition.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • avalanche

    noun — A large mass or body of snow and ice sliding swiftly down a mountain side, or falling down a precipice.

    noun — (by extension) A sudden, great, or irresistible descent or influx; anything like an avalanche in suddenness and overwhelming quantity.

    noun — A fall of earth, rocks, etc., similar to that of an avalanche of snow or ice.

    verb — To come down upon; to overwhelm.

    verb — To descend like an avalanche.

    verb — To propel downward like an avalanche.

  • cache

    noun — A fast temporary storage where recently or frequently used information is stored to avoid having to reload it from a slower storage medium.

    noun — A store of things that may be required in the future, which can be retrieved rapidly, protected or hidden in some way.

    noun — (geocaching) A container containing treasure in a global treasure-hunt game.

    verb — To place in a cache.

    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.

  • calve

    verb — To give birth to a calf

    verb — (especially of an ice shelf, a glacier, an ice sheet, or even an iceberg) to shed a large piece, e.g. an iceberg or a smaller block of ice (coming off an iceberg)

    verb — To assist in a cow's giving birth to a calf

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • cancel

    verb — To invalidate or annul something.

    verb — To cease to provide financial or moral support to (someone deemed unacceptable). Compare cancel culture.

    verb — To cross out something with lines etc.

    verb — To stop production of a programme.

    noun — A cancellation (US); (nonstandard in some kinds of English).

    verb — To offset or equalize something.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • cane

    noun — A plant with simple stems, like bamboo or sugar cane, or the stem thereof

    noun — The stem of such a plant adapted for use as a tool

    verb — To strike or beat with a cane or similar implement

    noun — A rod-shaped tool or device, somewhat like a cane

    noun — Split rattan, as used in wickerwork, basketry and the like

    verb — To make or furnish with cane or rattan.

    Appeared in 12 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.

  • cava

    noun — A Spanish white sparkling wine made using the méthode champenoise.

    noun — The vena cava.

    noun — A cavity

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • cave

    noun — A large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground or in the face of a cliff or a hillside.

    verb — To collapse.

    verb — To surrender.

    noun — A place of retreat, such as a man cave.

    noun — A hole, depression, or gap in earth or rock, whether natural or man-made.

    verb — To engage in the recreational exploration of caves.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • cell

    noun — The basic unit of a living organism, consisting of a quantity of protoplasm surrounded by a cell membrane, which is able to synthesize proteins and replicate itself.

    noun — A cellular phone.

    noun — A room in a prison or jail for one or more inmates.

    noun — The unit in a statistical array (a spreadsheet, for example) where a row and a column intersect.

    noun — A device which stores electrical power; used either singly or together in batteries; the basic unit of a battery.

    noun — Each of the small hexagonal compartments in a honeycomb.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • challah

    noun — A traditional bread eaten by Ashkenazi Jews, usually braided for the Sabbath and round for Yom Tov.

    noun — The commandment to separate a portion of bread or bread dough for the cohanim (Numbers 15:17–21); in contemporary practice, the portion is burned until inedible.

    noun — The portion separated in fulfillment of the above.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • chance

    noun — An opportunity or possibility.

    noun — Random occurrence; luck.

    noun — The probability of something happening.

    adjective — Happening by chance, casual.

    verb — To try or risk.

    verb — To happen by chance, to occur.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • chancel

    noun — The space around the altar in a church, often enclosed, for use by the clergy and the choir. In medieval cathedrals the chancel was usually enclosed or blocked off from the nave by an altar screen.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • channel

    noun — A specific radio frequency or band of frequencies used for transmitting television.

    noun — A specific radio frequency or band of frequencies, usually in conjunction with a predetermined letter, number, or codeword, and allocated by international agreement.

    noun — Something through which another thing passes; a means of conveying or transmitting.

    noun — A narrow body of water between two land masses.

    verb — To direct or guide along a desired course.

    noun — The physical confine of a river or slough, consisting of a bed and banks.

    Appeared in 2 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.

  • clave

    noun — A characteristic pattern of beats, especially the 3-2 son clave.

    noun — Singular of claves

    verb — To split.

    verb — To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument.

    verb — To make or accomplish by or as if by cutting.

    verb — To break a single crystal (such as a gemstone or semiconductor wafer) along one of its more symmetrical crystallographic planes (often by impact), forming facets on the resulting pieces.

  • clean

    adjective — (heading, physical) Free of dirt or impurities or protruberances.

    verb — To remove dirt from a place or object.

    verb — To tidy up, make a place neat.

    adjective — Smooth, exact, and performed well

    adjective — Total; utter. (still in "clean sweep")

    adjective — (heading, behavioural) Free of immorality or criminality.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • cleave

    verb — To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument.

    verb — To cling, adhere or stick fast to something; used with to or unto.

    verb — To split.

    verb — To split (a complex molecule) into simpler molecules.

    verb — To break a single crystal (such as a gemstone or semiconductor wafer) along one of its more symmetrical crystallographic planes (often by impact), forming facets on the resulting pieces.

    noun — Flat, smooth surface produced by cleavage, or any similar surface produced by similar techniques, as in glass.

  • clench

    verb — To grip or hold fast.

    verb — To close tightly.

    noun — Tight grip.

    noun — A seal that is applied to formed thin-wall bushings.

    noun — A local chapter of the Church of the SubGenius parody religion.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • each

    pronoun — Every one; every thing.

    adverb — For one; apiece; per.

    noun — (operations) An individual item: the least quantitative unit in a grouping.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • enclave

    noun — A political, cultural or social entity or part thereof that is completely surrounded by another.

    noun — A group that is set off from a larger population by its characteristic or behavior.

    verb — To enclose within a foreign territory.

    noun — An isolated portion of an application's address space, such that data in an enclave can only be accessed by code in the same enclave.

  • enhance

    verb — To augment or make something greater.

    verb — To improve something by adding features.

    verb — To lift, raise up.

    verb — To be raised up; to grow larger.

    verb — (radiology) To take up contrast agent (for an organ, tissue, or lesion).

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • enlace

    verb — (by extension) To entangle.

    verb — To bind or encircle with lace, or as with lace

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • hence

    adverb — As a result; therefore, for this reason

    adverb — (of a length of time) in the future from now

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • lace

    noun — A cord or ribbon passed through eyelets in a shoe or garment, pulled tight and tied to fasten the shoe or garment firmly. Wp

    noun — A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread. Wp

    verb — To fasten (something) with laces.

    verb — To add alcohol, poison, a drug or anything else potentially harmful to (food or drink).

    noun — Spirits added to coffee or another beverage.

    verb — To interweave items.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • lance

    noun — A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen.

    verb — To open with a lancet; to pierce

    verb — To pierce with a lance, or with any similar weapon.

    noun — A wooden spear, sometimes hollow, used in jousting or tilting, designed to shatter on impact with the opposing knight’s armour.

    noun — A spear or harpoon used by whalers and fishermen.

    noun — A soldier armed with a lance; a lancer.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • leach

    verb — To purge a soluble matter out of something by the action of a percolating fluid.

    verb — To part with soluble constituents by percolation.

    noun — A person who derives profit from others in a parasitic fashion.

    noun — An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis.

    noun — A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali.

    noun — A tub or vat for leaching ashes, bark, etc.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • lech

    noun — A strong, lecherous desire or craving.

    verb — To behave lecherously

    noun — A lecher.

    noun — The capstone of a cromlech.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • leech

    noun — An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis.

    noun — A person who derives profit from others in a parasitic fashion.

    verb — To drain (resources) without giving back.

    noun — The vertical edge of a square sail.

    noun — The aft edge of a triangular sail.

    noun — A glass tube designed for drawing blood from damaged tissue by means of a vacuum.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • nacelle

    noun — A separate streamlined enclosure mounted on an aircraft to house an engine, cargo, or crew.

    noun — The part between the tower and rotor of a wind turbine.

    noun — The compartment that holds passengers on a hot-air balloon, a dirigible, or an aerostat; a gondola.

    noun — The submersed providers of buoyancy of a SWATH hulled boat.

    noun — A small boat.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • valance

    noun — A short curtain that usually hangs along the top edge of a window.

    noun — (bedding) A short, decorative edging of cloth that hangs from the mattress to the floor.

    noun — A decorative framework used to conceal the curtain mechanism and so on at the top of a window.

    noun — The drooping edging of the lid of a trunk, which covers the joint when the lid is closed.

  • valence

    noun — The combining capacity of an atom, radical or functional group determined by the number of electrons that it will lose, gain, or share when it combines with other atoms etc.

    noun — A one-dimensional value assigned to an object, situation, or state, that can usually be positive or negative.

    noun — A short curtain that usually hangs along the top edge of a window.

    noun — A decorative framework used to conceal the curtain mechanism and so on at the top of a window.

    noun — The number of arguments that a verb can have, including its subject, ranging from zero (for the likes of "It rains") to three (for the likes of "He gives her a flower") or, less commonly, four.

    noun — The number of binding sites of a molecule, such as an antibody or antigen.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ac×2
  • av×1
  • ca×11
  • ce×1
  • ch×4
  • cl×5
  • ea×1
  • en×3
  • he×1
  • la×2
  • le×3
  • na×1
  • va×2

Words by first letter and length

45679Σ
a 2···1 3
c 6753· 21
e 1·12· 4
h ·1··· 1
l 23··· 5
n ···1· 1
v ···2· 2
Σ 1111681 37

The numbers

Genius today takes 121 points of 174 available. The average answer runs 5.4 letters.

Total points vs. all 378 recorded puzzles
36th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
29th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17142 recorded answers

411 today34.5% all-time511 today22.8% all-time66 today20.0% all-time78 today12.1% all-time86.3% all-time91 today2.5% all-time101.2% 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, July 4, 2026 Friday, July 3, 2026
c ● Wednesday, July 1, 2026 Monday, June 29, 2026
e Sunday, July 5, 2026 Wednesday, July 1, 2026
h Saturday, July 4, 2026 Monday, June 15, 2026
l Sunday, July 5, 2026 Tuesday, June 2, 2026
n Friday, July 3, 2026 Friday, June 12, 2026
v Sunday, July 5, 2026 Sunday, June 28, 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.