The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

ABILNYF

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Edited by Sam Ezersky

Words
25
Points
119
Genius
83
Pangram
1

Official answers

Show the 25 answersHide answers

Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • affably

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • alfalfa

    noun — A plant, principally of Medicago sativa, grown as a pasture crop.

    noun — A type or breed of this plant.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • bailiff

    noun — (law enforcement) An officer of the court, particularly:

    noun — A public administrator, particularly:

    noun — A private administrator, particularly

    noun — Any debt collector, regardless of his or her official status.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • biff

    noun — A sudden, sharp blow or punch.

    verb — To punch or hit.

    noun — A wipeout.

    verb — To discard; to throw out; to throw away.

    verb — To wipe out; to faceplant; to fall.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • fail

    noun — Poor quality; substandard workmanship.

    verb — To be unsuccessful.

    adjective — That is a failure.

    noun — A piece of turf cut from grassland.

    noun — A failure (condition of being unsuccessful)

    noun — A failure (something incapable of success)

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • fall

    noun — The act of moving to a lower position under the effect of gravity.

    verb — (heading) To be moved downwards.

    noun — The chasing of a hunted whale.

    noun — A reduction in quantity, pitch, etc.

    noun — The time of the year when the leaves typically fall from the trees; autumn; the season of the year between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice.

    noun — A loss of greatness or status.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • fallibly

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • fanny

    noun — The female genitalia.

    noun — (naval slang) Mess kettle or cooking pot.

    noun — The buttocks; arguably the most nearly polite of several euphemisms.

    noun — Sexual intercourse with a woman.

    noun — Women viewed as sexual objects.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • filial

    adjective — Pertaining to or befitting a son or daughter.

    adjective — Respectful of the duties and attitudes of a son or daughter toward their parents.

    adjective — Of a generation or generations descending from a specific previous one.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • filially

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • fill

    verb — To occupy fully, to take up all of.

    noun — (after a possessive) A sufficient or more than sufficient amount.

    noun — One of the thills or shafts of a carriage.

    verb — To add contents to (a container, cavity or the like) so that it is full.

    verb — To enter (something), making it full.

    verb — To become full.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • filly

    noun — A young female horse.

    noun — A young attractive female.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • final

    noun — A final examination; a test or examination given at the end of a term or class; the test that concludes a class.

    adjective — Last; ultimate.

    noun — The last round, game or match in a contest, after which the winner is determined.

    noun — A contest that narrows a field of contestants (finalists) to ranked positions, usually in numbered places (1st place/prize, 2nd place/prize, etc.) or a winner and numbered runners-up (1st runner-up, etc.).

    noun — The final part of a syllable, the combination of medial and rime in phonetics and phonology.

    noun — The tonic or keynote of a Gregorian mode, and hence the final note of any conventional melody played in that mode.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • finally

    adverb — At the end or conclusion; ultimately.

    adverb — (sequence) To finish (with); lastly (in the present).

    adverb — (manner) Definitively, comprehensively.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • finial

    noun — The knot or bunch of foliage, or foliated ornament, that forms the upper extremity of a pinnacle in Gothic architecture.

    noun — Any decorative fitting at the peak of a gable, or on the top of a flagpole, fence post or staircase newel post.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • flab

    noun — Soft, loose flesh on a person's body; fat.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • flabby

    adjective — Yielding to the touch, and easily moved or shaken; hanging loose by its own weight; lacking firmness; flaccid.

    adjective — (of wine) Having a slight lack of acidity; having mild sweetness.

    adjective — (of writing, etc.) overwrought.

    adjective — Which forms a surjection from the domain to every open subset of the codomain.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • flail

    noun — A tool used for threshing, consisting of a long handle with a shorter stick attached with a short piece of chain, thong or similar material.

    verb — To beat using a flail or similar implement.

    noun — A weapon which has the (usually spherical) striking part attached to the handle with a flexible joint such as a chain.

    verb — To wave or swing vigorously

    verb — To thresh.

    verb — To move like a flail.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • flan

    noun — Baked tart with sweet or savoury filling in an open-topped pastry case. (Compare quiche.)

    noun — A fan of the U.S. TV series Firefly.

    noun — (Belize) A dessert of congealed custard, often topped with caramel, especially popular in Spanish-speaking countries.

    noun — A coin die. (Compare planchet.)

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • flay

    noun — A fright; a scare.

    verb — To cause to fly; put to flight; drive off (by frightening).

    verb — To strip skin off

    noun — Fear; a source of fear; a formidable matter; a fearsome or repellent-looking individual.

    verb — To frighten; scare; terrify.

    verb — To be fear-stricken.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • flyby

    noun — A flight past a celestial object in order to make observations.

    noun — A low-level ceremonial flight, typically in connection with an airshow or a military parade.

    noun — A brief visit.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • iffy

    adjective — Of dubious authenticity, legitimacy or legality.

    adjective — Uncertain or chancy.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • infallibly

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • infill

    noun — That which fills in a space, hole or gap.

    verb — To fill in a space, hole or gap.

    noun — Infiltration, the act of going into a place.

    noun — The redecoration of a fingernail or toenail after it has grown, to prevent an unsightly gap.

    verb — To rededicate land in an urban environment to new construction.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • naif

    noun — One who is naive.

    adjective — Naive.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • af×1
  • al×1
  • ba×1
  • bi×1
  • fa×4
  • fi×7
  • fl×6
  • if×1
  • in×2
  • na×1

Words by first letter and length

4567810Σ
a ···2·· 2
b 1··1·· 2
f 65312· 17
i 1·1··1 3
n 1····· 1
Σ 954421 25

The numbers

Genius today takes 83 points of 119 available. The average answer runs 5.6 letters.

Total points vs. all 387 recorded puzzles
10th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
5th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17524 recorded answers

49 today34.6% all-time55 today22.8% all-time64 today19.9% all-time74 today12.1% all-time82 today6.3% all-time92.6% 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 Sunday, July 19, 2026 Friday, July 3, 2026
b Friday, July 17, 2026 Saturday, July 4, 2026
f ● Wednesday, July 15, 2026 Friday, June 5, 2026
i Monday, July 20, 2026 Monday, July 20, 2026
l Monday, July 20, 2026 Tuesday, June 2, 2026
n Monday, July 20, 2026 Friday, June 12, 2026
y Thursday, July 16, 2026 Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Other days with this pangram

Same seven letters

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 42
  2. onion 30
  3. naan 30
  4. nana 30
  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. olio 23
  15. bill 22
  16. neon 22
  17. none 22
  18. lilt 21
  19. till 21
  20. tilt 21
  21. aria 21
  22. onto 21
  23. toon 21
  24. cancan 21
  25. canna 21

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.