The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

HLMNOTI

Monday, July 20, 2026

Edited by Sam Ezersky

Words
38
Points
136
Genius
95
Pangrams
2

Official answers

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Pangrams highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • hill

    noun — An elevated location smaller than a mountain.

    verb — To form into a heap or mound.

    noun — A sloping road.

    noun — A heap of earth surrounding a plant.

    noun — A single cluster or group of plants growing close together, and having the earth heaped up about them.

    noun — The pitcher’s mound.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • hilt

    noun — The handle of a sword, consisting of grip, guard, and pommel, designed to facilitate use of the blade and afford protection to the hand.

    verb — To provide with a hilt.

    noun — The base of the penis.

    verb — To insert (a bodily extremity) as far as it can go into a sexual orifice so that it is impeded by the wider base to which it is attached (finger until palm, penis until pelvis).

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • hint

    noun — A clue.

    verb — To suggest tacitly without a direct statement; to provide a clue.

    noun — A tacit suggestion that avoids a direct statement.

    noun — A small, barely detectable amount of.

    noun — Information in a computer-based font that suggests how the outlines of the font's glyphs should be distorted in order to produce, at specific sizes, a visually appealing pixel-based rendering. Also known as hinting.

    noun — An opportunity; occasion; fit time.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • into

    preposition — To or towards the inside of.

    preposition — To or towards the region of.

    preposition — Against, especially with force or violence.

    preposition — Indicates transition into another form or substance.

    preposition — After the start of.

    preposition — Interested in or attracted to.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • lilt

    noun — A cheerful or melodious accent when speaking.

    noun — Animated, brisk motion; spirited rhythm; sprightliness.

    noun — A lively song or dance; a cheerful tune.

    verb — To do something rhythmically, with animation and quickness, usually of music.

    verb — To utter with spirit, animation, or gaiety; to sing with spirit and liveliness.

    verb — To sing cheerfully, especially in Gaelic.

    Appeared in 21 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 8 recorded puzzles.

  • 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 10 recorded puzzles.

  • limo

    noun — An automobile body with seats and permanent top like a coupe, and with the top projecting over the driver and a projecting front.

    noun — An automobile with such a body.

    noun — A luxury sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur.

    noun — An automobile for transportation to or from an airport, including sedans, vans, and buses.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • lint

    noun — Clinging fuzzy fluff that clings to fabric or accumulates in one's pockets or navel etc.

    verb — To perform a static check on (source code) to detect stylistic or programmatic errors.

    noun — A fine material made by scraping cotton or linen cloth; used for dressing wounds.

    noun — The fibrous coat of thick hairs covering the seeds of the cotton plant.

    noun — Raw cotton ready for baling.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • lion

    noun — A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.

    adjective — Of the light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion.

    noun — (by extension) Any of various extant and extinct big cats, especially the mountain lion.

    noun — A Chinese foo dog.

    noun — An individual who shows strength and courage, attributes associated with the lion.

    noun — A famous person regarded with interest and curiosity.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • litho

    verb — To lithograph.

    adjective — Related to the method of lithography.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • loin

    noun — The part of the body (of humans and quadrupeds) at each side of the backbone, between the ribs and hips

    noun — Any of several cuts of meat taken from this part of an animal

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • lotion

    noun — A low- to medium-viscosity topical preparation intended for application to unbroken skin.

    verb — To cover or treat with a lotion.

    noun — A washing, especially of the skin for the purpose of beautification.

    Appeared in 7 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 15 recorded puzzles.

  • million

    numeral — (long and short scales) The cardinal number 1,000,000: 106; a thousand thousand.

    numeral — An unspecified very large number.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • millionth

    noun — The person or thing in the millionth position.

    adjective — The ordinal form of the number one million.

    noun — One of a million equal parts of a whole. Term ppm (parts per million) is also used.

  • mini

    adjective — Miniature, tiny, small.

    noun — A miniskirt.

    noun — A minicomputer.

    Appeared in 20 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 20 recorded puzzles.

  • minion

    noun — The lowest limit.

    noun — A loyal servant of another, usually a more powerful being.

    adjective — Favoured, beloved; "pet".

    noun — The smallest amount.

    noun — A period of minimum brightness or energy intensity (of a star).

    noun — A lower bound of a set which is also an element of that set.

    Appeared in 10 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 12 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 18 recorded puzzles.

  • moil

    noun — Hard work.

    verb — To toil, to work hard.

    noun — The glass circling the tip of a blowpipe or punty, such as the residual glass after detaching a blown vessel, or the lower part of a gather.

    noun — Confusion, turmoil.

    noun — A spot; a defilement.

    verb — To churn continually; to swirl.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • monolith

    noun — A large, single block of stone which is a natural feature; or a block of stone or other similar material used in architecture and sculpture, especially one carved into a monument in ancient times.

    verb — To create (something) as, or convert (one or more things) into, a monolith.

    noun — Anything massive, uniform, and unmovable, especially a towering and impersonal cultural, political, or social organization or structure.

    noun — A substrate having many tiny channels that is cast as a single piece, which is used as a stationary phase for chromatography, as a catalytic surface, etc.

    noun — A dead tree whose height and size have been reduced by breaking off or cutting its branches.

  • moonlit

    adjective — Lit by moonlight.

  • motion

    noun — A state of progression from one place to another.

    verb — To gesture indicating a desired movement.

    noun — A change of position with respect to time.

    noun — A change from one place to another.

    noun — A parliamentary action to propose something. A similar procedure in any official or business meeting.

    noun — An entertainment or show, especially a puppet show.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • ninth

    noun — The person or thing in the ninth position.

    verb — To lose a ninth

    adjective — The ordinal form of the number nine.

    noun — One of nine equal parts of a whole.

    noun — The compound interval between any tone and the tone represented on the ninth degree of the staff above it, as between one of the scale and two of the octave above; the octave of the second, consisting of 13 or 14 semitones (called minor and major ninth).

    verb — To divide by nine

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • nonillion

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • notion

    noun — Mental apprehension of whatever may be known, thought, or imagined; idea, concept.

    noun — A sentiment; an opinion.

    noun — Sense; mind.

    noun — An invention; an ingenious device; a knickknack.

    noun — Any small article used in sewing and haberdashery, either for attachment to garments or as a tool, such as a button, zipper, or thimble.

    noun — Inclination; intention; disposition.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • olio

    noun — A medley or mixture; a hotchpotch.

    noun — A collection of various musical, theatrical or other artistic works; a miscellany.

    noun — A rich, thick, Spanish stew consisting of meat and vegetables.

    noun — (by extension) Vaudeville or similar miscellaneous musical or theatrical entertainment skits presented between the main acts of burlesque or minstrel shows.

    Appeared in 23 recorded puzzles.

  • omit

    verb — To leave out or exclude.

    verb — To fail to perform.

    verb — To neglect or take no notice of.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • onion

    noun — A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.

    noun — The bulb of such a plant.

    noun — The genus as a whole.

    noun — A ball.

    noun — A person from Bermuda or of Bermudian descent.

    Appeared in 30 recorded puzzles.

  • thin

    noun — A loss or tearing of paper from the back of a stamp, although not sufficient to create a complete hole.

    verb — To make thin or thinner.

    adjective — Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite.

    adverb — Not thickly or closely; in a scattered state.

    noun — Any food produced or served in thin slices.

    verb — To become thin or thinner.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • till

    preposition — Until; to, up to; as late as (a given time).

    conjunction — Until, until the time that.

    noun — A cash register.

    noun — A removable box within a cash register containing the money.

    noun — The contents of a cash register, for example at the beginning or end of the day or of a cashier's shift.

    verb — To work or cultivate or plough (soil); to prepare for growing vegetation and crops.

    Appeared in 21 recorded puzzles.

  • tilt

    verb — To slope or incline (something); to slant.

    verb — To be at an angle.

    noun — A slope or inclination.

    noun — The inclination of part of the body, such as backbone, pelvis, head, etc.

    verb — To play worse than usual (often as a result of previous bad luck or losses).

    noun — The controlled vertical movement of a camera, or a device to achieve this.

    Appeared in 21 recorded puzzles.

  • tilth

    noun — Agricultural labour; husbandry.

    noun — The state of being tilled, or prepared for a crop; culture.

    noun — Rich cultivated soil.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • tint

    verb — To shade, to color.

    noun — A slight coloring.

    noun — A pale or faint tinge of any color; especially, a variation of a color obtained by adding white (contrast shade)

    noun — A color considered with reference to other very similar colors.

    noun — A shaded effect in engraving, produced by the juxtaposition of many fine parallel lines.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • toil

    noun — Labour, work, especially of a grueling nature.

    verb — To labour; work.

    noun — Trouble, strife.

    noun — (usually in plural) A net or snare; any thread, web, or string spread for taking prey.

    verb — To struggle.

    verb — To work (something); often with out.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • tomtit

    noun — Petroica macrocephala, the miromiro or New Zealand tit, a bird of the Petroicidae (Australasian robin) family.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • hi×3
  • in×1
  • li×7
  • lo×2
  • mi×8
  • mo×4
  • ni×1
  • no×2
  • ol×1
  • om×1
  • on×1
  • th×1
  • ti×4
  • to×2

Words by first letter and length

456789Σ
h 3····· 3
i 1····· 1
l 621··· 9
m 512211 12
n ·11··1 3
o 21···· 3
t 511··· 7
Σ 2265212 38

The numbers

Genius today takes 95 points of 136 available. The average answer runs 4.9 letters.

Total points vs. all 386 recorded puzzles
18th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
33rd percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17499 recorded answers

422 today34.6% all-time56 today22.8% all-time65 today19.9% all-time72 today12.1% all-time81 today6.3% all-time92 today2.6% 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
h Monday, July 6, 2026 Monday, June 15, 2026
i ● Sunday, July 19, 2026 Thursday, June 25, 2026
l Sunday, July 19, 2026 Tuesday, June 2, 2026
m Friday, July 17, 2026 Monday, July 13, 2026
n Sunday, July 19, 2026 Friday, June 12, 2026
o Wednesday, July 15, 2026 Wednesday, July 15, 2026
t Sunday, July 19, 2026 Tuesday, July 14, 2026

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.