The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

BINPRUG

Friday, October 16, 2026

Edited by Sam Ezersky

Words
56
Points
339
Genius
237
Pangrams
2

Official answers

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Pangrams highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • 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 6 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 6 recorded puzzles.

  • bribing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • brig

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • bring

    verb — (ditransitive) To transport toward somebody/somewhere.

    interjection — The sound of a telephone ringing.

    verb — To supply or contribute.

    verb — To occasion or bring about.

    verb — To raise (a lawsuit, charges, etc.) against somebody.

    verb — To persuade; to induce; to draw; to lead; to guide.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • bringing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • brining

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • bugging

    verb — To annoy.

    noun — Electronic surveillance.

    verb — To install an electronic listening device or devices in.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • bung

    noun — A stopper, alternative to a cork, often made of rubber used to prevent fluid passing through the neck of a bottle, vat, a hole in a vessel etc.

    verb — To plug, as with a bung.

    adjective — Broken, not in working order.

    noun — (thieves' cant) A purse.

    noun — A cecum or anus, especially of a slaughter animal.

    noun — A bribe.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • burg

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • burning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • burping

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • gibing

    verb — Alternative spelling of gybe

    noun — A gibe.

    verb — Alternative spelling of jibe

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • gigging

    verb — To fish or catch with a gig, or fish spear.

    verb — To engender.

    verb — To engage in musical performances.

    verb — To make fun of; to make a joke at someone's expense, often condescending.

    verb — To impose a demerit for an infraction of a dress or deportment code.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • ginning

    verb — To remove the seeds from cotton with a cotton gin.

    verb — To begin.

    noun — The act of removing seeds from cotton with a cotton gin.

    verb — To trap something in a gin.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • grin

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • grinning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • grip

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • griping

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • gripping

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • grub

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • grubbing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • gunning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • guru

    noun — A Hindu or Sikh spiritual teacher.

    noun — (sometimes humorous) An influential advisor or mentor.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • inning

    noun — A period of play in which members of a visiting baseball team attempt to hit a baseball pitched by the opposing home team until three players are called out, followed by a similar attempt by members of the home baseball team against the visiting team's pitching. There are nine or more innings in a regulation baseball game.

    verb — To house; to lodge.

    noun — A similar period of play.

    noun — A player (or team)'s turn at the table to make shots until ended by a miss or a foul.

    noun — A chance or opportunity to perform some deed or act.

    noun — The gathering of a crop; harvesting.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • inuring

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • inurning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • nigiri

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • nipping

    verb — To catch and enclose or compress tightly between two surfaces, or points which are brought together or closed; to pinch; to close in upon.

    verb — To make a quick, short journey or errand, usually a round trip.

    noun — The act or sensation of giving a nip.

    verb — To remove by pinching, biting, or cutting with two meeting edges of anything; to clip.

    verb — To blast, as by frost; to check the growth or vigor of; to destroy.

    verb — To annoy, as by nipping.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • pigging

    verb — (of swine) to give birth.

    noun — The use of a pig (the device) to clean a pipeline.

    adjective — Damned (used as a mild intensive).

    noun — A small pail, can or ladle with the handle on the side; a lading-can. In the colonial era, some buckets were made like a small barrel, but with one stave left extra long. This stave would be carved into a handle so the bucket could be used as an oversized scoop for scattering grain, slopping the hogs, etc.

    verb — To greedily consume (especially food).

    verb — To huddle or lie together like pigs, in one bed.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • ping

    noun — A high-pitched, short and somewhat sharp sound.

    verb — To make a high-pitched, short and somewhat sharp sound.

    noun — (submarine navigation) A pulse of high-pitched or ultrasonic sound whose echoes provide information about nearby objects and vessels.

    noun — A packet which a remote host is expected to echo, thus indicating its presence.

    noun — An email or other message sent requesting acknowledgement.

    noun — Latency.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • pinging

    verb — To make a high-pitched, short and somewhat sharp sound.

    noun — The sound of a ping.

    verb — (submarine navigation) To emit a signal and then listen for its echo in order to detect objects.

    verb — To send a packet in order to determine whether a host is present, particularly by use of the ping utility.

    verb — (by extension) To send an email or other message to someone in hopes of eliciting a response.

    verb — To flick.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • pining

    verb — To languish; to lose flesh or wear away through distress.

    noun — The act of one who pines.

    verb — To long, to yearn so much that it causes suffering.

    verb — To grieve or mourn for.

    verb — To inflict pain upon; to torment.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • pinning

    verb — To shape metal by striking it, especially with a peen.

    verb — (often followed by a preposition such as "to" or "on") To fasten or attach (something) with a pin.

    noun — The action of the verb pin in any sense.

    verb — (usually in the passive) To cause (a piece) to be in a pin.

    verb — To pin down (someone).

    verb — To enclose; to confine; to pen; to pound.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • piping

    verb — To play (music) on a pipe instrument, such as a bagpipe or a flute.

    noun — The process of an animal just beginning to break out of its egg; precedes hatching.

    adjective — High-pitched.

    verb — To shout loudly and at high pitch.

    verb — To emit or have a shrill sound like that of a pipe; to whistle.

    verb — Of a metal ingot: to become hollow in the process of solidifying.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • prig

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • pruning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • punning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • purging

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • purring

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • ribbing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • rigging

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • ring

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • ringing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 7 recorded puzzles.

  • ripping

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • rubbing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • ruing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • ruining

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • rung

    noun — A crosspiece forming a step of a ladder; a round.

    verb — Of a bell, etc., to produce a resonant sound.

    adjective — Of a pig: having a ring through the nose.

    noun — A crosspiece between legs of a chair.

    noun — A position in a hierarchy.

    noun — A floor timber in a ship.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • running

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • unpinning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • unrig

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • unrigging

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • upbringing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • upping

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • urging

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

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

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • bi×2
  • br×5
  • bu×5
  • gi×3
  • gr×7
  • gu×2
  • in×3
  • ni×2
  • pi×6
  • pr×2
  • pu×3
  • ri×5
  • ru×5
  • un×3
  • up×2
  • ur×1

Words by first letter and length

45678910Σ
b 31·71·· 12
g 4·143·· 12
i ··111·· 3
n ··11··· 2
p 2·27··· 11
r 21·7··· 10
u ·12··21 6
Σ 113727521 56

The numbers

Genius today takes 237 points of 339 available. The average answer runs 6.4 letters.

Total points vs. all 474 recorded puzzles
93rd percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
74th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 21476 recorded answers

411 today34.3% all-time53 today22.8% all-time67 today20.2% all-time727 today12.2% all-time85 today6.3% all-time92 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
b Wednesday, October 14, 2026 Sunday, October 11, 2026
g ● Friday, October 9, 2026 Sunday, October 4, 2026
i Thursday, October 15, 2026 Saturday, October 3, 2026
n Thursday, October 15, 2026 Thursday, October 15, 2026
p Tuesday, October 13, 2026 Wednesday, September 30, 2026
r Tuesday, October 13, 2026 Wednesday, September 9, 2026
u Sunday, October 11, 2026 Thursday, September 10, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 47
  2. naan 40
  3. nana 40
  4. onion 33
  5. toot 33
  6. acacia 30
  7. acai 30
  8. loll 30
  9. mama 29
  10. mamma 29
  11. nene 29
  12. mini 28
  13. minim 28
  14. cancan 27
  15. canna 27
  16. imam 26
  17. maim 26
  18. onto 26
  19. toon 26
  20. cocoon 25
  21. lilt 25
  22. till 25
  23. tilt 25
  24. mitt 25
  25. natant 25

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.