The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

AFILOYM

Thursday, September 17, 2026

Edited by Sam Ezersky

Words
36
Points
124
Genius
86
Pangram
1

Official answers

Show the 36 answersHide answers

Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • ammo

    noun — Ammunition.

    verb — To load up on ammunition.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • amyl

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • familial

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • family

    noun — A group of people who are closely related to one another (by blood, marriage or adoption); kin; for example, a set of parents and their children; an immediate family.

    adjective — Suitable for children and adults.

    noun — A person belonging to a particular family; a close relative or relation.

    noun — An extended family; a group of people who are related to one another by blood or marriage.

    noun — A (close-knit) group of people related by blood, friendship, marriage, law, or custom, especially if they live or work together.

    noun — Lineage, especially an honorable one

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • film

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • filmy

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • flimflam

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • foam

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • foamily

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • foamy

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • imam

    noun — (usually capitalized) A Shi'ite Muslim leader.

    noun — One who leads the salat prayers in a mosque.

    Appeared in 26 recorded puzzles.

  • lama

    noun — A master of Tibetan Buddhism.

    noun — A South American mammal of the camel family, Lama glama, used as a domestic beast of burden and a source of wool and meat.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • lima

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 8 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 7 recorded puzzles.

  • llama

    noun — A South American mammal of the camel family, Lama glama, used as a domestic beast of burden and a source of wool and meat.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • loam

    noun — A type of soil; an earthy mixture of sand, silt and clay, with organic matter to which its fertility is chiefly due.

    verb — To cover, smear, or fill with loam.

    adjective — Made of loam; consisting of loam.

    noun — A mixture of sand, clay, and other materials, used in making moulds for large castings, often without a pattern.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • loamy

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • loom

    noun — A utensil; tool; a weapon; (usually in compound) an article in general.

    noun — Loon (bird of order Gaviiformes)

    noun — A distorted appearance of something as seen indistinctly or from afar.

    verb — To appear indistinctly, eg. when seen on the horizon or through the murk.

    noun — A frame or machine of wood or other material, in which a weaver forms cloth out of thread; a machine for interweaving yarn or threads into a fabric, as in knitting or lace making.

    noun — The part of an oar which is between the grip or handle and the blade, the shaft.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • mafia

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • mail

    noun — A bag or wallet.

    verb — (ditransitive) To send (a letter, parcel, etc.) through the mail.

    noun — Armour consisting of metal rings or plates linked together.

    verb — To arm with mail.

    noun — An old French coin worth half a denier.

    noun — A bag containing letters to be delivered by post.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • maim

    noun — A serious wound

    verb — To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body.

    Appeared in 26 recorded puzzles.

  • mall

    noun — A pedestrianised street, especially a shopping precinct.

    verb — To beat with a mall, or mallet; to beat with something heavy; to bruise

    noun — An enclosed shopping centre.

    noun — An alley where the game of pall mall was played.

    noun — A public walk; a level shaded walk, a promenade.

    noun — A heavy wooden mallet or hammer used in the game of pall mall.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • mama

    noun — (hypocoristic, usually childish) Mother, female parent.

    Appeared in 29 recorded puzzles.

  • mamma

    noun — The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat; a breast; an udder. (plural: mammae)

    noun — (hypocoristic, usually childish) Mother, female parent.

    noun — An accessory cloud like a mammary in appearance, which can form on the underside of most cloud genera

    Appeared in 29 recorded puzzles.

  • mammal

    noun — An animal of the class Mammalia, characterized by being warm-blooded, having hair and feeding milk to its young.

    noun — A vertebrate with three bones in the inner ear and one in the jaw.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • mayfly

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • mayo

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • miff

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 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 19 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 7 recorded puzzles.

  • moll

    noun — A female companion of a gangster, especially a former or current prostitute.

    adjective — Minor; in the minor mode

    noun — A prostitute or woman with loose sexual morals.

    noun — Bitch, slut; an insulting epithet applied to a female.

    noun — A girlfriend of a bikie.

    noun — A girlfriend of a surfie; blends with pejorative sense.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • mollify

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • molly

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • momma

    noun — Mother

    noun — A voluptuous woman.

    noun — One's wife or girlfriend.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • mommy

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • moola

    noun — Money, cash.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

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

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • am×2
  • fa×2
  • fi×2
  • fl×1
  • fo×3
  • im×1
  • la×1
  • li×2
  • ll×1
  • lo×3
  • ma×9
  • mi×2
  • mo×7

Words by first letter and length

45678Σ
a 2···· 2
f 22112 8
i 1···· 1
l 52··· 7
m 9621· 18
Σ 1910322 36

The numbers

Genius today takes 86 points of 124 available. The average answer runs 4.8 letters.

Total points vs. all 445 recorded puzzles
13th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
27th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 20082 recorded answers

419 today34.5% all-time510 today22.8% all-time63 today20.1% all-time72 today12.0% all-time82 today6.2% all-time92.6% 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
a Monday, September 14, 2026 Tuesday, September 1, 2026
f Tuesday, September 8, 2026 Wednesday, September 2, 2026
i Wednesday, September 16, 2026 Saturday, September 12, 2026
l Saturday, September 12, 2026 Monday, August 31, 2026
m ● Tuesday, September 15, 2026 Tuesday, September 15, 2026
o Wednesday, September 16, 2026 Monday, August 17, 2026
y Monday, September 14, 2026 Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 46
  2. naan 36
  3. nana 36
  4. onion 32
  5. toot 32
  6. loll 30
  7. mama 29
  8. mamma 29
  9. acacia 26
  10. acai 26
  11. imam 26
  12. maim 26
  13. mini 26
  14. minim 26
  15. nene 26
  16. onto 25
  17. toon 25
  18. cocoon 24
  19. lilt 24
  20. till 24
  21. tilt 24
  22. aria 24
  23. mitt 24
  24. loon 24
  25. tint 24

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.