  We use an optimal estimator to study the variance of the WMAP 9 CMB field at
low resolution, in both temperature and polarization. Employing realistic Monte
Carlo simulation, we find statistically significant deviations from the
$\Lambda$CDM model in several sky cuts for the temperature field. For the
considered masks in this analysis, which cover at least the 54% of the sky, the
WMAP 9 CMB sky and $\Lambda$CDM are incompatible at $ \ge 99.94%$ C.L. at large
angles ($>5^\circ$). We find instead no anomaly in polarization. As a byproduct
of our analysis, we present new, optimal estimates of the WMAP 9 CMB angular
power spectra from the WMAP 9 year data at low resolution.
