NYT Spelling Bee Answers for May 9, 2018
Game Summary
| Center Letter | W |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, h, o, r, t, y |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 26 words |
| Total Points | 118 points |
| Genius Level | 83 points |
| Bingo? | No |
Table of Contents
As you scroll down this page, the clues get progressively more revealing. So scroll slowly!
- Spelling Bee Grid
- Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
- Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
- Extra Letter Hints (Incrementally Revealing) 🤯
- Today's Complete Solution
- Answer Definitions
If you're just here for a list of NYT Spelling Bee answers, Jump down to the answers ↓ (Spoiler Alert!).
Spelling Bee Grid
The following table shows the standard Spelling Bee summary grid, which lists word lengths across the top and letters down the left-hand side. The cell where the word lengths and letters intersect displays the number of words in today's puzzle with the corresponding first letter and word length.
| 4</th><th>5</th><th>6</th><th>7</th><th>8</th><th>9 | Σ | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 1 | 5 |
| H | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| T | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| W | 7 | 5 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 14 |
| Y | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | Σ | 10 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 26 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AR×2 AT×1 AW×2 |
|---|---|
| H | HA×1 |
| O | |
| R | |
| T | TH×5 |
| W | WA×5 WH×2 WO×6 WR×1 |
| Y | YA×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ARR×2 ATH×1 AWA×1 AWR×1 |
|---|---|
| H | HAR×1 |
| O | |
| R | |
| T | THA×2 THR×2 THW×1 |
| W | WAH×1 WAR×3 WAT×1 WHA×1 WHO×1 WOO×1 WOR×5 WRA×1 |
| Y | YAR×1 |
Extra Letter Hints (Incrementally Revealing)
The table below lists all of the solutions to today's puzzle, but they're concealed. You can click the plus button (+) to reveal additional letters, one-by-one.
Concealed definitions are provided as additional clues. You can toggle concealment of the definitions by clicking on the concealer bar or the text that appears when the definition is visible.
Pangrams are marked with a dagger symbol (†).
| Word | 2L Ref | Definition (click to reveal) |
|---|---|---|
| ar... | AR5 | A projectile consisting of a shaft, a point and a tail with stabilizing fins that is shot from a bow. |
| ar....... | AR9 | Maranta arundinacea from the Marantaceae family, a large perennial herb native to the Caribbean area with green leaves about 15 centimeters long. |
| at..... | AT7 | From side to side, often in an oblique manner; across or over. |
| aw.. | AW4 | From a place, hence. |
| aw.. | AW4 | Obliquely, crookedly; askew. |
| ha.... | HA6 | A device consisting of a heavy framework having several disks or teeth in a row, which is dragged across ploughed land to smooth or break up the soil, to remove weeds or cover seeds; a harrow plow. |
| th...... | TH8 | that way (usually in terms of physical direction) |
| th.. | TH4 | To gradually melt, dissolve, or become fluid; to soften from frozen |
| th... | TH5 | To hurl; to cause an object to move rapidly through the air. |
| th....... † | TH9 | Disposable; intended for a single use prior to being discarded. |
| th.... | TH6 | Placed or situated across something else; cross, oblique, transverse. |
| wa... | WA5 | Acanthocybium solandri, a tropical and subtropical game fish. |
| wa.. | WA4 | A type of deformed growth occurring on the skin caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). |
| wa... | WA5 | Having warts. |
| wa.. | WA4 | Cautious of danger; carefully watching and guarding against deception, trickery, and dangers; suspiciously prudent |
| wa.. | WA4 | In the International System of Units, the derived unit of power; the power of a system in which one joule of energy is transferred per second. Symbol: W |
| wh.. | WH4 | Which, especially which of an open-ended set of possibilities. |
| wh.. | WH4 | Stop (especially when commanding a horse or imitative thereof); calm down; slow down. |
| wo.. | WO4 | Alternative form of w00t |
| wo... | WO5 | To be troubled; to give way to mental anxiety or doubt. |
| wo....... | WO9 | A person who worries excessively, especially about unimportant matters. |
| wo.. | WO4 | A plant; herb; vegetable. |
| wo... | WO5 | Having a value of; proper to be exchanged for. |
| wo.... | WO6 | having worth, merit, or value |
| wr... | WR5 | Great anger. |
| ya.... | YA6 | Any of several pungent Eurasian and North American herbs, of the genus Achillea, used in traditional herbal medicine. |
Today's Complete Solution
The words that follow are a complete listing of all acceptable words in today's New York Time Spelling Bee puzzle.
Next to the answer word you'll see the two-letter reference (2L Ref) in parentheses. We added that 2L Ref for easier translation of the spoiler-avoidant language you see on the Spelling Bee Forum and Twitter. The 2L Ref signifies a word's two start letters followed by the total number of letters in the word.
- arrow (AR5)
- arrowroot (AR9)
- athwart (AT7)
- away (AW4)
- awry (AW4)
- harrow (HA6)
- thataway (TH8)
- thaw (TH4)
- throw (TH5)
- throwaway† (TH9)
- thwart (TH6)
- wahoo (WA5)
- wart (WA4)
- warty (WA5)
- wary (WA4)
- watt (WA4)
- what (WH4)
- whoa (WH4)
- woot (WO4)
- worry (WO5)
- worrywart (WO9)
- wort (WO4)
- worth (WO5)
- worthy (WO6)
- wrath (WR5)
- yarrow (YA6)
Answer Definitions
- arrow (noun): A projectile consisting of a shaft, a point and a tail with stabilizing fins that is shot from a bow.
- arrowroot (noun): Maranta arundinacea from the Marantaceae family, a large perennial herb native to the Caribbean area with green leaves about 15 centimeters long.
- athwart (adverb): From side to side, often in an oblique manner; across or over.
- away (adverb): From a place, hence.
- awry (adverb): Obliquely, crookedly; askew.
- harrow (noun): A device consisting of a heavy framework having several disks or teeth in a row, which is dragged across ploughed land to smooth or break up the soil, to remove weeds or cover seeds; a harrow plow.
- thataway (adverb): that way (usually in terms of physical direction)
- thaw (verb): To gradually melt, dissolve, or become fluid; to soften from frozen
- throw (verb): To hurl; to cause an object to move rapidly through the air.
- throwaway† (adjective): Disposable; intended for a single use prior to being discarded.
- thwart (adjective): Placed or situated across something else; cross, oblique, transverse.
- wahoo (noun): Acanthocybium solandri, a tropical and subtropical game fish.
- wart (noun): A type of deformed growth occurring on the skin caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV).
- warty (adjective): Having warts.
- wary (adjective): Cautious of danger; carefully watching and guarding against deception, trickery, and dangers; suspiciously prudent
- watt (noun): In the International System of Units, the derived unit of power; the power of a system in which one joule of energy is transferred per second. Symbol: W
- what (determiner): Which, especially which of an open-ended set of possibilities.
- whoa (interjection): Stop (especially when commanding a horse or imitative thereof); calm down; slow down.
- woot (interjection): Alternative form of w00t
- worry (verb): To be troubled; to give way to mental anxiety or doubt.
- worrywart (noun): A person who worries excessively, especially about unimportant matters.
- wort (noun): A plant; herb; vegetable.
- worth (adjective): Having a value of; proper to be exchanged for.
- worthy (adjective): having worth, merit, or value
- wrath (noun): Great anger.
- yarrow (noun): Any of several pungent Eurasian and North American herbs, of the genus Achillea, used in traditional herbal medicine.