NYT Spelling Bee Answers for May 16, 2018
Game Summary
| Center Letter | T |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | b, e, h, i, l, m |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 41 words |
| Total Points | 138 points |
| Genius Level | 97 points |
| Bingo? | Yes |
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 | Σ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | 3 | 1 | 3 | - | 1 | 8 |
| E | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 2 |
| H | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | 2 |
| I | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| L | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 5 |
| M | 6 | - | 2 | - | - | 8 |
| T | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | - | 15 | Σ | 22 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 41 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| B | BE×5 BI×2 BL×1 |
|---|---|
| E | EL×1 EM×1 |
| H | HE×1 HI×1 |
| I | IT×1 |
| L | LI×5 |
| M | ME×5 MI×3 |
| T | TE×4 TH×4 TI×7 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| B | BEE×2 BEL×2 BET×1 BIL×1 BIT×1 BLI×1 |
|---|---|
| E | ELI×1 EMI×1 |
| H | HEL×1 HIL×1 |
| I | ITE×1 |
| L | LIL×1 LIM×1 LIT×3 |
| M | MEE×1 MEL×1 MET×3 MIL×1 MIT×2 |
| T | TEE×3 TEL×1 THE×3 THI×1 TIL×3 TIM×1 TIT×3 |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| be.. | BE4 | Beta vulgaris, a plant with a swollen root which is eaten or used to make sugar. |
| be.... | BE6 | Any of numerous species of insect in the order Coleoptera characterized by a pair of hard, shell-like front wings which cover and protect a pair of rear wings when at rest. |
| be...... | BE8 | To knowingly say that something is smaller or less important than it actually is, especially as a way of showing contempt or deprecation. |
| be.. | BE4 | A band worn around the waist to hold clothing to one's body (usually pants), hold weapons (such as a gun or sword), or serve as a decorative piece of clothing. |
| be... | BE5 | Either of two plants often used in combination: an evergreen Indian creeping shrub, Piper betle, whose dried leaves are chewed with betel nut: the betel pepper the seed of the betel palm, Areca catechu: the betel nut |
| bi.... | BI6 | A short informal letter. |
| bi.. | BI4 | To cut into something by clamping the teeth. |
| bl.... | BL6 | Casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern. |
| el... | EL5 | Of high birth or social position; aristocratic or patrician. |
| em.. | EM4 | to send out or give off |
| he.... | HE6 | A hard, protective head covering, typically part of armour. |
| hi.. | HI4 | The handle of a sword, consisting of grip, guard, and pommel, designed to facilitate use of the blade and afford protection to the hand. |
| it.. | IT4 | A distinct physical object. |
| li.. | LI4 | To do something rhythmically, with animation and quickness, usually of music. |
| li... | LI5 | A restriction; a bound beyond which one may not go. |
| li.. | LI4 | Abridged; refers to a simpler or unpaid version of a product. |
| li... | LI5 | To go. |
| li.... | LI6 | Small in size. |
| me.. | ME4 | To make contact (with) while in proximity. To come face to face with by accident; to encounter. |
| me.. | ME4 | Molten material, the product of melting. |
| me.. | ME4 | To measure. |
| me.. | ME4 | Methamphetamine, especially in the form of the crystalline hydrochloride. |
| me.... | ME6 | A quality of endurance and courage. |
| mi.... | MI6 | Any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food, widely cultivated in the developing world. |
| mi.. | MI4 | Any of many minute arachnids which, along with the ticks, comprise subclass Acarina (aka Acari). |
| mi.. | MI4 | A mitten |
| te.. | TE4 | To be stocked to overflowing. |
| te... | TE5 | plural of tooth |
| te.... | TE6 | To grow teeth. |
| te.. | TE4 | To count, reckon, or enumerate. |
| th.. | TH4 | Objective and reflexive case of thou. |
| th.. | TH4 | Those ones. Used as the direct object of a verb. |
| th... | TH5 | A subject, now especially of a talk or an artistic piece; a topic. |
| th..... † | TH7 | A pitted, now usually metal, cup-shaped cap worn on the tip of a finger, which is used in sewing to push the needle through material. |
| ti.. | TI4 | A regularly-shaped slab of clay or other material, affixed to cover or decorate a surface, as in a roof-tile, glazed tile, stove tile, carpet tile etc. |
| ti.. | TI4 | Until; to, up to; as late as (a given time). |
| ti.. | TI4 | To slope or incline (something); to slant. |
| ti.. | TI4 | The inevitable progression into the future with the passing of present and past events. |
| ti... | TI5 | A tenth. |
| ti... | TI5 | An appellation given to a person or family to signify either veneration, official position, social rank, the possession of assets or properties, or a professional or academic qualification. See also Category:Titles |
| ti.... | TI6 | Any small dot, stroke, or diacritical mark, especially if part of a letter, or if a letter-like abbreviation; in particular, the dots over the Latin letters i and j. |
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.
- beet (BE4)
- beetle (BE6)
- belittle (BE8)
- belt (BE4)
- betel (BE5)
- billet (BI6)
- bite (BI4)
- blithe (BL6)
- elite (EL5)
- emit (EM4)
- helmet (HE6)
- hilt (HI4)
- item (IT4)
- lilt (LI4)
- limit (LI5)
- lite (LI4)
- lithe (LI5)
- little (LI6)
- meet (ME4)
- melt (ME4)
- mete (ME4)
- meth (ME4)
- mettle (ME6)
- millet (MI6)
- mite (MI4)
- mitt (MI4)
- teem (TE4)
- teeth (TE5)
- teethe (TE6)
- tell (TE4)
- thee (TH4)
- them (TH4)
- theme (TH5)
- thimble† (TH7)
- tile (TI4)
- till (TI4)
- tilt (TI4)
- time (TI4)
- tithe (TI5)
- title (TI5)
- tittle (TI6)
Answer Definitions
- beet (noun): Beta vulgaris, a plant with a swollen root which is eaten or used to make sugar.
- beetle (noun): Any of numerous species of insect in the order Coleoptera characterized by a pair of hard, shell-like front wings which cover and protect a pair of rear wings when at rest.
- belittle (verb): To knowingly say that something is smaller or less important than it actually is, especially as a way of showing contempt or deprecation.
- belt (noun): A band worn around the waist to hold clothing to one's body (usually pants), hold weapons (such as a gun or sword), or serve as a decorative piece of clothing.
- betel (noun): Either of two plants often used in combination: an evergreen Indian creeping shrub, Piper betle, whose dried leaves are chewed with betel nut: the betel pepper the seed of the betel palm, Areca catechu: the betel nut
- billet (noun): A short informal letter.
- bite (verb): To cut into something by clamping the teeth.
- blithe (adjective): Casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern.
- elite (adjective): Of high birth or social position; aristocratic or patrician.
- emit (verb): to send out or give off
- helmet (noun): A hard, protective head covering, typically part of armour.
- 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.
- item (noun): A distinct physical object.
- lilt (verb): To do something rhythmically, with animation and quickness, usually of music.
- limit (noun): A restriction; a bound beyond which one may not go.
- lite (adjective): Abridged; refers to a simpler or unpaid version of a product.
- lithe (verb): To go.
- little (adjective): Small in size.
- meet (verb): To make contact (with) while in proximity. To come face to face with by accident; to encounter.
- melt (noun): Molten material, the product of melting.
- mete (verb): To measure.
- meth (noun): Methamphetamine, especially in the form of the crystalline hydrochloride.
- mettle (noun): A quality of endurance and courage.
- millet (noun): Any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food, widely cultivated in the developing world.
- mite (noun): Any of many minute arachnids which, along with the ticks, comprise subclass Acarina (aka Acari).
- mitt (noun): A mitten
- teem (verb): To be stocked to overflowing.
- teeth (noun): plural of tooth
- teethe (verb): To grow teeth.
- tell (verb): To count, reckon, or enumerate.
- thee (pronoun): Objective and reflexive case of thou.
- them (pronoun): Those ones. Used as the direct object of a verb.
- theme (noun): A subject, now especially of a talk or an artistic piece; a topic.
- thimble† (noun): A pitted, now usually metal, cup-shaped cap worn on the tip of a finger, which is used in sewing to push the needle through material.
- tile (noun): A regularly-shaped slab of clay or other material, affixed to cover or decorate a surface, as in a roof-tile, glazed tile, stove tile, carpet tile etc.
- till (preposition): Until; to, up to; as late as (a given time).
- tilt (verb): To slope or incline (something); to slant.
- time (noun): The inevitable progression into the future with the passing of present and past events.
- tithe (noun): A tenth.
- title (noun): An appellation given to a person or family to signify either veneration, official position, social rank, the possession of assets or properties, or a professional or academic qualification. See also Category:Titles
- tittle (noun): Any small dot, stroke, or diacritical mark, especially if part of a letter, or if a letter-like abbreviation; in particular, the dots over the Latin letters i and j.