NYT Spelling Bee Answers for September 21, 2018
Game Summary
| Center Letter | W |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | d, i, m, n, o, t |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 21 words |
| Total Points | 89 points |
| Genius Level | 62 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 | Σ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 1 | - | 1 | - | 2 | 4 |
| I | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| M | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | - | 3 |
| N | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| O | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| T | 3 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| W | 5 | 1 | 3 | - | 1 | 10 | Σ | 10 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 21 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| D | DI×1 DO×3 |
|---|---|
| I | |
| M | MI×2 MO×1 |
| N | NI×1 |
| O | |
| T | TO×1 TW×2 |
| W | WI×5 WO×5 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| D | DIM×1 DOW×3 |
|---|---|
| I | |
| M | MID×1 MIN×1 MOW×1 |
| N | NIT×1 |
| O | |
| T | TOW×1 TWI×2 |
| W | WID×1 WIN×4 WON×2 WOO×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) |
|---|---|---|
| di.... | DI6 | A person who is deficient in intelligence. |
| do.. | DO4 | From a higher position to a lower one; downwards. |
| do...... | DO8 | Of, relating to, or situated in the central business district |
| do...... | DO8 | in the same direction as the wind is blowing |
| mi..... † | MI7 | The part of a city between uptown and downtown |
| mi.... | MI6 | A small freshwater fish of the carp family, Phoxinus phoxinus. |
| mo.. | MO4 | past participle of mow |
| ni.... | NI6 | A scatterbrained or stupid person. |
| to.. | TO4 | A settlement; an area with residential districts, shops and amenities, and its own local government; especially one larger than a village and smaller than a city, historically enclosed by a fence or walls, with total populations ranging from several hundred to more than a hundred thousand (as of the early 21st century) |
| tw.. | TW4 | Either of two people (or, less commonly, animals) who shared the same uterus at the same time; one who was born at the same birth as a sibling. |
| tw.. | TW4 | To reproach, blame; to ridicule or tease. |
| wi... | WI5 | A woman whose spouse has died (and who has not remarried); feminine of widower. |
| wi.. | WI4 | Real or perceived movement of atmospheric air usually caused by convection or differences in air pressure. |
| wi.... | WI6 | An opening, usually covered by one or more panes of clear glass, to allow light and air from outside to enter a building or vehicle. |
| wi.... | WI6 | To subject (granular material, especially food grain) to a current of air separating heavier and lighter components, as grain from chaff. |
| wi.. | WI4 | A chronic or heavy drinker of cheap wine or other alcohol; a drunk or drunkard. |
| wo.. | WO4 | One's habitual way of doing things; custom, habit, practice. |
| wo.... | WO6 | A Chinese dumpling, often stuffed with varieties of meat or seafood and vegetables. |
| wo.. | WO4 | The substance making up the central part of the trunk and branches of a tree. Used as a material for construction, to manufacture various items, etc. or as fuel. |
| wo...... | WO8 | Any (typically wooden) musical instrument that produces sound by the player blowing into it, through a reed, or across an opening. Woodwind instruments include the recorder, flute, piccolo, clarinet, oboe, cor anglais and bassoon. |
| wo.. | WO4 | Alternative form of w00t |
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.
- dimwit (DI6)
- down (DO4)
- downtown (DO8)
- downwind (DO8)
- midtown† (MI7)
- minnow (MI6)
- mown (MO4)
- nitwit (NI6)
- town (TO4)
- twin (TW4)
- twit (TW4)
- widow (WI5)
- wind (WI4)
- window (WI6)
- winnow (WI6)
- wino (WI4)
- wont (WO4)
- wonton (WO6)
- wood (WO4)
- woodwind (WO8)
- woot (WO4)
Answer Definitions
- dimwit (noun): A person who is deficient in intelligence.
- down (adverb): From a higher position to a lower one; downwards.
- downtown (adjective): Of, relating to, or situated in the central business district
- downwind (adverb): in the same direction as the wind is blowing
- midtown† (noun): The part of a city between uptown and downtown
- minnow (noun): A small freshwater fish of the carp family, Phoxinus phoxinus.
- mown (verb): past participle of mow
- nitwit (noun): A scatterbrained or stupid person.
- town (noun): A settlement; an area with residential districts, shops and amenities, and its own local government; especially one larger than a village and smaller than a city, historically enclosed by a fence or walls, with total populations ranging from several hundred to more than a hundred thousand (as of the early 21st century)
- twin (noun): Either of two people (or, less commonly, animals) who shared the same uterus at the same time; one who was born at the same birth as a sibling.
- twit (verb): To reproach, blame; to ridicule or tease.
- widow (noun): A woman whose spouse has died (and who has not remarried); feminine of widower.
- wind (noun): Real or perceived movement of atmospheric air usually caused by convection or differences in air pressure.
- window (noun): An opening, usually covered by one or more panes of clear glass, to allow light and air from outside to enter a building or vehicle.
- winnow (verb): To subject (granular material, especially food grain) to a current of air separating heavier and lighter components, as grain from chaff.
- wino (noun): A chronic or heavy drinker of cheap wine or other alcohol; a drunk or drunkard.
- wont (noun): One's habitual way of doing things; custom, habit, practice.
- wonton (noun): A Chinese dumpling, often stuffed with varieties of meat or seafood and vegetables.
- wood (noun): The substance making up the central part of the trunk and branches of a tree. Used as a material for construction, to manufacture various items, etc. or as fuel.
- woodwind (noun): Any (typically wooden) musical instrument that produces sound by the player blowing into it, through a reed, or across an opening. Woodwind instruments include the recorder, flute, piccolo, clarinet, oboe, cor anglais and bassoon.
- woot (interjection): Alternative form of w00t