NYT Spelling Bee Answers for January 2, 2019
Game Summary
| Center Letter | A |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | b, c, k, o, r, z |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 36 words |
| Total Points | 139 points |
| Genius Level | 97 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 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| B | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | 14 |
| C | 4 | 6 | - | - | - | - | 10 |
| K | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| O | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| R | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 5 |
| Z | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Σ | 16 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 36 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AB×1 AR×2 |
|---|---|
| B | BA×11 BO×3 |
| C | CA×3 CO×3 CR×3 CZ×1 |
| K | KA×2 |
| O | OK×1 OR×1 |
| R | RA×4 RO×1 |
| Z |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ABA×1 ARB×1 ARC×1 |
|---|---|
| B | BAB×2 BAC×1 BAO×1 BAR×4 BAZ×3 BOA×1 BOB×1 BOO×1 |
| C | CAC×1 CAR×2 COB×1 COC×2 CRA×2 CRO×1 CZA×1 |
| K | KAB×1 KAZ×1 |
| O | OKR×1 ORC×1 |
| R | RAC×1 RAZ×3 ROA×1 |
| Z |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| ab... | AB5 | Toward the rear; Phrase: 'to be taken ____', meaning 'surprised'. |
| ar... | AR5 | A shady sitting place or pergola usually in a park or garden, surrounded by climbing shrubs, vines or other vegetation. |
| ar.. | AR4 | A note in string instrument musical notation indicating that the bow is to be used in the usual way, usually following a passage that is played pizzicato. |
| ba.. | BA4 | A kind of sponge cake soaked in rum-flavoured syrup. |
| ba... | BA5 | A Central and Eastern European coffee cake flavored with orange rind, rum, almonds, and raisins. |
| ba.. | BA4 | At or near the rear. |
| ba.... | BA6 | A tree, Adansonia digitata (and similar species), native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits. |
| ba.. | BA4 | The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else. |
| ba...... | BA8 | Meat slow-cooked over an open fire, characteristic of Latin American cuisine. |
| ba.. | BA4 | To make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs). |
| ba..... | BA7 | A building for soldiers, especially within a garrison; originally referred to temporary huts, now usually to a permanent structure or set of buildings. |
| ba.... | BA6 | A marketplace, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia, and often covered with shops and stalls. |
| ba... | BA5 | A simple wind instrument, such as a kazoo or tin horn. |
| ba..... | BA7 | A primitive trombone having wide tubes. |
| bo.. | BO4 | A wild boar (Sus scrofa), the wild ancestor of the domesticated pig. |
| bo.. | BO4 | Synonym of tapioca pearl. |
| bo...... | BO8 | A rack for books; a bookshelf. |
| ca... | CA5 | A tree, Theobroma cacao, whose seed is used to make chocolate. |
| ca.. | CA4 | Clipping of carbohydrate. |
| ca... | CA5 | An evergreen shrub or tree, Ceratonia siliqua, native to the Mediterranean region. |
| co... | CO5 | Any of various venomous snakes of the family Elapidae. |
| co.. | CO4 | Any of the four cultivated plants which belong to the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. |
| co... | CO5 | The dried and partially fermented fatty seeds of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made. |
| cr.. | CR4 | A crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace. |
| cr... | CR5 | To form cracks. |
| cr... | CR5 | A faint, harsh sound made in the throat. |
| cz.. | CZ4 | Alternative spelling of tsar |
| ka... | KA5 | US spelling of kebab |
| ka... | KA5 | A simple musical instrument (a membranophone) consisting of a pipe with a hole in it, producing a buzzing sound when the player hums into it. |
| ok.. | OK4 | The edible immature mucilaginous seed pod (properly, capsule) of the Abelmoschus esculentus. |
| or.. | OR4 | A sea mammal (Orcinus orca) related to dolphins and porpoises, commonly called the killer whale. |
| ra.. | RA4 | A series of one or more shelves, stacked one above the other |
| ra... | RA5 | A keen-edged knife of peculiar shape, used in shaving the hair from the face or other parts of the body. |
| ra....... † | RA9 | A feral pig. |
| ra.. | RA4 | A version of seven card stud where the worst poker hand wins (called lowball). |
| ro.. | RO4 | To make a loud, deep cry, especially from pain, anger, or other strong emotion. |
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.
- aback (AB5)
- arbor (AR5)
- arco (AR4)
- baba (BA4)
- babka (BA5)
- back (BA4)
- baobab (BA6)
- barb (BA4)
- barbacoa (BA8)
- bark (BA4)
- barrack (BA7)
- bazaar (BA6)
- bazoo (BA5)
- bazooka (BA7)
- boar (BO4)
- boba (BO4)
- bookrack (BO8)
- cacao (CA5)
- carb (CA4)
- carob (CA5)
- cobra (CO5)
- coca (CO4)
- cocoa (CO5)
- crab (CR4)
- crack (CR5)
- croak (CR5)
- czar (CZ4)
- kabob (KA5)
- kazoo (KA5)
- okra (OK4)
- orca (OR4)
- rack (RA4)
- razor (RA5)
- razorback† (RA9)
- razz (RA4)
- roar (RO4)
Answer Definitions
- aback (adverb): Toward the rear; Phrase: 'to be taken ____', meaning 'surprised'.
- arbor (noun): A shady sitting place or pergola usually in a park or garden, surrounded by climbing shrubs, vines or other vegetation.
- arco (adverb): A note in string instrument musical notation indicating that the bow is to be used in the usual way, usually following a passage that is played pizzicato.
- baba (noun): A kind of sponge cake soaked in rum-flavoured syrup.
- babka (noun): A Central and Eastern European coffee cake flavored with orange rind, rum, almonds, and raisins.
- back (adjective): At or near the rear.
- baobab (noun): A tree, Adansonia digitata (and similar species), native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits.
- barb (noun): The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else.
- barbacoa (noun): Meat slow-cooked over an open fire, characteristic of Latin American cuisine.
- bark (verb): To make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs).
- barrack (noun): A building for soldiers, especially within a garrison; originally referred to temporary huts, now usually to a permanent structure or set of buildings.
- bazaar (noun): A marketplace, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia, and often covered with shops and stalls.
- bazoo (noun): A simple wind instrument, such as a kazoo or tin horn.
- bazooka (noun): A primitive trombone having wide tubes.
- boar (noun): A wild boar (Sus scrofa), the wild ancestor of the domesticated pig.
- boba (noun): Synonym of tapioca pearl.
- bookrack (noun): A rack for books; a bookshelf.
- cacao (noun): A tree, Theobroma cacao, whose seed is used to make chocolate.
- carb (noun): Clipping of carbohydrate.
- carob (noun): An evergreen shrub or tree, Ceratonia siliqua, native to the Mediterranean region.
- cobra (noun): Any of various venomous snakes of the family Elapidae.
- coca (noun): Any of the four cultivated plants which belong to the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America.
- cocoa (noun): The dried and partially fermented fatty seeds of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made.
- crab (noun): A crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace.
- crack (verb): To form cracks.
- croak (noun): A faint, harsh sound made in the throat.
- czar (noun): Alternative spelling of tsar
- kabob (noun): US spelling of kebab
- kazoo (noun): A simple musical instrument (a membranophone) consisting of a pipe with a hole in it, producing a buzzing sound when the player hums into it.
- okra (noun): The edible immature mucilaginous seed pod (properly, capsule) of the Abelmoschus esculentus.
- orca (noun): A sea mammal (Orcinus orca) related to dolphins and porpoises, commonly called the killer whale.
- rack (noun): A series of one or more shelves, stacked one above the other
- razor (noun): A keen-edged knife of peculiar shape, used in shaving the hair from the face or other parts of the body.
- razorback† (noun): A feral pig.
- razz (noun): A version of seven card stud where the worst poker hand wins (called lowball).
- roar (verb): To make a loud, deep cry, especially from pain, anger, or other strong emotion.