Game Summary

Table of Contents

As you scroll down this page, the clues get progressively more revealing. So scroll slowly!

1. Spelling Bee Grid
2. Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
3. Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
4. Extra Letter Hints (Incrementally Revealing) 🤯
5. Today's Complete Solution
6. 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.

Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints

The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.

Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints

The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.

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 (^†).

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.

• affiant  (AF7)
• alfalfa  (AL7)
• alit  (AL4)
• anal  (AN4)
• anti  (AN4)
• apian  (AP5)
• appall  (AP6)
• atilt  (AT5)
• attain  (AT6)
• attaint  (AT7)
• fail  (FA4)
• faint  (FA5)
• fall  (FA4)
• fantail  (FA7)
• fatal  (FA5)
• fiat  (FI4)
• filial  (FI6)
• final  (FI5)
• finial  (FI6)
• flail  (FL5)
• flan  (FL4)
• flap  (FL4)
• flat  (FL4)
• flippant^†  (FL8)
• inapt  (IN5)
• infant  (IN6)
• initial  (IN7)
• lain  (LA4)
• lanai  (LA5)
• naan  (NA4)
• naif  (NA4)
• nail  (NA4)
• nana  (NA4)
• natal  (NA5)
• natant  (NA6)
• pail  (PA4)
• pain  (PA4)
• paint  (PA5)
• palatal  (PA7)
• palatial  (PA8)
• pall  (PA4)
• palp  (PA4)
• panini  (PA6)
• pant  (PA4)
• papa  (PA4)
• papal  (PA5)
• papilla  (PA7)
• patina  (PA6)
• pilaf  (PI5)
• pinata  (PI6)
• pintail  (PI7)
• pita  (PI4)
• pitapat  (PI7)
• pitfall  (PI7)
• plain  (PL5)
• plaint  (PL6)
• plaintiff^†  (PL9)
• plait  (PL5)
• plan  (PL4)
• plant  (PL5)
• plantain  (PL8)
• plat  (PL4)
• pliant  (PL6)
• tail  (TA4)
• taint  (TA5)
• tali  (TA4)
• tall  (TA4)
• tannin  (TA6)
• tapa  (TA4)
• tilapia  (TI7)
• titan  (TI5)

Answer Definitions

• affiant (noun): The individual witness whose statement is contained in an affidavit or sworn deposition.
• alfalfa (noun): A plant, principally of Medicago sativa, grown as a pasture crop.
• alit (verb): simple past tense and past participle of alight
• anal (adjective): of, related to, intended for or involving the anus.
• anti (adjective): Opposed to something.
• apian (adjective): Relating to bees.
• appall (verb): To fill with horror; to dismay.
• atilt (adjective): At an angle from the vertical or horizontal.
• attain (verb): To gain (an object or desired result).
• attaint (adjective): Convicted, attainted.
• fail (verb): To be unsuccessful.
• faint (adjective): (of a being) Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to lose consciousness
• fall (verb): To be moved downwards. To move to a lower position under the effect of gravity.
• fantail (noun): Any of several birds, of the genus Rhipidura, from Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
• fatal (adjective): Proceeding from, or appointed by, fate or destiny.
• fiat (noun): An arbitrary or authoritative command or order to do something; an effectual decree.
• filial (adjective): Pertaining to or befitting a son or daughter.
• final (noun): A final examination; a test or examination given at the end of a term or class; the test that concludes a class.
• finial (noun): The knot or bunch of foliage, or foliated ornament, that forms the upper extremity of a pinnacle in Gothic architecture.
• flail (noun): A tool used for threshing, consisting of a long handle with a shorter stick attached with a short piece of chain, thong or similar material.
• flan (noun): Baked tart with sweet or savoury filling in an open-topped pastry case.
• flap (noun): Anything broad and flexible that hangs loose, or that is attached by one side or end and is easily moved.
• flat (adjective): Having no variations in height.
• flippant^† (adjective): Showing disrespect through a casual attitude, levity, and a lack of due seriousness; pert.
• inapt (adjective): Unapt
• infant (noun): A very young human being, from birth to somewhere between six months and two years of age, needing almost constant care and attention.
• initial (adjective): Chronologically first, early; of or pertaining to the beginning, cause or origin.
• lain (verb): past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”)
• lanai (noun): A Hawaiian-style roofed patio.
• naan (noun): A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.
• naif (adjective): Alternative spelling of naïf.
• nail (noun): The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
• nana (noun): A banana.
• natal (adjective): Of or relating to birth.
• natant (adjective): floating or swimming (in water)
• pail (noun): A vessel of wood, tin, plastic, etc., usually cylindrical and having a handle -- used especially for carrying liquids, for example water or milk; a bucket (sometimes with a cover).
• pain (noun): An ache or bodily suffering, or an instance of this; an unpleasant sensation, resulting from a derangement of functions, disease, or injury by violence; hurt.
• paint (noun): A substance that is applied as a liquid or paste, and dries into a solid coating that protects or adds color/colour to an object or surface to which it has been applied.
• palatal (adjective): Pertaining to the palate.
• palatial (adjective): Of or relating to a palace.
• pall (noun): Senses relating to cloth. Fine cloth, especially purple cloth used for robes. A heavy cloth laid over a coffin or tomb; a shroud laid over a corpse. A piece of cardboard, covered with linen and embroidered on one side, used to cover the chalice during the Eucharist. A cloth used for various purposes on the altar in a church, such as a corporal (“cloth on which elements of the Eucharist are placed”) or frontal (“drapery covering the front of an altar”).
• palp (noun): Synonym of pedipalp.
• panini (noun): A type of grilled sandwich made of a small loaf of bread, cut horizontally, filled with meat such as salami or ham, cheese or other food.
• pant (noun): A quick breathing; a catching of the breath; a gasp: the panting of animals such as a dog with their tong hung out- as a form of thermoregulation.
• papa (noun): Dad, daddy, father; a familiar or old-fashioned term of address to one’s father.
• papal (adjective): Having to do with the pope or the papacy.
• papilla (noun): A nipple-like protuberance on a part or organ of the body. A vascular process of connective tissue extending into and nourishing the root of a hair, feather, or developing tooth. Any of the vascular protuberances of the dermal layer of the skin extending into the epidermal layer and often containing tactile corpuscles. Any of the small protuberances on the upper surface of the tongue often containing taste buds.
• patina (noun): A paten, flat type of dish.
• pilaf (noun): A dish made by browning grain, typically rice, in oil and then cooking it with a seasoned broth, to which meat and/or vegetables may be added.
• pinata (noun): Alternative form of piñata
• pintail (noun): A pintail duck, a type of dabbling duck with a characteristic pointed tail. A northern pintail, Anas acuta, a dabbling duck of the northern hemisphere that has a long pointed tail.
• pita (noun): A flat bread pouch used for making sandwiches such as gyros or falafels.
• pitapat (verb): Alternative spelling of pit-a-pat
• pitfall (noun): A potential problem, hazard, or danger that is easily encountered but not immediately obvious.
• plain (adjective): Flat, level.
• plaint (noun): A lament or woeful cry.
• plaintiff^† (noun): A party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant; accuser.
• plait (noun): A flat fold; a doubling, as of cloth; a pleat.
• plan (noun): A drawing showing technical details of a building, machine, etc., with unwanted details omitted, and often using symbols rather than detailed drawing to represent doors, valves, etc.
• plant (noun): An organism that is not an animal, especially an organism capable of photosynthesis. Typically a small or herbaceous organism of this kind, rather than a tree.
• plantain (noun): A plant of the genus Plantago, with a rosette of sessile leaves about 10 cm (4") long with a narrow part instead of a petiole, and with a spike inflorescence with the flower spacing varying widely among the species. See also psyllium.
• plat (noun): A plot of land; a lot.
• pliant (adjective): Capable of plying or bending; readily yielding to force or pressure without breaking
• tail (noun): The caudal appendage of an animal that is attached to its posterior and near the anus.
• taint (noun): A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food.
• tali (noun): plural of talus
• tall (adjective): Having a vertical extent greater than the average. For example, somebody with a height of over 6 feet would generally be considered to be tall.
• tannin (noun): Tannic acid or any of its derivatives.
• tapa (noun): A kind of cloth prepared by the Polynesians from the inner bark of the paper mulberry.
• tilapia (noun): Any of various edible fish, formerly species of the genus Tilapia, but now placed in other cichlid genera (such as Oreochromis), native to Africa and the Middle East but cultivated worldwide.
• titan (noun): Something or someone of very large stature, greatness, or godliness.