NYT Spelling Bee Answers for January 16, 2019

Jan 16, 2019 · 7 min read · spelling bee ·

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Spelling Bee "Hive" Board for January 16, 2019

Game Summary

Center Letter	Y
Outer Letters	a, e, g, l, m, p
# of Pangrams	1 (Perfect: none)
Total Words	33 words
Total Points	152 points
Genius Level	106 points
Bingo?	Yes

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
A	2	4	-	-	-	6
E	2	1	-	-	-	3
G	1	1	3	-	1	6
L	-	1	1	1	1	4
M	-	1	-	-	-	1
P	1	5	2	1	-	9
Y	3	1	-	-	-	4
Σ	9	14	6	2	2	33

Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints

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

A	AL×3 AM×2 AP×1
E	EE×1 EG×1 EL×1
G	GA×5 GL×1
L	LA×2 LE×2
M	ME×1
P	PA×6 PE×1 PL×1 PY×1
Y	YA×1 YE×3

Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints

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

A	ALL×3 AMP×1 AMY×1 APP×1
E	EEL×1 EGG×1 ELE×1
G	GAL×1 GAM×3 GAY×1 GLE×1
L	LAL×1 LAM×1 LEG×2
M	MEA×1
P	PAL×2 PAP×3 PAY×1 PEP×1 PLA×1 PYG×1
Y	YAP×1 YEG×1 YEL×2

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)
al...	AL5	To make quiet or put at rest; to pacify or appease; to quell; to calm.
al...	AL5	A narrow street or passageway, especially one through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots or buildings.
al..	AL4	To unite or form a connection between (people or things), as between families by marriage, or between states by confederacy, league, or treaty.
am...	AM5	In an ample manner.
am..	AM4	Synonym of pentyl
ap...	AP5	To lay or place; to put (one thing to another)
ee..	EE4	Resembling an eel: long, thin and slippery.
eg..	EG4	Covered with or dipped in egg.
el...	EL5	A mournful or plaintive poem; a funeral song; a poem of lamentation.
ga....	GA6	A long, slender ship propelled primarily by oars, whether having masts and sails or not; usually referring to rowed warships used in the Mediterranean from the 16th century until the modern era.
ga....	GA6	Sportive; lively; joyful.
ga...... ^†	GA8	The totality of player experiences during a game, such as the gaming environment and the competitive interaction with other players; often with reference to a video game.
ga..	GA4	Alternative spelling of gamey
ga...	GA5	Cheerfully; in a gay manner.
gl....	GL6	shiny, bright, glowing
la......	LA8	Horseplay, fooling around.
la....	LA6	In the manner of one who is lame.
le.....	LE7	As permitted by law; not contrary to law.
le...	LE5	Having long, attractive legs; long-legged.
me...	ME5	Resembling meal .
pa....	PA6	In a light manner; lightly.
pa...	PA5	Made out of palm leaves or palm sap.
pa.....	PA7	in papal fashion
pa....	PA6	A tropical American evergreen tree, Carica papaya, having large, yellow, edible fruit
pa...	PA5	Like pap; soft; mushy.
pa...	PA5	one to whom money is paid.
pe...	PE5	Full of pep; energetic, cheerful, and vigorous; bouncy
pl..	PL4	To act in a manner such that one has fun; to engage in activities expressly for the purpose of recreation or entertainment.
py...	PY5	A member of one of various Ancient Equatorial African tribal peoples, notable for their very short stature.
ya...	YA5	Of a dog, yapping in an annoying manner.
ye..	YE4	A person who breaks open safes; a burglar.
ye..	YE4	shout; holler; make a loud sound with the voice.
ye..	YE4	An abrupt, high-pitched noise or utterance.

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.

allay (AL5)
alley (AL5)
ally (AL4)
amply (AM5)
amyl (AM4)
apply (AP5)
eely (EE4)
eggy (EG4)
elegy (EL5)
galley (GA6)
gamely (GA6)
gameplay^† (GA8)
gamy (GA4)
gayly (GA5)
gleamy (GL6)
lallygag (LA8)
lamely (LA6)
legally (LE7)
leggy (LE5)
mealy (ME5)
palely (PA6)
palmy (PA5)
papally (PA7)
papaya (PA6)
pappy (PA5)
payee (PA5)
peppy (PE5)
play (PL4)
pygmy (PY5)
yappy (YA5)
yegg (YE4)
yell (YE4)
yelp (YE4)

Answer Definitions

allay (verb): To make quiet or put at rest; to pacify or appease; to quell; to calm.
alley (noun): A narrow street or passageway, especially one through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots or buildings.
ally (verb): To unite or form a connection between (people or things), as between families by marriage, or between states by confederacy, league, or treaty.
amply (adverb): In an ample manner.
amyl (noun): Synonym of pentyl
apply (verb): To lay or place; to put (one thing to another)
eely (adjective): Resembling an eel: long, thin and slippery.
eggy (adjective): Covered with or dipped in egg.
elegy (noun): A mournful or plaintive poem; a funeral song; a poem of lamentation.
galley (noun): A long, slender ship propelled primarily by oars, whether having masts and sails or not; usually referring to rowed warships used in the Mediterranean from the 16th century until the modern era.
gamely (adjective): Sportive; lively; joyful.
gameplay^† (noun): The totality of player experiences during a game, such as the gaming environment and the competitive interaction with other players; often with reference to a video game.
gamy (adjective): Alternative spelling of gamey
gayly (adverb): Cheerfully; in a gay manner.
gleamy (adjective): shiny, bright, glowing
lallygag (noun): Horseplay, fooling around.
lamely (adverb): In the manner of one who is lame.
legally (adverb): As permitted by law; not contrary to law.
leggy (adjective): Having long, attractive legs; long-legged.
mealy (adjective): Resembling meal .
palely (adverb): In a light manner; lightly.
palmy (adjective): Made out of palm leaves or palm sap.
papally (adverb): in papal fashion
papaya (noun): A tropical American evergreen tree, Carica papaya, having large, yellow, edible fruit
pappy (adjective): Like pap; soft; mushy.
payee (noun): one to whom money is paid.
peppy (adjective): Full of pep; energetic, cheerful, and vigorous; bouncy
play (verb): To act in a manner such that one has fun; to engage in activities expressly for the purpose of recreation or entertainment.
pygmy (noun): A member of one of various Ancient Equatorial African tribal peoples, notable for their very short stature.
yappy (adjective): Of a dog, yapping in an annoying manner.
yegg (noun): A person who breaks open safes; a burglar.
yell (verb): shout; holler; make a loud sound with the voice.
yelp (noun): An abrupt, high-pitched noise or utterance.