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.

• acclaim  (AC7)
• alit  (AL4)
• almanac  (AL7)
• anal  (AN4)
• animal  (AN6)
• anticlimactic^†  (AN13)
• atilt  (AT5)
• call  (CA4)
• calla  (CA5)
• calm  (CA4)
• canal  (CA5)
• catcall  (CA7)
• cattail  (CA7)
• cilia  (CI5)
• claim  (CL5)
• claimant^†  (CL8)
• clam  (CL4)
• clamant  (CL7)
• clan  (CL4)
• climactic  (CL9)
• climatic  (CL8)
• clinic  (CL6)
• clinical  (CL8)
• clinician  (CL9)
• iliac  (IL5)
• illicit  (IL7)
• inimical  (IN8)
• initial  (IN7)
• italic  (IT6)
• lactic  (LA6)
• laic  (LA4)
• laical  (LA6)
• lain  (LA4)
• lama  (LA4)
• lamina  (LA6)
• laminal  (LA7)
• lanai  (LA5)
• licit  (LI5)
• lilac  (LI5)
• lilt  (LI4)
• limit  (LI5)
• limn  (LI4)
• lint  (LI4)
• llama  (LL5)
• mail  (MA4)
• mailman  (MA7)
• malic  (MA5)
• mall  (MA4)
• malt  (MA4)
• mammal  (MA6)
• mammalian  (MA9)
• mancala  (MA7)
• maniacal  (MA8)
• militant  (MI8)
• militia  (MI7)
• militiaman  (MI10)
• mill  (MI4)
• minimal  (MI7)
• nail  (NA4)
• natal  (NA5)
• tactical  (TA8)
• tail  (TA4)
• talc  (TA4)
• tali  (TA4)
• tall  (TA4)
• till  (TI4)
• tilt  (TI4)

Answer Definitions

• acclaim (verb): To shout; to call out.
• alit (verb): simple past tense and past participle of alight
• almanac (noun): A book or table listing nautical, astronomical, astrological or other events for the year; sometimes, but not essentially, containing historical and statistical information.
• anal (adjective): of, related to, intended for or involving the anus.
• animal (noun): A eukaryote of the clade Animalia; a multicellular organism that is usually mobile, whose cells are not encased in a rigid cell wall (distinguishing it from plants and fungi) and which derives energy solely from the consumption of other organisms (distinguishing it from plants).
• anticlimactic^† (adjective): Lacking climax, disappointing or ironically insignificant following of impressive foreshadowing.
• atilt (adjective): At an angle from the vertical or horizontal.
• call (noun): A telephone conversation; a phone call.
• calla (noun): A marsh plant native to cooler areas throughout the northern hemisphere, Calla palustris, having pale green flowers in a white spathe.
• calm (adjective): Peaceful, quiet, especially free from anger and anxiety.
• canal (noun): An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
• catcall (noun): A shout or whistle expressing dislike, especially from a crowd or audience; a jeer, a boo.
• cattail (noun): Any of several perennial herbs, of the genus Typha, that have long flat leaves, and grow in marshy places.
• cilia (noun): plural of cilium
• claim (noun): A demand of ownership made for something.
• claimant^† (noun): One who claims; one who makes a claim.
• clam (noun): A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; for example the soft-shell clam (Mya arenaria), the hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), the sea clam or hen clam (Spisula solidissima), and other species. The name is said to have been given originally to the Tridacna gigas, a huge East Indian bivalve.
• clamant (adjective): Urgent.
• clan (noun): A group of people all descended from a common ancestor, in fact or belief, especially when the exact genealogies are not known.
• climactic (adjective): Of, pertaining to, or constituting a climax; reaching a decisive moment or point of greatest excitement.
• climatic (adjective): Of, relating to, or influenced by climate.
• clinic (noun): A medical facility, such as a hospital, especially one for the treatment and diagnosis of outpatients.
• clinical (adjective): Dealing with the practical management of patients, in practice at the point of care; as contrasted with other health care venues (see clinical medicine for more explanation).
• clinician (noun): Any healthcare practitioner working at the point of care, in clinical practice (e.g., physicians in clinical medicine, nurses in nursing practice, or allied health providers in practice).
• iliac (adjective): Relating to the ilium.
• illicit (adjective): Not approved by law, but not invalid.
• inimical (adjective): Harmful in effect.
• initial (adjective): Chronologically first, early; of or pertaining to the beginning, cause or origin.
• italic (adjective): Designed to resemble a handwriting style developed in Italy in the 16th century.
• lactic (adjective): Of, relating to, or derived from milk.
• laic (noun): A layperson, as opposed to a member of the clergy.
• laical (adjective): Of or pertaining to a layperson, layman, laywoman, or laypeople (laity).
• lain (verb): past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”)
• lama (noun): A master of Tibetan Buddhism.
• lamina (noun): a thin layer, plate, or scale of material
• laminal (adjective): laminar
• lanai (noun): A Hawaiian-style roofed patio.
• licit (adjective): Not forbidden by formal or informal rules.
• lilac (noun): A large shrub of the genus Syringa, especially Syringa vulgaris, bearing white, pale-pink, or purple flowers.
• 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.
• limn (verb): To draw or paint; to delineate.
• lint (noun): Clinging fuzzy fluff that clings to fabric or accumulates in one's pockets or navel etc.
• llama (noun): A South American mammal of the camel family, Lama glama, used as a domestic beast of burden and a source of wool and meat.
• mail (noun): A bag or wallet.
• mailman (noun): someone who delivers mail to, and/or collects mail from, residential or commercial addresses, or from public mailboxes
• malic (adjective): Pertaining to apples.
• mall (noun): A pedestrianised street, especially a shopping precinct.
• malt (noun): Malted grain (sprouted grain) (usually barley), used in brewing and otherwise.
• mammal (noun): An animal of the class Mammalia, characterized by being warm-blooded, having hair and producing milk with which to feed its young.
• mammalian (adjective): of, or pertaining to, mammals
• mancala (noun): Any of various board games, common throughout Africa and Asia, in which a move consists of emptying a pit and then its contents are sown one by one into ensuing pits.
• maniacal (adjective): Like a maniac; insane; frenzied.
• militant (adjective): Fighting or disposed to fight; belligerent, warlike.
• militia (noun): An army of trained civilians, which may be an official reserve army, called upon in time of need, the entire able-bodied population of a state which may also be called upon, or a private force not under government control.
• militiaman (noun): A member of a militia.
• mill (noun): A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc.
• minimal (adjective): The smallest possible amount, quantity, or degree.
• nail (noun): The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
• natal (adjective): Of or relating to birth.
• tactical (adjective): of or relating to tactics
• tail (noun): The caudal appendage of an animal that is attached to its posterior and near the anus.
• talc (noun): Originally a large range of transparent or glistening foliated minerals. Examples include mica, selenite and the hydrated magnesium silicate that the term talc generally has referred to in modern times (see below). Also an item made of such a mineral and depending for its function on the special nature of the mineral (see next). Mediaeval writers adopted the term from the Arabic.
• 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.
• till (preposition): Until; to, up to; as late as (a given time).
• tilt (verb): To slope or incline (something); to slant.