NYT Spelling Bee Answers for May 20, 2019
Game Summary
| Center Letter | E |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | g, h, i, l, m, t |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 48 words |
| Total Points | 169 points |
| Genius Level | 118 points |
| Bingo? | Yes |
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 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 5 |
| G | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | 7 |
| H | 3 | - | 2 | - | - | - | 5 |
| I | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| L | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 7 |
| M | 8 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | 11 |
| T | 6 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | 12 | Σ | 24 | 12 | 10 | - | - | 2 | 48 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| E | EI×3 EL×1 EM×1 |
|---|---|
| G | GE×2 GH×1 GI×3 GL×1 |
| H | HE×5 |
| I | IT×1 |
| L | LE×1 LI×6 |
| M | ME×7 MI×4 |
| T | TE×4 TH×3 TI×5 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| E | EIG×3 ELI×1 EMI×1 |
|---|---|
| G | GEL×2 GHE×1 GIG×1 GIM×2 GLE×1 |
| H | HEE×1 HEI×1 HEL×3 |
| I | ITE×1 |
| L | LEG×1 LIE×1 LIM×2 LIT×3 |
| M | MEE×1 MEL×2 MEM×1 MET×3 MIL×2 MIM×1 MIT×1 |
| T | TEE×3 TEL×1 THE×3 TIL×1 TIM×1 TIT×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) |
|---|---|---|
| ei... | EI5 | NATO & ICAO phonetic alphabet code for the numeral 8. |
| ei.... | EI6 | The ordinal form of the number eight. |
| ei....... | EI9 | The ordinal form of the number eighty. |
| el... | EL5 | Of high birth or social position; aristocratic or patrician. |
| em.. | EM4 | to send out or give off |
| ge... | GE5 | Any gelled suspension made for culinary purposes. |
| ge.. | GE4 | A lunatic. |
| gh.. | GH4 | A type of clarified butter used in South Asian cooking; usli ghee. |
| gi.... | GI6 | To laugh gently in a nervous or affected manner. |
| gi.... | GI6 | A small screw-tipped tool for boring holes. |
| gi... | GI5 | Give me. |
| gl.. | GL4 | Joy; happiness great delight, especially from one's own good fortune or from another's misfortune. |
| he.. | HE4 | The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg. |
| he.... | HE6 | The distance from the base of something to the top. |
| he.. | HE4 | A place of torment where some or all sinners and evil spirits are believed to go after death. |
| he.. | HE4 | The steering apparatus of a ship, especially the tiller or wheel. |
| he.... | HE6 | A hard, protective head covering, typically part of armour. |
| it.. | IT4 | A distinct physical object. |
| le... | LE5 | A legitimate; a legitimate actor. |
| li... | LI5 | A free and independent person; specifically, a lord paramount; a sovereign. |
| li.. | LI4 | Any inorganic material containing calcium, usually calcium oxide (quicklime) or calcium hydroxide (slaked lime). |
| li....... † | LI9 | A type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls, producing a bright light by the use of incandescent quicklime. |
| li.. | LI4 | Abridged; refers to a simpler or unpaid version of a product. |
| li... | LI5 | To go. |
| li.... | LI6 | Small in size. |
| me.. | ME4 | To make contact (with) while in proximity. To come face to face with by accident; to encounter. |
| me... | ME5 | A battle fought at close range; hand-to-hand combat; brawling. |
| me.. | ME4 | Molten material, the product of melting. |
| me.. | ME4 | Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes. |
| me.. | ME4 | To measure. |
| me.. | ME4 | Methamphetamine, especially in the form of the crystalline hydrochloride. |
| me.... | ME6 | A quality of endurance and courage. |
| mi.. | MI4 | The international mile: a unit of length precisely equal to 1.609344 kilometers established by treaty among Anglophone nations in 1959, divided into 5,280 feet or 1,760 yards. |
| mi.... | MI6 | Any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food, widely cultivated in the developing world. |
| mi.. | MI4 | A form of acting without words; pantomime. |
| mi.. | MI4 | Any of many minute arachnids which, along with the ticks, comprise subclass Acarina (aka Acari). |
| te.. | TE4 | To be stocked to overflowing. |
| te... | TE5 | plural of tooth |
| te.... | TE6 | To grow teeth. |
| te.. | TE4 | To count, reckon, or enumerate. |
| th.. | TH4 | Objective and reflexive case of thou. |
| th.. | TH4 | Those ones. Used as the direct object of a verb. |
| th... | TH5 | A subject, now especially of a talk or an artistic piece; a topic. |
| ti.. | TI4 | A regularly-shaped slab of clay or other material, affixed to cover or decorate a surface, as in a roof-tile, glazed tile, stove tile, carpet tile etc. |
| ti.. | TI4 | The inevitable progression into the future with the passing of present and past events. |
| ti... | TI5 | A tenth. |
| ti... | TI5 | An appellation given to a person or family to signify either veneration, official position, social rank, the possession of assets or properties, or a professional or academic qualification. See also Category:Titles |
| ti.... | TI6 | Any small dot, stroke, or diacritical mark, especially if part of a letter, or if a letter-like abbreviation; in particular, the dots over the Latin letters i and j. |
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.
- eight (EI5)
- eighth (EI6)
- eightieth (EI9)
- elite (EL5)
- emit (EM4)
- gelee (GE5)
- gelt (GE4)
- ghee (GH4)
- giggle (GI6)
- gimlet (GI6)
- gimme (GI5)
- glee (GL4)
- heel (HE4)
- height (HE6)
- hell (HE4)
- helm (HE4)
- helmet (HE6)
- item (IT4)
- legit (LE5)
- liege (LI5)
- lime (LI4)
- limelight† (LI9)
- lite (LI4)
- lithe (LI5)
- little (LI6)
- meet (ME4)
- melee (ME5)
- melt (ME4)
- meme (ME4)
- mete (ME4)
- meth (ME4)
- mettle (ME6)
- mile (MI4)
- millet (MI6)
- mime (MI4)
- mite (MI4)
- teem (TE4)
- teeth (TE5)
- teethe (TE6)
- tell (TE4)
- thee (TH4)
- them (TH4)
- theme (TH5)
- tile (TI4)
- time (TI4)
- tithe (TI5)
- title (TI5)
- tittle (TI6)
Answer Definitions
- eight (numeral): NATO & ICAO phonetic alphabet code for the numeral 8.
- eighth (adjective): The ordinal form of the number eight.
- eightieth (adjective): The ordinal form of the number eighty.
- elite (adjective): Of high birth or social position; aristocratic or patrician.
- emit (verb): to send out or give off
- gelee (noun): Any gelled suspension made for culinary purposes.
- gelt (noun): A lunatic.
- ghee (noun): A type of clarified butter used in South Asian cooking; usli ghee.
- giggle (verb): To laugh gently in a nervous or affected manner.
- gimlet (noun): A small screw-tipped tool for boring holes.
- gimme (contraction): Give me.
- glee (noun): Joy; happiness great delight, especially from one's own good fortune or from another's misfortune.
- heel (noun): The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg.
- height (noun): The distance from the base of something to the top.
- hell (proper noun): A place of torment where some or all sinners and evil spirits are believed to go after death.
- helm (noun): The steering apparatus of a ship, especially the tiller or wheel.
- helmet (noun): A hard, protective head covering, typically part of armour.
- item (noun): A distinct physical object.
- legit (noun): A legitimate; a legitimate actor.
- liege (noun): A free and independent person; specifically, a lord paramount; a sovereign.
- lime (noun): Any inorganic material containing calcium, usually calcium oxide (quicklime) or calcium hydroxide (slaked lime).
- limelight† (noun): A type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls, producing a bright light by the use of incandescent quicklime.
- lite (adjective): Abridged; refers to a simpler or unpaid version of a product.
- lithe (verb): To go.
- little (adjective): Small in size.
- meet (verb): To make contact (with) while in proximity. To come face to face with by accident; to encounter.
- melee (noun): A battle fought at close range; hand-to-hand combat; brawling.
- melt (noun): Molten material, the product of melting.
- meme (noun): Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes.
- mete (verb): To measure.
- meth (noun): Methamphetamine, especially in the form of the crystalline hydrochloride.
- mettle (noun): A quality of endurance and courage.
- mile (noun): The international mile: a unit of length precisely equal to 1.609344 kilometers established by treaty among Anglophone nations in 1959, divided into 5,280 feet or 1,760 yards.
- millet (noun): Any of a group of various types of grass or its grains used as food, widely cultivated in the developing world.
- mime (noun): A form of acting without words; pantomime.
- mite (noun): Any of many minute arachnids which, along with the ticks, comprise subclass Acarina (aka Acari).
- teem (verb): To be stocked to overflowing.
- teeth (noun): plural of tooth
- teethe (verb): To grow teeth.
- tell (verb): To count, reckon, or enumerate.
- thee (pronoun): Objective and reflexive case of thou.
- them (pronoun): Those ones. Used as the direct object of a verb.
- theme (noun): A subject, now especially of a talk or an artistic piece; a topic.
- tile (noun): A regularly-shaped slab of clay or other material, affixed to cover or decorate a surface, as in a roof-tile, glazed tile, stove tile, carpet tile etc.
- time (noun): The inevitable progression into the future with the passing of present and past events.
- tithe (noun): A tenth.
- title (noun): An appellation given to a person or family to signify either veneration, official position, social rank, the possession of assets or properties, or a professional or academic qualification. See also Category:Titles
- tittle (noun): Any small dot, stroke, or diacritical mark, especially if part of a letter, or if a letter-like abbreviation; in particular, the dots over the Latin letters i and j.