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.

• cell  (CE4)
• cello  (CE5)
• collect  (CO7)
• collet  (CO6)
• come  (CO4)
• comet  (CO5)
• compel  (CO6)
• compete  (CO7)
• complete^†  (CO8)
• compote  (CO7)
• cope  (CO4)
• cote  (CO4)
• elect  (EL5)
• electee  (EL7)
• elope  (EL5)
• emcee  (EM5)
• emote  (EM5)
• epee  (EP4)
• locomote  (LO8)
• lope  (LO4)
• meet  (ME4)
• melee  (ME5)
• melt  (ME4)
• meme  (ME4)
• memo  (ME4)
• mete  (ME4)
• mettle  (ME6)
• mole  (MO4)
• mope  (MO4)
• moppet  (MO6)
• mote  (MO4)
• motel  (MO5)
• motet  (MO5)
• mottle  (MO6)
• ocelot  (OC6)
• octet  (OC5)
• oleo  (OL4)
• omelet  (OM6)
• omelette  (OM8)
• peel  (PE4)
• peep  (PE4)
• pellet  (PE6)
• pelt  (PE4)
• people  (PE6)
• poem  (PO4)
• poet  (PO4)
• pole  (PO4)
• pome  (PO4)
• pomelo  (PO6)
• pommel  (PO6)
• pope  (PO4)
• teem  (TE4)
• teepee  (TE6)
• telecom  (TE7)
• tell  (TE4)
• temp  (TE4)
• temple  (TE6)
• tempo  (TE5)
• tempt  (TE5)
• tepee  (TE5)
• tome  (TO4)
• tootle  (TO6)
• tope  (TO4)
• topple  (TO6)
• tote  (TO4)
• totem  (TO5)

Answer Definitions

• cell (noun): A single-room dwelling for a hermit.
• cello (noun): A large unfretted stringed instrument of the violin family with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) C-G-D-A and an endpin to support its weight, usually played with a bow.
• collect (verb): To gather together; amass.
• collet (noun): A band, flange, ferrule, or collar, designed to grip and hold a tool or a workpiece under proper control, and usually to release it under control thereafter; such a collet usually is made of a hard, springy material, especially a metal.
• come (verb): To move from further away to nearer to.
• comet (noun): A small Solar System body consisting mainly of volatile ice, dust and particles of rock whose very eccentric solar orbit periodically brings it close enough to the Sun that the ice vaporises to form an atmosphere, or coma, which may be blown by the solar wind to produce a visible tail.
• compel (verb): To drive together, round up (Can we add an example for this sense?)
• compete (verb): To be in battle or in a rivalry with another for the same thing, position, or reward; to contend
• complete^† (verb): To finish; to make done; to reach the end.
• compote (noun): A dessert made of fruit cooked in sugary syrup.
• cope (verb): To deal effectively with something, especially if difficult.
• cote (noun): A cottage or hut.
• elect (noun): One chosen or set apart.
• electee (noun): Someone who is elected.
• elope (verb): To run away from home with a paramour.
• emcee (noun): Alternative form of MC in its senses as Master of ceremonies. A rapper.
• emote (verb): To display or express (emotions, mental states, etc.) openly, particularly while acting, and especially in an excessive manner. To deliver (a speech), say (lines of a play, words), etc., in a dramatic or emotional manner, especially if overly so.
• epee (noun): A sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing.
• locomote (verb): To move or travel (from one location to another).
• lope (verb): To travel an easy pace with long strides.
• 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.
• memo (noun): A short note; a memorandum.
• mete (verb): To measure.
• mettle (noun): A quality of endurance and courage.
• mole (noun): A pigmented spot on the skin, a naevus, slightly raised, and sometimes hairy.
• mope (verb): To carry oneself in a depressed, lackadaisical manner; to give oneself up to low spirits; to pout, sulk.
• moppet (noun): A child. Often used lovingly or in an affectionate way.
• mote (noun): A small particle; a speck.
• motel (noun): A type of hotel or lodging establishment, often located near a major highway, which typically features a series of rooms the entrances of which are immediately adjacent to a parking lot to facilitate convenient access to automobiles parked there.
• motet (noun): A composition adapted to sacred words in the elaborate polyphonic church style; an anthem.
• mottle (verb): To mark with blotches of different color, or shades of color, as if stained; to spot; to maculate.
• ocelot (noun): An American feline carnivore (Leopardus pardalis, syn. Felis pardalis) covered with blackish ocellated spots and blotches which are variously arranged.
• octet (noun): A group or set of eight of something.
• oleo (noun): A type of energy-absorbing landing gear strut in which sudden compression or extension of the strut causes a gas-filled chamber to push or pull a piston which forces oil through a small orifice, resulting in absorption of energy through viscous effects.
• omelet (noun): Alternative form of omelette
• omelette (noun): A dish made with beaten eggs cooked in a frying pan without stirring, flipped over to cook on both sides, and sometimes filled or topped with cheese, chives or other foodstuffs.
• peel (verb): To remove the skin or outer covering of.
• peep (noun): A short, soft, high-pitched sound, as made by a baby bird.
• pellet (noun): A small, compressed, hard chunk of matter.
• pelt (noun): The skin of a beast with the hair on; a raw or undressed hide; a skin preserved with the hairy or woolly covering on it.
• people (noun): Used as plural of person; a body of human beings considered generally or collectively; a group of two or more persons.
• poem (noun): A literary piece written in verse.
• poet (noun): A person who writes poems.
• pole (noun): Originally, a stick; now specifically, a long and slender piece of metal or (especially) wood, used for various construction or support purposes.
• pome (noun): A type of fruit in which the often edible flesh arises from the swollen base of the flower and not from the carpels.
• pomelo (noun): The large fruit of the Citrus maxima (syn. C. grandis), native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, with a thick green or yellow rind, a thick white pith, and semi-sweet translucent pale flesh.
• pommel (noun): The upper front brow of a saddle.
• pope (noun): An honorary title of the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome as father and head of his church, a sovereign of the Vatican city state. Any similarly absolute and 'infallible' authority. Any similar head of a religion. A theocrat, a priest-king, including (at first especially) over the imaginary land of Prester John or (now) in figurative and alliterative uses. An effigy of the pope traditionally burnt in Britain on Guy Fawkes' Day and (occasionally) at other times. Pope Day, the present Guy Fawkes Day.
• teem (verb): To be stocked to overflowing.
• teepee (noun): A cone-shaped tent traditionally used by many native peoples of the Great Plains of North America.
• telecom (noun): Telecommunication or telecommunications.
• tell (verb): To count, reckon, or enumerate.
• temp (noun): Abbreviation of temperature.
• temple (noun): A house of worship, especially: A house of worship dedicated to a polytheistic faith.
• tempo (noun): A frequency or rate.
• tempt (verb): To provoke someone to do wrong, especially by promising a reward; to entice.
• tepee (noun): Alternative form of teepee
• tome (noun): One in a series of volumes.
• tootle (verb): To make a soft toot sound.
• tope (verb): To drink excessively; to get drunk.
• topple (verb): To push, throw over, overturn or overthrow something.
• tote (noun): A tote bag.
• totem (noun): Any natural object or living creature that serves as an emblem of a tribe, clan or family.