NYT Spelling Bee Answers for August 20, 2019
Game Summary
| Center Letter | O |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | b, i, p, r, t, y |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 40 words |
| Total Points | 120 points |
| Genius Level | 84 points |
| Bingo? | No |
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 | Σ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | 4 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 7 |
| I | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| O | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 2 |
| P | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| R | 5 | 2 | - | - | - | 7 |
| T | 9 | 2 | 2 | - | - | 13 |
| Y | - | - | - | - | - | - | Σ | 24 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 40 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| B | BO×6 BR×1 |
|---|---|
| I | |
| O | OB×1 OR×1 |
| P | PO×5 PR×5 PY×1 |
| R | RI×1 RO×6 |
| T | TI×1 TO×6 TR×4 TY×2 |
| Y |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| B | BOO×6 BRI×1 |
|---|---|
| I | |
| O | OBI×1 ORB×1 |
| P | POO×2 POP×1 POR×1 POT×1 PRI×3 PRO×2 PYR×1 |
| R | RIO×1 ROB×1 ROO×1 ROP×1 ROT×3 |
| T | TIP×1 TOO×1 TOR×5 TRI×1 TRO×3 TYP×1 TYR×1 |
| Y |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| bo.. | BO4 | An idiot; a fool. |
| bo.... | BO6 | Alternative spelling of boo-boo |
| bo... | BO5 | A stupid person. |
| bo.. | BO4 | A peasant. |
| bo.. | BO4 | A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg. A kind of sports shoe worn by players of certain games such as cricket and football. |
| bo... | BO5 | A form of prize which, when a ship was captured at sea, could be distributed at once. |
| br.. | BR4 | Vigour or vivacity. |
| ob.. | OB4 | Death of a person. |
| or... | OR5 | A circular or elliptical path of a celestial object or spacecraft around a star, planet, moon, or Lagrange point, especially a periodic elliptical revolution. |
| po.. | PO4 | To make a short blast on a horn. |
| po.. | PO4 | With no or few possessions or money, particularly in relation to contemporaries who do have them. |
| po... | PO5 | Any plant of the genus Papaver or the family Papaveraceae, with crumpled, often red, petals and a milky juice having narcotic properties; especially the common poppy or corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) which has orange-red flowers; the flower of such a plant. |
| po.. | PO4 | A place on the coast at which ships can shelter, or dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. |
| po... | PO5 | A chamber pot, particularly the pot used when toilet-training children. |
| pr... | PR5 | Advance; previous; coming before. |
| pr...... | PR8 | An item's relative importance. |
| pr.... | PR6 | A monastery or convent governed by a prior or prioress. |
| pr..... † | PR7 | Integrity, especially of the quality of having strong moral principles; decency and honesty. |
| pr.. | PR4 | An object placed against or under another, to support it; anything that supports. |
| py.. | PY4 | A pyromaniac. |
| ri.. | RI4 | A tumultuous disturbance of the public peace by a large group of people, often involving violence or damage to property. |
| ro... | RO5 | A system of serfdom used in Central Europe, under which a tenant's rent was paid in forced labour. |
| ro.. | RO4 | The part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors and supports the plant body, absorbs and stores water and nutrients, and in some plants is able to perform vegetative reproduction. |
| ro.. | RO4 | Resembling rope in appearance or texture, used especially of muscles that are thick or hard to the touch. |
| ro.. | RO4 | A kind of unleavened flatbread commonly consumed in South Asia and the Caribbean. |
| ro.. | RO4 | Clipping of rotogravure. |
| ro... | RO5 | A rotating part of a mechanical device; for example, in an electric motor, generator, alternator, or pump. |
| ti.... | TI6 | The very topmost point. |
| to.. | TO4 | The noise of a horn or whistle. |
| to.. | TO4 | plural of torus |
| to... | TO5 | A traditional Japanese gate at Shinto shrines, symbolically marking the transition from the profane to the sacred. |
| to.. | TO4 | A traditional Japanese lantern. |
| to.... | TO6 | A state of being inactive or stuporous. |
| to.. | TO4 | An injury or wrong. |
| tr.. | TR4 | A group of three people or things. |
| tr... | TR5 | A collection of people; a number; a multitude (in general). |
| tr.. | TR4 | An ugly old woman, a hag. |
| tr.. | TR4 | Of, or relating to, troy weight. |
| ty.. | TY4 | A typographical error. |
| ty.. | TY4 | A beginner; a novice. |
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.
- boob (BO4)
- booboo (BO6)
- booby (BO5)
- boor (BO4)
- boot (BO4)
- booty (BO5)
- brio (BR4)
- obit (OB4)
- orbit (OR5)
- poop (PO4)
- poor (PO4)
- poppy (PO5)
- port (PO4)
- potty (PO5)
- prior (PR5)
- priority (PR8)
- priory (PR6)
- probity† (PR7)
- prop (PR4)
- pyro (PY4)
- riot (RI4)
- robot (RO5)
- root (RO4)
- ropy (RO4)
- roti (RO4)
- roto (RO4)
- rotor (RO5)
- tiptop (TI6)
- toot (TO4)
- tori (TO4)
- torii (TO5)
- toro (TO4)
- torpor (TO6)
- tort (TO4)
- trio (TR4)
- troop (TR5)
- trot (TR4)
- troy (TR4)
- typo (TY4)
- tyro (TY4)
Answer Definitions
- boob (noun): An idiot; a fool.
- booboo (noun): Alternative spelling of boo-boo
- booby (noun): A stupid person.
- boor (noun): A peasant.
- boot (noun): A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg. A kind of sports shoe worn by players of certain games such as cricket and football.
- booty (noun): A form of prize which, when a ship was captured at sea, could be distributed at once.
- brio (noun): Vigour or vivacity.
- obit (noun): Death of a person.
- orbit (noun): A circular or elliptical path of a celestial object or spacecraft around a star, planet, moon, or Lagrange point, especially a periodic elliptical revolution.
- poop (verb): To make a short blast on a horn.
- poor (adjective): With no or few possessions or money, particularly in relation to contemporaries who do have them.
- poppy (noun): Any plant of the genus Papaver or the family Papaveraceae, with crumpled, often red, petals and a milky juice having narcotic properties; especially the common poppy or corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) which has orange-red flowers; the flower of such a plant.
- port (noun): A place on the coast at which ships can shelter, or dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.
- potty (noun): A chamber pot, particularly the pot used when toilet-training children.
- prior (adjective): Advance; previous; coming before.
- priority (noun): An item's relative importance.
- priory (noun): A monastery or convent governed by a prior or prioress.
- probity† (noun): Integrity, especially of the quality of having strong moral principles; decency and honesty.
- prop (noun): An object placed against or under another, to support it; anything that supports.
- pyro (noun): A pyromaniac.
- riot (noun): A tumultuous disturbance of the public peace by a large group of people, often involving violence or damage to property.
- robot (noun): A system of serfdom used in Central Europe, under which a tenant's rent was paid in forced labour.
- root (noun): The part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors and supports the plant body, absorbs and stores water and nutrients, and in some plants is able to perform vegetative reproduction.
- ropy (adjective): Resembling rope in appearance or texture, used especially of muscles that are thick or hard to the touch.
- roti (noun): A kind of unleavened flatbread commonly consumed in South Asia and the Caribbean.
- roto (noun): Clipping of rotogravure.
- rotor (noun): A rotating part of a mechanical device; for example, in an electric motor, generator, alternator, or pump.
- tiptop (noun): The very topmost point.
- toot (noun): The noise of a horn or whistle.
- tori (noun): plural of torus
- torii (noun): A traditional Japanese gate at Shinto shrines, symbolically marking the transition from the profane to the sacred.
- toro (noun): A traditional Japanese lantern.
- torpor (noun): A state of being inactive or stuporous.
- tort (noun): An injury or wrong.
- trio (noun): A group of three people or things.
- troop (noun): A collection of people; a number; a multitude (in general).
- trot (noun): An ugly old woman, a hag.
- troy (adjective): Of, or relating to, troy weight.
- typo (noun): A typographical error.
- tyro (noun): A beginner; a novice.