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.

• alack  (AL5)
• allele  (AL6)
• alpaca  (AL6)
• apace  (AP5)
• appall  (AP6)
• appeal  (AP6)
• apple  (AP5)
• applejack^†  (AP9)
• cackle  (CA6)
• cake  (CA4)
• call  (CA4)
• calla  (CA5)
• cape  (CA4)
• clack  (CL5)
• clap  (CL4)
• jack  (JA4)
• jackal  (JA6)
• jake  (JA4)
• jape  (JA4)
• kale  (KA4)
• kappa  (KA5)
• lace  (LA4)
• lack  (LA4)
• lake  (LA4)
• lapel  (LA5)
• leak  (LE4)
• leap  (LE4)
• pace  (PA4)
• pack  (PA4)
• paella  (PA6)
• palace  (PA6)
• pale  (PA4)
• pall  (PA4)
• palp  (PA4)
• papa  (PA4)
• papal  (PA5)
• peace  (PE5)
• peak  (PE4)
• peal  (PE4)
• place  (PL5)
• plea  (PL4)

Answer Definitions

• alack (interjection): An expression of sorrow or mourning.
• allele (noun): One of a number of alternative forms of the same gene occupying a given position, or locus, on a chromosome.
• alpaca (noun): A sheep-like animal of the Andes, Vicugna pacos, in the camel family, closely related to the llama, guanaco, and vicuña.
• apace (adverb): Quickly, rapidly, with speed.
• appall (verb): To fill with horror; to dismay.
• appeal (noun): An application to a superior court or judge for a decision or order by an inferior court or judge to be reviewed and overturned. The legal document or form by which such an application is made; also, the court case in which the application is argued. A person's legal right to apply to court for such a review.
• apple (noun): A common, round fruit produced by the tree Malus domestica, cultivated in temperate climates.
• applejack^† (noun): An alcoholic drink similar to apple brandy and calvados, made by freeze-distilling ("jacking") apple cider.
• cackle (noun): The cry of a hen or goose, especially when laying an egg.
• cake (noun): A rich, sweet dessert food, typically made of flour, sugar, and eggs and baked in an oven, and often covered in icing.
• 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.
• cape (noun): A piece or point of land, extending beyond the adjacent coast into a sea or lake; a promontory; a headland.
• clack (noun): An abrupt, sharp sound, especially one made by two hard objects colliding repetitively; a sound midway between a click and a clunk.
• clap (noun): The act of striking the palms of the hands, or any two surfaces, together.
• jack (noun): A coarse mediaeval coat of defence, especially one made of leather.
• jackal (noun): Any of certain wild canids of the genus Canis, native to the tropical Old World and smaller than a wolf.
• jake (adjective): Adequate; satisfactory; acceptable.
• jape (noun): A joke or quip.
• kale (noun): An edible plant, similar to cabbage, with curled leaves that do not form a dense head (Brassica oleracea var. acephala)
• kappa (noun): The tenth letter of the Greek alphabet.
• lace (noun): A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread.
• lack (noun): A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want.
• lake (noun): A large, landlocked stretch of water or similar liquid.
• lapel (noun): Each of the two triangular pieces of cloth on the front of a jacket or coat that are folded back below the throat, leaving a triangular opening between.
• leak (noun): A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape.
• leap (verb): To jump.
• pace (noun): Step. A step taken with the foot. The distance covered in a step (or sometimes two), either vaguely or according to various specific set measurements.
• pack (noun): A bundle made up and prepared to be carried; especially, a bundle to be carried on the back, but also a load for an animal, a bale.
• paella (noun): A savory Valencian dish made of rice, cooked in a frying pan with vegetables and meat or shellfish.
• palace (noun): Official residence of a head of state or other dignitary, especially in a monarchical or imperial governmental system.
• pale (adjective): Light in color.
• pall (noun): Senses relating to cloth. Fine cloth, especially purple cloth used for robes. A heavy cloth laid over a coffin or tomb; a shroud laid over a corpse. A piece of cardboard, covered with linen and embroidered on one side, used to cover the chalice during the Eucharist. A cloth used for various purposes on the altar in a church, such as a corporal (“cloth on which elements of the Eucharist are placed”) or frontal (“drapery covering the front of an altar”).
• palp (noun): Synonym of pedipalp.
• papa (noun): Dad, daddy, father; a familiar or old-fashioned term of address to one’s father.
• papal (adjective): Having to do with the pope or the papacy.
• peace (noun): A state of tranquility, quiet, and harmony; absence of violence. For instance, a state free from civil disturbance.
• peak (noun): A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.
• peal (noun): A loud sound, or a succession of loud sounds, as of bells, thunder, cannon, shouts, laughter, of a multitude, etc.
• place (noun): An area; somewhere within an area. An open space, particularly a city square, market square, or courtyard. A street, sometimes but not always surrounding a public place, square, or plaza of the same name.
• plea (noun): An appeal, petition, urgent prayer or entreaty.