NYT Spelling Bee Answers for September 9, 2019
Game Summary
| Center Letter | A |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | b, c, k, l, o, w |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 44 words |
| Total Points | 177 points |
| Genius Level | 124 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</th><th>9 | Σ | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| B | 8 | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| C | 5 | 6 | 3 | - | 2 | - | 16 |
| K | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| L | 1 | 1 | - | 2 | - | - | 4 |
| O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| W | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 5 | Σ | 18 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 44 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AB×1 AL×2 |
|---|---|
| B | BA×7 BL×4 BO×2 |
| C | CA×8 CL×4 CO×4 |
| K | KA×1 KO×2 |
| L | LA×2 LO×2 |
| O | |
| W | WA×5 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ABA×1 ALA×1 ALL×1 |
|---|---|
| B | BAB×2 BAC×1 BAL×2 BAO×1 BAW×1 BLA×3 BLO×1 BOB×1 BOL×1 |
| C | CAB×2 CAC×1 CAL×5 CLA×2 CLO×2 COA×1 COC×2 COL×1 |
| K | KAB×1 KOA×1 KOL×1 |
| L | LAC×1 LAW×1 LOC×1 LOW×1 |
| O | |
| W | WAC×2 WAL×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) |
|---|---|---|
| ab... | AB5 | Toward the rear; Phrase: 'to be taken ____', meaning 'surprised'. |
| al... | AL5 | An expression of sorrow or mourning. |
| al... | AL5 | To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let one have. |
| ba.. | BA4 | A kind of sponge cake soaked in rum-flavoured syrup. |
| ba... | BA5 | A Central and Eastern European coffee cake flavored with orange rind, rum, almonds, and raisins. |
| ba.. | BA4 | At or near the rear. |
| ba.. | BA4 | An uncultivated ridge formed in the open field system, caused by the action of ploughing. |
| ba.. | BA4 | A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass. |
| ba.... | BA6 | A tree, Adansonia digitata (and similar species), native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits. |
| ba.. | BA4 | To shout or utter in a loud and intense manner. |
| bl.. | BL4 | To tell tales; to gossip without reserve or discretion. |
| bl... | BL5 | Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless. |
| bl....... | BL9 | A rejection; a vote against admitting someone. |
| bl...... † | BL8 | A type of action where the pressure from the fired cartridge blows a sliding mechanism backward to extract the fired cartridge, chamber another cartridge, and cock the hammer. |
| bo.. | BO4 | Synonym of tapioca pearl. |
| bo.. | BO4 | A throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of a cord. |
| ca... | CA5 | A secret political clique or faction. |
| ca.... | CA6 | Alternative spelling of Kabballah |
| ca... | CA5 | A tree, Theobroma cacao, whose seed is used to make chocolate. |
| ca.. | CA4 | A telephone conversation; a phone call. |
| ca... | CA5 | A marsh plant native to cooler areas throughout the northern hemisphere, Calla palustris, having pale green flowers in a white spathe. |
| ca...... | CA8 | Any of various tropical plants grown in the Americas, especially of the genera Amaranthus and Xanthosoma, cultivated for their edible leaves. |
| ca...... | CA8 | The return of a situation to a previous position or state. |
| ca.... | CA6 | Bald, hairless, bare. |
| cl... | CL5 | An abrupt, sharp sound, especially one made by two hard objects colliding repetitively; a sound midway between a click and a clunk. |
| cl.. | CL4 | A curved, pointed horny nail on each digit of the foot of a mammal, reptile, or bird. |
| cl.... | CL6 | A sewer. |
| cl... | CL5 | A long outer garment worn over the shoulders covering the back; a cape, often with a hood. |
| co.. | CO4 | A black or brownish black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel. |
| co.. | CO4 | Any of the four cultivated plants which belong to the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. |
| co... | CO5 | The dried and partially fermented fatty seeds of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made. |
| co.. | CO4 | The kola plant, genus Cola, famous for its nut, or one of these nuts. |
| ka... | KA5 | US spelling of kebab |
| ko... | KO5 | A tree-dwelling marsupial, Phascolarctos cinereus, that resembles a small bear with a broad head, large ears and sharp claws, mainly found in eastern Australia. |
| ko.. | KO4 | A tree, genus Cola, bearing large brown seeds ("nuts") that are the source of cola extract. |
| la.. | LA4 | A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want. |
| la..... | LA7 | A book in which laws are codified. |
| lo... | LO5 | From or in a nearby location. |
| lo..... | LO7 | This term needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text {{rfdef}}. |
| wa.. | WA4 | Exceptionally bad, egregious. |
| wa... | WA5 | Amusingly eccentric or irrational. |
| wa.. | WA4 | To move on the feet by alternately setting each foot (or pair or group of feet, in the case of animals with four or more feet) forward, with at least one foot on the ground at all times. Compare run. |
| wa.. | WA4 | A rampart of earth, stones etc. built up for defensive purposes. |
| wa.... | WA6 | To roll oneself about in something dirty, for example in mud. |
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.
- aback (AB5)
- alack (AL5)
- allow (AL5)
- baba (BA4)
- babka (BA5)
- back (BA4)
- balk (BA4)
- ball (BA4)
- baobab (BA6)
- bawl (BA4)
- blab (BL4)
- black (BL5)
- blackball (BL9)
- blowback† (BL8)
- boba (BO4)
- bola (BO4)
- cabal (CA5)
- cabala (CA6)
- cacao (CA5)
- call (CA4)
- calla (CA5)
- callaloo (CA8)
- callback (CA8)
- callow (CA6)
- clack (CL5)
- claw (CL4)
- cloaca (CL6)
- cloak (CL5)
- coal (CO4)
- coca (CO4)
- cocoa (CO5)
- cola (CO4)
- kabob (KA5)
- koala (KO5)
- kola (KO4)
- lack (LA4)
- lawbook (LA7)
- local (LO5)
- lowball (LO7)
- wack (WA4)
- wacko (WA5)
- walk (WA4)
- wall (WA4)
- wallow (WA6)
Answer Definitions
- aback (adverb): Toward the rear; Phrase: 'to be taken ____', meaning 'surprised'.
- alack (interjection): An expression of sorrow or mourning.
- allow (verb): To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let one have.
- baba (noun): A kind of sponge cake soaked in rum-flavoured syrup.
- babka (noun): A Central and Eastern European coffee cake flavored with orange rind, rum, almonds, and raisins.
- back (adjective): At or near the rear.
- balk (noun): An uncultivated ridge formed in the open field system, caused by the action of ploughing.
- ball (noun): A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.
- baobab (noun): A tree, Adansonia digitata (and similar species), native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits.
- bawl (verb): To shout or utter in a loud and intense manner.
- blab (verb): To tell tales; to gossip without reserve or discretion.
- black (adjective): Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless.
- blackball (noun): A rejection; a vote against admitting someone.
- blowback† (noun): A type of action where the pressure from the fired cartridge blows a sliding mechanism backward to extract the fired cartridge, chamber another cartridge, and cock the hammer.
- boba (noun): Synonym of tapioca pearl.
- bola (noun): A throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of a cord.
- cabal (noun): A secret political clique or faction.
- cabala (proper noun): Alternative spelling of Kabballah
- cacao (noun): A tree, Theobroma cacao, whose seed is used to make chocolate.
- 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.
- callaloo (noun): Any of various tropical plants grown in the Americas, especially of the genera Amaranthus and Xanthosoma, cultivated for their edible leaves.
- callback (noun): The return of a situation to a previous position or state.
- callow (adjective): Bald, hairless, bare.
- clack (noun): An abrupt, sharp sound, especially one made by two hard objects colliding repetitively; a sound midway between a click and a clunk.
- claw (noun): A curved, pointed horny nail on each digit of the foot of a mammal, reptile, or bird.
- cloaca (noun): A sewer.
- cloak (noun): A long outer garment worn over the shoulders covering the back; a cape, often with a hood.
- coal (noun): A black or brownish black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.
- coca (noun): Any of the four cultivated plants which belong to the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America.
- cocoa (noun): The dried and partially fermented fatty seeds of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made.
- cola (noun): The kola plant, genus Cola, famous for its nut, or one of these nuts.
- kabob (noun): US spelling of kebab
- koala (noun): A tree-dwelling marsupial, Phascolarctos cinereus, that resembles a small bear with a broad head, large ears and sharp claws, mainly found in eastern Australia.
- kola (noun): A tree, genus Cola, bearing large brown seeds ("nuts") that are the source of cola extract.
- lack (noun): A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want.
- lawbook (noun): A book in which laws are codified.
- local (adjective): From or in a nearby location.
- lowball (adjective): This term needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
- wack (adjective): Exceptionally bad, egregious.
- wacko (adjective): Amusingly eccentric or irrational.
- walk (verb): To move on the feet by alternately setting each foot (or pair or group of feet, in the case of animals with four or more feet) forward, with at least one foot on the ground at all times. Compare run.
- wall (noun): A rampart of earth, stones etc. built up for defensive purposes.
- wallow (verb): To roll oneself about in something dirty, for example in mud.