NYT Spelling Bee Answers for December 16, 2019

Dec 16, 2019 · 7 min read · spelling bee ·

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Spelling Bee "Hive" Board for December 16, 2019

Game Summary

Center Letter	N
Outer Letters	g, o, r, t, u, w
# of Pangrams	1 (Perfect: none)
Total Words	30 words
Total Points	106 points
Genius Level	74 points
Bingo?	Yes

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
G	3	2	1	-	-	6
N	2	-	-	-	-	2
O	1	-	2	1	1	5
R	2	-	1	-	-	3
T	5	-	-	1	-	6
U	1	1	1	-	-	3
W	2	2	1	-	-	5
Σ	16	5	6	2	1	30

Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints

The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.

G	GO×4 GR×2
N	NO×2
O	ON×1 OU×4
R	RU×3
T	TO×4 TU×2
U	UN×3
W	WO×3 WR×2

Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints

The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.

G	GON×1 GOO×1 GOR×1 GOW×1 GRO×1 GRU×1
N	NOO×1 NOU×1
O	ONT×1 OUT×4
R	RUN×3
T	TON×1 TOO×1 TOR×1 TOW×1 TUR×2
U	UNT×1 UNW×2
W	WON×2 WOR×1 WRO×1 WRU×1

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)
go..	GO4	A percussion instrument consisting of a metal disk that emits a sonorous sound when struck with a soft hammer.
go..	GO4	A thug; a usually muscular henchman with little intelligence (also known as a 'hired goon').
go....	GO6	A vicious female monster from Greek mythology with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes. One of the three sisters: Medusa, Stheno and Euryale
go..	GO4	A loose, flowing upper garment.
gr...	GR5	past participle of grow
gr...	GR5	A short snorting sound, often to show disapproval, or used as a reply when one is reluctant to speak.
no..	NO4	The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.
no..	NO4	A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea; one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English.
on..	ON4	Upon; on top of.
ou...... ^†	OU8	past participle of outgrow
ou....	OU6	To defeat in terms of firepower.
ou....	OU6	To run faster than.
ou.....	OU7	past participle of outwear
ru..	RU4	A crosspiece forming a step of a ladder; a round.
ru....	RU6	Something that has been run out.
ru..	RU4	The smallest animal of a litter.
to..	TO4	An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands.
to..	TO4	A cartoon, especially an animated television show.
to..	TO4	past participle of tear (rip, rend, speed).
to..	TO4	A settlement; an area with residential districts, shops and amenities, and its own local government; especially one larger than a village and smaller than a city, historically enclosed by a fence or walls, with total populations ranging from several hundred to more than a hundred thousand (as of the early 21st century)
tu..	TU4	To make a non-linear physical movement. Of a body, person, etc, to move around an axis through itself.
tu.....	TU7	The act of coming forth.
un..	UN4	Up to the time or degree that; until.
un...	UN5	Not won.
un....	UN6	Not having been worn, as clothing.
wo..	WO4	One's habitual way of doing things; custom, habit, practice.
wo....	WO6	A Chinese dumpling, often stuffed with varieties of meat or seafood and vegetables.
wo..	WO4	Damaged and shabby as a result of much use.
wr...	WR5	Incorrect or untrue.
wr...	WR5	simple past tense and past participle of wring

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.

gong (GO4)
goon (GO4)
gorgon (GO6)
gown (GO4)
grown (GR5)
grunt (GR5)
noon (NO4)
noun (NO4)
onto (ON4)
outgrown^† (OU8)
outgun (OU6)
outrun (OU6)
outworn (OU7)
rung (RU4)
runout (RU6)
runt (RU4)
tong (TO4)
toon (TO4)
torn (TO4)
town (TO4)
turn (TU4)
turnout (TU7)
unto (UN4)
unwon (UN5)
unworn (UN6)
wont (WO4)
wonton (WO6)
worn (WO4)
wrong (WR5)
wrung (WR5)

Answer Definitions

gong (noun): A percussion instrument consisting of a metal disk that emits a sonorous sound when struck with a soft hammer.
goon (noun): A thug; a usually muscular henchman with little intelligence (also known as a 'hired goon').
gorgon (noun): A vicious female monster from Greek mythology with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes. One of the three sisters: Medusa, Stheno and Euryale
gown (noun): A loose, flowing upper garment.
grown (verb): past participle of grow
grunt (noun): A short snorting sound, often to show disapproval, or used as a reply when one is reluctant to speak.
noon (noun): The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.
noun (noun): A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea; one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English.
onto (preposition): Upon; on top of.
outgrown^† (verb): past participle of outgrow
outgun (verb): To defeat in terms of firepower.
outrun (verb): To run faster than.
outworn (verb): past participle of outwear
rung (noun): A crosspiece forming a step of a ladder; a round.
runout (noun): Something that has been run out.
runt (noun): The smallest animal of a litter.
tong (noun): An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands.
toon (noun): A cartoon, especially an animated television show.
torn (verb): past participle of tear (rip, rend, speed).
town (noun): A settlement; an area with residential districts, shops and amenities, and its own local government; especially one larger than a village and smaller than a city, historically enclosed by a fence or walls, with total populations ranging from several hundred to more than a hundred thousand (as of the early 21st century)
turn (verb): To make a non-linear physical movement. Of a body, person, etc, to move around an axis through itself.
turnout (noun): The act of coming forth.
unto (conjunction): Up to the time or degree that; until.
unwon (adjective): Not won.
unworn (adjective): Not having been worn, as clothing.
wont (noun): One's habitual way of doing things; custom, habit, practice.
wonton (noun): A Chinese dumpling, often stuffed with varieties of meat or seafood and vegetables.
worn (adjective): Damaged and shabby as a result of much use.
wrong (adjective): Incorrect or untrue.
wrung (verb): simple past tense and past participle of wring