NYT Spelling Bee Answers for January 2, 2020
Game Summary
| Center Letter | L |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | d, i, k, n, u, y |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 23 words |
| Total Points | 75 points |
| Genius Level | 53 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 6 |
| I | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | 4 |
| K | 2 | - | 1 | 1 | - | 4 |
| L | 5 | - | - | - | - | 5 |
| N | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| U | - | - | 2 | - | 1 | 3 |
| Y | - | - | - | - | - | - | Σ | 14 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 23 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| D | DI×3 DU×3 |
|---|---|
| I | ID×3 IL×1 |
| K | KI×4 |
| L | LI×2 LU×3 |
| N | NU×1 |
| U | UN×3 |
| Y |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| D | DID×1 DIL×2 DUL×3 |
|---|---|
| I | IDL×1 IDY×2 ILL×1 |
| K | KIL×2 KIN×2 |
| L | LIL×1 LIN×1 LUL×2 LUN×1 |
| N | NUL×1 |
| U | UND×1 UNK×1 UNL×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) |
|---|---|---|
| di.... | DI6 | A small amount of no worth. |
| di.. | DI4 | Anethum graveolens (the type species of the genus Anethum), a herb, the seeds of which are moderately warming, pungent, and aromatic, formerly used as a soothing medicine for children; also known as dillseed. |
| di... | DI5 | Redolent of dill (the herb). |
| du.. | DU4 | Lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp. |
| du... | DU5 | In a dull manner; without liveliness; without lustre. |
| du.. | DU4 | In a due, fit, or becoming manner; as it ought to be; properly. |
| id.. | ID4 | Without specific purpose, intent or effort. |
| id.. | ID4 | Alternative spelling of idyll |
| id... | ID5 | Any poem or short written piece composed in the style of Theocritus' short pastoral poems, the Idylls. |
| il.. | IL4 | Badly; poorly. |
| ki.. | KI4 | To put to death; to extinguish the life of. |
| ki.. | KI4 | An oven or furnace or a heated chamber, for the purpose of hardening, burning, calcining or drying anything; for example, firing ceramics, curing or preserving tobacco, or drying grain. |
| ki.... | KI6 | Having a kind personality; kind, warmhearted, sympathetic. |
| ki..... | KI7 | In a kinky manner. |
| li.. | LI4 | Any of several flowers in the genus Lilium of the family Liliaceae, which includes a great many ornamental species. |
| li.. | LI4 | A connection between places, people, events, things, or ideas. |
| lu.. | LU4 | A period of rest or soothing. |
| lu.. | LU4 | A remarkable person, object or idea. |
| lu.. | LU4 | A fool; an idiot; a lunkhead. |
| nu.. | NU4 | A non-existent or empty value or set of values. |
| un.... | UN6 | Undeservedly; in a way that is not warranted. |
| un...... † | UN8 | Not kindly. Not kind, lacking in friendliness, warm-heartedness or sympathy. Rough, unfavourable, bad. Unnatural, contrary to the natural or proper order of things. |
| un.... | UN6 | To decouple; to remove a link from, or separate the links of. |
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.
- diddly (DI6)
- dill (DI4)
- dilly (DI5)
- dull (DU4)
- dully (DU5)
- duly (DU4)
- idly (ID4)
- idyl (ID4)
- idyll (ID5)
- illy (IL4)
- kill (KI4)
- kiln (KI4)
- kindly (KI6)
- kinkily (KI7)
- lily (LI4)
- link (LI4)
- lull (LU4)
- lulu (LU4)
- lunk (LU4)
- null (NU4)
- unduly (UN6)
- unkindly† (UN8)
- unlink (UN6)
Answer Definitions
- diddly (noun): A small amount of no worth.
- dill (noun): Anethum graveolens (the type species of the genus Anethum), a herb, the seeds of which are moderately warming, pungent, and aromatic, formerly used as a soothing medicine for children; also known as dillseed.
- dilly (adjective): Redolent of dill (the herb).
- dull (adjective): Lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp.
- dully (adverb): In a dull manner; without liveliness; without lustre.
- duly (adverb): In a due, fit, or becoming manner; as it ought to be; properly.
- idly (adverb): Without specific purpose, intent or effort.
- idyl (noun): Alternative spelling of idyll
- idyll (noun): Any poem or short written piece composed in the style of Theocritus' short pastoral poems, the Idylls.
- illy (adverb): Badly; poorly.
- kill (verb): To put to death; to extinguish the life of.
- kiln (noun): An oven or furnace or a heated chamber, for the purpose of hardening, burning, calcining or drying anything; for example, firing ceramics, curing or preserving tobacco, or drying grain.
- kindly (adjective): Having a kind personality; kind, warmhearted, sympathetic.
- kinkily (adverb): In a kinky manner.
- lily (noun): Any of several flowers in the genus Lilium of the family Liliaceae, which includes a great many ornamental species.
- link (noun): A connection between places, people, events, things, or ideas.
- lull (noun): A period of rest or soothing.
- lulu (noun): A remarkable person, object or idea.
- lunk (noun): A fool; an idiot; a lunkhead.
- null (noun): A non-existent or empty value or set of values.
- unduly (adverb): Undeservedly; in a way that is not warranted.
- unkindly† (adjective): Not kindly. Not kind, lacking in friendliness, warm-heartedness or sympathy. Rough, unfavourable, bad. Unnatural, contrary to the natural or proper order of things.
- unlink (verb): To decouple; to remove a link from, or separate the links of.