NYT Spelling Bee Answers for January 5, 2020
Game Summary
| Center Letter | T |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, d, f, l, o, w |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 34 words |
| Total Points | 126 points |
| Genius Level | 88 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | 4 | 1 | - | - | 6 |
| D | 3 | - | - | - | 1 | 4 |
| F | 2 | 3 | - | - | 3 | 8 |
| L | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | 3 |
| O | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| T | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | 10 |
| W | 3 | - | - | - | - | 3 | Σ | 17 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 34 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AF×2 AL×3 AT×1 |
|---|---|
| D | DA×3 DO×1 |
| F | FA×2 FL×3 FO×3 |
| L | LO×3 |
| O | |
| T | TA×3 TO×6 TW×1 |
| W | WA×2 WO×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | AFL×1 AFO×1 ALL×1 ALO×1 ALT×1 ATO×1 |
|---|---|
| D | DAF×1 DAT×2 DOL×1 |
| F | FAT×2 FLA×2 FLO×1 FOO×3 |
| L | LOF×1 LOO×1 LOT×1 |
| O | |
| T | TAL×2 TAT×1 TOA×1 TOL×2 TOO×2 TOT×1 TWO×1 |
| W | WAF×1 WAT×1 WOO×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) |
|---|---|---|
| af.... | AF6 | Floating. |
| af... | AF5 | On foot. (means of locomotion, walking) |
| al... | AL5 | To distribute or apportion by (or as if by) lot. |
| al... | AL5 | At, to, or in the air or sky. |
| al.. | AL4 | A musical part or section higher than tenor and lower than soprano, formerly the part that performed a countermelody above the tenor or main melody. |
| at... | AT5 | a type of island consisting of a ribbon reef that nearly or entirely surrounds a lagoon and supports, in most cases, one to many islets on the reef platform. Atolls have a unique geology, so not all islands with a reef and a lagoon are atolls |
| da.. | DA4 | Foolish, silly, stupid. |
| da.. | DA4 | plural of datum |
| da...... † | DA8 | Alternative spelling of data flow |
| do.. | DO4 | A stupid person; a blockhead or dullard. |
| fa... | FA5 | Proceeding from, or appointed by, fate or destiny. |
| fa... | FA5 | A legal opinion, decree or ruling issued by a mufti or other Islamic lawyer. |
| fl.. | FL4 | Having no variations in height. |
| fl...... | FL8 | A condition in which the arch of the foot makes contact with the ground. |
| fl... | FL5 | To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object). |
| fo.. | FO4 | A biological structure found in many animals that is used for locomotion and that is frequently a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg. |
| fo...... | FO8 | The sound made by a footstep; also, the footstep or step itself. |
| fo...... | FO8 | The section of rock that extends below a diagonal fault line (the corresponding upper section being the hanging wall). |
| lo.. | LO4 | air, the air; the sky, the heavens. |
| lo.. | LO4 | A scoop used to remove scum from brine pans in saltworks. |
| lo... | LO5 | a game of chance similar to bingo |
| ta.. | TA4 | Having a vertical extent greater than the average. For example, somebody with a height of over 6 feet would generally be considered to be tall. |
| ta.... | TA6 | A hard animal fat obtained from suet, etc.; used in cooking as well as to make candles, soap and lubricants. |
| ta.... | TA6 | An image made in the skin with ink and a needle. |
| to.. | TO4 | An amphibian, a kind of frog (order Anura) with shorter hindlegs and a drier, wartier skin, many in family Bufonidae. |
| to.. | TO4 | simple past tense and past participle of tell |
| to.. | TO4 | Loss or damage incurred through a disaster. |
| to.. | TO4 | A mechanical device intended to make a task easier. |
| to.. | TO4 | The noise of a horn or whistle. |
| to... | TO5 | An amount obtained by the addition of smaller amounts. |
| tw..... | TW7 | Double; duplicate; multiplied by two. |
| wa.. | WA4 | To (cause to) float easily or gently through the air. |
| wa.. | WA4 | In the International System of Units, the derived unit of power; the power of a system in which one joule of energy is transferred per second. Symbol: W |
| wo.. | WO4 | Alternative form of w00t |
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.
- afloat (AF6)
- afoot (AF5)
- allot (AL5)
- aloft (AL5)
- alto (AL4)
- atoll (AT5)
- daft (DA4)
- data (DA4)
- dataflow† (DA8)
- dolt (DO4)
- fatal (FA5)
- fatwa (FA5)
- flat (FL4)
- flatfoot (FL8)
- float (FL5)
- foot (FO4)
- footfall (FO8)
- footwall (FO8)
- loft (LO4)
- loot (LO4)
- lotto (LO5)
- tall (TA4)
- tallow (TA6)
- tattoo (TA6)
- toad (TO4)
- told (TO4)
- toll (TO4)
- tool (TO4)
- toot (TO4)
- total (TO5)
- twofold (TW7)
- waft (WA4)
- watt (WA4)
- woot (WO4)
Answer Definitions
- afloat (adverb): Floating.
- afoot (adverb): On foot. (means of locomotion, walking)
- allot (verb): To distribute or apportion by (or as if by) lot.
- aloft (adverb): At, to, or in the air or sky.
- alto (noun): A musical part or section higher than tenor and lower than soprano, formerly the part that performed a countermelody above the tenor or main melody.
- atoll (noun): a type of island consisting of a ribbon reef that nearly or entirely surrounds a lagoon and supports, in most cases, one to many islets on the reef platform. Atolls have a unique geology, so not all islands with a reef and a lagoon are atolls
- daft (adjective): Foolish, silly, stupid.
- data (noun): plural of datum
- dataflow† (noun): Alternative spelling of data flow
- dolt (noun): A stupid person; a blockhead or dullard.
- fatal (adjective): Proceeding from, or appointed by, fate or destiny.
- fatwa (noun): A legal opinion, decree or ruling issued by a mufti or other Islamic lawyer.
- flat (adjective): Having no variations in height.
- flatfoot (noun): A condition in which the arch of the foot makes contact with the ground.
- float (verb): To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object).
- foot (noun): A biological structure found in many animals that is used for locomotion and that is frequently a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg.
- footfall (noun): The sound made by a footstep; also, the footstep or step itself.
- footwall (noun): The section of rock that extends below a diagonal fault line (the corresponding upper section being the hanging wall).
- loft (noun): air, the air; the sky, the heavens.
- loot (noun): A scoop used to remove scum from brine pans in saltworks.
- lotto (noun): a game of chance similar to bingo
- tall (adjective): Having a vertical extent greater than the average. For example, somebody with a height of over 6 feet would generally be considered to be tall.
- tallow (noun): A hard animal fat obtained from suet, etc.; used in cooking as well as to make candles, soap and lubricants.
- tattoo (noun): An image made in the skin with ink and a needle.
- toad (noun): An amphibian, a kind of frog (order Anura) with shorter hindlegs and a drier, wartier skin, many in family Bufonidae.
- told (verb): simple past tense and past participle of tell
- toll (noun): Loss or damage incurred through a disaster.
- tool (noun): A mechanical device intended to make a task easier.
- toot (noun): The noise of a horn or whistle.
- total (noun): An amount obtained by the addition of smaller amounts.
- twofold (adjective): Double; duplicate; multiplied by two.
- waft (verb): To (cause to) float easily or gently through the air.
- watt (noun): In the International System of Units, the derived unit of power; the power of a system in which one joule of energy is transferred per second. Symbol: W
- woot (interjection): Alternative form of w00t