NYT Spelling Bee Answers for February 16, 2020
Game Summary
| Center Letter | A |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | c, e, g, h, n, x |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 23 words |
| Total Points | 91 points |
| Genius Level | 64 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 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | 3 |
| C | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | 6 |
| E | 1 | - | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| G | 3 | - | - | 1 | - | 4 |
| H | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 |
| N | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| X | - | - | - | - | - | - | Σ | 11 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 23 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AC×2 AN×1 |
|---|---|
| C | CA×4 CH×2 |
| E | EA×1 EN×3 EX×1 |
| G | GA×4 |
| H | HA×1 HE×2 |
| N | NA×2 |
| X |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ACH×1 ACN×1 ANN×1 |
|---|---|
| C | CAC×1 CAG×1 CAN×2 CHA×2 |
| E | EAC×1 ENC×1 ENG×1 ENH×1 EXC×1 |
| G | GAG×2 GAN×2 |
| H | HAN×1 HEN×1 HEX×1 |
| N | NAA×1 NAN×1 |
| X |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| ac.. | AC4 | To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed. |
| ac.. | AC4 | A skin condition, usually of the face, that is common in adolescents. It is characterised by red pimples, and is caused by the inflammation of sebaceous glands through bacterial infection. |
| an... | AN5 | An addition, an extension. |
| ca... | CA5 | A store of things that may be required in the future, which can be retrieved rapidly, protected or hidden in some way. |
| ca.. | CA4 | An enclosure made of bars, normally to hold animals. |
| ca.... | CA6 | A high-kicking chorus line dance originating in France. |
| ca.. | CA4 | A plant with simple stems, like bamboo or sugar cane, or the stem thereof The slender, flexible main stem of a plant such as bamboo, including many species in the grass family Gramineae |
| ch.... | CH6 | An opportunity or possibility. |
| ch.... | CH6 | To become something different. |
| ea.. | EA4 | All; every; qualifying a singular noun, indicating all examples of the thing so named seen as individual or separate items (compare every). |
| en.... | EN6 | To lock inside a cage; to imprison. |
| en.... | EN6 | To interact socially. To engross or hold the attention of; to keep busy or occupied. To draw into conversation. To attract, to please; to fascinate or win over (someone). |
| en..... | EN7 | To lift, raise up. |
| ex...... † | EX8 | An act of exchanging or trading. |
| ga.. | GA4 | Mentally senile. |
| ga.. | GA4 | To bind by pledge, or security; to engage. |
| ga..... | GA7 | A rich sauce, made of chocolate and cream, used also as the filling of truffles, and as a glaze. |
| ga.. | GA4 | To go; walk; proceed. |
| ha.. | HA4 | To be or remain suspended. |
| he... | HE5 | A shrub, Lawsonia inermis, having fragrant reddish flowers |
| he.... | HE6 | Any of five isomeric aliphatic hydrocarbons, C6H14. They are colorless, volatile liquids. |
| na.. | NA4 | A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine. |
| na.. | NA4 | A banana. |
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.
- ache (AC4)
- acne (AC4)
- annex (AN5)
- cache (CA5)
- cage (CA4)
- cancan (CA6)
- cane (CA4)
- chance (CH6)
- change (CH6)
- each (EA4)
- encage (EN6)
- engage (EN6)
- enhance (EN7)
- exchange† (EX8)
- gaga (GA4)
- gage (GA4)
- ganache (GA7)
- gang (GA4)
- hang (HA4)
- henna (HE5)
- hexane (HE6)
- naan (NA4)
- nana (NA4)
Answer Definitions
- ache (verb): To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed.
- acne (noun): A skin condition, usually of the face, that is common in adolescents. It is characterised by red pimples, and is caused by the inflammation of sebaceous glands through bacterial infection.
- annex (noun): An addition, an extension.
- cache (noun): A store of things that may be required in the future, which can be retrieved rapidly, protected or hidden in some way.
- cage (noun): An enclosure made of bars, normally to hold animals.
- cancan (noun): A high-kicking chorus line dance originating in France.
- cane (noun): A plant with simple stems, like bamboo or sugar cane, or the stem thereof The slender, flexible main stem of a plant such as bamboo, including many species in the grass family Gramineae
- chance (noun): An opportunity or possibility.
- change (verb): To become something different.
- each (determiner): All; every; qualifying a singular noun, indicating all examples of the thing so named seen as individual or separate items (compare every).
- encage (verb): To lock inside a cage; to imprison.
- engage (verb): To interact socially. To engross or hold the attention of; to keep busy or occupied. To draw into conversation. To attract, to please; to fascinate or win over (someone).
- enhance (verb): To lift, raise up.
- exchange† (noun): An act of exchanging or trading.
- gaga (adjective): Mentally senile.
- gage (verb): To bind by pledge, or security; to engage.
- ganache (noun): A rich sauce, made of chocolate and cream, used also as the filling of truffles, and as a glaze.
- gang (verb): To go; walk; proceed.
- hang (verb): To be or remain suspended.
- henna (noun): A shrub, Lawsonia inermis, having fragrant reddish flowers
- hexane (noun): Any of five isomeric aliphatic hydrocarbons, C6H14. They are colorless, volatile liquids.
- naan (noun): A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.
- nana (noun): A banana.