NYT Spelling Bee Answers for May 9, 2020
Game Summary
| Center Letter | R |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | f, h, i, o, t, w |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 29 words |
| Total Points | 94 points |
| Genius Level | 66 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 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | 1 | 5 |
| H | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| I | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R | 7 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 8 |
| T | 5 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | 9 |
| W | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 6 | Σ | 16 | 10 | 2 | - | - | 1 | 29 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| F | FI×1 FO×3 FR×1 |
|---|---|
| H | HO×1 |
| I | |
| O | |
| R | RI×3 RO×5 |
| T | TH×2 TO×4 TR×3 |
| W | WH×2 WO×2 WR×2 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| F | FIR×1 FOR×3 FRO×1 |
|---|---|
| H | HOR×1 |
| I | |
| O | |
| R | RIF×2 RIO×1 ROO×2 ROT×3 |
| T | THR×2 TOR×4 TRI×1 TRO×2 |
| W | WHI×2 WOR×2 WRI×1 WRO×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) |
|---|---|---|
| fi... | FI5 | An arm or inlet of the sea; a river estuary. |
| fo.. | FO4 | A fortified defensive structure stationed with troops. |
| fo... | FO5 | Forward in time, place or degree. |
| fo....... † | FO9 | Without delay; immediately. |
| fr... | FR5 | foam |
| ho.... | HO6 | An intense distressing emotion of fear or repugnance. |
| ri.. | RI4 | A repeated instrumental melody line in a song. |
| ri.. | RI4 | A chasm or fissure. |
| ri.. | RI4 | A tumultuous disturbance of the public peace by a large group of people, often involving violence or damage to property. |
| ro.. | RO4 | The external covering at the top of a building. |
| ro.. | RO4 | The part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors and supports the plant body, absorbs and stores water and nutrients, and in some plants is able to perform vegetative reproduction. |
| ro.. | RO4 | A kind of unleavened flatbread commonly consumed in South Asia and the Caribbean. |
| ro.. | RO4 | Clipping of rotogravure. |
| ro... | RO5 | A rotating part of a mechanical device; for example, in an electric motor, generator, alternator, or pump. |
| th.... | TH6 | The characteristic of using a minimum of something (especially money). |
| th... | TH5 | To hurl; to cause an object to move rapidly through the air. |
| to.. | TO4 | plural of torus |
| to... | TO5 | A traditional Japanese gate at Shinto shrines, symbolically marking the transition from the profane to the sacred. |
| to.. | TO4 | A traditional Japanese lantern. |
| to.. | TO4 | An injury or wrong. |
| tr.. | TR4 | A group of three people or things. |
| tr.. | TR4 | An ugly old woman, a hag. |
| tr... | TR5 | An oath, pledge, or promise. A pledge or promise to marry someone. The state of being thus pledged; betrothal, engagement. |
| wh.. | WH4 | Alternative spelling of whirr |
| wh... | WH5 | To move or vibrate (something) with a buzzing sound. |
| wo.. | WO4 | A plant; herb; vegetable. |
| wo... | WO5 | Having a value of; proper to be exchanged for. |
| wr.. | WR4 | A written order, issued by a court, ordering someone to do (or stop doing) something. |
| wr... | WR5 | Full of anger; wrathful. |
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.
- firth (FI5)
- fort (FO4)
- forth (FO5)
- forthwith† (FO9)
- froth (FR5)
- horror (HO6)
- riff (RI4)
- rift (RI4)
- riot (RI4)
- roof (RO4)
- root (RO4)
- roti (RO4)
- roto (RO4)
- rotor (RO5)
- thrift (TH6)
- throw (TH5)
- tori (TO4)
- torii (TO5)
- toro (TO4)
- tort (TO4)
- trio (TR4)
- trot (TR4)
- troth (TR5)
- whir (WH4)
- whirr (WH5)
- wort (WO4)
- worth (WO5)
- writ (WR4)
- wroth (WR5)
Answer Definitions
- firth (noun): An arm or inlet of the sea; a river estuary.
- fort (noun): A fortified defensive structure stationed with troops.
- forth (adverb): Forward in time, place or degree.
- forthwith† (adverb): Without delay; immediately.
- froth (noun): foam
- horror (noun): An intense distressing emotion of fear or repugnance.
- riff (noun): A repeated instrumental melody line in a song.
- rift (noun): A chasm or fissure.
- riot (noun): A tumultuous disturbance of the public peace by a large group of people, often involving violence or damage to property.
- roof (noun): The external covering at the top of a building.
- root (noun): The part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors and supports the plant body, absorbs and stores water and nutrients, and in some plants is able to perform vegetative reproduction.
- roti (noun): A kind of unleavened flatbread commonly consumed in South Asia and the Caribbean.
- roto (noun): Clipping of rotogravure.
- rotor (noun): A rotating part of a mechanical device; for example, in an electric motor, generator, alternator, or pump.
- thrift (noun): The characteristic of using a minimum of something (especially money).
- throw (verb): To hurl; to cause an object to move rapidly through the air.
- tori (noun): plural of torus
- torii (noun): A traditional Japanese gate at Shinto shrines, symbolically marking the transition from the profane to the sacred.
- toro (noun): A traditional Japanese lantern.
- tort (noun): An injury or wrong.
- trio (noun): A group of three people or things.
- trot (noun): An ugly old woman, a hag.
- troth (noun): An oath, pledge, or promise. A pledge or promise to marry someone. The state of being thus pledged; betrothal, engagement.
- whir (noun): Alternative spelling of whirr
- whirr (verb): To move or vibrate (something) with a buzzing sound.
- wort (noun): A plant; herb; vegetable.
- worth (adjective): Having a value of; proper to be exchanged for.
- writ (noun): A written order, issued by a court, ordering someone to do (or stop doing) something.
- wroth (adjective): Full of anger; wrathful.