NYT Spelling Bee Answers for May 12, 2020
Game Summary
| Center Letter | O |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | g, h, l, m, n, t |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 36 words |
| Total Points | 98 points |
| Genius Level | 69 points |
| Bingo? | Yes |
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 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 6 |
| H | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| L | 6 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 7 |
| M | 6 | 2 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| N | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| O | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - | 2 |
| T | 5 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 7 | Σ | 25 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 36 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| G | GL×2 GO×4 |
|---|---|
| H | HO×2 |
| L | LO×7 |
| M | MO×11 |
| N | NO×1 |
| O | ON×1 OO×1 |
| T | TH×1 TO×6 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| G | GLO×2 GON×1 GOO×2 GOT×1 |
|---|---|
| H | HOL×1 HOO×1 |
| L | LOG×1 LOL×1 LON×1 LOO×3 LOT×1 |
| M | MOL×2 MON×5 MOO×2 MOT×2 |
| N | NOO×1 |
| O | ONT×1 OOL×1 |
| T | THO×1 TOL×1 TON×1 TOO×4 |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| gl.. | GL4 | To steal, to grab. |
| gl... | GL5 | Darkness, dimness, or obscurity. |
| go.. | GO4 | A percussion instrument consisting of a metal disk that emits a sonorous sound when struck with a soft hammer. |
| go.... | GO6 | The number 10 100 {\displaystyle 10^{100}} , or ten to the power of a hundred. Equivalent to ten duotrigintillion (short scale), or ten sedecilliard (long scale). |
| go.. | GO4 | A thug; a usually muscular henchman with little intelligence (also known as a 'hired goon'). |
| go.. | GO4 | A punk-derived subculture of people who predominantly dress in black, associated with mournful music and attitudes. |
| ho.. | HO4 | A small piece of woodland or a woody hill; a copse. |
| ho.. | HO4 | A derisive cry or shout. |
| lo.. | LO4 | A visual symbol or emblem that acts as a trademark or a means of identification of a company or organization. |
| lo.. | LO4 | To act lazily or indolently while reclining; to lean; to lie at ease. |
| lo.. | LO4 | Having much distance from one terminating point on an object or an area to another terminating point . |
| lo.. | LO4 | A utensil; tool; a weapon; an article in general. |
| lo.. | LO4 | An idler, a lout. |
| lo.. | LO4 | A scoop used to remove scum from brine pans in saltworks. |
| lo... | LO5 | a game of chance similar to bingo |
| mo.. | MO4 | A female companion of a gangster, especially a former or current prostitute. |
| mo.. | MO4 | US standard spelling of moult. |
| mo.. | MO4 | Clipping of mononucleosis. |
| mo...... | MO8 | A person capable of speaking only a single language. |
| mo..... | MO7 | Alternative form of monologue |
| mo... | MO5 | A period into which a year is divided, historically based on the phases of the moon. |
| mo....... † | MO9 | which lasts a month, or approximately so |
| mo.. | MO4 | Alternative letter-case form of Moon (“the Earth's only permanent natural satellite”). |
| mo.. | MO4 | Subject to discussion (originally at a moot); arguable, debatable, unsolved or impossible to solve. |
| mo.. | MO4 | A usually nocturnal insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae. |
| mo... | MO5 | A sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievement. |
| no.. | NO4 | The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday. |
| on.. | ON4 | Upon; on top of. |
| oo.... | OO6 | A partially fermented tea, often roasted, which combines the characteristics of green tea and black tea. |
| th... | TH5 | A strip of leather. |
| to.. | TO4 | Loss or damage incurred through a disaster. |
| to.. | TO4 | An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands. |
| to.. | TO4 | A mechanical device intended to make a task easier. |
| to.. | TO4 | A cartoon, especially an animated television show. |
| to.. | TO4 | The noise of a horn or whistle. |
| to... | TO5 | A hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of many vertebrate animals, generally used for eating. |
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.
- glom (GL4)
- gloom (GL5)
- gong (GO4)
- googol (GO6)
- goon (GO4)
- goth (GO4)
- holt (HO4)
- hoot (HO4)
- logo (LO4)
- loll (LO4)
- long (LO4)
- loom (LO4)
- loon (LO4)
- loot (LO4)
- lotto (LO5)
- moll (MO4)
- molt (MO4)
- mono (MO4)
- monoglot (MO8)
- monolog (MO7)
- month (MO5)
- monthlong† (MO9)
- moon (MO4)
- moot (MO4)
- moth (MO4)
- motto (MO5)
- noon (NO4)
- onto (ON4)
- oolong (OO6)
- thong (TH5)
- toll (TO4)
- tong (TO4)
- tool (TO4)
- toon (TO4)
- toot (TO4)
- tooth (TO5)
Answer Definitions
- glom (verb): To steal, to grab.
- gloom (noun): Darkness, dimness, or obscurity.
- gong (noun): A percussion instrument consisting of a metal disk that emits a sonorous sound when struck with a soft hammer.
- googol (numeral): The number 10 100 {\displaystyle 10^{100}} , or ten to the power of a hundred. Equivalent to ten duotrigintillion (short scale), or ten sedecilliard (long scale).
- goon (noun): A thug; a usually muscular henchman with little intelligence (also known as a 'hired goon').
- goth (noun): A punk-derived subculture of people who predominantly dress in black, associated with mournful music and attitudes.
- holt (noun): A small piece of woodland or a woody hill; a copse.
- hoot (noun): A derisive cry or shout.
- logo (noun): A visual symbol or emblem that acts as a trademark or a means of identification of a company or organization.
- loll (verb): To act lazily or indolently while reclining; to lean; to lie at ease.
- long (adjective): Having much distance from one terminating point on an object or an area to another terminating point .
- loom (noun): A utensil; tool; a weapon; an article in general.
- loon (noun): An idler, a lout.
- loot (noun): A scoop used to remove scum from brine pans in saltworks.
- lotto (noun): a game of chance similar to bingo
- moll (noun): A female companion of a gangster, especially a former or current prostitute.
- molt (verb): US standard spelling of moult.
- mono (noun): Clipping of mononucleosis.
- monoglot (noun): A person capable of speaking only a single language.
- monolog (noun): Alternative form of monologue
- month (noun): A period into which a year is divided, historically based on the phases of the moon.
- monthlong† (adjective): which lasts a month, or approximately so
- moon (proper noun): Alternative letter-case form of Moon (“the Earth's only permanent natural satellite”).
- moot (adjective): Subject to discussion (originally at a moot); arguable, debatable, unsolved or impossible to solve.
- moth (noun): A usually nocturnal insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae.
- motto (noun): A sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievement.
- noon (noun): The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.
- onto (preposition): Upon; on top of.
- oolong (noun): A partially fermented tea, often roasted, which combines the characteristics of green tea and black tea.
- thong (noun): A strip of leather.
- toll (noun): Loss or damage incurred through a disaster.
- tong (noun): An instrument or tool used for manipulating things in a fire without touching them with the hands.
- tool (noun): A mechanical device intended to make a task easier.
- toon (noun): A cartoon, especially an animated television show.
- toot (noun): The noise of a horn or whistle.
- tooth (noun): A hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of many vertebrate animals, generally used for eating.