NYT Spelling Bee Answers for May 15, 2020

May 15, 2020 · 7 min read · spelling bee ·

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Spelling Bee "Hive" Board for May 15, 2020

Game Summary

Center Letter	C
Outer Letters	h, i, k, o, r, y
# of Pangrams	1 (Perfect: 1)
Total Words	31 words
Total Points	116 points
Genius Level	81 points
Bingo?	No

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	Σ
C	6	11	1	1	19
H	2	1	-	1	4
I	1	-	-	-	1
K	1	1	-	-	2
O	-	-	-	-	-
R	3	1	1	-	5
Y	-	-	-	-	-
Σ	13	14	2	2	31

Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints

The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.

C	CH×7 CI×1 CO×6 CR×5
H	HI×2 HO×2
I	IC×1
K	KI×2
O
R	RI×2 RO×3
Y

Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints

The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.

C	CHI×4 CHO×3 CIR×1 COC×3 COH×1 COO×1 COR×1 CRI×1 CRO×4
H	HIC×2 HOC×1 HOO×1
I	ICK×1
K	KIC×2
O
R	RIC×2 ROC×3
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)
ch..	CH4	Elegant, stylish.
ch....	CH6	Affectedly trendy; chic and stylish in a pretentious way.
ch...	CH5	A young bird.
ch.....	CH7	Either of two plants of the Asteraceae family. The common chicory (Cichorium intybus), the source of Belgian endive, radicchio, and sugarloaf.
ch...	CH5	Any object used as a wedge or filler, especially when placed behind a wheel to prevent it from rolling.
ch...	CH5	A group of people who sing together; a company of people who are trained to sing together.
ch...	CH5	Alternative form of chokey
ci...	CI5	plural of cirrus Tendrils or claspers.
co...	CO5	plural of coccus
co..	CO4	A male bird, especially: A rooster: a male gallinaceous bird, especially a male domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus). A cock pigeon.
co...	CO5	Overly confident; arrogant and boastful.
co..	CO4	An anadromus and semelparous salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, found in the coastal regions of the northern Pacific Ocean, used as a symbol by several Native American tribes.
co..	CO4	A person who prepares food.
co..	CO4	The bark of the cork oak, which is very light and porous and used for making bottle stoppers, flotation devices, and insulation material.
cr...	CR5	A painful muscular cramp or spasm of some part of the body, as of the neck or back, making it difficult to move the part affected. (Compare catch.)
cr..	CR4	A crocodile.
cr...	CR5	plural of crocus
cr...	CR5	A stoneware or earthenware jar or storage container.
cr...	CR5	A bend; turn; curve; curvature; a flexure.
hi..	HI4	An awkward, naive, clumsy and/or rude country person.
hi..... ^†	HI7	Of or pertaining to the hickory tree or its wood.
ho..	HO4	A Rhenish wine, of a light yellow color, either sparkling or still, from the Hochheim region; often applied to all Rhenish wines.
ho...	HO5	Alcoholic liquor, especially inferior or illicit whisky.
ic..	IC4	Unpleasantly sticky; yucky; disgusting.
ki..	KI4	To strike or hit with the foot or other extremity of the leg.
ki...	KI5	Lively, exciting, thrilling.
ri..	RI4	Wealthy: having a lot of money and possessions.
ri..	RI4	Straw, hay etc. stored in a stack for winter fodder, commonly protected with thatch.
ro..	RO4	A formation of minerals, specifically: The naturally occurring aggregate of solid mineral matter that constitutes a significant part of the earth's crust.
ro...	RO5	Abounding in, or full of, rocks; consisting of rocks.
ro....	RO6	A style of baroque architecture and decorative art, from 18th-century France, having elaborate ornamentation.

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.

chic (CH4)
chichi (CH6)
chick (CH5)
chicory (CH7)
chock (CH5)
choir (CH5)
choky (CH5)
cirri (CI5)
cocci (CO5)
cock (CO4)
cocky (CO5)
coho (CO4)
cook (CO4)
cork (CO4)
crick (CR5)
croc (CR4)
croci (CR5)
crock (CR5)
crook (CR5)
hick (HI4)
hickory^† (HI7)
hock (HO4)
hooch (HO5)
icky (IC4)
kick (KI4)
kicky (KI5)
rich (RI4)
rick (RI4)
rock (RO4)
rocky (RO5)
rococo (RO6)

Answer Definitions

chic (adjective): Elegant, stylish.
chichi (adjective): Affectedly trendy; chic and stylish in a pretentious way.
chick (noun): A young bird.
chicory (noun): Either of two plants of the Asteraceae family. The common chicory (Cichorium intybus), the source of Belgian endive, radicchio, and sugarloaf.
chock (noun): Any object used as a wedge or filler, especially when placed behind a wheel to prevent it from rolling.
choir (noun): A group of people who sing together; a company of people who are trained to sing together.
choky (adjective): Alternative form of chokey
cirri (noun): plural of cirrus Tendrils or claspers.
cocci (noun): plural of coccus
cock (noun): A male bird, especially: A rooster: a male gallinaceous bird, especially a male domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus). A cock pigeon.
cocky (adjective): Overly confident; arrogant and boastful.
coho (noun): An anadromus and semelparous salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, found in the coastal regions of the northern Pacific Ocean, used as a symbol by several Native American tribes.
cook (noun): A person who prepares food.
cork (noun): The bark of the cork oak, which is very light and porous and used for making bottle stoppers, flotation devices, and insulation material.
crick (noun): A painful muscular cramp or spasm of some part of the body, as of the neck or back, making it difficult to move the part affected. (Compare catch.)
croc (noun): A crocodile.
croci (noun): plural of crocus
crock (noun): A stoneware or earthenware jar or storage container.
crook (noun): A bend; turn; curve; curvature; a flexure.
hick (noun): An awkward, naive, clumsy and/or rude country person.
hickory^† (adjective): Of or pertaining to the hickory tree or its wood.
hock (noun): A Rhenish wine, of a light yellow color, either sparkling or still, from the Hochheim region; often applied to all Rhenish wines.
hooch (noun): Alcoholic liquor, especially inferior or illicit whisky.
icky (adjective): Unpleasantly sticky; yucky; disgusting.
kick (verb): To strike or hit with the foot or other extremity of the leg.
kicky (adjective): Lively, exciting, thrilling.
rich (adjective): Wealthy: having a lot of money and possessions.
rick (noun): Straw, hay etc. stored in a stack for winter fodder, commonly protected with thatch.
rock (noun): A formation of minerals, specifically: The naturally occurring aggregate of solid mineral matter that constitutes a significant part of the earth's crust.
rocky (adjective): Abounding in, or full of, rocks; consisting of rocks.
rococo (noun): A style of baroque architecture and decorative art, from 18th-century France, having elaborate ornamentation.