NYT Spelling Bee Answers for July 17, 2020
Game Summary
| Center Letter | L |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | c, f, i, k, n, u |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 25 words |
| Total Points | 92 points |
| Genius Level | 64 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 | Σ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | 1 | 5 | 1 | - | 1 | 8 |
| F | 2 | 3 | - | 1 | - | 6 |
| I | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| K | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| L | 6 | - | - | - | - | 6 |
| N | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| U | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 | Σ | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 25 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| C | CL×6 CU×2 |
|---|---|
| F | FI×1 FL×3 FU×2 |
| I | IN×1 |
| K | KI×2 |
| L | LI×2 LU×4 |
| N | NU×1 |
| U | UN×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| C | CLI×4 CLU×2 CUF×1 CUL×1 |
|---|---|
| F | FIL×1 FLI×1 FLU×2 FUL×2 |
| I | INF×1 |
| K | KIL×2 |
| L | LIC×1 LIN×1 LUC×1 LUL×2 LUN×1 |
| N | NUL×1 |
| U | UNL×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) |
|---|---|---|
| cl... | CL5 | A brief, sharp, not particularly loud, relatively high-pitched sound produced by the impact of something small and hard against something hard, such as by the operation of a switch, a lock, or a latch. |
| cl... | CL5 | A vertical (or nearly vertical) rock face. |
| cl.... | CL6 | A medical facility, such as a hospital, especially one for the treatment and diagnosis of outpatients. |
| cl... | CL5 | The sound of metal on metal, or glass on glass. |
| cl... | CL5 | The sound made by a hen, especially when brooding, or calling her chicks. |
| cl... | CL5 | A dull, metallic sound, especially one made by two bodies coming into contact. |
| cu...... † | CU8 | A button or stud used to hold a sleeve cuff together. |
| cu.. | CU4 | To pick or take someone or something (from a larger group). |
| fi.. | FI4 | To occupy fully, to take up all of. |
| fl... | FL5 | A short, quick movement, especially a brush, sweep, or flip. |
| fl... | FL5 | Anything light, soft or fuzzy, especially fur, hair, feathers. |
| fl... | FL5 | Of a student, to fail a class; to not pass. |
| fu..... | FU7 | To satisfy, carry out, bring to completion (an obligation, a requirement, etc.). |
| fu.. | FU4 | Containing the maximum possible amount that can fit in the space available. |
| in.... | IN6 | To fill in a space, hole or gap. |
| ki.. | KI4 | To put to death; to extinguish the life of. |
| ki.. | KI4 | An oven or furnace or a heated chamber, for the purpose of hardening, burning, calcining or drying anything; for example, firing ceramics, curing or preserving tobacco, or drying grain. |
| li.. | LI4 | To stroke with the tongue. |
| li.. | LI4 | A connection between places, people, events, things, or ideas. |
| lu.. | LU4 | Something that happens to someone by chance, a chance occurrence, especially a favourable one. |
| lu.. | LU4 | A period of rest or soothing. |
| lu.. | LU4 | A remarkable person, object or idea. |
| lu.. | LU4 | A fool; an idiot; a lunkhead. |
| nu.. | NU4 | A non-existent or empty value or set of values. |
| un.... | UN6 | To decouple; to remove a link from, or separate the links of. |
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.
- click (CL5)
- cliff (CL5)
- clinic (CL6)
- clink (CL5)
- cluck (CL5)
- clunk (CL5)
- cufflink† (CU8)
- cull (CU4)
- fill (FI4)
- flick (FL5)
- fluff (FL5)
- flunk (FL5)
- fulfill (FU7)
- full (FU4)
- infill (IN6)
- kill (KI4)
- kiln (KI4)
- lick (LI4)
- link (LI4)
- luck (LU4)
- lull (LU4)
- lulu (LU4)
- lunk (LU4)
- null (NU4)
- unlink (UN6)
Answer Definitions
- click (noun): A brief, sharp, not particularly loud, relatively high-pitched sound produced by the impact of something small and hard against something hard, such as by the operation of a switch, a lock, or a latch.
- cliff (noun): A vertical (or nearly vertical) rock face.
- clinic (noun): A medical facility, such as a hospital, especially one for the treatment and diagnosis of outpatients.
- clink (noun): The sound of metal on metal, or glass on glass.
- cluck (noun): The sound made by a hen, especially when brooding, or calling her chicks.
- clunk (noun): A dull, metallic sound, especially one made by two bodies coming into contact.
- cufflink† (noun): A button or stud used to hold a sleeve cuff together.
- cull (verb): To pick or take someone or something (from a larger group).
- fill (verb): To occupy fully, to take up all of.
- flick (noun): A short, quick movement, especially a brush, sweep, or flip.
- fluff (noun): Anything light, soft or fuzzy, especially fur, hair, feathers.
- flunk (verb): Of a student, to fail a class; to not pass.
- fulfill (verb): To satisfy, carry out, bring to completion (an obligation, a requirement, etc.).
- full (adjective): Containing the maximum possible amount that can fit in the space available.
- infill (verb): To fill in a space, hole or gap.
- kill (verb): To put to death; to extinguish the life of.
- kiln (noun): An oven or furnace or a heated chamber, for the purpose of hardening, burning, calcining or drying anything; for example, firing ceramics, curing or preserving tobacco, or drying grain.
- lick (verb): To stroke with the tongue.
- link (noun): A connection between places, people, events, things, or ideas.
- luck (noun): Something that happens to someone by chance, a chance occurrence, especially a favourable one.
- lull (noun): A period of rest or soothing.
- lulu (noun): A remarkable person, object or idea.
- lunk (noun): A fool; an idiot; a lunkhead.
- null (noun): A non-existent or empty value or set of values.
- unlink (verb): To decouple; to remove a link from, or separate the links of.