Game Summary

Table of Contents

As you scroll down this page, the clues get progressively more revealing. So scroll slowly!

1. Spelling Bee Grid
2. Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
3. Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
4. Extra Letter Hints (Incrementally Revealing) 🤯
5. Today's Complete Solution
6. 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.

Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints

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

Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints

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

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 (^†).

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.

• alibi  (AL5)
• alit  (AL4)
• anti  (AN4)
• apian  (AP5)
• atilt  (AT5)
• attain  (AT6)
• attaint  (AT7)
• bail  (BA4)
• bait  (BA4)
• bilabial  (BI8)
• bill  (BI4)
• blin  (BL4)
• blini  (BL5)
• blip  (BL4)
• inapt  (IN5)
• initial  (IN7)
• labia  (LA5)
• labial  (LA6)
• lain  (LA4)
• lanai  (LA5)
• lilt  (LI4)
• lint  (LI4)
• nail  (NA4)
• pail  (PA4)
• pain  (PA4)
• paint  (PA5)
• paintball^†  (PA9)
• palatial  (PA8)
• panini  (PA6)
• papilla  (PA7)
• patina  (PA6)
• pill  (PI4)
• pinata  (PI6)
• pinball  (PI7)
• pint  (PI4)
• pintail  (PI7)
• pipit  (PI5)
• pippin  (PI6)
• pita  (PI4)
• pitapat  (PI7)
• plain  (PL5)
• plaint  (PL6)
• plait  (PL5)
• plantain  (PL8)
• pliant  (PL6)
• tail  (TA4)
• tain  (TA4)
• taint  (TA5)
• tali  (TA4)
• tannin  (TA6)
• tibia  (TI5)
• tibial  (TI6)
• tilapia  (TI7)
• till  (TI4)
• tilt  (TI4)
• tint  (TI4)
• titan  (TI5)

Answer Definitions

• alibi (noun): The plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove being in another place when the alleged act was committed.
• alit (verb): simple past tense and past participle of alight
• anti (adjective): Opposed to something.
• apian (adjective): Relating to bees.
• atilt (adjective): At an angle from the vertical or horizontal.
• attain (verb): To gain (an object or desired result).
• attaint (adjective): Convicted, attainted.
• bail (noun): Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial.
• bait (noun): Any substance, especially food, used in catching fish, or other animals, by alluring them to a hook, snare, trap, or net.
• bilabial (adjective): Articulated with both lips.
• bill (noun): Any of various bladed or pointed hand weapons, originally designating an Anglo-Saxon sword, and later a weapon of infantry, especially in the 14th and 15th centuries, commonly consisting of a broad, heavy, double-edged, hook-shaped blade, with a short pike at the back and another at the top, attached to the end of a long staff.
• blin (verb): To cease (from); to stop; to desist, to let up.
• blini (noun): A small pancake, of Russian origin, made from buckwheat flour; traditionally served with melted butter, sour cream and caviar or smoked salmon.
• blip (noun): A small dot registered on electronic equipment, such as a radar or oscilloscope screen.
• inapt (adjective): Unapt
• initial (adjective): Chronologically first, early; of or pertaining to the beginning, cause or origin.
• labia (noun): The folds of tissue at the opening of the vulva, at either side of the vagina.
• labial (adjective): Of or pertaining to the lips or labia.
• lain (verb): past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”)
• lanai (noun): A Hawaiian-style roofed patio.
• lilt (verb): To do something rhythmically, with animation and quickness, usually of music.
• lint (noun): Clinging fuzzy fluff that clings to fabric or accumulates in one's pockets or navel etc.
• nail (noun): The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
• pail (noun): A vessel of wood, tin, plastic, etc., usually cylindrical and having a handle -- used especially for carrying liquids, for example water or milk; a bucket (sometimes with a cover).
• pain (noun): An ache or bodily suffering, or an instance of this; an unpleasant sensation, resulting from a derangement of functions, disease, or injury by violence; hurt.
• paint (noun): A substance that is applied as a liquid or paste, and dries into a solid coating that protects or adds color/colour to an object or surface to which it has been applied.
• paintball^† (noun): A sport where teams shoot each other with gelatin capsules filled with paint-like dye.
• palatial (adjective): Of or relating to a palace.
• panini (noun): A type of grilled sandwich made of a small loaf of bread, cut horizontally, filled with meat such as salami or ham, cheese or other food.
• papilla (noun): A nipple-like protuberance on a part or organ of the body. A vascular process of connective tissue extending into and nourishing the root of a hair, feather, or developing tooth. Any of the vascular protuberances of the dermal layer of the skin extending into the epidermal layer and often containing tactile corpuscles. Any of the small protuberances on the upper surface of the tongue often containing taste buds.
• patina (noun): A paten, flat type of dish.
• pill (noun): A small, usually round or cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication.
• pinata (noun): Alternative form of piñata
• pinball (noun): A game, played on a device with a sloping base, in which the player operates a spring-loaded plunger to shoot a ball, between obstacles, and attempts to hit targets and score points.
• pint (noun): A unit of volume, equivalent to: one eighth of a gallon, specifically: 20 fluid ounces, approximately 568 millilitres (an imperial pint) : one half quart 16 US fluid ounces [473 millilitres] for liquids (a US liquid pint) or approximately 18.62 fluid ounces [551 millilitres] for dry goods (a US dry pint). 1.696 liters 12 fluid ounces
• pintail (noun): A pintail duck, a type of dabbling duck with a characteristic pointed tail. A northern pintail, Anas acuta, a dabbling duck of the northern hemisphere that has a long pointed tail.
• pipit (noun): Any of various small passerine birds, mainly from the genus Anthus, that are often drab, ground feeding insectivores of open country.
• pippin (noun): A seed
• pita (noun): A flat bread pouch used for making sandwiches such as gyros or falafels.
• pitapat (verb): Alternative spelling of pit-a-pat
• plain (adjective): Flat, level.
• plaint (noun): A lament or woeful cry.
• plait (noun): A flat fold; a doubling, as of cloth; a pleat.
• plantain (noun): A plant of the genus Plantago, with a rosette of sessile leaves about 10 cm (4") long with a narrow part instead of a petiole, and with a spike inflorescence with the flower spacing varying widely among the species. See also psyllium.
• pliant (adjective): Capable of plying or bending; readily yielding to force or pressure without breaking
• tail (noun): The caudal appendage of an animal that is attached to its posterior and near the anus.
• tain (noun): Thin tin plate
• taint (noun): A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food.
• tali (noun): plural of talus
• tannin (noun): Tannic acid or any of its derivatives.
• tibia (noun): The inner and usually the larger of the two bones of the leg or hind limb below the knee, the shinbone
• tibial (adjective): Of or pertaining to a tibia or a structure associated with a tibia.
• tilapia (noun): Any of various edible fish, formerly species of the genus Tilapia, but now placed in other cichlid genera (such as Oreochromis), native to Africa and the Middle East but cultivated worldwide.
• till (preposition): Until; to, up to; as late as (a given time).
• tilt (verb): To slope or incline (something); to slant.
• tint (noun): A slight coloring.
• titan (noun): Something or someone of very large stature, greatness, or godliness.