NYT Spelling Bee Answers for August 22, 2020
Game Summary
| Center Letter | T |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | b, c, d, e, o, y |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 31 words |
| Total Points | 138 points |
| Genius Level | 97 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 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 8 |
| C | 2 | - | 1 | - | - | - | 3 |
| D | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | 2 | - | 9 |
| E | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| O | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 2 |
| T | 4 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | 9 |
| Y | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Σ | 11 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 31 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| B | BE×1 BO×6 BY×1 |
|---|---|
| C | CO×3 |
| D | DE×5 DO×4 |
| E | |
| O | OC×1 OO×1 |
| T | TE×2 TO×7 |
| Y |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| B | BEE×1 BOO×4 BOY×2 BYT×1 |
|---|---|
| C | COO×1 COT×1 COY×1 |
| D | DEB×1 DEC×2 DET×2 DOT×4 |
| E | |
| O | OCT×1 OOC×1 |
| T | TED×1 TEE×1 TOD×1 TOE×1 TOO×2 TOT×2 TOY×1 |
| 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) |
|---|---|---|
| be.. | BE4 | Beta vulgaris, a plant with a swollen root which is eaten or used to make sugar. |
| bo.. | BO4 | A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg. A kind of sports shoe worn by players of certain games such as cricket and football. |
| bo.... | BO6 | simple past tense and past participle of boot |
| bo.... | BO6 | A soft, woolen shoe, usually knitted, for a baby or small pet. |
| bo... | BO5 | A form of prize which, when a ship was captured at sea, could be distributed at once. |
| bo..... | BO7 | To abstain, either as an individual or a group, from using, buying, or dealing with someone or some organization as an expression of protest. |
| bo....... † | BO9 | simple past tense and past participle of boycott |
| by.. | BY4 | A short sequence of bits (binary digits) that can be operated on as a unit by a computer; the smallest usable machine word. |
| co.. | CO4 | Any of various aquatic birds of the genus Fulica that are mainly black with a prominent frontal shield on the forehead. |
| co.. | CO4 | A cottage or hut. |
| co.... | CO6 | Canis latrans, a species of canine native to North America. |
| de.. | DE4 | An action, state of mind, or object one has an obligation to perform for another, adopt toward another, or give to another. |
| de.... | DE6 | To make an infusion. |
| de...... | DE8 | simple past tense and past participle of decoct |
| de.... | DE6 | to discover or find by careful search, examination, or probing |
| de...... | DE8 | Having been noticed. |
| do.. | DO4 | To be weakly or foolishly fond of somebody. |
| do... | DO5 | simple past tense and past participle of dote |
| do.... | DO6 | simple past tense and past participle of dot |
| do... | DO5 | Mildly insane or eccentric; often, senile. |
| oc... | OC5 | A group or set of eight of something. |
| oo.... | OO6 | A cell that develops into an egg or ovum; a female gametocyte. |
| te... | TE5 | Abbreviation of teddy bear. |
| te.. | TE4 | past participle of tee |
| to... | TO5 | Clipping of hot toddy. |
| to.. | TO4 | Having (a specified number or type of) toes. |
| to.. | TO4 | The noise of a horn or whistle. |
| to.... | TO6 | simple past tense and past participle of toot |
| to.. | TO4 | A tote bag. |
| to... | TO5 | simple past tense and past participle of tote |
| to... | TO5 | simple past tense and past participle of toy |
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.
- beet (BE4)
- boot (BO4)
- booted (BO6)
- bootee (BO6)
- booty (BO5)
- boycott (BO7)
- boycotted† (BO9)
- byte (BY4)
- coot (CO4)
- cote (CO4)
- coyote (CO6)
- debt (DE4)
- decoct (DE6)
- decocted (DE8)
- detect (DE6)
- detected (DE8)
- dote (DO4)
- doted (DO5)
- dotted (DO6)
- dotty (DO5)
- octet (OC5)
- oocyte (OO6)
- teddy (TE5)
- teed (TE4)
- toddy (TO5)
- toed (TO4)
- toot (TO4)
- tooted (TO6)
- tote (TO4)
- toted (TO5)
- toyed (TO5)
Answer Definitions
- beet (noun): Beta vulgaris, a plant with a swollen root which is eaten or used to make sugar.
- boot (noun): A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg. A kind of sports shoe worn by players of certain games such as cricket and football.
- booted (verb): simple past tense and past participle of boot
- bootee (noun): A soft, woolen shoe, usually knitted, for a baby or small pet.
- booty (noun): A form of prize which, when a ship was captured at sea, could be distributed at once.
- boycott (verb): To abstain, either as an individual or a group, from using, buying, or dealing with someone or some organization as an expression of protest.
- boycotted† (verb): simple past tense and past participle of boycott
- byte (noun): A short sequence of bits (binary digits) that can be operated on as a unit by a computer; the smallest usable machine word.
- coot (noun): Any of various aquatic birds of the genus Fulica that are mainly black with a prominent frontal shield on the forehead.
- cote (noun): A cottage or hut.
- coyote (noun): Canis latrans, a species of canine native to North America.
- debt (noun): An action, state of mind, or object one has an obligation to perform for another, adopt toward another, or give to another.
- decoct (verb): To make an infusion.
- decocted (verb): simple past tense and past participle of decoct
- detect (verb): to discover or find by careful search, examination, or probing
- detected (adjective): Having been noticed.
- dote (verb): To be weakly or foolishly fond of somebody.
- doted (verb): simple past tense and past participle of dote
- dotted (verb): simple past tense and past participle of dot
- dotty (adjective): Mildly insane or eccentric; often, senile.
- octet (noun): A group or set of eight of something.
- oocyte (noun): A cell that develops into an egg or ovum; a female gametocyte.
- teddy (noun): Abbreviation of teddy bear.
- teed (verb): past participle of tee
- toddy (noun): Clipping of hot toddy.
- toed (adjective): Having (a specified number or type of) toes.
- toot (noun): The noise of a horn or whistle.
- tooted (verb): simple past tense and past participle of toot
- tote (noun): A tote bag.
- toted (verb): simple past tense and past participle of tote
- toyed (verb): simple past tense and past participle of toy