NYT Spelling Bee Answers for September 12, 2020
Game Summary
| Center Letter | I |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | c, l, m, n, o, t |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 54 words |
| Total Points | 238 points |
| Genius Level | 167 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</th><th>10 | Σ | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | - | 2 | 1 | 12 |
| I | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 5 |
| L | 7 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 11 |
| M | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | 1 | - | 12 |
| N | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 | - | 2 |
| O | 2 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | 5 |
| T | 4 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 7 | Σ | 22 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 54 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| C | CL×1 CO×11 |
|---|---|
| I | IC×2 IL×1 IN×1 IO×1 |
| L | LI×7 LO×4 |
| M | MI×8 MO×4 |
| N | NO×2 |
| O | OC×2 OL×1 OM×1 ON×1 |
| T | TI×4 TO×3 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| C | CLI×1 COC×1 COI×2 COL×2 COM×3 CON×2 COT×1 |
|---|---|
| I | ICO×2 ILL×1 INT×1 ION×1 |
| L | LIC×1 LIL×1 LIM×3 LIN×1 LIO×1 LOC×2 LOI×1 LOT×1 |
| M | MIL×2 MIM×1 MIN×4 MIT×1 MOI×1 MON×1 MOO×1 MOT×1 |
| N | NON×1 NOT×1 |
| O | OCO×1 OCT×1 OLI×1 OMI×1 ONI×1 |
| T | TIL×2 TIN×2 TOI×1 TOM×1 TON×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.... | CL6 | A medical facility, such as a hospital, especially one for the treatment and diagnosis of outpatients. |
| co... | CO5 | plural of coccus |
| co.. | CO4 | Something wound in the form of a helix or spiral. |
| co.. | CO4 | A piece of currency, usually metallic and in the shape of a disc, but sometimes polygonal, or with a hole in the middle. |
| co... | CO5 | Severe pains that grip the abdomen or the disease that causes such pains (due to intestinal or bowel-related problems). |
| co..... | CO7 | Of, relating to, affecting or within the colon. |
| co... | CO5 | Pertaining to comedy, as a literary genre. |
| co.... | CO6 | To give in trust; to put into charge or keeping; to entrust; to consign; used with to or formerly unto. |
| co....... | CO9 | A state of turbulent motion. |
| co........ | CO10 | The preparing of a medicine, food or other substance out of many ingredients. |
| co... | CO5 | Synonym of conical |
| co....... | CO9 | A bold dance performed in groups of eight where women lift their skirts to display their ankles. |
| ic.. | IC4 | An image, symbol, picture, or other representation usually as an object of religious devotion. |
| ic.... | IC6 | Relating to, or having the characteristics of, an icon. |
| il..... | IL7 | Not approved by law, but not invalid. |
| in.. | IN4 | To or towards the inside of. |
| io... | IO5 | of, relating to, or containing ions |
| li... | LI5 | Not forbidden by formal or informal rules. |
| li.. | LI4 | To do something rhythmically, with animation and quickness, usually of music. |
| li... | LI5 | A restriction; a bound beyond which one may not go. |
| li.. | LI4 | To draw or paint; to delineate. |
| li.. | LI4 | Clipping of limousine. |
| li.. | LI4 | Clinging fuzzy fluff that clings to fabric or accumulates in one's pockets or navel etc. |
| li.. | LI4 | A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe. |
| lo.. | LO4 | plural of locus |
| lo........ † | LO10 | The ability to move from place to place, or the act of doing so. |
| lo.. | LO4 | The part of the body (of humans and quadrupeds) at each side of the backbone, between the ribs and hips |
| lo.... | LO6 | A low- to medium-viscosity topical preparation intended for application to unbroken skin. |
| mi.. | MI4 | A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc. |
| mi..... | MI7 | The cardinal number 1,000,000: 10; a thousand thousand. |
| mi... | MI5 | To imitate, especially in order to ridicule. |
| mi.. | MI4 | Miniature, tiny, small. |
| mi... | MI5 | A half note, drawn as a semibreve with a stem. |
| mi.... | MI6 | A loyal servant of another, usually a more powerful being. |
| mi.. | MI4 | A building or institution where money (originally, only coins) is produced under government licence. |
| mi.. | MI4 | A mitten |
| mo.. | MO4 | To toil, to work hard. |
| mo....... | MO9 | of or using the Greek system of diacritics which discards the breathings and employs a single accent to indicate stress. It replaced polytonic system in 1982. |
| mo..... | MO7 | Lit by moonlight. |
| mo.... | MO6 | A state of progression from one place to another. |
| no....... | NO9 | 10. |
| no.... | NO6 | Mental apprehension of whatever may be known, thought, or imagined; idea, concept. |
| oc...... | OC8 | Any of various succulent plants, unrelated to the cactus, in genus Fouquieria, especially Fouquieria splendens, living in Central America or the southwest United States. |
| oc....... | OC9 | A thousand trillion trillion, a billion billion billion: 1 followed by 27 zeros, 10. |
| ol.. | OL4 | A rich, thick, Spanish stew consisting of meat and vegetables. |
| om.. | OM4 | To leave out or exclude. |
| on... | ON5 | A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice. |
| ti.. | TI4 | Until; to, up to; as late as (a given time). |
| ti.. | TI4 | To slope or incline (something); to slant. |
| ti... | TI5 | A tint or colour. |
| ti.. | TI4 | A slight coloring. |
| to.. | TO4 | Labour, work, especially of a grueling nature. |
| to.... | TO6 | Alternative spelling of tom-tit |
| to... | TO5 | Pertaining to tension, especially of muscles. |
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.
- clinic (CL6)
- cocci (CO5)
- coil (CO4)
- coin (CO4)
- colic (CO5)
- colonic (CO7)
- comic (CO5)
- commit (CO6)
- commotion (CO9)
- concoction (CO10)
- conic (CO5)
- cotillion (CO9)
- icon (IC4)
- iconic (IC6)
- illicit (IL7)
- into (IN4)
- ionic (IO5)
- licit (LI5)
- lilt (LI4)
- limit (LI5)
- limn (LI4)
- limo (LI4)
- lint (LI4)
- lion (LI4)
- loci (LO4)
- locomotion† (LO10)
- loin (LO4)
- lotion (LO6)
- mill (MI4)
- million (MI7)
- mimic (MI5)
- mini (MI4)
- minim (MI5)
- minion (MI6)
- mint (MI4)
- mitt (MI4)
- moil (MO4)
- monotonic (MO9)
- moonlit (MO7)
- motion (MO6)
- nonillion (NO9)
- notion (NO6)
- ocotillo (OC8)
- octillion (OC9)
- olio (OL4)
- omit (OM4)
- onion (ON5)
- till (TI4)
- tilt (TI4)
- tinct (TI5)
- tint (TI4)
- toil (TO4)
- tomtit (TO6)
- tonic (TO5)
Answer Definitions
- clinic (noun): A medical facility, such as a hospital, especially one for the treatment and diagnosis of outpatients.
- cocci (noun): plural of coccus
- coil (noun): Something wound in the form of a helix or spiral.
- coin (noun): A piece of currency, usually metallic and in the shape of a disc, but sometimes polygonal, or with a hole in the middle.
- colic (noun): Severe pains that grip the abdomen or the disease that causes such pains (due to intestinal or bowel-related problems).
- colonic (adjective): Of, relating to, affecting or within the colon.
- comic (adjective): Pertaining to comedy, as a literary genre.
- commit (verb): To give in trust; to put into charge or keeping; to entrust; to consign; used with to or formerly unto.
- commotion (noun): A state of turbulent motion.
- concoction (noun): The preparing of a medicine, food or other substance out of many ingredients.
- conic (adjective): Synonym of conical
- cotillion (noun): A bold dance performed in groups of eight where women lift their skirts to display their ankles.
- icon (noun): An image, symbol, picture, or other representation usually as an object of religious devotion.
- iconic (adjective): Relating to, or having the characteristics of, an icon.
- illicit (adjective): Not approved by law, but not invalid.
- into (preposition): To or towards the inside of.
- ionic (adjective): of, relating to, or containing ions
- licit (adjective): Not forbidden by formal or informal rules.
- lilt (verb): To do something rhythmically, with animation and quickness, usually of music.
- limit (noun): A restriction; a bound beyond which one may not go.
- limn (verb): To draw or paint; to delineate.
- limo (noun): Clipping of limousine.
- lint (noun): Clinging fuzzy fluff that clings to fabric or accumulates in one's pockets or navel etc.
- lion (noun): A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
- loci (noun): plural of locus
- locomotion† (noun): The ability to move from place to place, or the act of doing so.
- loin (noun): The part of the body (of humans and quadrupeds) at each side of the backbone, between the ribs and hips
- lotion (noun): A low- to medium-viscosity topical preparation intended for application to unbroken skin.
- mill (noun): A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc.
- million (numeral): The cardinal number 1,000,000: 10; a thousand thousand.
- mimic (verb): To imitate, especially in order to ridicule.
- mini (adjective): Miniature, tiny, small.
- minim (noun): A half note, drawn as a semibreve with a stem.
- minion (noun): A loyal servant of another, usually a more powerful being.
- mint (noun): A building or institution where money (originally, only coins) is produced under government licence.
- mitt (noun): A mitten
- moil (verb): To toil, to work hard.
- monotonic (adjective): of or using the Greek system of diacritics which discards the breathings and employs a single accent to indicate stress. It replaced polytonic system in 1982.
- moonlit (adjective): Lit by moonlight.
- motion (noun): A state of progression from one place to another.
- nonillion (numeral): 10.
- notion (noun): Mental apprehension of whatever may be known, thought, or imagined; idea, concept.
- ocotillo (noun): Any of various succulent plants, unrelated to the cactus, in genus Fouquieria, especially Fouquieria splendens, living in Central America or the southwest United States.
- octillion (numeral): A thousand trillion trillion, a billion billion billion: 1 followed by 27 zeros, 10.
- olio (noun): A rich, thick, Spanish stew consisting of meat and vegetables.
- omit (verb): To leave out or exclude.
- onion (noun): A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.
- till (preposition): Until; to, up to; as late as (a given time).
- tilt (verb): To slope or incline (something); to slant.
- tinct (noun): A tint or colour.
- tint (noun): A slight coloring.
- toil (noun): Labour, work, especially of a grueling nature.
- tomtit (noun): Alternative spelling of tom-tit
- tonic (adjective): Pertaining to tension, especially of muscles.