NYT Spelling Bee Answers for September 20, 2020
Game Summary
| Center Letter | K |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, c, g, i, l, n |
| # of Pangrams | 4 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 37 words |
| Total Points | 213 points |
| Genius Level | 149 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</th><th>10 | Σ | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| C | - | 4 | 1 | - | 5 | - | - | 10 |
| G | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| I | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 2 |
| K | 5 | 1 | - | 5 | - | - | 1 | 12 |
| L | 4 | - | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | 8 |
| N | 1 | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 2 | Σ | 11 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 5 | - | 1 | 37 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AK×1 AL×2 |
|---|---|
| C | CA×2 CL×8 |
| G | |
| I | IN×2 |
| K | KI×10 KN×2 |
| L | LA×3 LI×5 |
| N | NI×2 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | AKI×1 ALA×1 ALK×1 |
|---|---|
| C | CAC×1 CAK×1 CLA×4 CLI×4 |
| G | |
| I | INK×2 |
| K | KIC×2 KIL×4 KIN×4 KNA×1 KNI×1 |
| L | LAC×2 LAN×1 LIC×2 LIK×1 LIN×2 |
| N | NIC×2 |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| ak.. | AK4 | Of the same kin; related by blood. |
| al... | AL5 | An expression of sorrow or mourning. |
| al.... | AL6 | One of a class of caustic bases, such as soda, soda ash, caustic soda, potash, ammonia, and lithia, whose distinguishing peculiarities are solubility in alcohol and water, uniting with oils and fats to form soap, neutralizing and forming salts with acids, turning to brown several vegetable yellows, and changing reddened litmus to blue. |
| ca...... † | CA8 | present participle of cackle |
| ca.... | CA6 | present participle of cake |
| cl... | CL5 | An abrupt, sharp sound, especially one made by two hard objects colliding repetitively; a sound midway between a click and a clunk. |
| cl...... † | CL8 | present participle of clack |
| cl... | CL5 | A loud, hard sound of metal hitting metal. |
| cl...... † | CL8 | present participle of clank |
| 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...... | CL8 | The sound or action of a click. |
| cl... | CL5 | The sound of metal on metal, or glass on glass. |
| cl...... | CL8 | present participle of clink |
| in.... | IN6 | present participle of ink |
| in..... | IN7 | Usually preceded by forms of to give: a slight hint, implication, or suggestion given. |
| ki.. | KI4 | To strike or hit with the foot or other extremity of the leg. |
| ki..... | KI7 | Terrific, great (of clothes) smart, fashionable. |
| ki.. | KI4 | To put to death; to extinguish the life of. |
| ki..... | KI7 | present participle of kill |
| 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. |
| ki..... | KI7 | present participle of kiln |
| ki.. | KI4 | A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy. If it is an absolute monarchy, then he is the supreme ruler of his nation. |
| ki..... | KI7 | present participle of king |
| ki.. | KI4 | To laugh loudly. |
| ki..... | KI7 | present participle of kink |
| kn... | KN5 | A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something. |
| kn........ | KN10 | Alternative spelling of knick-knack |
| la.. | LA4 | A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want. |
| la..... † | LA7 | present participle of lack |
| la.. | LA4 | Slender or thin; not well filled out; not plump; shrunken; lean. |
| li.. | LI4 | To stroke with the tongue. |
| li..... | LI7 | The act by which something is licked. |
| li.... | LI6 | present participle of like |
| li.. | LI4 | A connection between places, people, events, things, or ideas. |
| li..... | LI7 | Serving to connect other things together. |
| ni.. | NI4 | A small cut in a surface. A particular place or point considered as marked by a nick; the exact point or critical moment. |
| ni..... | NI7 | present participle of nick |
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.
- akin (AK4)
- alack (AL5)
- alkali (AL6)
- cackling† (CA8)
- caking (CA6)
- clack (CL5)
- clacking† (CL8)
- clank (CL5)
- clanking† (CL8)
- click (CL5)
- clicking (CL8)
- clink (CL5)
- clinking (CL8)
- inking (IN6)
- inkling (IN7)
- kick (KI4)
- kicking (KI7)
- kill (KI4)
- killing (KI7)
- kiln (KI4)
- kilning (KI7)
- king (KI4)
- kinging (KI7)
- kink (KI4)
- kinking (KI7)
- knack (KN5)
- knickknack (KN10)
- lack (LA4)
- lacking† (LA7)
- lank (LA4)
- lick (LI4)
- licking (LI7)
- liking (LI6)
- link (LI4)
- linking (LI7)
- nick (NI4)
- nicking (NI7)
Answer Definitions
- akin (adjective): Of the same kin; related by blood.
- alack (interjection): An expression of sorrow or mourning.
- alkali (noun): One of a class of caustic bases, such as soda, soda ash, caustic soda, potash, ammonia, and lithia, whose distinguishing peculiarities are solubility in alcohol and water, uniting with oils and fats to form soap, neutralizing and forming salts with acids, turning to brown several vegetable yellows, and changing reddened litmus to blue.
- cackling† (verb): present participle of cackle
- caking (verb): present participle of cake
- clack (noun): An abrupt, sharp sound, especially one made by two hard objects colliding repetitively; a sound midway between a click and a clunk.
- clacking† (verb): present participle of clack
- clank (noun): A loud, hard sound of metal hitting metal.
- clanking† (verb): present participle of clank
- 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.
- clicking (noun): The sound or action of a click.
- clink (noun): The sound of metal on metal, or glass on glass.
- clinking (verb): present participle of clink
- inking (verb): present participle of ink
- inkling (noun): Usually preceded by forms of to give: a slight hint, implication, or suggestion given.
- kick (verb): To strike or hit with the foot or other extremity of the leg.
- kicking (adjective): Terrific, great (of clothes) smart, fashionable.
- kill (verb): To put to death; to extinguish the life of.
- killing (verb): present participle of kill
- 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.
- kilning (verb): present participle of kiln
- king (noun): A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy. If it is an absolute monarchy, then he is the supreme ruler of his nation.
- kinging (verb): present participle of king
- kink (verb): To laugh loudly.
- kinking (verb): present participle of kink
- knack (noun): A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something.
- knickknack (noun): Alternative spelling of knick-knack
- lack (noun): A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want.
- lacking† (verb): present participle of lack
- lank (adjective): Slender or thin; not well filled out; not plump; shrunken; lean.
- lick (verb): To stroke with the tongue.
- licking (noun): The act by which something is licked.
- liking (verb): present participle of like
- link (noun): A connection between places, people, events, things, or ideas.
- linking (adjective): Serving to connect other things together.
- nick (noun): A small cut in a surface. A particular place or point considered as marked by a nick; the exact point or critical moment.
- nicking (verb): present participle of nick