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.

• anal  (AN4)
• anion  (AN5)
• anionic  (AN7)
• annal  (AN5)
• anon  (AN4)
• anvil  (AN5)
• avian  (AV5)
• canal  (CA5)
• cancan  (CA6)
• canna  (CA5)
• cannoli  (CA7)
• cannon  (CA6)
• canola  (CA6)
• canon  (CA5)
• canonic  (CA7)
• canonical  (CA9)
• civilian  (CI8)
• clan  (CL4)
• clinic  (CL6)
• clinical  (CL8)
• clinician  (CL9)
• clonal  (CL6)
• cocoon  (CO6)
• coin  (CO4)
• colcannon  (CO9)
• colon  (CO5)
• colonial  (CO8)
• colonic  (CO7)
• conic  (CO5)
• conical  (CO7)
• convivial^†  (CO9)
• icon  (IC4)
• iconic  (IC6)
• incivil  (IN7)
• ionic  (IO5)
• laconic  (LA7)
• lain  (LA4)
• lanai  (LA5)
• lanolin  (LA7)
• lion  (LI4)
• llano  (LL5)
• loan  (LO4)
• loin  (LO4)
• loon  (LO4)
• naan  (NA4)
• nail  (NA4)
• nana  (NA4)
• naval  (NA5)
• niacin  (NI6)
• nonclinical  (NO11)
• nonillion  (NO9)
• nonlocal  (NO8)
• nonvocal  (NO8)
• noon  (NO4)
• nova  (NO4)
• oilcan  (OI6)
• onion  (ON5)
• vain  (VA4)
• vanilla  (VA7)
• vanillin  (VA8)
• villain  (VI7)
• violin  (VI6)
• volcanic^†  (VO8)
• volcano  (VO7)

Answer Definitions

• anal (adjective): of, related to, intended for or involving the anus.
• anion (noun): A negatively charged ion.
• anionic (adjective): Of or pertaining to an anion.
• annal (noun): The record of a single event or item.
• anon (adverb): Straight away; at once.
• anvil (noun): A heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can be struck and shaped.
• avian (adjective): Characteristic of or pertaining to birds, or to bird-like or flying creatures.
• canal (noun): An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
• cancan (noun): A high-kicking chorus line dance originating in France.
• canna (noun): Any member of the genus Canna of tropical plants with large leaves and often showy flowers.
• cannoli (noun): A tube of fried pastry, typical of Sicily, filled with ricotta or similar cream cheese, and flavorings, eaten as a dessert.
• cannon (noun): A complete assembly, consisting of an artillery tube and a breech mechanism, firing mechanism or base cap, which is a component of a gun, howitzer or mortar. It may include muzzle appendages.
• canola (noun): Any of a number of cultivars of rapeseed (Brassica napus) and closely related field mustard (Brassica rapa), which have a lower erucic acid and glucosinolate content than traditional rapeseed.
• canon (noun): A generally accepted principle; a rule.
• canonic (adjective): canonical
• canonical (adjective): Present in a canon, religious or otherwise.
• civilian (noun): A person following the pursuits of civil life, especially one who is not an active member of the armed forces.
• clan (noun): A group of people all descended from a common ancestor, in fact or belief, especially when the exact genealogies are not known.
• clinic (noun): A medical facility, such as a hospital, especially one for the treatment and diagnosis of outpatients.
• clinical (adjective): Dealing with the practical management of patients, in practice at the point of care; as contrasted with other health care venues (see clinical medicine for more explanation).
• clinician (noun): Any healthcare practitioner working at the point of care, in clinical practice (e.g., physicians in clinical medicine, nurses in nursing practice, or allied health providers in practice).
• clonal (adjective): Relating to, or created by asexual reproduction (cloning)
• cocoon (noun): The silky protective case spun by the larvae of some insects in which they metamorphose, the pupa.
• 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.
• colcannon (noun): A traditional Irish dish made from mashed potatoes and cabbage or kale, with scallions, butter, salt and pepper added.
• colon (noun): The punctuation mark ":".
• colonial (adjective): Of or pertaining to a colony.
• colonic (adjective): Of, relating to, affecting or within the colon.
• conic (adjective): Synonym of conical
• conical (adjective): Of or relating to a cone or cones.
• convivial^† (adjective): Having elements of a feast or of entertainment, especially when it comes to eating and drinking, with accompanying festivity
• 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.
• incivil (adjective): Displaying a lack of courtesy; rude, impolite.
• ionic (adjective): of, relating to, or containing ions
• laconic (adjective): Using as few words as possible; pithy and concise.
• lain (verb): past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”)
• lanai (noun): A Hawaiian-style roofed patio.
• lanolin (noun): A greasy yellow substance chemically akin to wax that is secreted from wooly animals, with a variety of uses from rust prevention, lubrication and waterproofing to cosmetics and skin ointments.
• lion (noun): A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
• llano (noun): A plain or steppe in parts of Latin America.
• loan (noun): An act or instance of lending, an act or instance of granting something for temporary use.
• loin (noun): The part of the body (of humans and quadrupeds) at each side of the backbone, between the ribs and hips
• loon (noun): An idler, a lout.
• naan (noun): A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.
• nail (noun): The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
• nana (noun): A banana.
• naval (adjective): Of or relating to a navy.
• niacin (noun): A water-soluble vitamin, a component of vitamin B complex, found in meat, yeast, and dairy products; it is essential to metabolism.
• nonclinical (adjective): Not clinical, as: Medical but not clinical in the sense of clinical medicine, being instead, for example, radiological, histopathological, surgical, or laboratorial. Not medical, being instead lay in nature, or at most paramedical.
• nonillion (numeral): 10.
• nonlocal (adjective): Not local; not specific to a location
• nonvocal (adjective): Not vocal; silent; not using one's voice.
• noon (noun): The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.
• nova (noun): Any sudden brightening of a previously inconspicuous star.
• oilcan (noun): A container with a long spout, for holding oil and delivering it in drops or small quantities for lubrication.
• onion (noun): A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.
• vain (adjective): Overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason.
• vanilla (noun): Any tropical, climbing orchid of the genus Vanilla (especially Vanilla planifolia), bearing podlike fruit yielding an extract used in flavoring food or in perfumes.
• vanillin (noun): A chemical compound, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, that is the primary constituent of vanilla.
• villain (noun): (Can we clean up this sense?) A vile, wicked person. An extremely depraved person, or one capable or guilty of great crimes. A deliberate scoundrel.
• violin (noun): A small unfretted stringed instrument with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) G-D-A-E, usually held against the chin and played with a bow.
• volcanic^† (adjective): Of or pertaining to a volcano or volcanoes
• volcano (noun): A vent or fissure on the surface of a planet (usually in a mountainous form) with a magma chamber attached to the mantle of a planet or moon, periodically erupting forth lava and volcanic gases onto the surface.