NYT Spelling Bee Answers for October 16, 2020
Game Summary
| Center Letter | M |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, i, l, n, p, t |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 49 words |
| Total Points | 217 points |
| Genius Level | 152 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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| I | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 3 |
| L | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | 10 |
| M | 10 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 25 |
| N | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| P | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 4 |
| T | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 4 | Σ | 19 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 49 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AN×2 |
|---|---|
| I | IM×3 |
| L | LA×4 LI×5 LL×1 |
| M | MA×15 MI×10 |
| N | NA×1 |
| P | PA×3 PI×1 |
| T | TA×3 TI×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ANI×2 |
|---|---|
| I | IMA×1 IMP×2 |
| L | LAM×4 LIM×5 LLA×1 |
| M | MAI×5 MAL×2 MAM×4 MAN×4 MIL×4 MIN×5 MIT×1 |
| N | NAP×1 |
| P | PAL×1 PAM×1 PAN×1 PIM×1 |
| T | TAI×1 TAM×1 TAT×1 TIM×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) |
|---|---|---|
| an... | AN5 | The soul or animating principle of a living thing, especially as contrasted with the animus. |
| an.... | AN6 | A eukaryote of the clade Animalia; a multicellular organism that is usually mobile, whose cells are not encased in a rigid cell wall (distinguishing it from plants and fungi) and which derives energy solely from the consumption of other organisms (distinguishing it from plants). |
| im.. | IM4 | One who leads the salat prayers in a mosque. |
| im.... | IM6 | An African antelope, Aepyceros melampus, noted for its leaping ability; the male has ridged, curved horns. |
| im..... † | IM7 | To fix firmly or set securely or deeply. |
| la.. | LA4 | A master of Tibetan Buddhism. |
| la.... | LA6 | a thin layer, plate, or scale of material |
| la..... | LA7 | laminar |
| la.. | LA4 | A device that generates heat, light or other radiation. Especially an electric light bulb. |
| li.. | LI4 | lima bean |
| li..... | LI7 | Of or pertaining to an entrance or threshold. |
| li... | LI5 | A restriction; a bound beyond which one may not go. |
| li.. | LI4 | To draw or paint; to delineate. |
| li.. | LI4 | To walk lamely, as if favouring one leg. |
| ll... | LL5 | A South American mammal of the camel family, Lama glama, used as a domestic beast of burden and a source of wool and meat. |
| ma.. | MA4 | A bag or wallet. |
| ma..... | MA7 | someone who delivers mail to, and/or collects mail from, residential or commercial addresses, or from public mailboxes |
| ma.. | MA4 | To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body. |
| ma.. | MA4 | Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal. |
| ma...... | MA8 | To support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action. |
| ma.. | MA4 | A pedestrianised street, especially a shopping precinct. |
| ma.. | MA4 | Malted grain (sprouted grain) (usually barley), used in brewing and otherwise. |
| ma.. | MA4 | Mother, female parent. |
| ma... | MA5 | The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat; a breast; an udder. |
| ma.... | MA6 | An animal of the class Mammalia, characterized by being warm-blooded, having hair and producing milk with which to feed its young. |
| ma....... | MA9 | of, or pertaining to, mammals |
| ma... | MA5 | Violent derangement of mind; madness; insanity. |
| ma.... | MA6 | Made of manila paper or material like it. |
| ma... | MA5 | Food miraculously produced for the Israelites in the desert in the book of Exodus. |
| ma... | MA5 | A kind of fabric or blanket used in Latin America and southwestern United States. |
| mi...... | MI8 | Fighting or disposed to fight; belligerent, warlike. |
| mi..... | MI7 | An army of trained civilians, which may be an official reserve army, called upon in time of need, the entire able-bodied population of a state which may also be called upon, or a private force not under government control. |
| mi........ | MI10 | A member of a militia. |
| mi.. | MI4 | A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc. |
| mi.. | MI4 | Miniature, tiny, small. |
| mi... | MI5 | A half note, drawn as a semibreve with a stem. |
| mi.... | MI6 | plural of minimum |
| mi..... | MI7 | The smallest possible amount, quantity, or degree. |
| mi.. | MI4 | A building or institution where money (originally, only coins) is produced under government licence. |
| mi.. | MI4 | A mitten |
| na.... | NA6 | A highly flammable, viscous substance, designed to stick to the body while burning, used in warfare as an incendiary especially in wooded areas. |
| pa.. | PA4 | Any of various evergreen trees from the family Palmae or Arecaceae, which are mainly found in the tropics. |
| pa... | PA5 | singular of pampas |
| pa.... | PA6 | a lightweight hat of natural-colored straw hand-plaited of narrow strips from the young leaves of the jipijapa |
| pi.. | PI4 | Someone who solicits customers for prostitution and acts as manager for a group of prostitutes; a pander. |
| ta...... | TA8 | A taillight. |
| ta.. | TA4 | To plug up with clay, earth, dry sand, sod, or other material, as a hole bored in a rock. |
| ta.... | TA6 | Straw matting, in a standard size, used as a floor covering in Japanese houses. |
| ti..... | TI7 | The set of precision kettledrums in an orchestra. |
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.
- anima (AN5)
- animal (AN6)
- imam (IM4)
- impala (IM6)
- implant† (IM7)
- lama (LA4)
- lamina (LA6)
- laminal (LA7)
- lamp (LA4)
- lima (LI4)
- liminal (LI7)
- limit (LI5)
- limn (LI4)
- limp (LI4)
- llama (LL5)
- mail (MA4)
- mailman (MA7)
- maim (MA4)
- main (MA4)
- maintain (MA8)
- mall (MA4)
- malt (MA4)
- mama (MA4)
- mamma (MA5)
- mammal (MA6)
- mammalian (MA9)
- mania (MA5)
- manila (MA6)
- manna (MA5)
- manta (MA5)
- militant (MI8)
- militia (MI7)
- militiaman (MI10)
- mill (MI4)
- mini (MI4)
- minim (MI5)
- minima (MI6)
- minimal (MI7)
- mint (MI4)
- mitt (MI4)
- napalm (NA6)
- palm (PA4)
- pampa (PA5)
- panama (PA6)
- pimp (PI4)
- taillamp (TA8)
- tamp (TA4)
- tatami (TA6)
- timpani (TI7)
Answer Definitions
- anima (noun): The soul or animating principle of a living thing, especially as contrasted with the animus.
- animal (noun): A eukaryote of the clade Animalia; a multicellular organism that is usually mobile, whose cells are not encased in a rigid cell wall (distinguishing it from plants and fungi) and which derives energy solely from the consumption of other organisms (distinguishing it from plants).
- imam (noun): One who leads the salat prayers in a mosque.
- impala (noun): An African antelope, Aepyceros melampus, noted for its leaping ability; the male has ridged, curved horns.
- implant† (verb): To fix firmly or set securely or deeply.
- lama (noun): A master of Tibetan Buddhism.
- lamina (noun): a thin layer, plate, or scale of material
- laminal (adjective): laminar
- lamp (noun): A device that generates heat, light or other radiation. Especially an electric light bulb.
- lima (noun): lima bean
- liminal (adjective): Of or pertaining to an entrance or threshold.
- limit (noun): A restriction; a bound beyond which one may not go.
- limn (verb): To draw or paint; to delineate.
- limp (verb): To walk lamely, as if favouring one leg.
- llama (noun): A South American mammal of the camel family, Lama glama, used as a domestic beast of burden and a source of wool and meat.
- mail (noun): A bag or wallet.
- mailman (noun): someone who delivers mail to, and/or collects mail from, residential or commercial addresses, or from public mailboxes
- maim (verb): To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body.
- main (adjective): Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal.
- maintain (verb): To support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action.
- mall (noun): A pedestrianised street, especially a shopping precinct.
- malt (noun): Malted grain (sprouted grain) (usually barley), used in brewing and otherwise.
- mama (noun): Mother, female parent.
- mamma (noun): The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat; a breast; an udder.
- mammal (noun): An animal of the class Mammalia, characterized by being warm-blooded, having hair and producing milk with which to feed its young.
- mammalian (adjective): of, or pertaining to, mammals
- mania (noun): Violent derangement of mind; madness; insanity.
- manila (adjective): Made of manila paper or material like it.
- manna (noun): Food miraculously produced for the Israelites in the desert in the book of Exodus.
- manta (noun): A kind of fabric or blanket used in Latin America and southwestern United States.
- militant (adjective): Fighting or disposed to fight; belligerent, warlike.
- militia (noun): An army of trained civilians, which may be an official reserve army, called upon in time of need, the entire able-bodied population of a state which may also be called upon, or a private force not under government control.
- militiaman (noun): A member of a militia.
- mill (noun): A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc.
- mini (adjective): Miniature, tiny, small.
- minim (noun): A half note, drawn as a semibreve with a stem.
- minima (noun): plural of minimum
- minimal (adjective): The smallest possible amount, quantity, or degree.
- mint (noun): A building or institution where money (originally, only coins) is produced under government licence.
- mitt (noun): A mitten
- napalm (noun): A highly flammable, viscous substance, designed to stick to the body while burning, used in warfare as an incendiary especially in wooded areas.
- palm (noun): Any of various evergreen trees from the family Palmae or Arecaceae, which are mainly found in the tropics.
- pampa (noun): singular of pampas
- panama (noun): a lightweight hat of natural-colored straw hand-plaited of narrow strips from the young leaves of the jipijapa
- pimp (noun): Someone who solicits customers for prostitution and acts as manager for a group of prostitutes; a pander.
- taillamp (noun): A taillight.
- tamp (verb): To plug up with clay, earth, dry sand, sod, or other material, as a hole bored in a rock.
- tatami (noun): Straw matting, in a standard size, used as a floor covering in Japanese houses.
- timpani (noun): The set of precision kettledrums in an orchestra.