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.

• abbot  (AB5)
• abloom  (AB6)
• allot  (AL5)
• aloha  (AL5)
• alto  (AL4)
• ammo  (AM4)
• atoll  (AT5)
• atom  (AT4)
• ballot  (BA6)
• bamboo  (BA6)
• baobab  (BA6)
• bloat  (BL5)
• blob  (BL4)
• bloom  (BL5)
• blot  (BL4)
• blotto  (BL6)
• boat  (BO4)
• boba  (BO4)
• boho  (BO4)
• bola  (BO4)
• boll  (BO4)
• bolo  (BO4)
• bolt  (BO4)
• bomb  (BO4)
• boob  (BO4)
• booboo  (BO6)
• boohoo  (BO6)
• boom  (BO4)
• boot  (BO4)
• booth  (BO5)
• both  (BO4)
• bottom  (BO6)
• haboob  (HA6)
• halo  (HA4)
• hobo  (HO4)
• holt  (HO4)
• hoot  (HO4)
• loam  (LO4)
• loath  (LO5)
• lobo  (LO4)
• loll  (LO4)
• loom  (LO4)
• loot  (LO4)
• lotto  (LO5)
• mambo  (MA5)
• mammoth  (MA7)
• moat  (MO4)
• moll  (MO4)
• molt  (MO4)
• momma  (MO5)
• moola  (MO5)
• moolah  (MO6)
• moot  (MO4)
• moth  (MO4)
• mothball^†  (MO8)
• motto  (MO5)
• oath  (OA4)
• taboo  (TA5)
• tattoo  (TA6)
• toll  (TO4)
• tollbooth  (TO9)
• tomato  (TO6)
• tomb  (TO4)
• tool  (TO4)
• toot  (TO4)
• tooth  (TO5)
• total  (TO5)

Answer Definitions

• abbot (noun): The superior or head of an abbey or monastery.
• abloom (adverb): In or into bloom; in a blooming state; having flower blooms unfolding.
• allot (verb): To distribute or apportion by (or as if by) lot.
• aloha (noun): Good wishes, love.
• alto (noun): A musical part or section higher than tenor and lower than soprano, formerly the part that performed a countermelody above the tenor or main melody.
• ammo (noun): Ammunition.
• atoll (noun): a type of island consisting of a ribbon reef that nearly or entirely surrounds a lagoon and supports, in most cases, one to many islets on the reef platform. Atolls have a unique geology, so not all islands with a reef and a lagoon are atolls
• atom (noun): The smallest possible amount of matter which still retains its identity as a chemical element, now known to consist of a nucleus surrounded by electrons.
• ballot (noun): Originally, a small ball placed in a container to cast a vote; now, by extension, a piece of paper or card used for this purpose, or some other means used to signify a vote.
• bamboo (noun): A fast-growing grass of the Poaceae family, characterised by its woody, hollow, round, straight, jointed stem, all of which are in the Bambuseae tribe.
• baobab (noun): A tree, Adansonia digitata (and similar species), native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits.
• bloat (verb): To cause to become distended.
• blob (noun): A shapeless or amorphous mass; a vague shape or amount, especially of a liquid or semisolid substance; a clump, group or collection that lacks definite shape.
• bloom (noun): A blossom; the flower of a plant; an expanded bud.
• blot (noun): A blemish, spot or stain made by a coloured substance.
• blotto (adjective): (Very) drunk or intoxicated.
• boat (noun): A craft used for transportation of goods, fishing, racing, recreational cruising, or military use on or in the water, propelled by oars or outboard motor or inboard motor or by wind.
• boba (noun): Synonym of tapioca pearl.
• boho (noun): A bohemian.
• bola (noun): A throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of a cord.
• boll (noun): The rounded seed-bearing capsule of a cotton or flax plant.
• bolo (noun): A long, heavy, single-edged machete.
• bolt (noun): A (usually) metal fastener consisting of a cylindrical body that is threaded, with a larger head on one end. It can be inserted into an unthreaded hole up to the head, with a nut then threaded on the other end; a heavy machine screw.
• bomb (noun): An explosive device used or intended as a weapon, one dropped from an aircraft. The atomic bomb.
• boob (noun): An idiot; a fool.
• booboo (noun): Alternative spelling of boo-boo
• boohoo (verb): To cry, weep.
• boom (verb): To make a loud, hollow, resonant sound.
• 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.
• booth (noun): A small stall for the display and sale of goods.
• both (determiner): Each of the two; one and the other; referring to two individuals or items.
• bottom (noun): The lowest part of anything.
• haboob (noun): A violent sandstorm or duststorm in the deserts of Arabia, North Africa, India, or North America.
• halo (noun): A circular band of coloured light, visible around the sun or moon etc., caused by reflection and refraction of light by ice crystals in the atmosphere.
• hobo (noun): A wandering homeless person, especially one illegally travelling by rail or a penniless, unemployed bum.
• holt (noun): A small piece of woodland or a woody hill; a copse.
• hoot (noun): A derisive cry or shout.
• loam (noun): A type of soil; an earthy mixture of sand, silt and clay, with organic matter to which its fertility is chiefly due.
• loath (adjective): Averse, disinclined; reluctant, unwilling.
• lobo (noun): A wolf.
• loll (verb): To act lazily or indolently while reclining; to lean; to lie at ease.
• loom (noun): A utensil; tool; a weapon; an article in general.
• loot (noun): A scoop used to remove scum from brine pans in saltworks.
• lotto (noun): a game of chance similar to bingo
• mambo (noun): A voodoo priestess (in Haiti)
• mammoth (noun): Any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus, of large, usually hairy, elephant-like mammals with long curved tusks and an inclined back, which became extinct with the last retreat of ice age glaciers during the late Pleistocene period, and are known from fossils, frozen carcasses, and Paleolithic cave paintings found in North America and Eurasia.
• moat (noun): A deep, wide defensive ditch, normally filled with water, surrounding a fortified habitation.
• moll (noun): A female companion of a gangster, especially a former or current prostitute.
• molt (verb): US standard spelling of moult.
• momma (noun): mother
• moola (noun): Money, cash.
• moolah (noun): Archaic form of mullah.
• moot (adjective): Subject to discussion (originally at a moot); arguable, debatable, unsolved or impossible to solve.
• moth (noun): A usually nocturnal insect of the order Lepidoptera, distinguished from butterflies by feather-like antennae.
• mothball^† (noun): A small ball of chemical pesticide (typically naphthalene) and deodorant placed in or around clothing and other articles susceptible to damage from mold or moth larvae in order to protect them from this damage.
• motto (noun): A sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievement.
• oath (noun): A solemn pledge or promise that invokes a deity, a ruler, or another entity (not necessarily present) to attest the truth of a statement or sincerity of one's desire to fulfill a contract or promise.
• taboo (noun): An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
• tattoo (noun): An image made in the skin with ink and a needle.
• toll (noun): Loss or damage incurred through a disaster.
• tollbooth (noun): (In this sense usually spelt tolbooth) The traditional municipal building of a Scottish town or burgh, usually including a meeting-hall, court, prison and (eponymically) a place for the receipt of taxes, duties and fines.
• tomato (noun): A widely cultivated plant, Solanum lycopersicum, having edible fruit.
• tomb (noun): A small building (or "vault") for the remains of the dead, with walls, a roof, and (if it is to be used for more than one corpse) a door. It may be partly or wholly in the ground (except for its entrance) in a cemetery, or it may be inside a church proper or in its crypt. Single tombs may be permanently sealed; those for families (or other groups) have doors for access whenever needed.
• tool (noun): A mechanical device intended to make a task easier.
• toot (noun): The noise of a horn or whistle.
• tooth (noun): A hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of many vertebrate animals, generally used for eating.
• total (noun): An amount obtained by the addition of smaller amounts.