NYT Spelling Bee Answers for December 11, 2020
Game Summary
| Center Letter | I |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, l, o, t, v, y |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 27 words |
| Total Points | 95 points |
| Genius Level | 67 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 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | 4 |
| I | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| L | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| O | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| T | 5 | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 6 |
| V | 2 | 4 | - | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 9 |
| Y | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Σ | 15 | 8 | - | 1 | 2 | - | 1 | 27 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AI×1 AL×1 AT×1 AV×1 |
|---|---|
| I | IL×1 IO×1 IT×1 |
| L | LA×1 LI×2 |
| O | OI×1 OL×1 |
| T | TA×2 TI×2 TO×2 |
| V | VI×7 VO×2 |
| Y |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | AIO×1 ALI×1 ATI×1 AVA×1 |
|---|---|
| I | ILL×1 IOT×1 ITT×1 |
| L | LAI×1 LIL×2 |
| O | OIL×1 OLI×1 |
| T | TAI×1 TAL×1 TIL×2 TOI×1 TOT×1 |
| V | VIA×1 VIL×1 VIO×2 VIT×3 VOI×1 VOL×1 |
| Y |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| ai... | AI5 | A type of sauce, similar to mayonnaise, made from garlic, egg, lemon juice and olive oil. |
| al.. | AL4 | simple past tense and past participle of alight |
| at... | AT5 | At an angle from the vertical or horizontal. |
| av... | AV5 | To turn to the advantage of. |
| il.. | IL4 | Badly; poorly. |
| io.. | IO4 | The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| it.. | IT4 | Extremely small. |
| la... | LA5 | People of a church who are not ordained clergy or clerics. |
| li.. | LI4 | To do something rhythmically, with animation and quickness, usually of music. |
| li.. | LI4 | Any of several flowers in the genus Lilium of the family Liliaceae, which includes a great many ornamental species. |
| oi.. | OI4 | Relating to or resembling oil. |
| ol.. | OL4 | A rich, thick, Spanish stew consisting of meat and vegetables. |
| ta.. | TA4 | The caudal appendage of an animal that is attached to its posterior and near the anus. |
| ta.. | TA4 | plural of talus |
| ti.. | TI4 | Until; to, up to; as late as (a given time). |
| ti.. | TI4 | To slope or incline (something); to slant. |
| to.. | TO4 | Labour, work, especially of a grueling nature. |
| to...... | TO8 | The state of being total. |
| vi.. | VI4 | A glass vessel or bottle, especially a small tube-shaped bottle used to store medicine, perfume or other chemicals. |
| vi... | VI5 | A house, often larger and more expensive than average, in the countryside or on the coast, often used as a retreat. |
| vi.. | VI4 | A stringed instrument related to the violin family, but held in the lap between the legs like a cello, usually with C-holes, a flat back, a fretted neck and six strings, played with an underhanded bow hold |
| vi... | VI5 | A stringed instrument of the violin family, somewhat larger than a violin, played under the chin, and having a deeper tone. |
| vi... | VI5 | Relating to, or characteristic of life. |
| vi...... | VI8 | The capacity to live and develop. |
| vi..... | VI7 | In a manner that imparts vitality |
| vo... | VO5 | Alternative spelling of voilà |
| vo........ † | VO10 | The state of being volatile. |
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.
- aioli (AI5)
- alit (AL4)
- atilt (AT5)
- avail (AV5)
- illy (IL4)
- iota (IO4)
- itty (IT4)
- laity (LA5)
- lilt (LI4)
- lily (LI4)
- oily (OI4)
- olio (OL4)
- tail (TA4)
- tali (TA4)
- till (TI4)
- tilt (TI4)
- toil (TO4)
- totality (TO8)
- vial (VI4)
- villa (VI5)
- viol (VI4)
- viola (VI5)
- vital (VI5)
- vitality (VI8)
- vitally (VI7)
- voila (VO5)
- volatility† (VO10)
Answer Definitions
- aioli (noun): A type of sauce, similar to mayonnaise, made from garlic, egg, lemon juice and olive oil.
- alit (verb): simple past tense and past participle of alight
- atilt (adjective): At an angle from the vertical or horizontal.
- avail (verb): To turn to the advantage of.
- illy (adverb): Badly; poorly.
- iota (noun): The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet.
- itty (adjective): Extremely small.
- laity (noun): People of a church who are not ordained clergy or clerics.
- lilt (verb): To do something rhythmically, with animation and quickness, usually of music.
- lily (noun): Any of several flowers in the genus Lilium of the family Liliaceae, which includes a great many ornamental species.
- oily (adjective): Relating to or resembling oil.
- olio (noun): A rich, thick, Spanish stew consisting of meat and vegetables.
- tail (noun): The caudal appendage of an animal that is attached to its posterior and near the anus.
- tali (noun): plural of talus
- till (preposition): Until; to, up to; as late as (a given time).
- tilt (verb): To slope or incline (something); to slant.
- toil (noun): Labour, work, especially of a grueling nature.
- totality (noun): The state of being total.
- vial (noun): A glass vessel or bottle, especially a small tube-shaped bottle used to store medicine, perfume or other chemicals.
- villa (noun): A house, often larger and more expensive than average, in the countryside or on the coast, often used as a retreat.
- viol (noun): A stringed instrument related to the violin family, but held in the lap between the legs like a cello, usually with C-holes, a flat back, a fretted neck and six strings, played with an underhanded bow hold
- viola (noun): A stringed instrument of the violin family, somewhat larger than a violin, played under the chin, and having a deeper tone.
- vital (adjective): Relating to, or characteristic of life.
- vitality (noun): The capacity to live and develop.
- vitally (adverb): In a manner that imparts vitality
- voila (interjection): Alternative spelling of voilà
- volatility† (noun): The state of being volatile.