NYT Spelling Bee Answers for December 21, 2020
Game Summary
| Center Letter | C |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, i, p, t, v, y |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 21 words |
| Total Points | 107 points |
| Genius Level | 75 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 | Σ | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 4 |
| C | 2 | 4 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| I | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| P | 2 | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| T | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 3 |
| V | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| Y | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Σ | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 21 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AC×3 AT×1 |
|---|---|
| C | CA×6 CI×3 |
| I | |
| P | PA×2 PI×2 |
| T | TA×3 |
| V | VI×1 |
| Y |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ACA×2 ACT×1 ATT×1 |
|---|---|
| C | CAC×1 CAP×2 CAT×1 CAV×2 CIT×1 CIV×2 |
| I | |
| P | PAC×1 PAP×1 PIC×2 |
| T | TAC×3 |
| V | VIV×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) |
|---|---|---|
| ac.... | AC6 | A shrub or tree of the tribe Acacieae. |
| ac.. | AC4 | Any of several South American palms, of the genus Euterpe, having a dark purple drupe. |
| ac...... | AC8 | The state or quality of being active; activeness. |
| at... | AT5 | The space, often unfinished and with sloped walls, directly below the roof in the uppermost part of a house or other building, generally used for storage or habitation. |
| ca... | CA5 | plural of cactus |
| ca...... | CA8 | The ability to hold, receive, or absorb |
| ca....... † | CA9 | The state of being captive. |
| ca... | CA5 | With subtle hostility in an effort to hurt, annoy, or upset, particularly among women. |
| ca.. | CA4 | Alternative letter-case form of Cava, a Catalan white sparkling wine. |
| ca.... | CA6 | A hole or hollow depression in a solid object. |
| ci.. | CI4 | A large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a specific legal definition, depending on the place. |
| ci... | CI5 | Of, relating to, or belonging to a city, a citizen, or citizenship; municipal or civil. |
| ci... | CI5 | A civilian; someone who is not in the military. |
| pa.. | PA4 | An agreement; a compact; a covenant. |
| pa.... | PA6 | The office of the pope. |
| pi.. | PI4 | A disorder characterized by appetite and craving for non-edible substances, such as chalk, clay, dirt, ice, or sand. |
| pi..... | PI7 | Sliced, sautéed and served with lemon, parsley and butter sauce. |
| ta... | TA5 | Implied, but not made explicit, especially through silence. |
| ta.. | TA4 | The sense of touch; feeling. |
| ta.... | TA6 | A maneuver, or action calculated to achieve some end. |
| vi...... | VI8 | The quality or state of being vivacious. |
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.
- acacia (AC6)
- acai (AC4)
- activity (AC8)
- attic (AT5)
- cacti (CA5)
- capacity (CA8)
- captivity† (CA9)
- catty (CA5)
- cava (CA4)
- cavity (CA6)
- city (CI4)
- civic (CI5)
- civvy (CI5)
- pact (PA4)
- papacy (PA6)
- pica (PI4)
- piccata (PI7)
- tacit (TA5)
- tact (TA4)
- tactic (TA6)
- vivacity (VI8)
Answer Definitions
- acacia (noun): A shrub or tree of the tribe Acacieae.
- acai (noun): Any of several South American palms, of the genus Euterpe, having a dark purple drupe.
- activity (noun): The state or quality of being active; activeness.
- attic (noun): The space, often unfinished and with sloped walls, directly below the roof in the uppermost part of a house or other building, generally used for storage or habitation.
- cacti (noun): plural of cactus
- capacity (noun): The ability to hold, receive, or absorb
- captivity† (noun): The state of being captive.
- catty (adjective): With subtle hostility in an effort to hurt, annoy, or upset, particularly among women.
- cava (noun): Alternative letter-case form of Cava, a Catalan white sparkling wine.
- cavity (noun): A hole or hollow depression in a solid object.
- city (noun): A large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a specific legal definition, depending on the place.
- civic (adjective): Of, relating to, or belonging to a city, a citizen, or citizenship; municipal or civil.
- civvy (noun): A civilian; someone who is not in the military.
- pact (noun): An agreement; a compact; a covenant.
- papacy (noun): The office of the pope.
- pica (noun): A disorder characterized by appetite and craving for non-edible substances, such as chalk, clay, dirt, ice, or sand.
- piccata (adjective): Sliced, sautéed and served with lemon, parsley and butter sauce.
- tacit (adjective): Implied, but not made explicit, especially through silence.
- tact (noun): The sense of touch; feeling.
- tactic (noun): A maneuver, or action calculated to achieve some end.
- vivacity (noun): The quality or state of being vivacious.