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.

• aioli  (AI5)
• alack  (AL5)
• alit  (AL4)
• alkali  (AL6)
• allot  (AL5)
• alto  (AL4)
• atilt  (AT5)
• atoll  (AT5)
• calico  (CA6)
• call  (CA4)
• calla  (CA5)
• callaloo  (CA8)
• catcall  (CA7)
• cattail  (CA7)
• cilia  (CI5)
• clack  (CL5)
• click  (CL5)
• cloaca  (CL6)
• cloak  (CL5)
• clock  (CL5)
• clot  (CL4)
• coal  (CO4)
• coattail  (CO8)
• cocktail^†  (CO8)
• coil  (CO4)
• coital  (CO6)
• cola  (CO4)
• colic  (CO5)
• colt  (CO4)
• cool  (CO4)
• iliac  (IL5)
• illicit  (IL7)
• italic  (IT6)
• kill  (KI4)
• kilo  (KI4)
• kilt  (KI4)
• koala  (KO5)
• kola  (KO4)
• lack  (LA4)
• lactic  (LA6)
• laic  (LA4)
• laical  (LA6)
• licit  (LI5)
• lick  (LI4)
• lilac  (LI5)
• lilt  (LI4)
• local  (LO5)
• loci  (LO4)
• lock  (LO4)
• loco  (LO4)
• loll  (LO4)
• look  (LO4)
• loot  (LO4)
• lotto  (LO5)
• ocotillo  (OC8)
• octal  (OC5)
• olio  (OL4)
• tactical  (TA8)
• tail  (TA4)
• tailcoat  (TA8)
• talc  (TA4)
• tali  (TA4)
• talk  (TA4)
• tall  (TA4)
• till  (TI4)
• tilt  (TI4)
• toil  (TO4)
• toll  (TO4)
• tool  (TO4)
• toolkit  (TO7)
• total  (TO5)

Answer Definitions

• aioli (noun): A type of sauce, similar to mayonnaise, made from garlic, egg, lemon juice and olive oil.
• alack (interjection): An expression of sorrow or mourning.
• alit (verb): simple past tense and past participle of alight
• alkali (noun): One of a class of caustic bases, such as soda, soda ash, caustic soda, potash, ammonia, and lithia, whose distinguishing peculiarities are solubility in alcohol and water, uniting with oils and fats to form soap, neutralizing and forming salts with acids, turning to brown several vegetable yellows, and changing reddened litmus to blue.
• allot (verb): To distribute or apportion by (or as if by) lot.
• 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.
• atilt (adjective): At an angle from the vertical or horizontal.
• 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
• calico (noun): A kind of rough cloth made from unbleached and not fully processed cotton, often printed with a bright pattern.
• call (noun): A telephone conversation; a phone call.
• calla (noun): A marsh plant native to cooler areas throughout the northern hemisphere, Calla palustris, having pale green flowers in a white spathe.
• callaloo (noun): Any of various tropical plants grown in the Americas, especially of the genera Amaranthus and Xanthosoma, cultivated for their edible leaves.
• catcall (noun): A shout or whistle expressing dislike, especially from a crowd or audience; a jeer, a boo.
• cattail (noun): Any of several perennial herbs, of the genus Typha, that have long flat leaves, and grow in marshy places.
• cilia (noun): plural of cilium
• clack (noun): An abrupt, sharp sound, especially one made by two hard objects colliding repetitively; a sound midway between a click and a clunk.
• click (noun): A brief, sharp, not particularly loud, relatively high-pitched sound produced by the impact of something small and hard against something hard, such as by the operation of a switch, a lock, or a latch.
• cloaca (noun): A sewer.
• cloak (noun): A long outer garment worn over the shoulders covering the back; a cape, often with a hood.
• clock (noun): An instrument that measures or keeps track of time; a non-wearable timepiece.
• clot (noun): A thrombus, solidified mass of blood.
• coal (noun): A black or brownish black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.
• coattail (noun): The flap at the back of a coat that hangs down, sometimes below the waist.
• cocktail^† (noun): A mixed alcoholic beverage.
• coil (noun): Something wound in the form of a helix or spiral.
• coital (adjective): of or relating to the sex act or coitus
• cola (noun): The kola plant, genus Cola, famous for its nut, or one of these nuts.
• colic (noun): Severe pains that grip the abdomen or the disease that causes such pains (due to intestinal or bowel-related problems).
• colt (noun): A young male horse.
• cool (adjective): Having a slightly low temperature; mildly or pleasantly cold.
• iliac (adjective): Relating to the ilium.
• illicit (adjective): Not approved by law, but not invalid.
• italic (adjective): Designed to resemble a handwriting style developed in Italy in the 16th century.
• kill (verb): To put to death; to extinguish the life of.
• kilo (noun): Clipping of kilogram.
• kilt (verb): To gather up (skirts) around the body.
• koala (noun): A tree-dwelling marsupial, Phascolarctos cinereus, that resembles a small bear with a broad head, large ears and sharp claws, mainly found in eastern Australia.
• kola (noun): A tree, genus Cola, bearing large brown seeds ("nuts") that are the source of cola extract.
• lack (noun): A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want.
• lactic (adjective): Of, relating to, or derived from milk.
• laic (noun): A layperson, as opposed to a member of the clergy.
• laical (adjective): Of or pertaining to a layperson, layman, laywoman, or laypeople (laity).
• licit (adjective): Not forbidden by formal or informal rules.
• lick (verb): To stroke with the tongue.
• lilac (noun): A large shrub of the genus Syringa, especially Syringa vulgaris, bearing white, pale-pink, or purple flowers.
• lilt (verb): To do something rhythmically, with animation and quickness, usually of music.
• local (adjective): From or in a nearby location.
• loci (noun): plural of locus
• lock (noun): Something used for fastening, which can only be opened with a key or combination.
• loco (adverb): A direction in written or printed music to be returning to the proper pitch after having played an octave higher or lower.
• loll (verb): To act lazily or indolently while reclining; to lean; to lie at ease.
• look (verb): To try to see, to pay attention to with one’s eyes.
• loot (noun): A scoop used to remove scum from brine pans in saltworks.
• lotto (noun): a game of chance similar to bingo
• ocotillo (noun): Any of various succulent plants, unrelated to the cactus, in genus Fouquieria, especially Fouquieria splendens, living in Central America or the southwest United States.
• octal (noun): The number system that uses the eight digits 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
• olio (noun): A rich, thick, Spanish stew consisting of meat and vegetables.
• tactical (adjective): of or relating to tactics
• tail (noun): The caudal appendage of an animal that is attached to its posterior and near the anus.
• tailcoat (noun): A formal evening jacket with an extended back panel; a dress coat.
• talc (noun): Originally a large range of transparent or glistening foliated minerals. Examples include mica, selenite and the hydrated magnesium silicate that the term talc generally has referred to in modern times (see below). Also an item made of such a mineral and depending for its function on the special nature of the mineral (see next). Mediaeval writers adopted the term from the Arabic.
• tali (noun): plural of talus
• talk (verb): To communicate, usually by means of speech.
• tall (adjective): Having a vertical extent greater than the average. For example, somebody with a height of over 6 feet would generally be considered to be tall.
• 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.
• toll (noun): Loss or damage incurred through a disaster.
• tool (noun): A mechanical device intended to make a task easier.
• toolkit (noun): A set of tools kept together, especially comprising all the tools suitable for some particular type of work.
• total (noun): An amount obtained by the addition of smaller amounts.