NYT Spelling Bee Answers for January 15, 2021
Game Summary
| Center Letter | L |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, e, i, j, n, v |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 47 words |
| Total Points | 188 points |
| Genius Level | 132 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 | 5 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 8 |
| E | 2 | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 4 |
| I | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| J | 2 | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 3 |
| L | 8 | 6 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 16 |
| N | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| V | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 13 | Σ | 19 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 1 | - | 1 | 47 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AL×3 AN×4 AV×1 |
|---|---|
| E | EL×2 EN×1 EV×1 |
| I | |
| J | JA×2 JE×1 |
| L | LA×5 LE×5 LI×6 |
| N | NA×3 |
| V | VA×4 VE×4 VI×5 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ALI×2 ALL×1 ANA×1 ANN×2 ANV×1 AVA×1 |
|---|---|
| E | ELA×1 ELE×1 ENL×1 EVI×1 |
| I | |
| J | JAI×1 JAV×1 JEL×1 |
| L | LAI×1 LAN×2 LAV×2 LEA×3 LEV×2 LIE×1 LIN×3 LIV×2 |
| N | NAI×1 NAV×2 |
| V | VAL×2 VAN×2 VEA×1 VEI×1 VEN×2 VIA×1 VIL×4 |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| al... | AL5 | Any life form of extraterrestrial or extradimensional origin. |
| al... | AL5 | Having life; living; not dead. |
| al.... | AL6 | One of a number of alternative forms of the same gene occupying a given position, or locus, on a chromosome. |
| an.. | AN4 | of, related to, intended for or involving the anus. |
| an... | AN5 | The record of a single event or item. |
| an.... | AN6 | To subject to great heat and then (often slow) cooling, and sometimes reheating and further cooling, for the purpose of rendering less brittle; to temper; to toughen. |
| an... | AN5 | A heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can be struck and shaped. |
| av... | AV5 | To turn to the advantage of. |
| el.. | EL4 | Uncommon spelling of élan. |
| el.... | EL6 | The cardinal number occurring after ten and before twelve. Represented as 11 in Arabic digits. |
| en..... | EN7 | To give life or spirit to; to revive or animate. |
| ev.. | EV4 | Intending to harm; malevolent. |
| ja.. | JA4 | A place or institution for the confinement of persons held in lawful custody or detention, especially (in US usage) a place where people are held for minor offenses or with reference to some future judicial proceeding. |
| ja..... † | JA7 | A light spear thrown with the hand and used as a weapon. |
| je.. | JE4 | a jelly or gel |
| la.. | LA4 | past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”) |
| la... | LA5 | A Hawaiian-style roofed patio. |
| la.. | LA4 | A road, street, or similar thoroughfare. |
| la.. | LA4 | The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides. |
| la.. | LA4 | To pour or throw out, as water; lade out; bail; bail out. |
| le.. | LE4 | To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating. |
| le... | LE5 | To have a consequence or remnant. To cause or allow (something) to remain as available; to refrain from taking (something) away; to stop short of consuming or otherwise depleting (something) entirely. |
| le.... | LE6 | Any agent used to make dough rise or to have a similar effect on baked goods. |
| le... | LE5 | An elevated geographical feature. |
| le... | LE5 | The same height at all places; parallel to a flat ground. |
| li.. | LI4 | A tendon. |
| li.. | LI4 | A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight. |
| li.... | LI6 | Having an ancestral relationship to mothers, fathers, grandparents, (etc.) and having a descendant relationship to sons, daughters, grandchildren (etc.), exclusive of collateral siblings. |
| li... | LI5 | Thread or cloth made from flax fiber. |
| li.. | LI4 | To be alive; to have life. |
| li... | LI5 | To cause to be more lively, or to become more lively. |
| na.. | NA4 | The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals. |
| na... | NA5 | Of or relating to a navy. |
| na... | NA5 | The indentation or bump remaining in the abdomen of mammals where the umbilical cord was attached before birth. |
| va.. | VA4 | A valley. |
| va... | VA5 | A device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid through a pipe. |
| va..... | VA7 | Any tropical, climbing orchid of the genus Vanilla (especially Vanilla planifolia), bearing podlike fruit yielding an extract used in flavoring food or in perfumes. |
| va...... | VA8 | A chemical compound, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, that is the primary constituent of vanilla. |
| ve.. | VE4 | The flesh of a calf (i.e. a young bovine) used for food. |
| ve.. | VE4 | Something hung up or spread out to hide or protect the face, or hide an object from view; usually of gauze, crepe, or similar diaphanous material. |
| ve... | VE5 | Venous; pertaining to veins. |
| ve.... | VE6 | Able to be forgiven; worthy of forgiveness. |
| vi.. | VI4 | A glass vessel or bottle, especially a small tube-shaped bottle used to store medicine, perfume or other chemicals. |
| vi.. | VI4 | Morally low; base; despicable. |
| vi... | VI5 | A house, often larger and more expensive than average, in the countryside or on the coast, often used as a retreat. |
| vi..... | VI7 | (Can we clean up this sense?) A vile, wicked person. An extremely depraved person, or one capable or guilty of great crimes. A deliberate scoundrel. |
| vi........ | VI10 | A type of poem, consisting of five tercets and one quatrain, with only two rhymes. |
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.
- alien (AL5)
- alive (AL5)
- allele (AL6)
- anal (AN4)
- annal (AN5)
- anneal (AN6)
- anvil (AN5)
- avail (AV5)
- elan (EL4)
- eleven (EL6)
- enliven (EN7)
- evil (EV4)
- jail (JA4)
- javelin† (JA7)
- jell (JE4)
- lain (LA4)
- lanai (LA5)
- lane (LA4)
- lava (LA4)
- lave (LA4)
- lean (LE4)
- leave (LE5)
- leaven (LE6)
- levee (LE5)
- level (LE5)
- lien (LI4)
- line (LI4)
- lineal (LI6)
- linen (LI5)
- live (LI4)
- liven (LI5)
- nail (NA4)
- naval (NA5)
- navel (NA5)
- vale (VA4)
- valve (VA5)
- vanilla (VA7)
- vanillin (VA8)
- veal (VE4)
- veil (VE4)
- venal (VE5)
- venial (VE6)
- vial (VI4)
- vile (VI4)
- villa (VI5)
- villain (VI7)
- villanelle (VI10)
Answer Definitions
- alien (noun): Any life form of extraterrestrial or extradimensional origin.
- alive (adjective): Having life; living; not dead.
- allele (noun): One of a number of alternative forms of the same gene occupying a given position, or locus, on a chromosome.
- anal (adjective): of, related to, intended for or involving the anus.
- annal (noun): The record of a single event or item.
- anneal (verb): To subject to great heat and then (often slow) cooling, and sometimes reheating and further cooling, for the purpose of rendering less brittle; to temper; to toughen.
- anvil (noun): A heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can be struck and shaped.
- avail (verb): To turn to the advantage of.
- elan (noun): Uncommon spelling of élan.
- eleven (numeral): The cardinal number occurring after ten and before twelve. Represented as 11 in Arabic digits.
- enliven (verb): To give life or spirit to; to revive or animate.
- evil (adjective): Intending to harm; malevolent.
- jail (noun): A place or institution for the confinement of persons held in lawful custody or detention, especially (in US usage) a place where people are held for minor offenses or with reference to some future judicial proceeding.
- javelin† (noun): A light spear thrown with the hand and used as a weapon.
- jell (noun): a jelly or gel
- lain (verb): past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”)
- lanai (noun): A Hawaiian-style roofed patio.
- lane (noun): A road, street, or similar thoroughfare.
- lava (noun): The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides.
- lave (verb): To pour or throw out, as water; lade out; bail; bail out.
- lean (verb): To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.
- leave (verb): To have a consequence or remnant. To cause or allow (something) to remain as available; to refrain from taking (something) away; to stop short of consuming or otherwise depleting (something) entirely.
- leaven (noun): Any agent used to make dough rise or to have a similar effect on baked goods.
- levee (noun): An elevated geographical feature.
- level (adjective): The same height at all places; parallel to a flat ground.
- lien (noun): A tendon.
- line (noun): A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
- lineal (adjective): Having an ancestral relationship to mothers, fathers, grandparents, (etc.) and having a descendant relationship to sons, daughters, grandchildren (etc.), exclusive of collateral siblings.
- linen (noun): Thread or cloth made from flax fiber.
- live (verb): To be alive; to have life.
- liven (verb): To cause to be more lively, or to become more lively.
- nail (noun): The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
- naval (adjective): Of or relating to a navy.
- navel (noun): The indentation or bump remaining in the abdomen of mammals where the umbilical cord was attached before birth.
- vale (noun): A valley.
- valve (noun): A device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid through a pipe.
- vanilla (noun): Any tropical, climbing orchid of the genus Vanilla (especially Vanilla planifolia), bearing podlike fruit yielding an extract used in flavoring food or in perfumes.
- vanillin (noun): A chemical compound, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, that is the primary constituent of vanilla.
- veal (noun): The flesh of a calf (i.e. a young bovine) used for food.
- veil (noun): Something hung up or spread out to hide or protect the face, or hide an object from view; usually of gauze, crepe, or similar diaphanous material.
- venal (adjective): Venous; pertaining to veins.
- venial (adjective): Able to be forgiven; worthy of forgiveness.
- vial (noun): A glass vessel or bottle, especially a small tube-shaped bottle used to store medicine, perfume or other chemicals.
- vile (adjective): Morally low; base; despicable.
- villa (noun): A house, often larger and more expensive than average, in the countryside or on the coast, often used as a retreat.
- villain (noun): (Can we clean up this sense?) A vile, wicked person. An extremely depraved person, or one capable or guilty of great crimes. A deliberate scoundrel.
- villanelle (noun): A type of poem, consisting of five tercets and one quatrain, with only two rhymes.