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)
• alcohol  (AL7)
• alcoholic  (AL9)
• aloha  (AL5)
• anal  (AN4)
• annal  (AN5)
• calico  (CA6)
• call  (CA4)
• calla  (CA5)
• callaloo  (CA8)
• canal  (CA5)
• cannoli  (CA7)
• canola  (CA6)
• canonical  (CA9)
• challah  (CH7)
• chili  (CH5)
• chill  (CH5)
• chinchilla  (CH10)
• chocoholic  (CH10)
• cilia  (CI5)
• clan  (CL4)
• clinch  (CL6)
• clinic  (CL6)
• clinical  (CL8)
• clinician  (CL9)
• cloaca  (CL6)
• coal  (CO4)
• coil  (CO4)
• cola  (CO4)
• colcannon  (CO9)
• colic  (CO5)
• colon  (CO5)
• colonial  (CO8)
• colonic  (CO7)
• conical  (CO7)
• cool  (CO4)
• hail  (HA4)
• halal  (HA5)
• hall  (HA4)
• halo  (HA4)
• hill  (HI4)
• iliac  (IL5)
• laconic  (LA7)
• laic  (LA4)
• laical  (LA6)
• lain  (LA4)
• lanai  (LA5)
• lanolin  (LA7)
• lilac  (LI5)
• lion  (LI4)
• llano  (LL5)
• loach  (LO5)
• loan  (LO4)
• local  (LO5)
• loch  (LO4)
• loci  (LO4)
• loco  (LO4)
• loin  (LO4)
• loll  (LO4)
• loon  (LO4)
• nail  (NA4)
• nonalcoholic^†  (NO12)
• nonclinical  (NO11)
• nonillion  (NO9)
• nonlocal  (NO8)
• oilcan  (OI6)
• olio  (OL4)

Answer Definitions

• aioli (noun): A type of sauce, similar to mayonnaise, made from garlic, egg, lemon juice and olive oil.
• alcohol (noun): Any of a class of organic compounds (such as ethanol) containing a hydroxyl functional group (-OH).
• alcoholic (noun): A person addicted to alcohol.
• aloha (noun): Good wishes, love.
• anal (adjective): of, related to, intended for or involving the anus.
• annal (noun): The record of a single event or item.
• 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.
• canal (noun): An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
• cannoli (noun): A tube of fried pastry, typical of Sicily, filled with ricotta or similar cream cheese, and flavorings, eaten as a dessert.
• canola (noun): Any of a number of cultivars of rapeseed (Brassica napus) and closely related field mustard (Brassica rapa), which have a lower erucic acid and glucosinolate content than traditional rapeseed.
• canonical (adjective): Present in a canon, religious or otherwise.
• challah (noun): A traditional bread eaten by Ashkenazi Jews, usually braided for the Sabbath and round for a yom tov.
• chili (noun): The pungent, spicy fresh or dried fruit of any of several cultivated varieties of capsicum peppers, used in cooking.
• chill (noun): A moderate, but uncomfortable and penetrating coldness.
• chinchilla (noun): Either of two small, crepuscular rodents of the genus Chinchilla, native to the Andes, prized for their very soft fur and often kept as pets.
• chocoholic (noun): Someone who has such a liking for chocolate that they appear to be addicted to it.
• cilia (noun): plural of cilium
• clan (noun): A group of people all descended from a common ancestor, in fact or belief, especially when the exact genealogies are not known.
• clinch (verb): To clasp; to interlock.
• clinic (noun): A medical facility, such as a hospital, especially one for the treatment and diagnosis of outpatients.
• clinical (adjective): Dealing with the practical management of patients, in practice at the point of care; as contrasted with other health care venues (see clinical medicine for more explanation).
• clinician (noun): Any healthcare practitioner working at the point of care, in clinical practice (e.g., physicians in clinical medicine, nurses in nursing practice, or allied health providers in practice).
• cloaca (noun): A sewer.
• coal (noun): A black or brownish black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.
• coil (noun): Something wound in the form of a helix or spiral.
• cola (noun): The kola plant, genus Cola, famous for its nut, or one of these nuts.
• colcannon (noun): A traditional Irish dish made from mashed potatoes and cabbage or kale, with scallions, butter, salt and pepper added.
• colic (noun): Severe pains that grip the abdomen or the disease that causes such pains (due to intestinal or bowel-related problems).
• colon (noun): The punctuation mark ":".
• colonial (adjective): Of or pertaining to a colony.
• colonic (adjective): Of, relating to, affecting or within the colon.
• conical (adjective): Of or relating to a cone or cones.
• cool (adjective): Having a slightly low temperature; mildly or pleasantly cold.
• hail (noun): Balls or pieces of ice falling as precipitation, often in connection with a thunderstorm.
• halal (adjective): Permissible, according to Muslim religious customs, to have or do.
• hall (noun): A corridor; a hallway.
• 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.
• hill (noun): An elevated landmass smaller than a mountain.
• iliac (adjective): Relating to the ilium.
• laconic (adjective): Using as few words as possible; pithy and concise.
• 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).
• lain (verb): past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”)
• lanai (noun): A Hawaiian-style roofed patio.
• lanolin (noun): A greasy yellow substance chemically akin to wax that is secreted from wooly animals, with a variety of uses from rust prevention, lubrication and waterproofing to cosmetics and skin ointments.
• lilac (noun): A large shrub of the genus Syringa, especially Syringa vulgaris, bearing white, pale-pink, or purple flowers.
• lion (noun): A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
• llano (noun): A plain or steppe in parts of Latin America.
• loach (noun): A bottom-feeding freshwater fish in the superfamily or suborder Cobitoidea. Any true loach, of the family Cobitidae. A similar fish in one of three other families of Cypriniformes: Botiidae, Balitoridae, and Gyrinocheilidae.
• loan (noun): An act or instance of lending, an act or instance of granting something for temporary use.
• local (adjective): From or in a nearby location.
• loch (noun): A lake.
• loci (noun): plural of locus
• loco (adverb): A direction in written or printed music to be returning to the proper pitch after having played an octave higher or lower.
• loin (noun): The part of the body (of humans and quadrupeds) at each side of the backbone, between the ribs and hips
• loll (verb): To act lazily or indolently while reclining; to lean; to lie at ease.
• loon (noun): An idler, a lout.
• nail (noun): The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
• nonalcoholic^† (adjective): Containing no more than trace amounts of alcohol.
• nonclinical (adjective): Not clinical, as: Medical but not clinical in the sense of clinical medicine, being instead, for example, radiological, histopathological, surgical, or laboratorial. Not medical, being instead lay in nature, or at most paramedical.
• nonillion (numeral): 10.
• nonlocal (adjective): Not local; not specific to a location
• oilcan (noun): A container with a long spout, for holding oil and delivering it in drops or small quantities for lubrication.
• olio (noun): A rich, thick, Spanish stew consisting of meat and vegetables.