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)
• alit  (AL4)
• allot  (AL5)
• alto  (AL4)
• ammo  (AM4)
• appall  (AP6)
• atilt  (AT5)
• atoll  (AT5)
• atom  (AT4)
• atop  (AT4)
• imam  (IM4)
• impala  (IM6)
• iota  (IO4)
• lama  (LA4)
• lamp  (LA4)
• laptop  (LA6)
• lima  (LI4)
• lipoma  (LI6)
• llama  (LL5)
• loam  (LO4)
• mail  (MA4)
• maillot  (MA7)
• maim  (MA4)
• mall  (MA4)
• malt  (MA4)
• mama  (MA4)
• mamma  (MA5)
• mammal  (MA6)
• militia  (MI7)
• moat  (MO4)
• momma  (MO5)
• moola  (MO5)
• opal  (OP4)
• optima  (OP6)
• optimal^†  (OP7)
• pail  (PA4)
• palapa  (PA6)
• palatal  (PA7)
• palatial  (PA8)
• pall  (PA4)
• palm  (PA4)
• palp  (PA4)
• pampa  (PA5)
• papa  (PA4)
• papal  (PA5)
• papilla  (PA7)
• papilloma  (PA9)
• patio  (PA5)
• pita  (PI4)
• pitapat  (PI7)
• plait  (PL5)
• plat  (PL4)
• poppa  (PO5)
• potato  (PO6)
• tail  (TA4)
• taillamp  (TA8)
• tali  (TA4)
• tall  (TA4)
• tamp  (TA4)
• tapa  (TA4)
• tatami  (TA6)
• tattoo  (TA6)
• tilapia  (TI7)
• tomatillo  (TO9)
• tomato  (TO6)
• total  (TO5)

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
• 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.
• ammo (noun): Ammunition.
• appall (verb): To fill with horror; to dismay.
• 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
• atom (noun): The smallest possible amount of matter which still retains its identity as a chemical element, now known to consist of a nucleus surrounded by electrons.
• atop (preposition): On the top of.
• imam (noun): One who leads the salat prayers in a mosque.
• impala (noun): An African antelope, Aepyceros melampus, noted for its leaping ability; the male has ridged, curved horns.
• iota (noun): The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet.
• lama (noun): A master of Tibetan Buddhism.
• lamp (noun): A device that generates heat, light or other radiation. Especially an electric light bulb.
• laptop (noun): A laptop computer.
• lima (noun): lima bean
• lipoma (noun): A nonmalignant tumor comprising fat cells.
• llama (noun): A South American mammal of the camel family, Lama glama, used as a domestic beast of burden and a source of wool and meat.
• loam (noun): A type of soil; an earthy mixture of sand, silt and clay, with organic matter to which its fertility is chiefly due.
• mail (noun): A bag or wallet.
• maillot (noun): A one-piece swimsuit (for women)
• maim (verb): To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body.
• mall (noun): A pedestrianised street, especially a shopping precinct.
• malt (noun): Malted grain (sprouted grain) (usually barley), used in brewing and otherwise.
• mama (noun): Mother, female parent.
• mamma (noun): The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat; a breast; an udder.
• mammal (noun): An animal of the class Mammalia, characterized by being warm-blooded, having hair and producing milk with which to feed its young.
• militia (noun): An army of trained civilians, which may be an official reserve army, called upon in time of need, the entire able-bodied population of a state which may also be called upon, or a private force not under government control.
• moat (noun): A deep, wide defensive ditch, normally filled with water, surrounding a fortified habitation.
• momma (noun): mother
• moola (noun): Money, cash.
• opal (noun): A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO2·nH2O. A precious gem, an iridescent gemstone found in the opal-silica mineral substrate (potch)
• optima (noun): plural of optimum
• optimal^† (adjective): The best, most favourable or desirable, especially under some restriction.
• pail (noun): A vessel of wood, tin, plastic, etc., usually cylindrical and having a handle -- used especially for carrying liquids, for example water or milk; a bucket (sometimes with a cover).
• palapa (noun): An open-sided dwelling with a thatched roof made of dried palm leaves.
• palatal (adjective): Pertaining to the palate.
• palatial (adjective): Of or relating to a palace.
• pall (noun): Senses relating to cloth. Fine cloth, especially purple cloth used for robes. A heavy cloth laid over a coffin or tomb; a shroud laid over a corpse. A piece of cardboard, covered with linen and embroidered on one side, used to cover the chalice during the Eucharist. A cloth used for various purposes on the altar in a church, such as a corporal (“cloth on which elements of the Eucharist are placed”) or frontal (“drapery covering the front of an altar”).
• palm (noun): Any of various evergreen trees from the family Palmae or Arecaceae, which are mainly found in the tropics.
• palp (noun): Synonym of pedipalp.
• pampa (noun): singular of pampas
• papa (noun): Dad, daddy, father; a familiar or old-fashioned term of address to one’s father.
• papal (adjective): Having to do with the pope or the papacy.
• papilla (noun): A nipple-like protuberance on a part or organ of the body. A vascular process of connective tissue extending into and nourishing the root of a hair, feather, or developing tooth. Any of the vascular protuberances of the dermal layer of the skin extending into the epidermal layer and often containing tactile corpuscles. Any of the small protuberances on the upper surface of the tongue often containing taste buds.
• papilloma (noun): An epithelial tumour, usually benign, with the appearance of a papilla
• patio (noun): A paved outside area, adjoining a house, used for dining or recreation.
• pita (noun): A flat bread pouch used for making sandwiches such as gyros or falafels.
• pitapat (verb): Alternative spelling of pit-a-pat
• plait (noun): A flat fold; a doubling, as of cloth; a pleat.
• plat (noun): A plot of land; a lot.
• poppa (noun): father, papa.
• potato (noun): The tuber of a plant, Solanum tuberosum, eaten as a starchy vegetable, particularly in the Americas and Europe; this plant.
• tail (noun): The caudal appendage of an animal that is attached to its posterior and near the anus.
• taillamp (noun): A taillight.
• tali (noun): plural of talus
• 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.
• tamp (verb): To plug up with clay, earth, dry sand, sod, or other material, as a hole bored in a rock.
• tapa (noun): A kind of cloth prepared by the Polynesians from the inner bark of the paper mulberry.
• tatami (noun): Straw matting, in a standard size, used as a floor covering in Japanese houses.
• tattoo (noun): An image made in the skin with ink and a needle.
• tilapia (noun): Any of various edible fish, formerly species of the genus Tilapia, but now placed in other cichlid genera (such as Oreochromis), native to Africa and the Middle East but cultivated worldwide.
• tomatillo (noun): A plant of the nightshade family originating in Mexico, Physalis philadelphica, cultivated for its tomato-like green to green-purple fruit surrounded by a thin papery skin.
• tomato (noun): A widely cultivated plant, Solanum lycopersicum, having edible fruit.
• total (noun): An amount obtained by the addition of smaller amounts.