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.

• alit  (AL4)
• alpaca  (AL6)
• anal  (AN4)
• annal  (AN5)
• appall  (AP6)
• applicant^†  (AP9)
• atilt  (AT5)
• call  (CA4)
• calla  (CA5)
• canal  (CA5)
• capital  (CA7)
• catalpa  (CA7)
• catcall  (CA7)
• cattail  (CA7)
• cilia  (CI5)
• clan  (CL4)
• clap  (CL4)
• clinic  (CL6)
• clinical  (CL8)
• clinician  (CL9)
• clip  (CL4)
• iliac  (IL5)
• illicit  (IL7)
• initial  (IN7)
• italic  (IT6)
• lactic  (LA6)
• laic  (LA4)
• laical  (LA6)
• lain  (LA4)
• lanai  (LA5)
• lantana  (LA7)
• licit  (LI5)
• lilac  (LI5)
• lilt  (LI4)
• lint  (LI4)
• nail  (NA4)
• natal  (NA5)
• pail  (PA4)
• palapa  (PA6)
• palatal  (PA7)
• palatial  (PA8)
• pall  (PA4)
• palp  (PA4)
• papal  (PA5)
• papilla  (PA7)
• pill  (PI4)
• pintail  (PI7)
• plain  (PL5)
• plaint  (PL6)
• plait  (PL5)
• plan  (PL4)
• plant  (PL5)
• plantain  (PL8)
• plat  (PL4)
• pliant  (PL6)
• tactical  (TA8)
• tail  (TA4)
• talc  (TA4)
• tali  (TA4)
• tall  (TA4)
• tilapia  (TI7)
• till  (TI4)
• tilt  (TI4)

Answer Definitions

• alit (verb): simple past tense and past participle of alight
• alpaca (noun): A sheep-like animal of the Andes, Vicugna pacos, in the camel family, closely related to the llama, guanaco, and vicuña.
• anal (adjective): of, related to, intended for or involving the anus.
• annal (noun): The record of a single event or item.
• appall (verb): To fill with horror; to dismay.
• applicant^† (noun): One who applies for something; one who makes a request; a petitioner.
• atilt (adjective): At an angle from the vertical or horizontal.
• 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.
• canal (noun): An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
• capital (noun): Already-produced durable goods available for use as a factor of production, such as steam shovels (equipment) and office buildings (structures).
• catalpa (noun): Any tree of the genus Catalpa, in the family Bignoniaceae. The two North American species, the southern catalpa, Catalpa bignonioides, and the northern catalpa, Catalpa speciosa — along with the yellow catalpa, Catalpa ovata, from China — are often planted as ornamentals because of their showy flowers and decorative bean pods, though others regard the bean pods as a nuisance.
• 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
• clan (noun): A group of people all descended from a common ancestor, in fact or belief, especially when the exact genealogies are not known.
• clap (noun): The act of striking the palms of the hands, or any two surfaces, together.
• 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).
• clip (verb): To grip tightly.
• iliac (adjective): Relating to the ilium.
• illicit (adjective): Not approved by law, but not invalid.
• initial (adjective): Chronologically first, early; of or pertaining to the beginning, cause or origin.
• italic (adjective): Designed to resemble a handwriting style developed in Italy in the 16th century.
• 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).
• lain (verb): past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”)
• lanai (noun): A Hawaiian-style roofed patio.
• lantana (noun): Any member of the genus Lantana of perennial verbenas with aromatic flower clusters.
• licit (adjective): Not forbidden by formal or informal rules.
• 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.
• lint (noun): Clinging fuzzy fluff that clings to fabric or accumulates in one's pockets or navel etc.
• nail (noun): The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
• natal (adjective): Of or relating to birth.
• 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”).
• palp (noun): Synonym of pedipalp.
• 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.
• pill (noun): A small, usually round or cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication.
• pintail (noun): A pintail duck, a type of dabbling duck with a characteristic pointed tail. A northern pintail, Anas acuta, a dabbling duck of the northern hemisphere that has a long pointed tail.
• plain (adjective): Flat, level.
• plaint (noun): A lament or woeful cry.
• plait (noun): A flat fold; a doubling, as of cloth; a pleat.
• plan (noun): A drawing showing technical details of a building, machine, etc., with unwanted details omitted, and often using symbols rather than detailed drawing to represent doors, valves, etc.
• plant (noun): An organism that is not an animal, especially an organism capable of photosynthesis. Typically a small or herbaceous organism of this kind, rather than a tree.
• plantain (noun): A plant of the genus Plantago, with a rosette of sessile leaves about 10 cm (4") long with a narrow part instead of a petiole, and with a spike inflorescence with the flower spacing varying widely among the species. See also psyllium.
• plat (noun): A plot of land; a lot.
• pliant (adjective): Capable of plying or bending; readily yielding to force or pressure without breaking
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• 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.
• till (preposition): Until; to, up to; as late as (a given time).
• tilt (verb): To slope or incline (something); to slant.