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.

• alien  (AL5)
• alienate  (AL8)
• alit  (AL4)
• allele  (AL6)
• anal  (AN4)
• annal  (AN5)
• anneal  (AN6)
• ante  (AN4)
• antenatal  (AN9)
• antenna  (AN7)
• antennae  (AN8)
• anti  (AN4)
• atilt  (AT5)
• attain  (AT6)
• attaint  (AT7)
• azalea  (AZ6)
• eaten  (EA5)
• elan  (EL4)
• elate  (EL5)
• entail  (EN6)
• inane  (IN5)
• initial  (IN7)
• initialize^†  (IN10)
• initiate  (IN8)
• innate  (IN6)
• lain  (LA4)
• lanai  (LA5)
• lane  (LA4)
• lantana  (LA7)
• late  (LA4)
• lateen  (LA6)
• laten  (LA5)
• latent  (LA6)
• latte  (LA5)
• laze  (LA4)
• lean  (LE4)
• leant  (LE5)
• lineal  (LI6)
• naan  (NA4)
• nail  (NA4)
• nana  (NA4)
• natal  (NA5)
• natant  (NA6)
• neat  (NE4)
• neaten  (NE6)
• tail  (TA4)
• taint  (TA5)
• tale  (TA4)
• talent  (TA6)
• tali  (TA4)
• tall  (TA4)
• tannin  (TA6)
• tantalize^†  (TA9)
• tattle  (TA6)
• tattletale  (TA10)
• teal  (TE4)
• teat  (TE4)
• telltale  (TE8)
• tenant  (TE6)
• titan  (TI5)
• titillate  (TI9)
• zeal  (ZE4)
• zeta  (ZE4)
• zinnia  (ZI6)

Answer Definitions

• alien (noun): Any life form of extraterrestrial or extradimensional origin.
• alienate (adjective): Estranged; withdrawn in affection; foreign
• alit (verb): simple past tense and past participle of alight
• 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.
• ante (noun): A price or cost, as in up the ante.
• antenatal (adjective): occurring or existing before birth
• antenna (noun): A feeler organ on the head of an insect, crab, or other animal.
• antennae (noun): plural of antenna
• anti (adjective): Opposed to something.
• atilt (adjective): At an angle from the vertical or horizontal.
• attain (verb): To gain (an object or desired result).
• attaint (adjective): Convicted, attainted.
• azalea (noun): A plant of the obsolete genus Azalea.
• eaten (verb): past participle of eat
• elan (noun): Uncommon spelling of élan.
• elate (verb): To make joyful or proud.
• entail (verb): To imply or require.
• inane (adjective): Lacking sense or meaning (often to the point of boredom or annoyance)
• initial (adjective): Chronologically first, early; of or pertaining to the beginning, cause or origin.
• initialize^† (verb): To assign initial values to something
• initiate (noun): A new member of an organization.
• innate (adjective): Inborn; existing or having existed since birth.
• 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.
• lantana (noun): Any member of the genus Lantana of perennial verbenas with aromatic flower clusters.
• late (adjective): Near the end of a period of time.
• lateen (noun): A triangular fore-and-aft sail set on a boom in such way that the tack is attached to the hull of the vessel and the free end of the boom lifts the sail.
• laten (verb): To grow late; become later.
• latent (adjective): Existing or present but concealed or inactive.
• latte (noun): A drink of coffee made from espresso and steamed milk, generally topped with foam.
• laze (verb): To be lazy, waste time.
• lean (verb): To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.
• leant (verb): simple past tense and past participle of lean
• 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.
• naan (noun): A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.
• nail (noun): The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
• nana (noun): A banana.
• natal (adjective): Of or relating to birth.
• natant (adjective): floating or swimming (in water)
• neat (adjective): Clean, tidy; free from dirt or impurities.
• neaten (verb): To make (someone or something) neat; to arrange (people or things) in an orderly, tidy way; to tidy.
• tail (noun): The caudal appendage of an animal that is attached to its posterior and near the anus.
• taint (noun): A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food.
• tale (noun): An account of an asserted fact or circumstance; a rumour; a report, especially an idle or malicious story; a piece of gossip or slander; a lie.
• talent (noun): A marked natural ability or skill.
• 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.
• tannin (noun): Tannic acid or any of its derivatives.
• tantalize^† (verb): to tease (someone) by offering something desirable but keeping it out of reach
• tattle (verb): To chatter; to gossip.
• tattletale (adjective): telltale; giveaway
• teal (noun): Any of various small freshwater ducks of the genus Anas that are brightly coloured and have short necks.
• teat (noun): The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female mammals, milk is secreted.
• telltale (noun): One who divulges private information with intent to hurt others.
• tenant (noun): One who holds a lease (a tenancy).
• titan (noun): Something or someone of very large stature, greatness, or godliness.
• titillate (verb): To stimulate or excite sensually
• zeal (noun): The fervour or tireless devotion for a person, cause, or ideal and determination in its furtherance; diligent enthusiasm; powerful interest.
• zeta (noun): The sixth letter of the modern Greek alphabet (Ζ (Z), ζ (z)) preceded by epsilon (Ε (E), ε (e)) and followed by eta, (Η (I), η (i)); or the seventh letter in the ancient Greek alphabet, in which it is preceded by digamma (Ϝ (W), ϝ (w))
• zinnia (noun): Any of several brightly coloured flowering plants, of the genus Zinnia, native to tropical America; old maid