NYT Spelling Bee Answers for September 5, 2021

Sep 5, 2021 · 7 min read · spelling bee ·

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Spelling Bee "Hive" Board for September 5, 2021

Game Summary

Center Letter	E
Outer Letters	a, b, c, f, i, t
# of Pangrams	1 (Perfect: none)
Total Words	33 words
Total Points	110 points
Genius Level	77 points
Bingo?	No

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	Σ
A	1	1	2	1	-	5
B	7	1	-	-	1	9
C	2	-	1	-	-	3
E	-	-	3	-	-	3
F	8	1	-	-	-	9
I	-	-	-	-	-	-
T	1	1	1	1	-	4
Σ	19	4	7	2	1	33

Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints

The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.

A	AB×2 AC×2 AF×1
B	BA×2 BE×6 BI×1
C	CA×2 CI×1
E	EF×3
F	FA×3 FE×4 FI×2
I
T	TA×2 TE×1 TI×1

Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints

The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.

A	ABA×1 ABE×1 ACE×2 AFF×1
B	BAB×1 BAT×1 BEA×2 BEE×2 BEF×1 BET×1 BIT×1
C	CAB×1 CAF×1 CIT×1
E	EFF×3
F	FAC×2 FAT×1 FEA×1 FEE×1 FET×2 FIE×1 FIF×1
I
T	TAC×1 TAF×1 TEA×1 TIB×1

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)
ab...	AB5	To lessen (something) in force or intensity; to moderate.
ab..	AB4	To urge on, stimulate (a person to do) something desirable.
ac.....	AC7	Any salt or ester of acetic acid.
ac....	AC6	Of, pertaining to, or producing vinegar
af....	AF6	To influence or alter.
ba..	BA4	A baby or infant; a very young human or animal.
ba..	BA4	To reduce the force of something; to abate.
be..	BE4	A stroke; a blow.
be...... ^†	BE8	Blessed, blissful, heavenly.
be..	BE4	The meat from a cow, bull, or other bovine.
be..	BE4	Beta vulgaris, a plant with a swollen root which is eaten or used to make sugar.
be...	BE5	to be fit for
be..	BE4	The second letter of the Greek alphabet (Β,  β), preceded by alpha (Α,  α) and followed by gamma, (Γ,  γ). In modern Greek it represents the voiced labiodental fricative sound of v found in the English words have and vase.
bi..	BI4	To cut into something by clamping the teeth.
ca....	CA6	A cabdriver, someone who drives a taxi.
ca..	CA4	Alternative form of café
ci..	CI4	to quote; to repeat, as a passage from a book, or the words of another.
ef....	EF6	To erase (as anything impressed or inscribed upon a surface); to render illegible or indiscernible.
ef....	EF6	The result or outcome of a cause.
ef....	EF6	Of substances, quantities etc: exhausted, spent, worn-out.
fa..	FA4	The front part of the head of a human or other animal, featuring the eyes, nose and mouth, and the surrounding area.
fa...	FA5	Any one of the flat surfaces cut into a gem.
fa..	FA4	The presumed cause, force, principle, or divine will that predetermines events.
fe..	FE4	A relatively rare or difficult accomplishment.
fe..	FE4	plural of foot
fe..	FE4	A variety of curd cheese made from sheep’s or goat’s milk and originating from Greece.
fe..	FE4	A festival open to the public, the proceeds from which are often given to charity.
fi..	FI4	An estate held by a person on condition of providing military service to a superior.
fi..	FI4	A small shrill pipe, resembling the piccolo flute, used chiefly to accompany the drum in military music
ta...	TA5	An instruction indicating silence on the part of the performers of a piece.
ta.....	TA7	A crisp, smooth woven fabric made from silk or synthetic fibers.
te..	TE4	The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female mammals, milk is secreted.
ti....	TI6	plural of tibia

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.

abate (AB5)
abet (AB4)
acetate (AC7)
acetic (AC6)
affect (AF6)
babe (BA4)
bate (BA4)
beat (BE4)
beatific^† (BE8)
beef (BE4)
beet (BE4)
befit (BE5)
beta (BE4)
bite (BI4)
cabbie (CA6)
cafe (CA4)
cite (CI4)
efface (EF6)
effect (EF6)
effete (EF6)
face (FA4)
facet (FA5)
fate (FA4)
feat (FE4)
feet (FE4)
feta (FE4)
fete (FE4)
fief (FI4)
fife (FI4)
tacet (TA5)
taffeta (TA7)
teat (TE4)
tibiae (TI6)

Answer Definitions

abate (verb): To lessen (something) in force or intensity; to moderate.
abet (verb): To urge on, stimulate (a person to do) something desirable.
acetate (noun): Any salt or ester of acetic acid.
acetic (adjective): Of, pertaining to, or producing vinegar
affect (verb): To influence or alter.
babe (noun): A baby or infant; a very young human or animal.
bate (verb): To reduce the force of something; to abate.
beat (noun): A stroke; a blow.
beatific^† (adjective): Blessed, blissful, heavenly.
beef (noun): The meat from a cow, bull, or other bovine.
beet (noun): Beta vulgaris, a plant with a swollen root which is eaten or used to make sugar.
befit (verb): to be fit for
beta (noun): The second letter of the Greek alphabet (Β,  β), preceded by alpha (Α,  α) and followed by gamma, (Γ,  γ). In modern Greek it represents the voiced labiodental fricative sound of v found in the English words have and vase.
bite (verb): To cut into something by clamping the teeth.
cabbie (noun): A cabdriver, someone who drives a taxi.
cafe (noun): Alternative form of café
cite (verb): to quote; to repeat, as a passage from a book, or the words of another.
efface (verb): To erase (as anything impressed or inscribed upon a surface); to render illegible or indiscernible.
effect (noun): The result or outcome of a cause.
effete (adjective): Of substances, quantities etc: exhausted, spent, worn-out.
face (noun): The front part of the head of a human or other animal, featuring the eyes, nose and mouth, and the surrounding area.
facet (noun): Any one of the flat surfaces cut into a gem.
fate (noun): The presumed cause, force, principle, or divine will that predetermines events.
feat (noun): A relatively rare or difficult accomplishment.
feet (noun): plural of foot
feta (noun): A variety of curd cheese made from sheep’s or goat’s milk and originating from Greece.
fete (noun): A festival open to the public, the proceeds from which are often given to charity.
fief (noun): An estate held by a person on condition of providing military service to a superior.
fife (noun): A small shrill pipe, resembling the piccolo flute, used chiefly to accompany the drum in military music
tacet (verb): An instruction indicating silence on the part of the performers of a piece.
taffeta (noun): A crisp, smooth woven fabric made from silk or synthetic fibers.
teat (noun): The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female mammals, milk is secreted.
tibiae (noun): plural of tibia