NYT Spelling Bee Answers for September 16, 2021
Game Summary
| Center Letter | N |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, d, g, o, r, u |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 47 words |
| Total Points | 186 points |
| Genius Level | 130 points |
| Bingo? | Yes |
Table of Contents
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</th><th>9 | Σ | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 6 |
| D | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 9 |
| G | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | 13 |
| N | 5 | - | - | 1 | - | - | 6 |
| O | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| R | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | 1 | 8 |
| U | 2 | - | - | - | 1 | - | 3 | Σ | 20 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 47 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AD×1 AG×1 AN×2 AR×2 |
|---|---|
| D | DA×2 DO×2 DR×2 DU×3 |
| G | GA×1 GO×5 GR×6 GU×1 |
| N | NA×3 NO×3 |
| O | OR×2 |
| R | RA×3 RO×3 RU×2 |
| U | UD×1 UN×2 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ADO×1 AGR×1 ANG×1 ANO×1 ARG×1 ARO×1 |
|---|---|
| D | DAN×1 DAR×1 DON×2 DRA×2 DUG×1 DUN×2 |
| G | GAN×1 GON×3 GOO×1 GOR×1 GRA×4 GRO×2 GUA×1 |
| N | NAA×1 NAD×1 NAN×1 NON×1 NOO×1 NOU×1 |
| O | ORA×1 ORG×1 |
| R | RAD×1 RAN×2 ROA×1 RON×1 ROU×1 RUN×2 |
| U | UDO×1 UND×1 UNG×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) |
|---|---|---|
| ad... | AD5 | To make more beautiful and attractive; to decorate. |
| ag..... † | AG7 | Resting on the bottom. |
| an.... | AN6 | An angora cat. |
| an.. | AN4 | Straight away; at once. |
| ar... | AR5 | The chemical element (symbol Ar) with an atomic number of 18. The third most abundant gas in the Earth's atmosphere, it is a colourless, odourless, inert noble gas. |
| ar.... | AR6 | Forming a circle or closed curve containing (something). |
| da.. | DA4 | Damn. |
| da.. | DA4 | Damn. |
| do.. | DO4 | The currency of Vietnam, 100 xus. Symbol: ₫ |
| do... | DO5 | One who makes a donation. |
| dr.... | DR6 | A legendary serpentine or reptilian creature. In Western mythology, a gigantic beast, typically reptilian with leathery bat-like wings, lion-like claws, scaly skin and a serpent-like body, often a monster with fiery breath. In Eastern mythology, a large, snake-like monster with the eyes of a hare, the horns of a stag and the claws of a tiger, usually beneficent. |
| dr..... | DR7 | A horse soldier; a cavalryman, who uses a horse for mobility, but fights dismounted. |
| du.... | DU6 | A plant-eating aquatic marine mammal, of the genus Dugong, found in tropical regions. |
| du.. | DU4 | Manure; animal excrement. |
| du... | DU5 | Pronunciation spelling of do not know; pronunciation spelling of does not know. |
| ga.. | GA4 | To go; walk; proceed. |
| go... | GO5 | A sex organ that produces gametes; specifically, a testicle or ovary. A testicle. |
| go.. | GO4 | A percussion instrument consisting of a metal disk that emits a sonorous sound when struck with a soft hammer. |
| go... | GO5 | Contraction of going to when followed by an infinitive verb: used to express a future action. |
| go.. | GO4 | A thug; a usually muscular henchman with little intelligence (also known as a 'hired goon'). |
| go.... | GO6 | A vicious female monster from Greek mythology with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes. One of the three sisters: Medusa, Stheno and Euryale |
| gr.. | GR4 | A grandmother. |
| gr... | GR5 | Large, senior (high-ranking), intense, extreme, or exceptional Of a large size or extent; great. |
| gr..... | GR7 | Alternative spelling of granddad |
| gr...... | GR8 | grandfather |
| gr... | GR5 | A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief. |
| gr.... | GR6 | The surface of the Earth, as opposed to the sky or water or underground. |
| gu... | GU5 | Dung from a sea bird or from a bat. |
| na.. | NA4 | A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine. |
| na.. | NA4 | Nothing. |
| na.. | NA4 | A banana. |
| no..... | NO7 | A polygon with nine sides and nine angles; an enneagon. |
| no.. | NO4 | The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday. |
| no.. | NO4 | A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea; one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English. |
| or... | OR5 | An orangutan. |
| or... | OR5 | The larger part of an organism, composed of tissues that perform similar functions. |
| ra... | RA5 | The chemical element (symbol Rn, formerly Ro) with atomic number 86. It is an odorless, colorless, chemically inert but radioactive noble gas. |
| ra.. | RA4 | The border of an area of land, especially marshland. |
| ra.. | RA4 | simple past tense of ring |
| ro.. | RO4 | Especially of a horse, having a coat of a dark base color with individual white hairs mixed in |
| ro... | RO5 | A musical composition, commonly of a lively, cheerful character, in which the first strain recurs after each of the other strains. |
| ro... | RO5 | Of shape: Circular or cylindrical; having a circular cross-section in one direction. |
| ru....... | RU9 | An evasive explanation in the form of multiple excuses. |
| ru.. | RU4 | A crosspiece forming a step of a ladder; a round. |
| ud.. | UD4 | a Japanese wheat noodle |
| un.. | UN4 | To reverse the effects of an action. |
| un...... | UN8 | Not having been ground; unpulverized. |
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.
- adorn (AD5)
- aground† (AG7)
- angora (AN6)
- anon (AN4)
- argon (AR5)
- around (AR6)
- dang (DA4)
- darn (DA4)
- dong (DO4)
- donor (DO5)
- dragon (DR6)
- dragoon (DR7)
- dugong (DU6)
- dung (DU4)
- dunno (DU5)
- gang (GA4)
- gonad (GO5)
- gong (GO4)
- gonna (GO5)
- goon (GO4)
- gorgon (GO6)
- gran (GR4)
- grand (GR5)
- grandad (GR7)
- granddad (GR8)
- groan (GR5)
- ground (GR6)
- guano (GU5)
- naan (NA4)
- nada (NA4)
- nana (NA4)
- nonagon (NO7)
- noon (NO4)
- noun (NO4)
- orang (OR5)
- organ (OR5)
- radon (RA5)
- rand (RA4)
- rang (RA4)
- roan (RO4)
- rondo (RO5)
- round (RO5)
- runaround (RU9)
- rung (RU4)
- udon (UD4)
- undo (UN4)
- unground (UN8)
Answer Definitions
- adorn (verb): To make more beautiful and attractive; to decorate.
- aground† (adjective): Resting on the bottom.
- angora (noun): An angora cat.
- anon (adverb): Straight away; at once.
- argon (noun): The chemical element (symbol Ar) with an atomic number of 18. The third most abundant gas in the Earth's atmosphere, it is a colourless, odourless, inert noble gas.
- around (preposition): Forming a circle or closed curve containing (something).
- dang (verb): Damn.
- darn (adjective): Damn.
- dong (noun): The currency of Vietnam, 100 xus. Symbol: ₫
- donor (noun): One who makes a donation.
- dragon (noun): A legendary serpentine or reptilian creature. In Western mythology, a gigantic beast, typically reptilian with leathery bat-like wings, lion-like claws, scaly skin and a serpent-like body, often a monster with fiery breath. In Eastern mythology, a large, snake-like monster with the eyes of a hare, the horns of a stag and the claws of a tiger, usually beneficent.
- dragoon (noun): A horse soldier; a cavalryman, who uses a horse for mobility, but fights dismounted.
- dugong (noun): A plant-eating aquatic marine mammal, of the genus Dugong, found in tropical regions.
- dung (noun): Manure; animal excrement.
- dunno (contraction): Pronunciation spelling of do not know; pronunciation spelling of does not know.
- gang (verb): To go; walk; proceed.
- gonad (noun): A sex organ that produces gametes; specifically, a testicle or ovary. A testicle.
- gong (noun): A percussion instrument consisting of a metal disk that emits a sonorous sound when struck with a soft hammer.
- gonna (contraction): Contraction of going to when followed by an infinitive verb: used to express a future action.
- goon (noun): A thug; a usually muscular henchman with little intelligence (also known as a 'hired goon').
- gorgon (noun): A vicious female monster from Greek mythology with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes. One of the three sisters: Medusa, Stheno and Euryale
- gran (noun): A grandmother.
- grand (adjective): Large, senior (high-ranking), intense, extreme, or exceptional Of a large size or extent; great.
- grandad (noun): Alternative spelling of granddad
- granddad (noun): grandfather
- groan (noun): A low, mournful sound uttered in pain or grief.
- ground (noun): The surface of the Earth, as opposed to the sky or water or underground.
- guano (noun): Dung from a sea bird or from a bat.
- naan (noun): A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.
- nada (pronoun): Nothing.
- nana (noun): A banana.
- nonagon (noun): A polygon with nine sides and nine angles; an enneagon.
- noon (noun): The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.
- noun (noun): A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea; one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English.
- orang (noun): An orangutan.
- organ (noun): The larger part of an organism, composed of tissues that perform similar functions.
- radon (noun): The chemical element (symbol Rn, formerly Ro) with atomic number 86. It is an odorless, colorless, chemically inert but radioactive noble gas.
- rand (noun): The border of an area of land, especially marshland.
- rang (verb): simple past tense of ring
- roan (adjective): Especially of a horse, having a coat of a dark base color with individual white hairs mixed in
- rondo (noun): A musical composition, commonly of a lively, cheerful character, in which the first strain recurs after each of the other strains.
- round (adjective): Of shape: Circular or cylindrical; having a circular cross-section in one direction.
- runaround (noun): An evasive explanation in the form of multiple excuses.
- rung (noun): A crosspiece forming a step of a ladder; a round.
- udon (noun): a Japanese wheat noodle
- undo (verb): To reverse the effects of an action.
- unground (adjective): Not having been ground; unpulverized.