NYT Spelling Bee Answers for September 17, 2021
Game Summary
| Center Letter | Y |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, c, g, i, n, r |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 32 words |
| Total Points | 156 points |
| Genius Level | 109 points |
| Bingo? | No |
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 | Σ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | 2 | - | - | 1 | 4 |
| C | 2 | 4 | 5 | - | 1 | 12 |
| G | 1 | - | 2 | 2 | - | 5 |
| I | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| N | 1 | 3 | - | - | 1 | 5 |
| R | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Y | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 | Σ | 8 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 32 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AI×1 AN×1 AR×2 |
|---|---|
| C | CA×6 CR×4 CY×2 |
| G | GR×5 |
| I | |
| N | NA×4 NI×1 |
| R | RA×4 |
| Y | YA×2 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | AIR×1 ANG×1 ARR×2 |
|---|---|
| C | CAG×1 CAN×2 CAR×3 CRA×2 CRI×1 CRY×1 CYA×1 CYN×1 |
| G | GRA×5 |
| I | |
| N | NAG×1 NAN×2 NAR×1 NIN×1 |
| R | RAC×1 RAI×1 RAN×1 RAY×1 |
| Y | YAN×1 YAR×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) |
|---|---|---|
| ai.. | AI4 | (of a room or building) spacious, well lit, and well ventilated. |
| an... | AN5 | Displaying or feeling anger. |
| ar... | AR5 | an ordered series or arrangement. |
| ar...... | AR8 | present participle of array |
| ca.. | CA4 | Alternative form of cagey |
| ca.... | CA6 | A small, usually yellow, finch (genus Serinus), a songbird native to the Canary Islands. |
| ca... | CA5 | Careful, prudent, cautious. |
| ca... | CA5 | A person who works in a carnival (often one who uses exaggerated showmanship or fraud). |
| ca... | CA5 | To lift (something) and take it to another place; to transport (something) by lifting. |
| ca...... † | CA8 | present participle of carry |
| cr.... | CR6 | Characterized by rugged, sharp, or coarse features. |
| cr.... | CR6 | A small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink, as in a wall, or other substance. |
| cr.... | CR6 | Characterised by causing feelings of embarrassment; embarrassing. |
| cr.... | CR6 | That cries. |
| cy.. | CY4 | A vibrant pale greenish-blue colour between blue and green in the visible spectrum; the complementary colour of red; the colour obtained by subtracting red from white light. |
| cy... | CY5 | cynical (in all senses) |
| gr.... | GR6 | Resembling grains; granular. |
| gr..... | GR7 | A storage facility for grain or sometimes animal feed. |
| gr.... | GR6 | A grandmother. |
| gr.. | GR4 | Having a color somewhere between white and black, as the ash of an ember. |
| gr..... | GR7 | present participle of gray |
| na... | NA5 | Prone to nag, irritable. |
| na... | NA5 | A child's nurse. |
| na...... | NA8 | present participle of nanny |
| na.. | NA4 | Not, never. |
| ni... | NI5 | A silly or foolish person. |
| ra.. | RA4 | Mildly risqué. |
| ra... | RA5 | marked by bringing precipitation in the form of showers |
| ra... | RA5 | Slender and long of limb; lanky |
| ra.... | RA6 | present participle of ray |
| ya.. | YA4 | A principle in Chinese and related East Asian philosophies associated with bright, hot, masculine, etc. elements of the natural world. |
| ya.. | YA4 | A twisted strand of fiber used for knitting or weaving. |
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.
- airy (AI4)
- angry (AN5)
- array (AR5)
- arraying (AR8)
- cagy (CA4)
- canary (CA6)
- canny (CA5)
- carny (CA5)
- carry (CA5)
- carrying† (CA8)
- craggy (CR6)
- cranny (CR6)
- cringy (CR6)
- crying (CR6)
- cyan (CY4)
- cynic (CY5)
- grainy (GR6)
- granary (GR7)
- granny (GR6)
- gray (GR4)
- graying (GR7)
- naggy (NA5)
- nanny (NA5)
- nannying (NA8)
- nary (NA4)
- ninny (NI5)
- racy (RA4)
- rainy (RA5)
- rangy (RA5)
- raying (RA6)
- yang (YA4)
- yarn (YA4)
Answer Definitions
- airy (adjective): (of a room or building) spacious, well lit, and well ventilated.
- angry (adjective): Displaying or feeling anger.
- array (noun): an ordered series or arrangement.
- arraying (verb): present participle of array
- cagy (adjective): Alternative form of cagey
- canary (noun): A small, usually yellow, finch (genus Serinus), a songbird native to the Canary Islands.
- canny (adjective): Careful, prudent, cautious.
- carny (noun): A person who works in a carnival (often one who uses exaggerated showmanship or fraud).
- carry (verb): To lift (something) and take it to another place; to transport (something) by lifting.
- carrying† (verb): present participle of carry
- craggy (adjective): Characterized by rugged, sharp, or coarse features.
- cranny (noun): A small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink, as in a wall, or other substance.
- cringy (adjective): Characterised by causing feelings of embarrassment; embarrassing.
- crying (adjective): That cries.
- cyan (noun): A vibrant pale greenish-blue colour between blue and green in the visible spectrum; the complementary colour of red; the colour obtained by subtracting red from white light.
- cynic (adjective): cynical (in all senses)
- grainy (adjective): Resembling grains; granular.
- granary (noun): A storage facility for grain or sometimes animal feed.
- granny (noun): A grandmother.
- gray (adjective): Having a color somewhere between white and black, as the ash of an ember.
- graying (verb): present participle of gray
- naggy (adjective): Prone to nag, irritable.
- nanny (noun): A child's nurse.
- nannying (verb): present participle of nanny
- nary (adverb): Not, never.
- ninny (noun): A silly or foolish person.
- racy (adjective): Mildly risqué.
- rainy (adjective): marked by bringing precipitation in the form of showers
- rangy (adjective): Slender and long of limb; lanky
- raying (verb): present participle of ray
- yang (noun): A principle in Chinese and related East Asian philosophies associated with bright, hot, masculine, etc. elements of the natural world.
- yarn (noun): A twisted strand of fiber used for knitting or weaving.