NYT Spelling Bee Answers for October 4, 2021
Game Summary
| Center Letter | I |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, c, d, e, m, y |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 45 words |
| Total Points | 195 points |
| Genius Level | 137 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</th><th>9 | Σ | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | 2 | - | 11 |
| C | 1 | - | 2 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| D | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | - | - | 12 |
| E | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| I | 3 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 4 |
| M | 6 | 4 | 2 | - | - | 1 | 13 |
| Y | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Σ | 17 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 45 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AC×7 AI×3 AM×1 |
|---|---|
| C | CA×3 CI×1 |
| D | DE×5 DI×7 |
| E | ED×1 |
| I | IC×1 ID×1 IM×2 |
| M | MA×4 ME×2 MI×7 |
| Y |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ACA×4 ACI×3 AID×2 AIM×1 AMI×1 |
|---|---|
| C | CAD×2 CAM×1 CIC×1 |
| D | DEC×2 DEI×3 DIA×1 DIC×3 DIE×1 DIM×2 |
| E | EDD×1 |
| I | ICE×1 IDE×1 IMA×1 IMM×1 |
| M | MAC×1 MAI×3 MED×2 MIC×2 MID×2 MIM×3 |
| Y |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| ac.... | AC6 | A shrub or tree of the tribe Acacieae. |
| ac...... | AC8 | The scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole. |
| ac...... | AC8 | Belonging to the school or philosophy of Plato |
| ac.. | AC4 | Any of several South American palms, of the genus Euterpe, having a dark purple drupe. |
| ac.. | AC4 | Sour, sharp, or biting to the taste; tart; having the taste of vinegar. |
| ac.... | AC6 | Having a pH less than 7, or being sour, or having the strength to neutralize alkalis, or turning a litmus paper red. |
| ac... | AC5 | Like an acid, somewhat acid. |
| ai.. | AI4 | An assistant. |
| ai... | AI5 | simple past tense and past participle of aid |
| ai... | AI5 | simple past tense and past participle of aim |
| am.. | AM4 | In the middle of; in the center of; surrounded by. |
| ca.... | CA6 | A golfer's assistant and adviser. |
| ca..... | CA7 | simple past tense and past participle of caddie |
| ca.. | CA4 | A camisole. |
| ci.... | CI6 | Any of several insects in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with small eyes wide apart on the head and transparent well-veined wings. The periodical cicada. |
| de.... | DE6 | to resolve (a contest, problem, dispute, etc.); to choose, determine, or settle |
| de..... | DE7 | simple past tense and past participle of decide |
| de... | DE5 | To remove the ice from something. |
| de.... | DE6 | simple past tense and past participle of deice |
| de..... | DE7 | The killing of a god or goddess; godslaughter. |
| di.... | DI6 | An ornamental headband worn as a badge of royalty. |
| di.. | DI4 | Gaming with one or more dice. |
| di... | DI5 | simple past tense and past participle of dice |
| di... | DI5 | Fraught with danger. |
| di.. | DI4 | simple past tense and past participle of die |
| di.. | DI4 | A coin worth one-tenth of a U.S. dollar. |
| di.... | DI6 | simple past tense and past participle of dim |
| ed.... | ED6 | simple past tense and past participle of eddy |
| ic.. | IC4 | With ice added. |
| id.. | ID4 | An abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure essence, as opposed to actual examples. |
| im.. | IM4 | One who leads the salat prayers in a mosque. |
| im....... † | IM9 | The quality of being immediate, of happening right away. |
| ma....... | MA9 | An evergreen tree, of the genus Macadamia, native to Australia and cultivated in Hawaii. |
| ma.. | MA4 | A girl or an unmarried young woman; maiden. |
| ma.. | MA4 | To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body. |
| ma.... | MA6 | simple past tense and past participle of maim |
| me... | ME5 | The middle layer of the wall of a blood vessel or lymph vessel which is composed of connective and muscular tissue. |
| me... | ME5 | Of or pertaining to medicines; medical. |
| mi.. | MI4 | Any of a group of hydrous aluminosilicate minerals characterized by highly perfect cleavage, so that they readily separate into very thin leaves, more or less elastic. |
| mi.. | MI4 | plural of mouse |
| mi.... | MI6 | noon; twelve o'clock during the day |
| mi.. | MI4 | Having a hemline at mid-calf length. |
| mi.. | MI4 | A form of acting without words; pantomime. |
| mi... | MI5 | simple past tense and past participle of mime |
| mi... | MI5 | To imitate, especially in order to ridicule. |
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.
- acacia (AC6)
- academia (AC8)
- academic (AC8)
- acai (AC4)
- acid (AC4)
- acidic (AC6)
- acidy (AC5)
- aide (AI4)
- aided (AI5)
- aimed (AI5)
- amid (AM4)
- caddie (CA6)
- caddied (CA7)
- cami (CA4)
- cicada (CI6)
- decide (DE6)
- decided (DE7)
- deice (DE5)
- deiced (DE6)
- deicide (DE7)
- diadem (DI6)
- dice (DI4)
- diced (DI5)
- dicey (DI5)
- died (DI4)
- dime (DI4)
- dimmed (DI6)
- eddied (ED6)
- iced (IC4)
- idea (ID4)
- imam (IM4)
- immediacy† (IM9)
- macadamia (MA9)
- maid (MA4)
- maim (MA4)
- maimed (MA6)
- media (ME5)
- medic (ME5)
- mica (MI4)
- mice (MI4)
- midday (MI6)
- midi (MI4)
- mime (MI4)
- mimed (MI5)
- mimic (MI5)
Answer Definitions
- acacia (noun): A shrub or tree of the tribe Acacieae.
- academia (noun): The scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole.
- academic (adjective): Belonging to the school or philosophy of Plato
- acai (noun): Any of several South American palms, of the genus Euterpe, having a dark purple drupe.
- acid (adjective): Sour, sharp, or biting to the taste; tart; having the taste of vinegar.
- acidic (adjective): Having a pH less than 7, or being sour, or having the strength to neutralize alkalis, or turning a litmus paper red.
- acidy (adjective): Like an acid, somewhat acid.
- aide (noun): An assistant.
- aided (verb): simple past tense and past participle of aid
- aimed (verb): simple past tense and past participle of aim
- amid (preposition): In the middle of; in the center of; surrounded by.
- caddie (noun): A golfer's assistant and adviser.
- caddied (verb): simple past tense and past participle of caddie
- cami (noun): A camisole.
- cicada (noun): Any of several insects in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with small eyes wide apart on the head and transparent well-veined wings. The periodical cicada.
- decide (verb): to resolve (a contest, problem, dispute, etc.); to choose, determine, or settle
- decided (verb): simple past tense and past participle of decide
- deice (verb): To remove the ice from something.
- deiced (verb): simple past tense and past participle of deice
- deicide (noun): The killing of a god or goddess; godslaughter.
- diadem (noun): An ornamental headband worn as a badge of royalty.
- dice (noun): Gaming with one or more dice.
- diced (verb): simple past tense and past participle of dice
- dicey (adjective): Fraught with danger.
- died (verb): simple past tense and past participle of die
- dime (noun): A coin worth one-tenth of a U.S. dollar.
- dimmed (verb): simple past tense and past participle of dim
- eddied (verb): simple past tense and past participle of eddy
- iced (adjective): With ice added.
- idea (noun): An abstract archetype of a given thing, compared to which real-life examples are seen as imperfect approximations; pure essence, as opposed to actual examples.
- imam (noun): One who leads the salat prayers in a mosque.
- immediacy† (noun): The quality of being immediate, of happening right away.
- macadamia (noun): An evergreen tree, of the genus Macadamia, native to Australia and cultivated in Hawaii.
- maid (noun): A girl or an unmarried young woman; maiden.
- maim (verb): To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body.
- maimed (verb): simple past tense and past participle of maim
- media (noun): The middle layer of the wall of a blood vessel or lymph vessel which is composed of connective and muscular tissue.
- medic (adjective): Of or pertaining to medicines; medical.
- mica (noun): Any of a group of hydrous aluminosilicate minerals characterized by highly perfect cleavage, so that they readily separate into very thin leaves, more or less elastic.
- mice (noun): plural of mouse
- midday (noun): noon; twelve o'clock during the day
- midi (adjective): Having a hemline at mid-calf length.
- mime (noun): A form of acting without words; pantomime.
- mimed (verb): simple past tense and past participle of mime
- mimic (verb): To imitate, especially in order to ridicule.