NYT Spelling Bee Answers for December 17, 2021

Dec 17, 2021 · 7 min read · spelling bee ·

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Spelling Bee "Hive" Board for December 17, 2021

Game Summary

Center Letter	V
Outer Letters	d, e, i, o, p, t
# of Pangrams	1 (Perfect: 1)
Total Words	32 words
Total Points	161 points
Genius Level	113 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	Σ
D	2	2	3	4	11
E	-	-	-	-	-
I	-	1	-	-	1
O	-	1	-	-	1
P	-	2	1	1	4
T	-	-	-	-	-
V	5	3	6	1	15
Σ	7	9	10	6	32

Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints

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

D	DE×4 DI×6 DO×1
E
I	IV×1
O	OV×1
P	PE×2 PI×2
T
V	VE×4 VI×5 VO×6

Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints

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

D	DEV×4 DIV×6 DOV×1
E
I	IVI×1
O	OVO×1
P	PEE×2 PIV×2
T
V	VEE×1 VET×3 VID×3 VIE×1 VIV×1 VOI×2 VOO×1 VOT×3

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)
de....	DE6	Completely without; having none of.
de....	DE6	to give one's time, focus one's efforts, commit oneself, etc. entirely for, on, or to a certain matter
de.....	DE7	simple past tense and past participle of devote
de.....	DE7	An ardent enthusiast or admirer.
di..	DI4	To swim under water.
di...	DI5	simple past tense and past participle of dive (scuba diving)
di....	DI6	To split or separate (something) into two or more parts.
di.....	DI7	simple past tense and past participle of divide
di...	DI5	A torn-up piece of turf, especially by a golf club in making a stroke or by a horse's hoof.
di.....	DI7	simple past tense and past participle of divvy
do..	DO4	A pigeon, especially one smaller in size; a bird (often arbitrarily called either a pigeon or a dove or both) of more than 300 species of the family Columbidae.
iv...	IV5	Overgrown with ivy or another climbing plant.
ov...	OV5	Shaped like an oval.
pe...	PE5	An annoyance or grievance.
pe....	PE6	simple past tense and past participle of peeve
pi...	PI5	A thing on which something turns; specifically a metal pointed pin or short shaft in machinery, such as the end of an axle or spindle.
pi..... ^†	PI7	simple past tense and past participle of pivot
ve..	VE4	The Vice President of the United States; the office of Vice President of the United States, especially during an election cycle where several are in the running for the nomination.
ve..	VE4	A political right to disapprove of (and thereby stop) the process of a decision, a law etc.
ve....	VE6	simple past tense and past participle of veto
ve....	VE6	simple past tense and past participle of vet
vi...	VI5	Television, television show, movie.
vi.....	VI7	simple past tense and past participle of video
vi....	VI6	A passive, undiscriminating consumer of video media.
vi..	VI4	simple past tense and past participle of vie
vi...	VI5	Clear, detailed or powerful.
vo..	VO4	Containing nothing; empty; not occupied or filled.
vo....	VO6	simple past tense and past participle of void
vo....	VO6	Any of a group of related religious practices found chiefly in and around the Caribbean, particularly in Haiti and Louisiana.
vo..	VO4	a formalized choice on legally relevant measures such as employment or appointment to office or a proceeding about a legal dispute.
vo...	VO5	simple past tense and past participle of vote
vo....	VO6	Dedicated or given in fulfillment of a vow or pledge.

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.

devoid (DE6)
devote (DE6)
devoted (DE7)
devotee (DE7)
dive (DI4)
dived (DI5)
divide (DI6)
divided (DI7)
divot (DI5)
divvied (DI7)
dove (DO4)
ivied (IV5)
ovoid (OV5)
peeve (PE5)
peeved (PE6)
pivot (PI5)
pivoted^† (PI7)
veep (VE4)
veto (VE4)
vetoed (VE6)
vetted (VE6)
video (VI5)
videoed (VI7)
vidiot (VI6)
vied (VI4)
vivid (VI5)
void (VO4)
voided (VO6)
voodoo (VO6)
vote (VO4)
voted (VO5)
votive (VO6)

Answer Definitions

devoid (adjective): Completely without; having none of.
devote (verb): to give one's time, focus one's efforts, commit oneself, etc. entirely for, on, or to a certain matter
devoted (verb): simple past tense and past participle of devote
devotee (noun): An ardent enthusiast or admirer.
dive (verb): To swim under water.
dived (verb): simple past tense and past participle of dive (scuba diving)
divide (verb): To split or separate (something) into two or more parts.
divided (verb): simple past tense and past participle of divide
divot (noun): A torn-up piece of turf, especially by a golf club in making a stroke or by a horse's hoof.
divvied (verb): simple past tense and past participle of divvy
dove (noun): A pigeon, especially one smaller in size; a bird (often arbitrarily called either a pigeon or a dove or both) of more than 300 species of the family Columbidae.
ivied (adjective): Overgrown with ivy or another climbing plant.
ovoid (adjective): Shaped like an oval.
peeve (noun): An annoyance or grievance.
peeved (verb): simple past tense and past participle of peeve
pivot (noun): A thing on which something turns; specifically a metal pointed pin or short shaft in machinery, such as the end of an axle or spindle.
pivoted^† (verb): simple past tense and past participle of pivot
veep (noun): The Vice President of the United States; the office of Vice President of the United States, especially during an election cycle where several are in the running for the nomination.
veto (noun): A political right to disapprove of (and thereby stop) the process of a decision, a law etc.
vetoed (verb): simple past tense and past participle of veto
vetted (verb): simple past tense and past participle of vet
video (noun): Television, television show, movie.
videoed (verb): simple past tense and past participle of video
vidiot (noun): A passive, undiscriminating consumer of video media.
vied (verb): simple past tense and past participle of vie
vivid (adjective): Clear, detailed or powerful.
void (adjective): Containing nothing; empty; not occupied or filled.
voided (verb): simple past tense and past participle of void
voodoo (noun): Any of a group of related religious practices found chiefly in and around the Caribbean, particularly in Haiti and Louisiana.
vote (noun): a formalized choice on legally relevant measures such as employment or appointment to office or a proceeding about a legal dispute.
voted (verb): simple past tense and past participle of vote
votive (adjective): Dedicated or given in fulfillment of a vow or pledge.