NYT Spelling Bee Answers for December 29, 2021

Dec 29, 2021 · 7 min read · spelling bee ·

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Spelling Bee "Hive" Board for December 29, 2021

Game Summary

Center Letter	O
Outer Letters	a, b, i, l, m, x
# of Pangrams	1 (Perfect: 1)
Total Words	33 words
Total Points	109 points
Genius Level	76 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
A	1	3	1	-	5
B	9	1	4	1	15
I	-	-	-	-	-
L	5	1	-	-	6
M	2	3	-	1	6
O	1	-	-	-	1
X	-	-	-	-	-
Σ	18	8	5	2	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 AI×1 AM×1 AX×1
B	BA×2 BL×2 BO×11
I
L	LI×2 LO×4
M	MA×2 MO×4
O	OL×1
X

Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints

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

A	ABL×1 ABO×1 AIO×1 AMM×1 AXI×1
B	BAM×1 BAO×1 BLO×2 BOB×1 BOI×1 BOL×4 BOM×1 BOO×4
I
L	LIM×2 LOA×1 LOB×1 LOL×1 LOO×1
M	MAI×1 MAM×1 MOI×1 MOL×1 MOM×1 MOO×1
O	OLI×1
X

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....	AB6	In or into bloom; in a blooming state; having flower blooms unfolding.
ab...	AB5	In a boil; boiling.
ai...	AI5	A type of sauce, similar to mayonnaise, made from garlic, egg, lemon juice and olive oil.
am..	AM4	Ammunition.
ax...	AX5	A seemingly self-evident or necessary truth which is based on assumption; a principle or proposition which cannot actually be proved or disproved.
ba....	BA6	A fast-growing grass of the Poaceae family, characterised by its woody, hollow, round, straight, jointed stem, all of which are in the Bambuseae tribe.
ba....	BA6	A tree, Adansonia digitata (and similar species), native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits.
bl..	BL4	A shapeless or amorphous mass; a vague shape or amount, especially of a liquid or semisolid substance; a clump, group or collection that lacks definite shape.
bl...	BL5	A blossom; the flower of a plant; an expanded bud.
bo..	BO4	Synonym of tapioca pearl.
bo..	BO4	A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection.
bo..	BO4	A throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of a cord.
bo..	BO4	The rounded seed-bearing capsule of a cotton or flax plant.
bo....	BO6	To confuse.
bo..	BO4	A long, heavy, single-edged machete.
bo..	BO4	An explosive device used or intended as a weapon, one dropped from an aircraft. The atomic bomb.
bo..	BO4	An idiot; a fool.
bo....	BO6	Alternative spelling of boo-boo
bo..	BO4	To make a loud, hollow, resonant sound.
bo.....	BO7	Alternative spelling of boom box
li...	LI5	The place where innocent souls exist temporarily until they can enter heaven, notably those of the saints who died before the advent of Christ (limbus patruum) and those of unbaptized but innocent children (limbus infantum).
li..	LI4	Clipping of limousine.
lo..	LO4	A type of soil; an earthy mixture of sand, silt and clay, with organic matter to which its fertility is chiefly due.
lo..	LO4	A wolf.
lo..	LO4	To act lazily or indolently while reclining; to lean; to lie at ease.
lo..	LO4	A utensil; tool; a weapon; an article in general.
ma..... ^†	MA7	A box into which mail is put. A collection point for mail intended for onward delivery, a secure box or receptacle for this purpose.
ma...	MA5	A voodoo priestess (in Haiti)
mo..	MO4	To toil, to work hard.
mo..	MO4	A female companion of a gangster, especially a former or current prostitute.
mo...	MO5	mother
mo...	MO5	Money, cash.
ol..	OL4	A rich, thick, Spanish stew consisting of meat and vegetables.

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.

abloom (AB6)
aboil (AB5)
aioli (AI5)
ammo (AM4)
axiom (AX5)
bamboo (BA6)
baobab (BA6)
blob (BL4)
bloom (BL5)
boba (BO4)
boil (BO4)
bola (BO4)
boll (BO4)
bollix (BO6)
bolo (BO4)
bomb (BO4)
boob (BO4)
booboo (BO6)
boom (BO4)
boombox (BO7)
limbo (LI5)
limo (LI4)
loam (LO4)
lobo (LO4)
loll (LO4)
loom (LO4)
mailbox^† (MA7)
mambo (MA5)
moil (MO4)
moll (MO4)
momma (MO5)
moola (MO5)
olio (OL4)

Answer Definitions

abloom (adverb): In or into bloom; in a blooming state; having flower blooms unfolding.
aboil (adjective): In a boil; boiling.
aioli (noun): A type of sauce, similar to mayonnaise, made from garlic, egg, lemon juice and olive oil.
ammo (noun): Ammunition.
axiom (noun): A seemingly self-evident or necessary truth which is based on assumption; a principle or proposition which cannot actually be proved or disproved.
bamboo (noun): A fast-growing grass of the Poaceae family, characterised by its woody, hollow, round, straight, jointed stem, all of which are in the Bambuseae tribe.
baobab (noun): A tree, Adansonia digitata (and similar species), native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits.
blob (noun): A shapeless or amorphous mass; a vague shape or amount, especially of a liquid or semisolid substance; a clump, group or collection that lacks definite shape.
bloom (noun): A blossom; the flower of a plant; an expanded bud.
boba (noun): Synonym of tapioca pearl.
boil (noun): A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection.
bola (noun): A throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of a cord.
boll (noun): The rounded seed-bearing capsule of a cotton or flax plant.
bollix (verb): To confuse.
bolo (noun): A long, heavy, single-edged machete.
bomb (noun): An explosive device used or intended as a weapon, one dropped from an aircraft. The atomic bomb.
boob (noun): An idiot; a fool.
booboo (noun): Alternative spelling of boo-boo
boom (verb): To make a loud, hollow, resonant sound.
boombox (noun): Alternative spelling of boom box
limbo (noun): The place where innocent souls exist temporarily until they can enter heaven, notably those of the saints who died before the advent of Christ (limbus patruum) and those of unbaptized but innocent children (limbus infantum).
limo (noun): Clipping of limousine.
loam (noun): A type of soil; an earthy mixture of sand, silt and clay, with organic matter to which its fertility is chiefly due.
lobo (noun): A wolf.
loll (verb): To act lazily or indolently while reclining; to lean; to lie at ease.
loom (noun): A utensil; tool; a weapon; an article in general.
mailbox^† (noun): A box into which mail is put. A collection point for mail intended for onward delivery, a secure box or receptacle for this purpose.
mambo (noun): A voodoo priestess (in Haiti)
moil (verb): To toil, to work hard.
moll (noun): A female companion of a gangster, especially a former or current prostitute.
momma (noun): mother
moola (noun): Money, cash.
olio (noun): A rich, thick, Spanish stew consisting of meat and vegetables.