NYT Spelling Bee Answers for May 20, 2022
Game Summary
| Center Letter | R |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, c, h, n, u, y |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 31 words |
| Total Points | 154 points |
| Genius Level | 108 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 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| C | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 | - | 13 |
| H | - | 2 | 2 | - | - | 4 |
| N | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| R | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | 5 |
| U | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Y | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | Σ | 7 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 31 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AC×1 AN×1 AR×3 AU×1 |
|---|---|
| C | CA×3 CH×5 CR×3 CU×2 |
| H | HA×1 HU×3 |
| N | NA×2 |
| R | RA×4 RU×1 |
| U | |
| Y | YA×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ACC×1 ANA×1 ARC×2 ARR×1 AUR×1 |
|---|---|
| C | CAN×1 CAR×2 CHA×2 CHU×3 CRA×1 CRU×2 CUR×2 |
| H | HAR×1 HUR×3 |
| N | NAR×2 |
| R | RAC×1 RAN×1 RAU×2 RUN×1 |
| U | |
| Y | 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) |
|---|---|---|
| ac...... | AC8 | The state of being accurate; being free from error; exactness; correctness |
| an..... | AN7 | The state of a society being without authorities or an authoritative governing body. |
| ar.... | AR6 | Specialized knowledge that is mysterious to the uninitiated. |
| ar.. | AR4 | An inverted U shape. |
| ar... | AR5 | an ordered series or arrangement. |
| au.. | AU4 | Distinctive atmosphere or quality associated with something. |
| ca.... | CA6 | A small, usually yellow, finch (genus Serinus), a songbird native to the Canary Islands. |
| 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. |
| ch.. | CH4 | To burn something to charcoal. |
| ch... | CH5 | Careful, cautious, shy, wary. |
| ch.... | CH6 | A Christian house of worship; a building where Christian religious services take place. |
| ch..... | CH7 | Piously Christian. |
| ch... | CH5 | To agitate rapidly and repetitively, or to stir with a rowing or rocking motion; generally applies to liquids, notably cream. |
| cr.... | CR6 | A small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink, as in a wall, or other substance. |
| cr.... | CR6 | To crush something, especially food, with a noisy crackling sound. |
| cr..... | CR7 | Likely to crunch, especially with reference to food when it is eaten. |
| cu.... | CU6 | The office or position of a curate |
| cu... | CU5 | One of a family of dishes originating from Indian cuisine, flavoured by a spiced sauce. |
| ha... | HA5 | To plunder, pillage, assault. |
| hu.... | HU6 | Expressing approval, appreciation, or happiness. |
| hu.... | HU6 | Alternative form of hooray. |
| hu... | HU5 | Rushed action. |
| na.. | NA4 | A police officer assigned to or engaging in illegal narcotics control. |
| na.. | NA4 | Not, never. |
| ra.. | RA4 | Mildly risqué. |
| ra... | RA5 | A large plot of land used for raising cattle, sheep or other livestock. |
| ra.... | RA6 | Low class condition or content; inferiority; inadequacy. |
| ra..... † | RA7 | Smutty; indecent. |
| ru... | RU5 | Fluid; capable of flowing. |
| 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.
- accuracy (AC8)
- anarchy (AN7)
- arcana (AR6)
- arch (AR4)
- array (AR5)
- aura (AU4)
- canary (CA6)
- carny (CA5)
- carry (CA5)
- char (CH4)
- chary (CH5)
- church (CH6)
- churchy (CH7)
- churn (CH5)
- cranny (CR6)
- crunch (CR6)
- crunchy (CR7)
- curacy (CU6)
- curry (CU5)
- harry (HA5)
- hurrah (HU6)
- hurray (HU6)
- hurry (HU5)
- narc (NA4)
- nary (NA4)
- racy (RA4)
- ranch (RA5)
- raunch (RA6)
- raunchy† (RA7)
- runny (RU5)
- yarn (YA4)
Answer Definitions
- accuracy (noun): The state of being accurate; being free from error; exactness; correctness
- anarchy (noun): The state of a society being without authorities or an authoritative governing body.
- arcana (noun): Specialized knowledge that is mysterious to the uninitiated.
- arch (noun): An inverted U shape.
- array (noun): an ordered series or arrangement.
- aura (noun): Distinctive atmosphere or quality associated with something.
- canary (noun): A small, usually yellow, finch (genus Serinus), a songbird native to the Canary Islands.
- 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.
- char (verb): To burn something to charcoal.
- chary (adjective): Careful, cautious, shy, wary.
- church (noun): A Christian house of worship; a building where Christian religious services take place.
- churchy (adjective): Piously Christian.
- churn (verb): To agitate rapidly and repetitively, or to stir with a rowing or rocking motion; generally applies to liquids, notably cream.
- cranny (noun): A small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink, as in a wall, or other substance.
- crunch (verb): To crush something, especially food, with a noisy crackling sound.
- crunchy (adjective): Likely to crunch, especially with reference to food when it is eaten.
- curacy (noun): The office or position of a curate
- curry (noun): One of a family of dishes originating from Indian cuisine, flavoured by a spiced sauce.
- harry (verb): To plunder, pillage, assault.
- hurrah (interjection): Expressing approval, appreciation, or happiness.
- hurray (interjection): Alternative form of hooray.
- hurry (noun): Rushed action.
- narc (noun): A police officer assigned to or engaging in illegal narcotics control.
- nary (adverb): Not, never.
- racy (adjective): Mildly risqué.
- ranch (noun): A large plot of land used for raising cattle, sheep or other livestock.
- raunch (noun): Low class condition or content; inferiority; inadequacy.
- raunchy† (adjective): Smutty; indecent.
- runny (adjective): Fluid; capable of flowing.
- yarn (noun): A twisted strand of fiber used for knitting or weaving.