Game Summary

Table of Contents

As you scroll down this page, the clues get progressively more revealing. So scroll slowly!

1. Spelling Bee Grid
2. Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
3. Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
4. Extra Letter Hints (Incrementally Revealing) 🤯
5. Today's Complete Solution
6. 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.

Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints

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

Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints

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

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 (^†).

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.

• alcopop  (AL7)
• alpaca  (AL6)
• apolitical^†  (AP10)
• appall  (AP6)
• atop  (AT4)
• capital  (CA7)
• capitol^†  (CA7)
• capo  (CA4)
• catalpa  (CA7)
• clap  (CL4)
• clip  (CL4)
• clop  (CL4)
• coop  (CO4)
• coopt  (CO5)
• copilot  (CO7)
• laptop  (LA6)
• lipo  (LI4)
• lollipop  (LO8)
• lollop  (LO6)
• loop  (LO4)
• occipital^†  (OC9)
• octopi  (OC6)
• opal  (OP4)
• optic  (OP5)
• optical^†  (OP7)
• pact  (PA4)
• pail  (PA4)
• palapa  (PA6)
• palatal  (PA7)
• palatial  (PA8)
• pall  (PA4)
• palp  (PA4)
• papa  (PA4)
• papal  (PA5)
• papilla  (PA7)
• patio  (PA5)
• pica  (PI4)
• piccata  (PI7)
• piccolo  (PI7)
• picot  (PI5)
• pill  (PI4)
• pilot  (PI5)
• pipit  (PI5)
• pita  (PI4)
• pitapat  (PI7)
• plait  (PL5)
• plat  (PL4)
• plop  (PL4)
• plot  (PL4)
• polio  (PO5)
• politic  (PO7)
• political^†  (PO9)
• politico  (PO8)
• poll  (PO4)
• polo  (PO4)
• pool  (PO4)
• poop  (PO4)
• poppa  (PO5)
• potato  (PO6)
• tapa  (TA4)
• tapioca  (TA7)
• tilapia  (TI7)
• tiptop  (TI6)
• topcoat  (TO7)
• topic  (TO5)
• topical^†  (TO7)

Answer Definitions

• alcopop (noun): An alcoholic drink that looks and tastes like a soft drink.
• alpaca (noun): A sheep-like animal of the Andes, Vicugna pacos, in the camel family, closely related to the llama, guanaco, and vicuña.
• apolitical^† (adjective): Having no interest or involvement in politics.
• appall (verb): To fill with horror; to dismay.
• atop (preposition): On the top of.
• capital (noun): Already-produced durable goods available for use as a factor of production, such as steam shovels (equipment) and office buildings (structures).
• capitol^† (noun): Any building or complex of buildings in which a legislature meets.
• capo (noun): A movable bar placed across the fingerboard of a guitar used to raise the pitch of all strings.
• catalpa (noun): Any tree of the genus Catalpa, in the family Bignoniaceae. The two North American species, the southern catalpa, Catalpa bignonioides, and the northern catalpa, Catalpa speciosa — along with the yellow catalpa, Catalpa ovata, from China — are often planted as ornamentals because of their showy flowers and decorative bean pods, though others regard the bean pods as a nuisance.
• clap (noun): The act of striking the palms of the hands, or any two surfaces, together.
• clip (verb): To grip tightly.
• clop (noun): The sound of a horse's shod hoof striking the ground.
• coop (noun): A basket, pen or enclosure for birds or small animals.
• coopt (verb): Alternative spelling of co-opt
• copilot (noun): A backup or assistant pilot of an aircraft.
• laptop (noun): A laptop computer.
• lipo (noun): Clipping of liposuction.
• lollipop (noun): An item of confectionery consisting of a piece of candy/sweet attached to a stick.
• lollop (verb): To walk or move with a bouncing or undulating motion and at an unhurried pace.
• loop (noun): A length of thread, line or rope that is doubled over to make an opening.
• occipital^† (adjective): Of, pertaining to, or located within or near the occiput (back of the head) or the occipital bone.
• octopi (noun): plural of octopus
• opal (noun): A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO2·nH2O. A precious gem, an iridescent gemstone found in the opal-silica mineral substrate (potch)
• optic (adjective): Of, or relating to the eye or to vision.
• optical^† (adjective): Of, or relating to sight; visual.
• pact (noun): An agreement; a compact; a covenant.
• pail (noun): A vessel of wood, tin, plastic, etc., usually cylindrical and having a handle -- used especially for carrying liquids, for example water or milk; a bucket (sometimes with a cover).
• palapa (noun): An open-sided dwelling with a thatched roof made of dried palm leaves.
• palatal (adjective): Pertaining to the palate.
• palatial (adjective): Of or relating to a palace.
• pall (noun): Senses relating to cloth. Fine cloth, especially purple cloth used for robes. A heavy cloth laid over a coffin or tomb; a shroud laid over a corpse. A piece of cardboard, covered with linen and embroidered on one side, used to cover the chalice during the Eucharist. A cloth used for various purposes on the altar in a church, such as a corporal (“cloth on which elements of the Eucharist are placed”) or frontal (“drapery covering the front of an altar”).
• palp (noun): Synonym of pedipalp.
• papa (noun): Dad, daddy, father; a familiar or old-fashioned term of address to one’s father.
• papal (adjective): Having to do with the pope or the papacy.
• papilla (noun): A nipple-like protuberance on a part or organ of the body. A vascular process of connective tissue extending into and nourishing the root of a hair, feather, or developing tooth. Any of the vascular protuberances of the dermal layer of the skin extending into the epidermal layer and often containing tactile corpuscles. Any of the small protuberances on the upper surface of the tongue often containing taste buds.
• patio (noun): A paved outside area, adjoining a house, used for dining or recreation.
• pica (noun): A disorder characterized by appetite and craving for non-edible substances, such as chalk, clay, dirt, ice, or sand.
• piccata (adjective): Sliced, sautéed and served with lemon, parsley and butter sauce.
• piccolo (noun): A piccolo piano.
• picot (noun): An embroidery trim made of a series of small loops.
• pill (noun): A small, usually round or cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication.
• pilot (noun): A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.
• pipit (noun): Any of various small passerine birds, mainly from the genus Anthus, that are often drab, ground feeding insectivores of open country.
• pita (noun): A flat bread pouch used for making sandwiches such as gyros or falafels.
• pitapat (verb): Alternative spelling of pit-a-pat
• plait (noun): A flat fold; a doubling, as of cloth; a pleat.
• plat (noun): A plot of land; a lot.
• plop (noun): A sound or action like liquid hitting a hard surface, or an object falling into a body of water.
• plot (noun): The course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means.
• polio (noun): Abbreviation of poliomyelitis.
• politic (adjective): Of or relating to polity, or civil government; political.
• political^† (adjective): Concerning or relating to politics, the art and process of governing.
• politico (noun): A politician.
• poll (noun): A survey of people, usually statistically analyzed to gauge wider public opinion.
• polo (noun): A ball game where two teams of players on horseback use long-handled mallets to propel the ball along the ground and into their opponent's goal.
• pool (noun): A small and rather deep area of (usually) fresh water, as one supplied by a spring, or occurring in the course of a stream or river; a reservoir for water.
• poop (verb): To make a short blast on a horn.
• poppa (noun): father, papa.
• potato (noun): The tuber of a plant, Solanum tuberosum, eaten as a starchy vegetable, particularly in the Americas and Europe; this plant.
• tapa (noun): A kind of cloth prepared by the Polynesians from the inner bark of the paper mulberry.
• tapioca (noun): A starchy food made from the cassava plant, used in puddings.
• tilapia (noun): Any of various edible fish, formerly species of the genus Tilapia, but now placed in other cichlid genera (such as Oreochromis), native to Africa and the Middle East but cultivated worldwide.
• tiptop (noun): The very topmost point.
• topcoat (noun): A light overcoat.
• topic (adjective): topical
• topical^† (adjective): Relating to a particular topic or subject.