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.

• painful^†  (PA7)
• apian  (AP5)
• appall  (AP6)
• fillip  (FI6)
• flap  (FL4)
• flip  (FL4)
• pail  (PA4)
• pain  (PA4)
• palapa  (PA6)
• pall  (PA4)
• palp  (PA4)
• panini  (PA6)
• papa  (PA4)
• papal  (PA5)
• papilla  (PA7)
• pilaf  (PI5)
• pill  (PI4)
• pinup  (PI5)
• pippin  (PI6)
• plain  (PL5)
• plan  (PL4)
• puff  (PU4)
• puffin  (PU6)
• puli  (PU4)
• pull  (PU4)
• pulp  (PU4)
• pupa  (PU4)
• pupal  (PU5)
• pupil  (PU5)
• unpin  (UN5)

Answer Definitions

• painful^† (adjective): Causing pain or distress, either physical or mental.
• apian (adjective): Relating to bees.
• appall (verb): To fill with horror; to dismay.
• fillip (noun): The action of holding the tip of a finger against the thumb and then releasing it with a snap; a flick.
• flap (noun): Anything broad and flexible that hangs loose, or that is attached by one side or end and is easily moved.
• flip (noun): A maneuver which rotates an object end over end.
• 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).
• pain (noun): An ache or bodily suffering, or an instance of this; an unpleasant sensation, resulting from a derangement of functions, disease, or injury by violence; hurt.
• palapa (noun): An open-sided dwelling with a thatched roof made of dried palm leaves.
• 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.
• panini (noun): A type of grilled sandwich made of a small loaf of bread, cut horizontally, filled with meat such as salami or ham, cheese or other food.
• 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.
• pilaf (noun): A dish made by browning grain, typically rice, in oil and then cooking it with a seasoned broth, to which meat and/or vegetables may be added.
• pill (noun): A small, usually round or cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication.
• pinup (noun): Alternative form of pin-up
• pippin (noun): A seed
• plain (adjective): Flat, level.
• plan (noun): A drawing showing technical details of a building, machine, etc., with unwanted details omitted, and often using symbols rather than detailed drawing to represent doors, valves, etc.
• puff (noun): A sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath through the mouth.
• puffin (noun): The young of the Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus), especially eaten as food.
• puli (noun): One of a breed of Hungarian sheepdog with a distinctive thick, corded coat.
• pull (verb): To apply a force to (an object) so that it comes toward the person or thing applying the force.
• pulp (noun): A soft, moist, shapeless mass or matter. A mixture of wood, cellulose and/or rags and water ground up to make paper. A mass of chemically processed wood fibres (cellulose). A suspension of mineral particles, typically achieved by some form of agitation. The soft center of a fruit.
• pupa (noun): Used as a specific epithet; resembling an insect in its pupal stage of development.
• pupal (adjective): Of or pertaining to the pupa stage of insect metamorphosis.
• pupil (noun): A learner at a school under the supervision of a teacher.
• unpin (verb): To unfasten by removing a pin.