NYT Spelling Bee Answers for December 26, 2022
Game Summary
| Center Letter | V |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, i, l, n, o, p |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 20 words |
| Total Points | 98 points |
| Genius Level | 69 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 | - | 3 | - | - | - | 3 |
| I | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| L | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| N | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 2 |
| O | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| P | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| V | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 11 | Σ | 6 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 20 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AN×1 AV×2 |
|---|---|
| I | |
| L | LA×1 |
| N | NA×1 NO×1 |
| O | OV×1 |
| P | PA×2 |
| V | VA×4 VI×6 VO×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ANV×1 AVA×1 AVI×1 |
|---|---|
| I | |
| L | LAV×1 |
| N | NAV×1 NOV×1 |
| O | OVA×1 |
| P | PAV×2 |
| V | VAI×1 VAN×3 VIA×1 VIL×2 VIO×3 VOI×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) |
|---|---|---|
| pa...... † | PA8 | An ornate tent. |
| an... | AN5 | A heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can be struck and shaped. |
| av... | AV5 | To turn to the advantage of. |
| av... | AV5 | Characteristic of or pertaining to birds, or to bird-like or flying creatures. |
| la.. | LA4 | The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides. |
| na... | NA5 | Of or relating to a navy. |
| no.. | NO4 | Any sudden brightening of a previously inconspicuous star. |
| ov.. | OV4 | An elongated round shape resembling an egg or ellipse. |
| pa..... | PA7 | A meringue dessert usually topped with fruit and cream. |
| va.. | VA4 | Overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason. |
| va..... | VA7 | Any tropical, climbing orchid of the genus Vanilla (especially Vanilla planifolia), bearing podlike fruit yielding an extract used in flavoring food or in perfumes. |
| va...... | VA8 | A chemical compound, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, that is the primary constituent of vanilla. |
| va..... | VA7 | The transport of a pool of commuters in a shared van. |
| vi.. | VI4 | A glass vessel or bottle, especially a small tube-shaped bottle used to store medicine, perfume or other chemicals. |
| vi... | VI5 | A house, often larger and more expensive than average, in the countryside or on the coast, often used as a retreat. |
| vi..... | VI7 | (Can we clean up this sense?) A vile, wicked person. An extremely depraved person, or one capable or guilty of great crimes. A deliberate scoundrel. |
| vi.. | VI4 | A stringed instrument related to the violin family, but held in the lap between the legs like a cello, usually with C-holes, a flat back, a fretted neck and six strings, played with an underhanded bow hold |
| vi... | VI5 | A stringed instrument of the violin family, somewhat larger than a violin, played under the chin, and having a deeper tone. |
| vi.... | VI6 | A small unfretted stringed instrument with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) G-D-A-E, usually held against the chin and played with a bow. |
| vo... | VO5 | Alternative spelling of voilà |
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.
- pavilion† (PA8)
- anvil (AN5)
- avail (AV5)
- avian (AV5)
- lava (LA4)
- naval (NA5)
- nova (NO4)
- oval (OV4)
- pavlova (PA7)
- vain (VA4)
- vanilla (VA7)
- vanillin (VA8)
- vanpool (VA7)
- vial (VI4)
- villa (VI5)
- villain (VI7)
- viol (VI4)
- viola (VI5)
- violin (VI6)
- voila (VO5)
Answer Definitions
- pavilion† (noun): An ornate tent.
- anvil (noun): A heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can be struck and shaped.
- avail (verb): To turn to the advantage of.
- avian (adjective): Characteristic of or pertaining to birds, or to bird-like or flying creatures.
- lava (noun): The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides.
- naval (adjective): Of or relating to a navy.
- nova (noun): Any sudden brightening of a previously inconspicuous star.
- oval (noun): An elongated round shape resembling an egg or ellipse.
- pavlova (noun): A meringue dessert usually topped with fruit and cream.
- vain (adjective): Overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason.
- vanilla (noun): Any tropical, climbing orchid of the genus Vanilla (especially Vanilla planifolia), bearing podlike fruit yielding an extract used in flavoring food or in perfumes.
- vanillin (noun): A chemical compound, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, that is the primary constituent of vanilla.
- vanpool (noun): The transport of a pool of commuters in a shared van.
- vial (noun): A glass vessel or bottle, especially a small tube-shaped bottle used to store medicine, perfume or other chemicals.
- villa (noun): A house, often larger and more expensive than average, in the countryside or on the coast, often used as a retreat.
- villain (noun): (Can we clean up this sense?) A vile, wicked person. An extremely depraved person, or one capable or guilty of great crimes. A deliberate scoundrel.
- viol (noun): A stringed instrument related to the violin family, but held in the lap between the legs like a cello, usually with C-holes, a flat back, a fretted neck and six strings, played with an underhanded bow hold
- viola (noun): A stringed instrument of the violin family, somewhat larger than a violin, played under the chin, and having a deeper tone.
- violin (noun): A small unfretted stringed instrument with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) G-D-A-E, usually held against the chin and played with a bow.
- voila (interjection): Alternative spelling of voilà