NYT Spelling Bee Answers for February 18, 2023
Game Summary
| Center Letter | N |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, d, i, l, u, v |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 33 words |
| Total Points | 149 points |
| Genius Level | 104 points |
| Bingo? | Yes |
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</th><th>9</th><th>10 | Σ | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 7 |
| D | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| I | - | - | 2 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 4 |
| L | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 5 |
| N | 5 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 7 |
| U | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| V | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 6 | Σ | 11 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 1 | - | 1 | 33 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AN×6 AV×1 |
|---|---|
| D | DI×1 |
| I | IN×4 |
| L | LA×3 LU×2 |
| N | NA×6 NU×1 |
| U | UL×1 UN×2 |
| V | VA×4 VI×2 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ANA×1 ANN×4 ANV×1 AVI×1 |
|---|---|
| D | DIV×1 |
| I | IND×1 INL×2 INV×1 |
| L | LAI×1 LAN×2 LUN×2 |
| N | NAA×1 NAD×1 NAI×2 NAN×1 NAV×1 NUL×1 |
| U | ULN×1 UND×1 UNL×1 |
| V | VAI×1 VAN×3 VIA×1 VIL×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) |
|---|---|---|
| in........ † | IN10 | A person considered alone, rather than as belonging to a group of people. |
| an.. | AN4 | of, related to, intended for or involving the anus. |
| an... | AN5 | The record of a single event or item. |
| an.... | AN6 | Happening once every year. |
| an... | AN5 | To formally revoke the validity of. |
| an.... | AN6 | plural of annulus |
| an... | AN5 | A heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can be struck and shaped. |
| av... | AV5 | Characteristic of or pertaining to birds, or to bird-like or flying creatures. |
| di... | DI5 | A Muslim council of state, specifically that of viziers of the Ottoman Empire that discussed and recommended new laws and law changes to a higher authority (the sultan). |
| in.... | IN6 | simple past tense and past participle of inlay |
| in.... | IN6 | Within the land; relatively remote from the ocean or from open water; interior. |
| in..... | IN7 | Not valid; not true, correct, acceptable or appropriate. |
| la.. | LA4 | past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”) |
| la... | LA5 | A Hawaiian-style roofed patio. |
| la.. | LA4 | The part of Earth which is not covered by oceans or other bodies of water. |
| lu.. | LU4 | A luna moth: a member of species Actias luna. |
| lu.... | LU6 | Something shaped like a crescent or half-moon; especially the pale area at the base of the fingernail. |
| na.. | NA4 | A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine. |
| na.. | NA4 | Nothing. |
| na... | NA5 | A female deity (nymph) associated with water, especially a spring, stream, or other fresh water. |
| na.. | NA4 | The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals. |
| na.. | NA4 | A banana. |
| na... | NA5 | Of or relating to a navy. |
| nu.. | NU4 | A non-existent or empty value or set of values. |
| ul.. | UL4 | The bone of the forearm that extends from the elbow to the wrist on the side opposite to the thumb, corresponding to the fibula of the hind limb. Also, the corresponding bone in the forelimb of any vertebrate. |
| un... | UN5 | simple past tense of undo |
| un.... | UN6 | not laid |
| va.. | VA4 | Overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason. |
| va.... | VA6 | A person who needlessly destroys, defaces, or damages other people's property. |
| 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. |
| vi... | VI5 | An item of food. |
| 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. |
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.
- individual† (IN10)
- anal (AN4)
- annal (AN5)
- annual (AN6)
- annul (AN5)
- annuli (AN6)
- anvil (AN5)
- avian (AV5)
- divan (DI5)
- inlaid (IN6)
- inland (IN6)
- invalid (IN7)
- lain (LA4)
- lanai (LA5)
- land (LA4)
- luna (LU4)
- lunula (LU6)
- naan (NA4)
- nada (NA4)
- naiad (NA5)
- nail (NA4)
- nana (NA4)
- naval (NA5)
- null (NU4)
- ulna (UL4)
- undid (UN5)
- unlaid (UN6)
- vain (VA4)
- vandal (VA6)
- vanilla (VA7)
- vanillin (VA8)
- viand (VI5)
- villain (VI7)
Answer Definitions
- individual† (noun): A person considered alone, rather than as belonging to a group of people.
- anal (adjective): of, related to, intended for or involving the anus.
- annal (noun): The record of a single event or item.
- annual (adjective): Happening once every year.
- annul (verb): To formally revoke the validity of.
- annuli (noun): plural of annulus
- anvil (noun): A heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can be struck and shaped.
- avian (adjective): Characteristic of or pertaining to birds, or to bird-like or flying creatures.
- divan (noun): A Muslim council of state, specifically that of viziers of the Ottoman Empire that discussed and recommended new laws and law changes to a higher authority (the sultan).
- inlaid (verb): simple past tense and past participle of inlay
- inland (adjective): Within the land; relatively remote from the ocean or from open water; interior.
- invalid (adjective): Not valid; not true, correct, acceptable or appropriate.
- lain (verb): past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”)
- lanai (noun): A Hawaiian-style roofed patio.
- land (noun): The part of Earth which is not covered by oceans or other bodies of water.
- luna (noun): A luna moth: a member of species Actias luna.
- lunula (noun): Something shaped like a crescent or half-moon; especially the pale area at the base of the fingernail.
- naan (noun): A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.
- nada (pronoun): Nothing.
- naiad (noun): A female deity (nymph) associated with water, especially a spring, stream, or other fresh water.
- nail (noun): The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
- nana (noun): A banana.
- naval (adjective): Of or relating to a navy.
- null (noun): A non-existent or empty value or set of values.
- ulna (noun): The bone of the forearm that extends from the elbow to the wrist on the side opposite to the thumb, corresponding to the fibula of the hind limb. Also, the corresponding bone in the forelimb of any vertebrate.
- undid (verb): simple past tense of undo
- unlaid (adjective): not laid
- vain (adjective): Overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason.
- vandal (noun): A person who needlessly destroys, defaces, or damages other people's property.
- 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.
- viand (noun): An item of food.
- 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.