NYT Spelling Bee Answers for February 21, 2023
Game Summary
| Center Letter | H |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | c, d, e, l, t, u |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 27 words |
| Total Points | 116 points |
| Genius Level | 81 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | - | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 3 |
| D | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| E | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | 2 |
| H | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | - | 12 |
| L | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 3 |
| T | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | 7 |
| U | - | - | - | - | - | - | Σ | 11 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 27 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| C | CH×1 CL×2 |
|---|---|
| D | |
| E | ET×2 |
| H | HE×6 HU×6 |
| L | LE×3 |
| T | TE×4 TH×3 |
| U |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| C | CHU×1 CLU×2 |
|---|---|
| D | |
| E | ETC×2 |
| H | HEE×4 HEL×2 HUD×2 HUE×1 HUL×2 HUT×1 |
| L | LEC×1 LEE×2 |
| T | TEC×1 TEE×3 THE×1 THU×2 |
| U |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| cl...... † | CL8 | simple past tense and past participle of clutch |
| ch... | CH5 | A framework, trough, or tube, upon or through which objects are made to slide from a higher to a lower level, or through which water passes to a wheel. |
| cl.... | CL6 | To seize, as though with claws. |
| et.. | ET4 | To cut into a surface with an acid or other corrosive substance in order to make a pattern. Best known as a technique for creating printing plates, but also used for decoration on metal, and, in modern industry, to make circuit boards. |
| et.... | ET6 | Cut or dug into the surface as by etching. |
| he.. | HE4 | Careful attention. |
| he.... | HE6 | simple past tense and past participle of heed |
| he.. | HE4 | The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg. |
| he.... | HE6 | simple past tense and past participle of heel |
| he.. | HE4 | simple past tense and past participle of hold |
| he.. | HE4 | A place of torment where some or all sinners and evil spirits are believed to go after death. |
| hu.... | HU6 | A dense and disorderly crowd. |
| hu..... | HU7 | simple past tense and past participle of huddle |
| hu.. | HU4 | coloured; having a hue. |
| hu.. | HU4 | The outer covering of a fruit or seed. |
| hu.... | HU6 | Deprived of the hulls. |
| hu... | HU5 | A box, chest, crate, case or cabinet. |
| le.. | LE4 | A strong, lecherous desire or craving. |
| le... | LE5 | An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis. |
| le..... | LE7 | simple past tense and past participle of leech |
| te.. | TE4 | Technology. |
| te... | TE5 | plural of tooth |
| te.... | TE6 | To grow teeth. |
| te..... | TE7 | simple past tense and past participle of teethe |
| th.. | TH4 | Objective and reflexive case of thou. |
| th.. | TH4 | The sound of a dull impact. |
| th..... | TH7 | simple past tense and past participle of thud |
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.
- clutched† (CL8)
- chute (CH5)
- clutch (CL6)
- etch (ET4)
- etched (ET6)
- heed (HE4)
- heeded (HE6)
- heel (HE4)
- heeled (HE6)
- held (HE4)
- hell (HE4)
- huddle (HU6)
- huddled (HU7)
- hued (HU4)
- hull (HU4)
- hulled (HU6)
- hutch (HU5)
- lech (LE4)
- leech (LE5)
- leeched (LE7)
- tech (TE4)
- teeth (TE5)
- teethe (TE6)
- teethed (TE7)
- thee (TH4)
- thud (TH4)
- thudded (TH7)
Answer Definitions
- clutched† (verb): simple past tense and past participle of clutch
- chute (noun): A framework, trough, or tube, upon or through which objects are made to slide from a higher to a lower level, or through which water passes to a wheel.
- clutch (verb): To seize, as though with claws.
- etch (verb): To cut into a surface with an acid or other corrosive substance in order to make a pattern. Best known as a technique for creating printing plates, but also used for decoration on metal, and, in modern industry, to make circuit boards.
- etched (adjective): Cut or dug into the surface as by etching.
- heed (noun): Careful attention.
- heeded (verb): simple past tense and past participle of heed
- heel (noun): The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg.
- heeled (verb): simple past tense and past participle of heel
- held (verb): simple past tense and past participle of hold
- hell (proper noun): A place of torment where some or all sinners and evil spirits are believed to go after death.
- huddle (noun): A dense and disorderly crowd.
- huddled (verb): simple past tense and past participle of huddle
- hued (adjective): coloured; having a hue.
- hull (noun): The outer covering of a fruit or seed.
- hulled (adjective): Deprived of the hulls.
- hutch (noun): A box, chest, crate, case or cabinet.
- lech (noun): A strong, lecherous desire or craving.
- leech (noun): An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis.
- leeched (verb): simple past tense and past participle of leech
- tech (noun): Technology.
- teeth (noun): plural of tooth
- teethe (verb): To grow teeth.
- teethed (verb): simple past tense and past participle of teethe
- thee (pronoun): Objective and reflexive case of thou.
- thud (noun): The sound of a dull impact.
- thudded (verb): simple past tense and past participle of thud