NYT Spelling Bee Answers for February 28, 2023
Game Summary
| Center Letter | R |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, b, d, i, j, l |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 34 words |
| Total Points | 118 points |
| Genius Level | 83 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 | 4 | - | - | 1 | - | 5 |
| B | 4 | 2 | 1 | - | 2 | 9 |
| D | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | 3 |
| I | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| J | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| L | 4 | - | - | - | - | 4 |
| R | 5 | 4 | 2 | - | 1 | 12 | Σ | 19 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 34 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AI×1 AJ×1 AR×3 |
|---|---|
| B | BA×2 BI×3 BR×4 |
| D | DR×3 |
| I | |
| J | JA×1 |
| L | LA×2 LI×2 |
| R | RA×9 RI×3 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | AIR×1 AJA×1 ARI×3 |
|---|---|
| B | BAR×2 BIL×1 BIR×2 BRA×2 BRI×2 |
| D | DRA×1 DRI×2 |
| I | |
| J | JAI×1 |
| L | LAI×1 LAR×1 LIA×1 LIR×1 |
| R | RAB×2 RAD×3 RAI×3 RAJ×1 RIA×1 RIB×1 RIL×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) |
|---|---|---|
| ja...... † | JA8 | A prisoner or an ex-prisoner |
| ai..... | AI7 | A shot that misses the backboard, rim and net entirely. |
| aj.. | AJ4 | Slightly turned or opened. |
| ar.. | AR4 | A musical piece written typically for a solo voice with orchestral accompaniment in an opera or cantata. |
| ar.. | AR4 | Very dry. |
| ar.. | AR4 | A tissue surrounding the seed in certain fruits such as pomegranates. |
| ba.. | BA4 | The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else. |
| ba.. | BA4 | A professional poet and singer, like among the ancient Celts, whose occupation was to compose and sing verses in honor of the heroic achievements of princes and brave men. |
| bi...... | BI8 | A shot in billiards or snooker in which the cue ball strikes two other balls; a carom. |
| bi...... | BI8 | Both radial and bilateral |
| bi.. | BI4 | A member of the class of animals Aves in the phylum Chordata, characterized by being warm-blooded, having feathers and wings usually capable of flight, having a beaked mouth, and laying eggs. |
| br.. | BR4 | A thin, small nail, with a slight projection at the top on one side instead of a head, or occasionally with a small domed head, similar to that of an escutcheon pin. |
| br... | BR5 | To make a sudden movement with, to jerk. |
| br... | BR5 | Any of many plants with thorny stems growing in dense clusters, such as many in the Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax genera. |
| br.... | BR6 | A wedding feast or festival; a wedding. |
| dr.. | DR4 | A fabric, usually of thick cotton or wool, having a dull brownish yellow, dull grey, or dun colour. |
| dr.. | DR4 | To cut off; chop off. |
| dr... | DR5 | To create (a hole) by removing material with a drill (tool). |
| la.. | LA4 | A place inhabited by a wild animal, often a cave or a hole in the ground. |
| la.. | LA4 | Fat from the abdomen of a pig, especially as prepared for use in cooking or pharmacy. |
| li.. | LI4 | One who frequently tells lies. |
| li.. | LI4 | The basic unit of currency in Turkey. |
| ra... | RA5 | A Jewish scholar or teacher of halacha (Jewish law), capable of making halachic decisions. |
| ra... | RA5 | Affected with rabies. |
| ra... | RA5 | A method of detecting distant objects and determining their position, velocity, or other characteristics by analysis of sent radio waves (usually microwaves) reflected from their surfaces |
| ra.... | RA6 | Arranged like rays that radiate from, or converge to a common centre. |
| ra... | RA5 | plural of radius |
| ra.. | RA4 | A quick hostile or predatory incursion or invasion in a battle. |
| ra.. | RA4 | A horizontal bar extending between supports and used for support or as a barrier; a railing. |
| ra...... | RA8 | A rail or similar bird |
| ra.. | RA4 | Alternative spelling of rajah |
| ri.. | RI4 | The official currencies of Iran, Oman, and Yemen. |
| ri.... | RI6 | Coarsely, vulgarly, or lewdly amusing; referring to sexual matters in a rude or irreverent way. |
| ri.. | RI4 | A very small brook; a streamlet; a creek, rivulet. |
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.
- jailbird† (JA8)
- airball (AI7)
- ajar (AJ4)
- aria (AR4)
- arid (AR4)
- aril (AR4)
- barb (BA4)
- bard (BA4)
- billiard (BI8)
- biradial (BI8)
- bird (BI4)
- brad (BR4)
- braid (BR5)
- briar (BR5)
- bridal (BR6)
- drab (DR4)
- drib (DR4)
- drill (DR5)
- lair (LA4)
- lard (LA4)
- liar (LI4)
- lira (LI4)
- rabbi (RA5)
- rabid (RA5)
- radar (RA5)
- radial (RA6)
- radii (RA5)
- raid (RA4)
- rail (RA4)
- railbird (RA8)
- raja (RA4)
- rial (RI4)
- ribald (RI6)
- rill (RI4)
Answer Definitions
- jailbird† (noun): A prisoner or an ex-prisoner
- airball (noun): A shot that misses the backboard, rim and net entirely.
- ajar (adverb): Slightly turned or opened.
- aria (noun): A musical piece written typically for a solo voice with orchestral accompaniment in an opera or cantata.
- arid (adjective): Very dry.
- aril (noun): A tissue surrounding the seed in certain fruits such as pomegranates.
- barb (noun): The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else.
- bard (noun): A professional poet and singer, like among the ancient Celts, whose occupation was to compose and sing verses in honor of the heroic achievements of princes and brave men.
- billiard (noun): A shot in billiards or snooker in which the cue ball strikes two other balls; a carom.
- biradial (adjective): Both radial and bilateral
- bird (noun): A member of the class of animals Aves in the phylum Chordata, characterized by being warm-blooded, having feathers and wings usually capable of flight, having a beaked mouth, and laying eggs.
- brad (noun): A thin, small nail, with a slight projection at the top on one side instead of a head, or occasionally with a small domed head, similar to that of an escutcheon pin.
- braid (verb): To make a sudden movement with, to jerk.
- briar (noun): Any of many plants with thorny stems growing in dense clusters, such as many in the Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax genera.
- bridal (noun): A wedding feast or festival; a wedding.
- drab (noun): A fabric, usually of thick cotton or wool, having a dull brownish yellow, dull grey, or dun colour.
- drib (verb): To cut off; chop off.
- drill (verb): To create (a hole) by removing material with a drill (tool).
- lair (noun): A place inhabited by a wild animal, often a cave or a hole in the ground.
- lard (noun): Fat from the abdomen of a pig, especially as prepared for use in cooking or pharmacy.
- liar (noun): One who frequently tells lies.
- lira (noun): The basic unit of currency in Turkey.
- rabbi (noun): A Jewish scholar or teacher of halacha (Jewish law), capable of making halachic decisions.
- rabid (adjective): Affected with rabies.
- radar (noun): A method of detecting distant objects and determining their position, velocity, or other characteristics by analysis of sent radio waves (usually microwaves) reflected from their surfaces
- radial (adjective): Arranged like rays that radiate from, or converge to a common centre.
- radii (noun): plural of radius
- raid (noun): A quick hostile or predatory incursion or invasion in a battle.
- rail (noun): A horizontal bar extending between supports and used for support or as a barrier; a railing.
- railbird (noun): A rail or similar bird
- raja (noun): Alternative spelling of rajah
- rial (noun): The official currencies of Iran, Oman, and Yemen.
- ribald (adjective): Coarsely, vulgarly, or lewdly amusing; referring to sexual matters in a rude or irreverent way.
- rill (noun): A very small brook; a streamlet; a creek, rivulet.