NYT Spelling Bee Answers for March 17, 2023
Game Summary
| Center Letter | C |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | d, e, l, n, o, w |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 47 words |
| Total Points | 239 points |
| Genius Level | 167 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</th><th>9</th><th>10 | Σ | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | 9 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 4 | - | 1 | 37 |
| D | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 3 |
| E | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 2 |
| L | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 2 |
| N | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| O | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| W | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Σ | 12 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 5 | - | 1 | 47 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| C | CE×5 CL×5 CO×27 |
|---|---|
| D | DE×3 |
| E | EN×2 |
| L | LO×2 |
| N | NE×1 NO×1 |
| O | ON×1 |
| W |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| C | CED×2 CEL×3 CLO×5 COC×2 COD×5 COE×1 COL×4 CON×9 COO×4 COW×2 |
|---|---|
| D | DEC×3 |
| E | ENC×2 |
| L | LOC×2 |
| N | NEO×1 NON×1 |
| O | ONC×1 |
| W |
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..... † | CL7 | simple past tense and past participle of clown |
| ce.. | CE4 | To give up; yield to another. |
| ce... | CE5 | simple past tense and past participle of cede |
| ce.. | CE4 | A single-room dwelling for a hermit. |
| ce.... | CE6 | Containing cells; cellular. |
| ce... | CE5 | A large unfretted stringed instrument of the violin family with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) C-G-D-A and an endpin to support its weight, usually played with a bow. |
| cl.. | CL4 | A lump of something, especially of earth or clay. |
| cl... | CL5 | A living organism (originally a plant) produced asexually from a single ancestor, to which it is genetically identical. |
| cl.... | CL6 | simple past tense and past participle of clone |
| cl... | CL5 | A slapstick performance artist often associated with a circus and usually characterized by bright, oversized clothing, a red nose, face paint, and a brightly colored wig. |
| co.... | CO6 | The silky protective case spun by the larvae of some insects in which they metamorphose, the pupa. |
| co...... | CO8 | simple past tense and past participle of cocoon |
| co.... | CO6 | To treat gently or with great care. |
| co..... | CO7 | simple past tense and past participle of coddle |
| co.. | CO4 | A short symbol, often with little relation to the item it represents. |
| co... | CO5 | Encoded; written in code or cipher. |
| co... | CO5 | A handbell used for summoning monks. |
| co.. | CO4 | Alternative form of co-ed |
| co.. | CO4 | Having a low temperature. |
| co..... | CO7 | girl |
| co... | CO5 | The punctuation mark ":". |
| co..... | CO7 | A commissioned officer in an armed military organization, typically the highest rank before flag officer ranks (generals). It is generally found in armies, air forces or naval infantry (marines). |
| co..... | CO7 | To yield or suffer; to surrender; to grant |
| co...... | CO8 | simple past tense and past participle of concede |
| co... | CO5 | Clipping of condominium. |
| co........ | CO10 | Comfort, support or sympathy. |
| co..... | CO7 | To forgive, excuse or overlook (something that is considered morally wrong, offensive, or generally disliked). |
| co...... | CO8 | simple past tense and past participle of condone |
| co.. | CO4 | A surface of revolution formed by rotating a segment of a line around another line that intersects the first line. |
| co... | CO5 | segregated or delineated by traffic cones |
| co.... | CO6 | simple past tense and past participle of con |
| co... | CO5 | simple past tense and past participle of coo |
| co.. | CO4 | Having a slightly low temperature; mildly or pleasantly cold. |
| co...... | CO8 | The minimum length of time that the player needs to wait after using an ability or item before it can be used again. |
| co.... | CO6 | simple past tense and past participle of cool |
| co... | CO5 | Frightened into submission. |
| co.. | CO4 | A monk's hood that can be pulled forward to cover the face; a robe with such a hood attached to it. |
| de.. | DE4 | Decompression. |
| de.... | DE6 | To convert from an encrypted form to plain text. |
| de..... | DE7 | simple past tense and past participle of decode |
| en.... | EN6 | To convert (plain text) into code. |
| en..... | EN7 | simple past tense and past participle of encode |
| lo.. | LO4 | A direction in written or printed music to be returning to the proper pitch after having played an octave higher or lower. |
| lo...... | LO8 | Any of several plants indigenous to the western United States, of genus Oxytropis or Astragalus. |
| ne.... | NE6 | A neoconservative. |
| no... | NO5 | The one or single occasion; the present reason or purpose (now only in for the nonce). |
| on.. | ON4 | One and only one time. |
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.
- clowned† (CL7)
- cede (CE4)
- ceded (CE5)
- cell (CE4)
- celled (CE6)
- cello (CE5)
- clod (CL4)
- clone (CL5)
- cloned (CL6)
- clown (CL5)
- cocoon (CO6)
- cocooned (CO8)
- coddle (CO6)
- coddled (CO7)
- code (CO4)
- coded (CO5)
- codon (CO5)
- coed (CO4)
- cold (CO4)
- colleen (CO7)
- colon (CO5)
- colonel (CO7)
- concede (CO7)
- conceded (CO8)
- condo (CO5)
- condolence (CO10)
- condone (CO7)
- condoned (CO8)
- cone (CO4)
- coned (CO5)
- conned (CO6)
- cooed (CO5)
- cool (CO4)
- cooldown (CO8)
- cooled (CO6)
- cowed (CO5)
- cowl (CO4)
- deco (DE4)
- decode (DE6)
- decoded (DE7)
- encode (EN6)
- encoded (EN7)
- loco (LO4)
- locoweed (LO8)
- neocon (NE6)
- nonce (NO5)
- once (ON4)
Answer Definitions
- clowned† (verb): simple past tense and past participle of clown
- cede (verb): To give up; yield to another.
- ceded (verb): simple past tense and past participle of cede
- cell (noun): A single-room dwelling for a hermit.
- celled (adjective): Containing cells; cellular.
- cello (noun): A large unfretted stringed instrument of the violin family with four strings tuned (lowest to highest) C-G-D-A and an endpin to support its weight, usually played with a bow.
- clod (noun): A lump of something, especially of earth or clay.
- clone (noun): A living organism (originally a plant) produced asexually from a single ancestor, to which it is genetically identical.
- cloned (verb): simple past tense and past participle of clone
- clown (noun): A slapstick performance artist often associated with a circus and usually characterized by bright, oversized clothing, a red nose, face paint, and a brightly colored wig.
- cocoon (noun): The silky protective case spun by the larvae of some insects in which they metamorphose, the pupa.
- cocooned (verb): simple past tense and past participle of cocoon
- coddle (verb): To treat gently or with great care.
- coddled (verb): simple past tense and past participle of coddle
- code (noun): A short symbol, often with little relation to the item it represents.
- coded (adjective): Encoded; written in code or cipher.
- codon (noun): A handbell used for summoning monks.
- coed (adjective): Alternative form of co-ed
- cold (adjective): Having a low temperature.
- colleen (noun): girl
- colon (noun): The punctuation mark ":".
- colonel (noun): A commissioned officer in an armed military organization, typically the highest rank before flag officer ranks (generals). It is generally found in armies, air forces or naval infantry (marines).
- concede (verb): To yield or suffer; to surrender; to grant
- conceded (verb): simple past tense and past participle of concede
- condo (noun): Clipping of condominium.
- condolence (noun): Comfort, support or sympathy.
- condone (verb): To forgive, excuse or overlook (something that is considered morally wrong, offensive, or generally disliked).
- condoned (verb): simple past tense and past participle of condone
- cone (noun): A surface of revolution formed by rotating a segment of a line around another line that intersects the first line.
- coned (adjective): segregated or delineated by traffic cones
- conned (verb): simple past tense and past participle of con
- cooed (verb): simple past tense and past participle of coo
- cool (adjective): Having a slightly low temperature; mildly or pleasantly cold.
- cooldown (noun): The minimum length of time that the player needs to wait after using an ability or item before it can be used again.
- cooled (verb): simple past tense and past participle of cool
- cowed (adjective): Frightened into submission.
- cowl (noun): A monk's hood that can be pulled forward to cover the face; a robe with such a hood attached to it.
- deco (noun): Decompression.
- decode (verb): To convert from an encrypted form to plain text.
- decoded (verb): simple past tense and past participle of decode
- encode (verb): To convert (plain text) into code.
- encoded (verb): simple past tense and past participle of encode
- loco (adverb): A direction in written or printed music to be returning to the proper pitch after having played an octave higher or lower.
- locoweed (noun): Any of several plants indigenous to the western United States, of genus Oxytropis or Astragalus.
- neocon (noun): A neoconservative.
- nonce (noun): The one or single occasion; the present reason or purpose (now only in for the nonce).
- once (adverb): One and only one time.