NYT Spelling Bee Answers for August 17, 2023
Game Summary
| Center Letter | C |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, e, h, l, m, y |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 31 words |
| Total Points | 110 points |
| Genius Level | 77 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 | Σ | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 3 | - | - | 1 | 4 |
| C | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 15 |
| E | 1 | 1 | - | - | 2 |
| H | - | - | - | - | - |
| L | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | 6 |
| M | 1 | 1 | - | - | 2 |
| Y | 1 | 1 | - | - | 2 | Σ | 15 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 31 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AC×3 AL×1 |
|---|---|
| C | CA×7 CE×1 CH×2 CL×4 CY×1 |
| E | EA×1 EM×1 |
| H | |
| L | LA×2 LE×3 LY×1 |
| M | MA×1 ME×1 |
| Y | YE×2 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ACH×2 ACM×1 ALC×1 |
|---|---|
| C | CAC×1 CAL×4 CAM×2 CEL×1 CHA×1 CHY×1 CLA×4 CYC×1 |
| E | EAC×1 EMC×1 |
| H | |
| L | LAC×2 LEA×1 LEC×1 LEE×1 LYC×1 |
| M | MAC×1 MEC×1 |
| Y | YEC×2 |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| al..... † | AL7 | The premodern and early modern study of physical changes, particularly in Europe, Arabia, and China and chiefly in pursuit of an elixir of immortality, a universal panacea, and/or a philosopher's stone able to transmute base metals into gold, eventually developing into chemistry. |
| ac.. | AC4 | To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed. |
| ac.. | AC4 | Suffering from aches, sore. |
| ac.. | AC4 | A high point: the highest point of any range, the most developed stage of any process, or the culmination of any field or historical period. |
| ca... | CA5 | A store of things that may be required in the future, which can be retrieved rapidly, protected or hidden in some way. |
| ca.. | CA4 | A telephone conversation; a phone call. |
| ca... | CA5 | A marsh plant native to cooler areas throughout the northern hemisphere, Calla palustris, having pale green flowers in a white spathe. |
| ca.. | CA4 | Peaceful, quiet, especially free from anger and anxiety. |
| ca.... | CA6 | In a calm manner. |
| ca.. | CA4 | simple past tense of come |
| ca... | CA5 | A beast of burden, much used in desert areas, of the genus Camelus. |
| ce.. | CE4 | A single-room dwelling for a hermit. |
| ch..... | CH7 | A traditional bread eaten by Ashkenazi Jews, usually braided for the Sabbath and round for a yom tov. |
| ch... | CH5 | The thick semifluid mass of partly digested food that is passed from the stomach to the duodenum. |
| cl.. | CL4 | A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; for example the soft-shell clam (Mya arenaria), the hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), the sea clam or hen clam (Spisula solidissima), and other species. The name is said to have been given originally to the Tridacna gigas, a huge East Indian bivalve. |
| cl.... | CL6 | Cold and damp, usually referring to hands or palms. |
| cl.. | CL4 | A mineral substance made up of small crystals of silica and alumina, that is ductile when moist; the material of pre-fired ceramics. |
| cl.... | CL6 | Composed of clay or containing (much) clay; clayish. |
| cy... | CY5 | An interval of space or time in which one set of events or phenomena is completed. |
| ea.. | EA4 | All; every; qualifying a singular noun, indicating all examples of the thing so named seen as individual or separate items (compare every). |
| em... | EM5 | Alternative form of MC in its senses as Master of ceremonies. A rapper. |
| la.. | LA4 | A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread. |
| la.. | LA4 | Made of lace or decorated with it. |
| le... | LE5 | A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali. |
| le.. | LE4 | A strong, lecherous desire or craving. |
| le... | LE5 | An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis. |
| ly.... | LY6 | The Chinese tropical fruit tree Litchi chinensis, of the soapberry family. |
| ma.. | MA4 | A heavy fighting club. |
| me... | ME5 | Alternative form of Mecca; a place to which a group of people (for example shoppers) are drawn. |
| ye... | YE5 | Alternative spelling of yech |
| ye.. | YE4 | An exclamation of disgust. |
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.
- alchemy† (AL7)
- ache (AC4)
- achy (AC4)
- acme (AC4)
- cache (CA5)
- call (CA4)
- calla (CA5)
- calm (CA4)
- calmly (CA6)
- came (CA4)
- camel (CA5)
- cell (CE4)
- challah (CH7)
- chyme (CH5)
- clam (CL4)
- clammy (CL6)
- clay (CL4)
- clayey (CL6)
- cycle (CY5)
- each (EA4)
- emcee (EM5)
- lace (LA4)
- lacy (LA4)
- leach (LE5)
- lech (LE4)
- leech (LE5)
- lychee (LY6)
- mace (MA4)
- mecca (ME5)
- yecch (YE5)
- yech (YE4)
Answer Definitions
- alchemy† (noun): The premodern and early modern study of physical changes, particularly in Europe, Arabia, and China and chiefly in pursuit of an elixir of immortality, a universal panacea, and/or a philosopher's stone able to transmute base metals into gold, eventually developing into chemistry.
- ache (verb): To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed.
- achy (adjective): Suffering from aches, sore.
- acme (noun): A high point: the highest point of any range, the most developed stage of any process, or the culmination of any field or historical period.
- cache (noun): A store of things that may be required in the future, which can be retrieved rapidly, protected or hidden in some way.
- call (noun): A telephone conversation; a phone call.
- calla (noun): A marsh plant native to cooler areas throughout the northern hemisphere, Calla palustris, having pale green flowers in a white spathe.
- calm (adjective): Peaceful, quiet, especially free from anger and anxiety.
- calmly (adverb): In a calm manner.
- came (verb): simple past tense of come
- camel (noun): A beast of burden, much used in desert areas, of the genus Camelus.
- cell (noun): A single-room dwelling for a hermit.
- challah (noun): A traditional bread eaten by Ashkenazi Jews, usually braided for the Sabbath and round for a yom tov.
- chyme (noun): The thick semifluid mass of partly digested food that is passed from the stomach to the duodenum.
- clam (noun): A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; for example the soft-shell clam (Mya arenaria), the hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), the sea clam or hen clam (Spisula solidissima), and other species. The name is said to have been given originally to the Tridacna gigas, a huge East Indian bivalve.
- clammy (adjective): Cold and damp, usually referring to hands or palms.
- clay (noun): A mineral substance made up of small crystals of silica and alumina, that is ductile when moist; the material of pre-fired ceramics.
- clayey (adjective): Composed of clay or containing (much) clay; clayish.
- cycle (noun): An interval of space or time in which one set of events or phenomena is completed.
- each (determiner): All; every; qualifying a singular noun, indicating all examples of the thing so named seen as individual or separate items (compare every).
- emcee (noun): Alternative form of MC in its senses as Master of ceremonies. A rapper.
- lace (noun): A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread.
- lacy (adjective): Made of lace or decorated with it.
- leach (noun): A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali.
- lech (noun): A strong, lecherous desire or craving.
- leech (noun): An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis.
- lychee (noun): The Chinese tropical fruit tree Litchi chinensis, of the soapberry family.
- mace (noun): A heavy fighting club.
- mecca (noun): Alternative form of Mecca; a place to which a group of people (for example shoppers) are drawn.
- yecch (interjection): Alternative spelling of yech
- yech (interjection): An exclamation of disgust.