NYT Spelling Bee Answers for August 18, 2023

Aug 18, 2023 · 7 min read · spelling bee ·

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Spelling Bee "Hive" Board for August 18, 2023

Game Summary

Center Letter	O
Outer Letters	p, x, e, h, i, n
# of Pangrams	1 (Perfect: 1)
Total Words	24 words
Total Points	72 points
Genius Level	50 points
Bingo?	No

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
E	1	-	-	-	1
H	3	1	-	-	4
I	-	-	-	-	-
N	4	-	-	-	4
O	2	2	-	1	5
P	5	2	1	1	9
X	-	1	-	-	1
Σ	15	6	1	2	24

Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints

The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.

E	EX×1
H	HI×1 HO×3
I
N	NE×1 NO×3
O	ON×1 OP×3 OX×1
P	PE×1 PH×3 PI×1 PO×4
X	XE×1

Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints

The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.

E	EXP×1
H	HIP×1 HON×1 HOO×1 HOP×1
I
N	NEO×1 NON×1 NOO×1 NOP×1
O	ONI×1 OPE×1 OPI×2 OXE×1
P	PEO×1 PHO×3 PIN×1 PON×1 POO×2 POP×1
X	XEN×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)
ph..... ^†	PH7	A mythological bird, said to be the only one of its kind, which lives for 500 years and then dies by burning to ashes on a pyre of its own making, ignited by the sun. It then arises anew from the ashes.
ex..	EX4	An exposition.
hi...	HI5	Clipping of hippopotamus.
ho..	HO4	A sharpening stone composed of extra-fine grit used for removing the burr or curl from the blade of a razor or some other edge tool.
ho..	HO4	A circular band of metal used to bind a barrel.
ho..	HO4	To want something to happen, with a sense of expectation that it might.
ne..	NE4	The chemical element (symbol Ne) with an atomic number of 10. The second of the noble gases, it is a colourless, odorless inert gas.
no..	NO4	Not any of a given number or group.
no..	NO4	The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.
no..	NO4	No.
on...	ON5	A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.
op..	OP4	Not closed. Able to be accessed. Able to have something pass through or along it.
op...	OP5	To have or express an opinion; to state as an opinion; to suppose, consider (that).
op.....	OP7	A belief, judgment or perspective that a person has formed, either through objective or subjective reasoning, about a topic, issue, person or thing.
ox..	OX4	plural of ox
pe..	PE4	A lowly person; a peasant or serf; a labourer who is obliged to do menial work.
ph...	PH5	A device for transmitting conversations and other sounds in real time across distances, now often a small portable unit also capable of running software etc.
ph...	PH5	A phonograph.
pi....	PI6	A wing.
po..	PO4	A writ in law used by the superior courts to remove cases from inferior courts.
po..	PO4	Expressing dismissal, contempt, impatience, etc.
po..	PO4	To make a short blast on a horn.
po..	PO4	An honorary title of the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome as father and head of his church, a sovereign of the Vatican city state. Any similarly absolute and 'infallible' authority. Any similar head of a religion. A theocrat, a priest-king, including (at first especially) over the imaginary land of Prester John or (now) in figurative and alliterative uses. An effigy of the pope traditionally burnt in Britain on Guy Fawkes' Day and (occasionally) at other times. Pope Day, the present Guy Fawkes Day.
xe...	XE5	The chemical element (symbol Xe) with an atomic number of 54. It is a colorless, odorless, unreactive noble gas, used notably in camera flash technology.

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.

phoenix^† (PH7)
expo (EX4)
hippo (HI5)
hone (HO4)
hoop (HO4)
hope (HO4)
neon (NE4)
none (NO4)
noon (NO4)
nope (NO4)
onion (ON5)
open (OP4)
opine (OP5)
opinion (OP7)
oxen (OX4)
peon (PE4)
phone (PH5)
phono (PH5)
pinion (PI6)
pone (PO4)
pooh (PO4)
poop (PO4)
pope (PO4)
xenon (XE5)

Answer Definitions

phoenix^† (noun): A mythological bird, said to be the only one of its kind, which lives for 500 years and then dies by burning to ashes on a pyre of its own making, ignited by the sun. It then arises anew from the ashes.
expo (noun): An exposition.
hippo (noun): Clipping of hippopotamus.
hone (noun): A sharpening stone composed of extra-fine grit used for removing the burr or curl from the blade of a razor or some other edge tool.
hoop (noun): A circular band of metal used to bind a barrel.
hope (verb): To want something to happen, with a sense of expectation that it might.
neon (noun): The chemical element (symbol Ne) with an atomic number of 10. The second of the noble gases, it is a colourless, odorless inert gas.
none (pronoun): Not any of a given number or group.
noon (noun): The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.
nope (particle): No.
onion (noun): A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.
open (adjective): Not closed. Able to be accessed. Able to have something pass through or along it.
opine (verb): To have or express an opinion; to state as an opinion; to suppose, consider (that).
opinion (noun): A belief, judgment or perspective that a person has formed, either through objective or subjective reasoning, about a topic, issue, person or thing.
oxen (noun): plural of ox
peon (noun): A lowly person; a peasant or serf; a labourer who is obliged to do menial work.
phone (noun): A device for transmitting conversations and other sounds in real time across distances, now often a small portable unit also capable of running software etc.
phono (noun): A phonograph.
pinion (noun): A wing.
pone (noun): A writ in law used by the superior courts to remove cases from inferior courts.
pooh (interjection): Expressing dismissal, contempt, impatience, etc.
poop (verb): To make a short blast on a horn.
pope (noun): An honorary title of the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome as father and head of his church, a sovereign of the Vatican city state. Any similarly absolute and 'infallible' authority. Any similar head of a religion. A theocrat, a priest-king, including (at first especially) over the imaginary land of Prester John or (now) in figurative and alliterative uses. An effigy of the pope traditionally burnt in Britain on Guy Fawkes' Day and (occasionally) at other times. Pope Day, the present Guy Fawkes Day.
xenon (noun): The chemical element (symbol Xe) with an atomic number of 54. It is a colorless, odorless, unreactive noble gas, used notably in camera flash technology.