NYT Spelling Bee Answers for September 13, 2023
Game Summary
| Center Letter | A |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | e, h, m, p, t, y |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 48 words |
| Total Points | 169 points |
| Genius Level | 118 points |
| Bingo? | Yes |
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 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | - | 3 |
| E | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | 2 |
| H | 4 | 4 | 1 | - | - | 9 |
| M | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | 11 |
| P | 5 | 5 | 1 | - | - | 11 |
| T | 7 | 2 | - | - | 1 | 10 |
| Y | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 2 | Σ | 23 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 48 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AH×1 AP×1 AT×1 |
|---|---|
| E | EM×2 |
| H | HA×6 HE×3 |
| M | MA×8 ME×3 |
| P | PA×8 PE×2 PH×1 |
| T | TA×5 TE×3 TH×2 |
| Y | YA×1 YE×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | AHE×1 APA×1 ATT×1 |
|---|---|
| E | EMP×2 |
| H | HAM×2 HAP×1 HAT×3 HEA×3 |
| M | MAH×1 MAM×2 MAT×4 MAY×1 MEA×2 MET×1 |
| P | PAM×1 PAP×3 PAT×3 PAY×1 PEA×2 PHA×1 |
| T | TAM×2 TAP×2 TAT×1 TEA×3 THA×1 THE×1 |
| Y | YAP×1 YEA×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) |
|---|---|---|
| em..... † | EM7 | Identification with or understanding of the thoughts, feelings, or emotional state of another person. |
| ah.. | AH4 | the sound of a quiet cough or of clearing one's throat |
| ap.... | AP6 | Lack of emotion or motivation; lack of interest or enthusiasm towards something; disinterest (in something). |
| at..... | AT7 | To try. |
| em.... | EM6 | One who has the ability to sense emotions; someone who is empathic or practises empathy. |
| ha.... | HA6 | Hooked at the end. |
| ha... | HA5 | Resembling or characteristic of ham. |
| ha... | HA5 | Having a feeling arising from a consciousness of well-being or of enjoyment; enjoying good of any kind, such as comfort, peace, or tranquillity; blissful, contented, joyous. |
| ha.. | HA4 | An object of hatred. |
| ha.. | HA4 | third-person singular simple present indicative form of have |
| ha... | HA5 | The fundamental form of yoga that focuses on asanas |
| he.. | HE4 | A crowd; a throng; a multitude or great number of people. |
| he.. | HE4 | Thermal energy. |
| he... | HE5 | A tract of level uncultivated land with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation; heathland. |
| ma..... | MA7 | An epithet granted in India and Tibet to people thought to have great knowledge and love of humanity |
| ma.. | MA4 | Mother, female parent. |
| ma... | MA5 | The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat; a breast; an udder. |
| ma.. | MA4 | A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate. |
| ma... | MA5 | Sociable or friendly. |
| ma.. | MA4 | Clipping of mathematics. |
| ma... | MA5 | A decorative border around a picture used to inset and center the contents of a frame. |
| ma.... | MA6 | A state or situation of great confusion, disorder, trouble or destruction; chaos. |
| me.. | ME4 | The flesh (muscle tissue) of an animal used as food. |
| me... | ME5 | Of, relating to, or containing meat. |
| me.. | ME4 | Self-referential; structured analogously (structured by relationships), but at a higher level. |
| pa... | PA5 | singular of pampas |
| pa.. | PA4 | Dad, daddy, father; a familiar or old-fashioned term of address to one’s father. |
| pa.... | PA6 | A tropical American evergreen tree, Carica papaya, having large, yellow, edible fruit |
| pa... | PA5 | Like pap; soft; mushy. |
| pa.. | PA4 | The head, particularly the top or crown. |
| pa.. | PA4 | A trail for the use of, or worn by, pedestrians. |
| pa... | PA5 | A flattened portion of ground meat or a vegetarian equivalent, usually round but sometimes square in shape. |
| pa... | PA5 | one to whom money is paid. |
| pe.. | PE4 | Soil formed of dead but not fully decayed plants found in bog areas, often burned as fuel. |
| pe... | PE5 | Of or resembling peat; peatlike. |
| ph.. | PH4 | Excellent; cool; very good. |
| ta.. | TA4 | Not or no longer wild; domesticated. |
| ta.. | TA4 | To plug up with clay, earth, dry sand, sod, or other material, as a hole bored in a rock. |
| ta.. | TA4 | A kind of cloth prepared by the Polynesians from the inner bark of the paper mulberry. |
| ta.. | TA4 | Flexible material in a roll with a sticky surface on one or both sides; adhesive tape. |
| ta... | TA5 | worn and shabby; in poor condition. |
| te.. | TE4 | A set of draught animals, such as two horses in front of a carriage. |
| te...... | TE8 | One who is on the same team. |
| te.. | TE4 | The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female mammals, milk is secreted. |
| th.. | TH4 | Introducing a clause which is the subject or object of a verb (such as one involving reported speech), or which is a complement to a previous statement. |
| th... | TH5 | The eighth letter of the Modern Greek alphabet, ninth in Old Greek: Θ, θ. |
| ya... | YA5 | Of a dog, yapping in an annoying manner. |
| ye.. | YE4 | yes. |
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.
- empathy† (EM7)
- ahem (AH4)
- apathy (AP6)
- attempt (AT7)
- empath (EM6)
- hamate (HA6)
- hammy (HA5)
- happy (HA5)
- hate (HA4)
- hath (HA4)
- hatha (HA5)
- heap (HE4)
- heat (HE4)
- heath (HE5)
- mahatma (MA7)
- mama (MA4)
- mamma (MA5)
- mate (MA4)
- matey (MA5)
- math (MA4)
- matte (MA5)
- mayhem (MA6)
- meat (ME4)
- meaty (ME5)
- meta (ME4)
- pampa (PA5)
- papa (PA4)
- papaya (PA6)
- pappy (PA5)
- pate (PA4)
- path (PA4)
- patty (PA5)
- payee (PA5)
- peat (PE4)
- peaty (PE5)
- phat (PH4)
- tame (TA4)
- tamp (TA4)
- tapa (TA4)
- tape (TA4)
- tatty (TA5)
- team (TE4)
- teammate (TE8)
- teat (TE4)
- that (TH4)
- theta (TH5)
- yappy (YA5)
- yeah (YE4)
Answer Definitions
- empathy† (noun): Identification with or understanding of the thoughts, feelings, or emotional state of another person.
- ahem (interjection): the sound of a quiet cough or of clearing one's throat
- apathy (noun): Lack of emotion or motivation; lack of interest or enthusiasm towards something; disinterest (in something).
- attempt (verb): To try.
- empath (noun): One who has the ability to sense emotions; someone who is empathic or practises empathy.
- hamate (adjective): Hooked at the end.
- hammy (adjective): Resembling or characteristic of ham.
- happy (adjective): Having a feeling arising from a consciousness of well-being or of enjoyment; enjoying good of any kind, such as comfort, peace, or tranquillity; blissful, contented, joyous.
- hate (noun): An object of hatred.
- hath (verb): third-person singular simple present indicative form of have
- hatha (noun): The fundamental form of yoga that focuses on asanas
- heap (noun): A crowd; a throng; a multitude or great number of people.
- heat (noun): Thermal energy.
- heath (noun): A tract of level uncultivated land with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation; heathland.
- mahatma (noun): An epithet granted in India and Tibet to people thought to have great knowledge and love of humanity
- mama (noun): Mother, female parent.
- mamma (noun): The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat; a breast; an udder.
- mate (noun): A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
- matey (adjective): Sociable or friendly.
- math (noun): Clipping of mathematics.
- matte (noun): A decorative border around a picture used to inset and center the contents of a frame.
- mayhem (noun): A state or situation of great confusion, disorder, trouble or destruction; chaos.
- meat (noun): The flesh (muscle tissue) of an animal used as food.
- meaty (adjective): Of, relating to, or containing meat.
- meta (adjective): Self-referential; structured analogously (structured by relationships), but at a higher level.
- pampa (noun): singular of pampas
- papa (noun): Dad, daddy, father; a familiar or old-fashioned term of address to one’s father.
- papaya (noun): A tropical American evergreen tree, Carica papaya, having large, yellow, edible fruit
- pappy (adjective): Like pap; soft; mushy.
- pate (noun): The head, particularly the top or crown.
- path (noun): A trail for the use of, or worn by, pedestrians.
- patty (noun): A flattened portion of ground meat or a vegetarian equivalent, usually round but sometimes square in shape.
- payee (noun): one to whom money is paid.
- peat (noun): Soil formed of dead but not fully decayed plants found in bog areas, often burned as fuel.
- peaty (adjective): Of or resembling peat; peatlike.
- phat (adjective): Excellent; cool; very good.
- tame (adjective): Not or no longer wild; domesticated.
- tamp (verb): To plug up with clay, earth, dry sand, sod, or other material, as a hole bored in a rock.
- tapa (noun): A kind of cloth prepared by the Polynesians from the inner bark of the paper mulberry.
- tape (noun): Flexible material in a roll with a sticky surface on one or both sides; adhesive tape.
- tatty (noun): worn and shabby; in poor condition.
- team (noun): A set of draught animals, such as two horses in front of a carriage.
- teammate (noun): One who is on the same team.
- teat (noun): The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female mammals, milk is secreted.
- that (conjunction): Introducing a clause which is the subject or object of a verb (such as one involving reported speech), or which is a complement to a previous statement.
- theta (noun): The eighth letter of the Modern Greek alphabet, ninth in Old Greek: Θ, θ.
- yappy (adjective): Of a dog, yapping in an annoying manner.
- yeah (particle): yes.