NYT Spelling Bee Answers for September 23, 2023
Game Summary
| Center Letter | O |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, f, h, k, r, y |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 28 words |
| Total Points | 95 points |
| Genius Level | 67 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 | Σ | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 2 | - | 1 | - | 3 |
| F | 2 | 2 | - | - | 4 |
| H | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 11 |
| K | 1 | 1 | - | - | 2 |
| O | 3 | - | - | - | 3 |
| R | 3 | - | - | - | 3 |
| Y | - | 1 | 1 | - | 2 | Σ | 15 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 28 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AF×1 AH×1 AR×1 |
|---|---|
| F | FA×1 FO×3 |
| H | HA×1 HO×10 |
| K | KO×2 |
| O | OA×1 OK×2 |
| R | RO×3 |
| Y | YA×1 YO×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | AFR×1 AHO×1 ARR×1 |
|---|---|
| F | FAR×1 FOR×3 |
| H | HAY×1 HOA×2 HOO×6 HOR×2 |
| K | KOO×2 |
| O | OAK×1 OKA×1 OKR×1 |
| R | ROA×1 ROO×2 |
| Y | YAH×1 YOO×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) |
|---|---|---|
| ha..... † | HA7 | A tool used for moving hay; a pitchfork. |
| af.. | AF4 | hairstyle characterized by tightly curled locks and a rounded shape. |
| ah.. | AH4 | Used to hail a ship, a boat or a person, or to attract attention. |
| ar.... | AR6 | A dry creek or streambed, a gulch which temporarily or seasonally fills and flows (after sufficient rain). |
| fa... | FA5 | Emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum). |
| fo.. | FO4 | plural of forum (alternative form of forums). |
| fo... | FO5 | A sudden or irregular incursion in border warfare; hence, any irregular incursion for war or spoils; a raid. |
| fo.. | FO4 | Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows: A utensil with spikes used to put solid food into the mouth, or to hold food down while cutting. |
| ho.. | HO4 | A white or greyish-white colour. |
| ho... | HO5 | White, whitish, or greyish-white. |
| ho.. | HO4 | The tip of a toe of an ungulate such as a horse, ox or deer, strengthened by a thick keratin covering. |
| ho.. | HO4 | A rod bent into a curved shape, typically with one end free and the other end secured to a rope or other attachment. |
| ho.... | HO6 | A pipe with a long flexible tube that draws the smoke through water, traditionally used for smoking tobacco, which is often flavored. |
| ho... | HO5 | Absence from school or work; truancy. (Can we add an example for this sense?) |
| ho.... | HO6 | Alternative form of hurrah |
| ho.... | HO6 | Used to express approval, joy or victory. |
| ho.. | HO4 | A circle dance popular in the Balkans, Israel and Yiddish culture worldwide. |
| ho.... | HO6 | An intense distressing emotion of fear or repugnance. |
| ko.. | KO4 | An eccentric, strange or crazy person. |
| ko... | KO5 | Eccentric, strange, or foolish; crazy or insane; kookish. |
| oa.. | OA4 | Resembling or characteristic of the oak tree or its wood. |
| ok.. | OK4 | Alternative spelling of OK |
| ok.. | OK4 | The edible immature mucilaginous seed pod (properly, capsule) of the Abelmoschus esculentus. |
| ro.. | RO4 | To make a loud, deep cry, especially from pain, anger, or other strong emotion. |
| ro.. | RO4 | The external covering at the top of a building. |
| ro.. | RO4 | A European bird, Corvus frugilegus, of the crow family. |
| ya... | YA5 | A rough, coarse, loud or uncouth person |
| yo.... | YO6 | Used to get attention. |
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.
- hayfork† (HA7)
- afro (AF4)
- ahoy (AH4)
- arroyo (AR6)
- farro (FA5)
- fora (FO4)
- foray (FO5)
- fork (FO4)
- hoar (HO4)
- hoary (HO5)
- hoof (HO4)
- hook (HO4)
- hookah (HO6)
- hooky (HO5)
- hoorah (HO6)
- hooray (HO6)
- hora (HO4)
- horror (HO6)
- kook (KO4)
- kooky (KO5)
- oaky (OA4)
- okay (OK4)
- okra (OK4)
- roar (RO4)
- roof (RO4)
- rook (RO4)
- yahoo (YA5)
- yoohoo (YO6)
Answer Definitions
- hayfork† (noun): A tool used for moving hay; a pitchfork.
- afro (noun): hairstyle characterized by tightly curled locks and a rounded shape.
- ahoy (interjection): Used to hail a ship, a boat or a person, or to attract attention.
- arroyo (noun): A dry creek or streambed, a gulch which temporarily or seasonally fills and flows (after sufficient rain).
- farro (noun): Emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum).
- fora (noun): plural of forum (alternative form of forums).
- foray (noun): A sudden or irregular incursion in border warfare; hence, any irregular incursion for war or spoils; a raid.
- fork (noun): Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows: A utensil with spikes used to put solid food into the mouth, or to hold food down while cutting.
- hoar (noun): A white or greyish-white colour.
- hoary (adjective): White, whitish, or greyish-white.
- hoof (noun): The tip of a toe of an ungulate such as a horse, ox or deer, strengthened by a thick keratin covering.
- hook (noun): A rod bent into a curved shape, typically with one end free and the other end secured to a rope or other attachment.
- hookah (noun): A pipe with a long flexible tube that draws the smoke through water, traditionally used for smoking tobacco, which is often flavored.
- hooky (noun): Absence from school or work; truancy. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- hoorah (interjection): Alternative form of hurrah
- hooray (interjection): Used to express approval, joy or victory.
- hora (noun): A circle dance popular in the Balkans, Israel and Yiddish culture worldwide.
- horror (noun): An intense distressing emotion of fear or repugnance.
- kook (noun): An eccentric, strange or crazy person.
- kooky (adjective): Eccentric, strange, or foolish; crazy or insane; kookish.
- oaky (adjective): Resembling or characteristic of the oak tree or its wood.
- okay (noun): Alternative spelling of OK
- okra (noun): The edible immature mucilaginous seed pod (properly, capsule) of the Abelmoschus esculentus.
- roar (verb): To make a loud, deep cry, especially from pain, anger, or other strong emotion.
- roof (noun): The external covering at the top of a building.
- rook (noun): A European bird, Corvus frugilegus, of the crow family.
- yahoo (noun): A rough, coarse, loud or uncouth person
- yoohoo (interjection): Used to get attention.