NYT Spelling Bee Answers for October 12, 2023
Game Summary
| Center Letter | Y |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, f, i, l, m, r |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 29 words |
| Total Points | 135 points |
| Genius Level | 95 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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 4 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 8 |
| F | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | 1 | - | 1 | 12 |
| I | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| L | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| M | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 3 |
| R | - | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| Y | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Σ | 9 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 29 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AF×1 AI×2 AL×2 AM×1 AR×2 |
|---|---|
| F | FA×4 FI×4 FL×1 FR×3 |
| I | IF×1 IL×1 |
| L | LI×1 |
| M | MA×3 |
| R | RA×2 RI×1 |
| Y |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | AFF×1 AIR×2 ALL×2 AMY×1 ARM×1 ARR×1 |
|---|---|
| F | FAI×2 FAM×2 FIL×3 FIR×1 FLA×1 FRA×1 FRI×2 |
| I | IFF×1 ILL×1 |
| L | LIL×1 |
| M | MAM×1 MAR×1 MAY×1 |
| R | RAL×1 RAM×1 RIY×1 |
| Y |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| fa........ † | FA10 | In a familiar or easily recognised manner. |
| af.... | AF6 | To startle from quiet; to alarm. |
| ai.... | AI6 | In an airy manner. |
| ai.. | AI4 | (of a room or building) spacious, well lit, and well ventilated. |
| al... | AL5 | To make quiet or put at rest; to pacify or appease; to quell; to calm. |
| al.. | AL4 | To unite or form a connection between (people or things), as between families by marriage, or between states by confederacy, league, or treaty. |
| am.. | AM4 | Synonym of pentyl |
| ar.. | AR4 | A large, highly organized military force, concerned mainly with ground (rather than air or naval) operations. |
| ar... | AR5 | an ordered series or arrangement. |
| fa.... | FA6 | In a fair manner; fair; not biased or skewed or favouring a certain party |
| fa... | FA5 | a small imaginary being of human form that has magical powers, especially a female one. E.g., Tinkerbell. |
| fa.... | FA6 | A group of people who are closely related to one another (by blood, marriage or adoption); kin; in particular, a set of parents and their children; an immediate family. |
| fi...... | FI8 | In a filial manner. |
| fi... | FI5 | A young female horse. |
| fi... | FI5 | Resembling or made of a thin film; gauzy |
| fi.... | FI6 | In a firm or definite or strong manner. |
| fl.. | FL4 | To cause to fly; put to flight; drive off (by frightening). |
| fr.. | FR4 | To rub or wear away (something); to cause (something made of strands twisted or woven together, such as cloth or rope) to unravel through friction. |
| fr.... | FR6 | house or dwelling where monks or members of certain religious communities live |
| fr.... | FR6 | Having frills; frilled. |
| if.. | IF4 | Of dubious authenticity, legitimacy or legality. |
| il.. | IL4 | Badly; poorly. |
| li.. | LI4 | Any of several flowers in the genus Lilium of the family Liliaceae, which includes a great many ornamental species. |
| ma..... | MA7 | Of or relating to mamma or breast (of a woman or a female animal). |
| ma... | MA5 | To enter into the conjugal or connubial state; to take a husband or a wife. |
| ma.... | MA6 | Any of the many fragile insects of the order Ephemeroptera that develop in fresh water and live very briefly as winged adults. |
| ra... | RA5 | A public gathering or mass meeting that is not mainly a protest and is organized to inspire enthusiasm for a cause. |
| ra.... | RA6 | To divide into branches or subdivisions. |
| ri... | RI5 | The official currency of Qatar and Saudi Arabia. |
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.
- familiarly† (FA10)
- affray (AF6)
- airily (AI6)
- airy (AI4)
- allay (AL5)
- ally (AL4)
- amyl (AM4)
- army (AR4)
- array (AR5)
- fairly (FA6)
- fairy (FA5)
- family (FA6)
- filially (FI8)
- filly (FI5)
- filmy (FI5)
- firmly (FI6)
- flay (FL4)
- fray (FR4)
- friary (FR6)
- frilly (FR6)
- iffy (IF4)
- illy (IL4)
- lily (LI4)
- mammary (MA7)
- marry (MA5)
- mayfly (MA6)
- rally (RA5)
- ramify (RA6)
- riyal (RI5)
Answer Definitions
- familiarly† (adverb): In a familiar or easily recognised manner.
- affray (verb): To startle from quiet; to alarm.
- airily (adverb): In an airy manner.
- airy (adjective): (of a room or building) spacious, well lit, and well ventilated.
- allay (verb): To make quiet or put at rest; to pacify or appease; to quell; to calm.
- ally (verb): To unite or form a connection between (people or things), as between families by marriage, or between states by confederacy, league, or treaty.
- amyl (noun): Synonym of pentyl
- army (noun): A large, highly organized military force, concerned mainly with ground (rather than air or naval) operations.
- array (noun): an ordered series or arrangement.
- fairly (adverb): In a fair manner; fair; not biased or skewed or favouring a certain party
- fairy (noun): a small imaginary being of human form that has magical powers, especially a female one. E.g., Tinkerbell.
- family (noun): A group of people who are closely related to one another (by blood, marriage or adoption); kin; in particular, a set of parents and their children; an immediate family.
- filially (adverb): In a filial manner.
- filly (noun): A young female horse.
- filmy (adjective): Resembling or made of a thin film; gauzy
- firmly (adverb): In a firm or definite or strong manner.
- flay (verb): To cause to fly; put to flight; drive off (by frightening).
- fray (verb): To rub or wear away (something); to cause (something made of strands twisted or woven together, such as cloth or rope) to unravel through friction.
- friary (noun): house or dwelling where monks or members of certain religious communities live
- frilly (adjective): Having frills; frilled.
- iffy (adjective): Of dubious authenticity, legitimacy or legality.
- illy (adverb): Badly; poorly.
- lily (noun): Any of several flowers in the genus Lilium of the family Liliaceae, which includes a great many ornamental species.
- mammary (adjective): Of or relating to mamma or breast (of a woman or a female animal).
- marry (verb): To enter into the conjugal or connubial state; to take a husband or a wife.
- mayfly (noun): Any of the many fragile insects of the order Ephemeroptera that develop in fresh water and live very briefly as winged adults.
- rally (noun): A public gathering or mass meeting that is not mainly a protest and is organized to inspire enthusiasm for a cause.
- ramify (verb): To divide into branches or subdivisions.
- riyal (noun): The official currency of Qatar and Saudi Arabia.