NYT Spelling Bee Answers for October 16, 2023
Game Summary
| Center Letter | E |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, c, i, n, t, x |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 51 words |
| Total Points | 229 points |
| Genius Level | 160 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 | Σ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| C | 3 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| E | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | - | 12 |
| I | - | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| N | 6 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 9 |
| T | 5 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 8 |
| X | - | - | - | - | - | - | Σ | 18 | 9 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 51 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AC×4 AN×5 |
|---|---|
| C | CA×3 CE×2 CI×1 |
| E | EA×1 EN×3 EX×8 |
| I | IN×7 |
| N | NE×4 NI×5 |
| T | TA×1 TE×6 TI×1 |
| X |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ACC×1 ACE×2 ACN×1 ANC×1 ANN×1 ANT×3 |
|---|---|
| C | CAN×3 CEN×1 CET×1 CIT×1 |
| E | EAT×1 ENA×1 ENT×2 EXA×2 EXC×1 EXE×1 EXI×1 EXT×3 |
| I | INA×1 INC×1 INE×1 INI×1 INN×2 INT×1 |
| N | NEA×2 NEN×1 NEX×1 NIC×1 NIE×1 NIN×2 NIT×1 |
| T | TAC×1 TEA×1 TEE×1 TEN×3 TEX×1 TIN×1 |
| X |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| in..... † | IN7 | Imperfectly conforming; exceeding or falling short in some respect. |
| ac.... | AC6 | A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it. |
| ac..... | AC7 | Any salt or ester of acetic acid. |
| ac.... | AC6 | Of, pertaining to, or producing vinegar |
| ac.. | AC4 | A skin condition, usually of the face, that is common in adolescents. It is characterised by red pimples, and is caused by the inflammation of sebaceous glands through bacterial infection. |
| an..... | AN7 | Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age, very old. |
| an... | AN5 | An addition, an extension. |
| an.. | AN4 | A price or cost, as in up the ante. |
| an..... | AN7 | A feeler organ on the head of an insect, crab, or other animal. |
| an...... | AN8 | plural of antenna |
| ca.. | CA4 | A plant with simple stems, like bamboo or sugar cane, or the stem thereof The slender, flexible main stem of a plant such as bamboo, including many species in the grass family Gramineae |
| ca.... | CA6 | Of, or pertaining to, a dog or dogs. |
| ca..... | CA7 | A small cafeteria or snack bar, especially one in a military establishment, school, or place of work. |
| ce.. | CE4 | A subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the main unit of currency in many countries. Symbol: ¢. |
| ce...... | CE8 | Pertaining to the zoologic order Cetacea, or associated with species falling under that taxonomic hierarchy. |
| ci.. | CI4 | to quote; to repeat, as a passage from a book, or the words of another. |
| ea... | EA5 | past participle of eat |
| en... | EN5 | to make (a bill) into law |
| en..... | EN7 | An informal alliance or friendly understanding between two states. |
| en.... | EN6 | To lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope. |
| ex... | EX5 | Precisely agreeing with a standard, a fact, or the truth; perfectly conforming; neither exceeding nor falling short in any respect. |
| ex.... | EX6 | A bet in which the bettor must correctly pick the two runners who finish first and second, in the correct order. |
| ex.... | EX6 | To stir the emotions of. |
| ex.. | EX4 | executive, executive officer |
| ex.. | EX4 | An act of going out or going away, or leaving; a departure. |
| ex.... | EX6 | Still in existence; not having disappeared. |
| ex.... | EX6 | A range of values or locations. |
| ex..... | EX7 | Extinguished, no longer alight (of fire, candles etc.) |
| in... | IN5 | Lacking sense or meaning (often to the point of boredom or annoyance) |
| in.... | IN6 | To stir up or excite; to rouse or goad into action. |
| in...... | IN8 | A new member of an organization. |
| in.... | IN6 | Inborn; existing or having existed since birth. |
| in... | IN5 | A navel that is formed of a hollow in the abdomen (as opposed to one that protrudes from the abdomen). |
| in.... | IN6 | Something that is intended. |
| ne.. | NE4 | Clean, tidy; free from dirt or impurities. |
| ne.... | NE6 | To make (someone or something) neat; to arrange (people or things) in an orderly, tidy way; to tidy. |
| ne.. | NE4 | The Hawaiian goose, Branta sandvicensis, which was designated the state bird of Hawaii in 1957. |
| ne.. | NE4 | Nearest in place or position, having nothing similar intervening; adjoining. |
| ni.. | NI4 | Pleasant, satisfactory. |
| ni... | NI5 | A daughter of one’s sibling, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; either the daughter of one's brother ("fraternal niece"), or of one's sister ("sororal niece"). |
| ni.. | NI4 | NATO & ICAO phonetic alphabet code for the numeral 9. |
| ni...... | NI8 | The cardinal number occurring after eighteen and before twenty, represented in Roman numerals as XIX and in Arabic numerals as 19. It is the last/largest of the "teens". |
| ni.. | NI4 | Informal spelling of night. |
| ta... | TA5 | An instruction indicating silence on the part of the performers of a piece. |
| te.. | TE4 | The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female mammals, milk is secreted. |
| te.. | TE4 | Synonym of teenager: a person between 13 and 19 years old. |
| te.... | TE6 | One who holds a lease (a tenancy). |
| te... | TE5 | An opinion, belief, or principle that is held as absolute truth by someone or especially an organization. |
| te.. | TE4 | A pavilion or portable lodge consisting of skins, canvas, or some strong cloth, stretched and sustained by poles, used for sheltering people from the weather. |
| te.. | TE4 | A writing consisting of multiple glyphs, characters, symbols or sentences. |
| ti.. | TI4 | A spike or point on an implement or tool, especially a prong of a fork or a tooth of a comb. |
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.
- inexact† (IN7)
- accent (AC6)
- acetate (AC7)
- acetic (AC6)
- acne (AC4)
- ancient (AN7)
- annex (AN5)
- ante (AN4)
- antenna (AN7)
- antennae (AN8)
- cane (CA4)
- canine (CA6)
- canteen (CA7)
- cent (CE4)
- cetacean (CE8)
- cite (CI4)
- eaten (EA5)
- enact (EN5)
- entente (EN7)
- entice (EN6)
- exact (EX5)
- exacta (EX6)
- excite (EX6)
- exec (EX4)
- exit (EX4)
- extant (EX6)
- extent (EX6)
- extinct (EX7)
- inane (IN5)
- incite (IN6)
- initiate (IN8)
- innate (IN6)
- innie (IN5)
- intent (IN6)
- neat (NE4)
- neaten (NE6)
- nene (NE4)
- next (NE4)
- nice (NI4)
- niece (NI5)
- nine (NI4)
- nineteen (NI8)
- nite (NI4)
- tacet (TA5)
- teat (TE4)
- teen (TE4)
- tenant (TE6)
- tenet (TE5)
- tent (TE4)
- text (TE4)
- tine (TI4)
Answer Definitions
- inexact† (adjective): Imperfectly conforming; exceeding or falling short in some respect.
- accent (noun): A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it.
- acetate (noun): Any salt or ester of acetic acid.
- acetic (adjective): Of, pertaining to, or producing vinegar
- acne (noun): A skin condition, usually of the face, that is common in adolescents. It is characterised by red pimples, and is caused by the inflammation of sebaceous glands through bacterial infection.
- ancient (adjective): Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age, very old.
- annex (noun): An addition, an extension.
- ante (noun): A price or cost, as in up the ante.
- antenna (noun): A feeler organ on the head of an insect, crab, or other animal.
- antennae (noun): plural of antenna
- cane (noun): A plant with simple stems, like bamboo or sugar cane, or the stem thereof The slender, flexible main stem of a plant such as bamboo, including many species in the grass family Gramineae
- canine (adjective): Of, or pertaining to, a dog or dogs.
- canteen (noun): A small cafeteria or snack bar, especially one in a military establishment, school, or place of work.
- cent (noun): A subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the main unit of currency in many countries. Symbol: ¢.
- cetacean (adjective): Pertaining to the zoologic order Cetacea, or associated with species falling under that taxonomic hierarchy.
- cite (verb): to quote; to repeat, as a passage from a book, or the words of another.
- eaten (verb): past participle of eat
- enact (verb): to make (a bill) into law
- entente (noun): An informal alliance or friendly understanding between two states.
- entice (verb): To lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope.
- exact (adjective): Precisely agreeing with a standard, a fact, or the truth; perfectly conforming; neither exceeding nor falling short in any respect.
- exacta (noun): A bet in which the bettor must correctly pick the two runners who finish first and second, in the correct order.
- excite (verb): To stir the emotions of.
- exec (noun): executive, executive officer
- exit (noun): An act of going out or going away, or leaving; a departure.
- extant (adjective): Still in existence; not having disappeared.
- extent (noun): A range of values or locations.
- extinct (adjective): Extinguished, no longer alight (of fire, candles etc.)
- inane (adjective): Lacking sense or meaning (often to the point of boredom or annoyance)
- incite (verb): To stir up or excite; to rouse or goad into action.
- initiate (noun): A new member of an organization.
- innate (adjective): Inborn; existing or having existed since birth.
- innie (noun): A navel that is formed of a hollow in the abdomen (as opposed to one that protrudes from the abdomen).
- intent (noun): Something that is intended.
- neat (adjective): Clean, tidy; free from dirt or impurities.
- neaten (verb): To make (someone or something) neat; to arrange (people or things) in an orderly, tidy way; to tidy.
- nene (noun): The Hawaiian goose, Branta sandvicensis, which was designated the state bird of Hawaii in 1957.
- next (adjective): Nearest in place or position, having nothing similar intervening; adjoining.
- nice (adjective): Pleasant, satisfactory.
- niece (noun): A daughter of one’s sibling, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; either the daughter of one's brother ("fraternal niece"), or of one's sister ("sororal niece").
- nine (numeral): NATO & ICAO phonetic alphabet code for the numeral 9.
- nineteen (numeral): The cardinal number occurring after eighteen and before twenty, represented in Roman numerals as XIX and in Arabic numerals as 19. It is the last/largest of the "teens".
- nite (noun): Informal spelling of night.
- tacet (verb): An instruction indicating silence on the part of the performers of a piece.
- teat (noun): The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female mammals, milk is secreted.
- teen (noun): Synonym of teenager: a person between 13 and 19 years old.
- tenant (noun): One who holds a lease (a tenancy).
- tenet (noun): An opinion, belief, or principle that is held as absolute truth by someone or especially an organization.
- tent (noun): A pavilion or portable lodge consisting of skins, canvas, or some strong cloth, stretched and sustained by poles, used for sheltering people from the weather.
- text (noun): A writing consisting of multiple glyphs, characters, symbols or sentences.
- tine (noun): A spike or point on an implement or tool, especially a prong of a fork or a tooth of a comb.