NYT Spelling Bee Answers for December 1, 2023
Game Summary
| Center Letter | F |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | b, e, l, o, t, u |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 39 words |
| Total Points | 136 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 | Σ | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | 1 | 8 |
| E | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | 2 |
| F | 14 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | 20 |
| L | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| T | 3 | - | 3 | 1 | - | - | 7 |
| U | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Σ | 21 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 39 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| B | BE×3 BL×1 BO×2 BU×2 |
|---|---|
| E | EF×1 ET×1 |
| F | FE×7 FL×8 FO×3 FU×2 |
| L | LE×1 LO×1 |
| O | |
| T | TE×1 TO×2 TU×4 |
| U |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| B | BEE×1 BEF×2 BLU×1 BOF×1 BOT×1 BUF×2 |
|---|---|
| E | EFF×1 ETO×1 |
| F | FEE×3 FEL×2 FET×2 FLE×2 FLO×2 FLU×4 FOO×2 FOU×1 FUE×1 FUL×1 |
| L | LEF×1 LOF×1 |
| O | |
| T | TEF×1 TOF×2 TUB×2 TUF×2 |
| U |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| bo....... † | BO9 | as much as a bottle will hold |
| be.. | BE4 | The meat from a cow, bull, or other bovine. |
| be.... | BE6 | simple past tense of befall |
| be.... | BE6 | To make foul; to soil; to contaminate, pollute. |
| bl... | BL5 | An act of bluffing; a false expression of the strength of one's position in order to intimidate; braggadocio. |
| bo... | BO5 | Outstanding; very good or successful. |
| bu.. | BU4 | Undyed leather from the skin of buffalo or similar animals. |
| bu.... | BU6 | A counter or sideboard from which food and drinks are served or may be bought. |
| ef.... | EF6 | Of substances, quantities etc: exhausted, spent, worn-out. |
| et...... | ET8 | Alternative spelling of étouffée |
| fe.... | FE6 | Deficient in physical strength. |
| fe.. | FE4 | To use or experience the sense of touch. To become aware of through the skin; to use the sense of touch on. |
| fe.. | FE4 | plural of foot |
| fe.. | FE4 | To make something fall; especially to chop down a tree. |
| fe.. | FE4 | A cloth or stuff made of matted fibres of wool, or wool and fur, fulled or wrought into a compact substance by rolling and pressure, with lees or size, without spinning or weaving. |
| fe.. | FE4 | A festival open to the public, the proceeds from which are often given to charity. |
| fe.... | FE6 | A state of proper physical condition; kilter or trim. |
| fl.. | FL4 | To run away; to escape. |
| fl... | FL5 | A group of vessels or vehicles. |
| fl.. | FL4 | A low, flat mass of floating ice. |
| fl... | FL5 | To express contempt for (laws, rules, etc.) by word or action. |
| fl.. | FL4 | An error; a mistake in the performance of an action. |
| fl.. | FL4 | A pipe or duct that carries gaseous combustion products away from the point of combustion (such as a furnace). |
| fl... | FL5 | Anything light, soft or fuzzy, especially fur, hair, feathers. |
| fl... | FL5 | A woodwind instrument consisting of a tube with a row of holes that produce sound through vibrations caused by air blown across the edge of the holes, often tuned by plugging one or more holes with a finger; the Western concert flute, a transverse side-blown flute of European origin. |
| fo.. | FO4 | A person with poor judgment or little intelligence. |
| fo.. | FO4 | A biological structure found in many animals that is used for locomotion and that is frequently a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg. |
| fo.. | FO4 | Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty. |
| fu.. | FU4 | Substance consumed to provide energy through combustion, or through chemical or nuclear reaction. |
| fu.. | FU4 | Containing the maximum possible amount that can fit in the space available. |
| le.. | LE4 | Designating the side of the body toward the west when one is facing north; the opposite of right. This arrow points to the reader's left: ← |
| lo.. | LO4 | air, the air; the sky, the heavens. |
| te.. | TE4 | A love grass, Eragrostis tef, with small seeds, grown as a cereal and for forage in Ethiopia and parts of Arabia. |
| to.... | TO6 | a type of confectionery made by boiling sugar (or treacle, etc) with butter or milk, then cooling the mixture so that it becomes hard |
| to.. | TO4 | A protein-rich food made from curdled soy milk. |
| tu..... | TU7 | Enough to fill a tube. |
| tu.... | TU6 | an amount that would fill a tub |
| tu.... | TU6 | A clump of grass or similar vegetation; a small grass-covered mound. |
| tu.. | TU4 | A bunch of feathers, grass or hair, etc., held together at the base. |
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.
- bottleful† (BO9)
- beef (BE4)
- befell (BE6)
- befoul (BE6)
- bluff (BL5)
- boffo (BO5)
- buff (BU4)
- buffet (BU6)
- effete (EF6)
- etouffee (ET8)
- feeble (FE6)
- feel (FE4)
- feet (FE4)
- fell (FE4)
- felt (FE4)
- fete (FE4)
- fettle (FE6)
- flee (FL4)
- fleet (FL5)
- floe (FL4)
- flout (FL5)
- flub (FL4)
- flue (FL4)
- fluff (FL5)
- flute (FL5)
- fool (FO4)
- foot (FO4)
- foul (FO4)
- fuel (FU4)
- full (FU4)
- left (LE4)
- loft (LO4)
- teff (TE4)
- toffee (TO6)
- tofu (TO4)
- tubeful (TU7)
- tubful (TU6)
- tuffet (TU6)
- tuft (TU4)
Answer Definitions
- bottleful† (noun): as much as a bottle will hold
- beef (noun): The meat from a cow, bull, or other bovine.
- befell (verb): simple past tense of befall
- befoul (verb): To make foul; to soil; to contaminate, pollute.
- bluff (noun): An act of bluffing; a false expression of the strength of one's position in order to intimidate; braggadocio.
- boffo (adjective): Outstanding; very good or successful.
- buff (noun): Undyed leather from the skin of buffalo or similar animals.
- buffet (noun): A counter or sideboard from which food and drinks are served or may be bought.
- effete (adjective): Of substances, quantities etc: exhausted, spent, worn-out.
- etouffee (noun): Alternative spelling of étouffée
- feeble (adjective): Deficient in physical strength.
- feel (verb): To use or experience the sense of touch. To become aware of through the skin; to use the sense of touch on.
- feet (noun): plural of foot
- fell (verb): To make something fall; especially to chop down a tree.
- felt (noun): A cloth or stuff made of matted fibres of wool, or wool and fur, fulled or wrought into a compact substance by rolling and pressure, with lees or size, without spinning or weaving.
- fete (noun): A festival open to the public, the proceeds from which are often given to charity.
- fettle (noun): A state of proper physical condition; kilter or trim.
- flee (verb): To run away; to escape.
- fleet (noun): A group of vessels or vehicles.
- floe (noun): A low, flat mass of floating ice.
- flout (verb): To express contempt for (laws, rules, etc.) by word or action.
- flub (noun): An error; a mistake in the performance of an action.
- flue (noun): A pipe or duct that carries gaseous combustion products away from the point of combustion (such as a furnace).
- fluff (noun): Anything light, soft or fuzzy, especially fur, hair, feathers.
- flute (noun): A woodwind instrument consisting of a tube with a row of holes that produce sound through vibrations caused by air blown across the edge of the holes, often tuned by plugging one or more holes with a finger; the Western concert flute, a transverse side-blown flute of European origin.
- fool (noun): A person with poor judgment or little intelligence.
- foot (noun): A biological structure found in many animals that is used for locomotion and that is frequently a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg.
- foul (adjective): Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty.
- fuel (noun): Substance consumed to provide energy through combustion, or through chemical or nuclear reaction.
- full (adjective): Containing the maximum possible amount that can fit in the space available.
- left (adjective): Designating the side of the body toward the west when one is facing north; the opposite of right. This arrow points to the reader's left: ←
- loft (noun): air, the air; the sky, the heavens.
- teff (noun): A love grass, Eragrostis tef, with small seeds, grown as a cereal and for forage in Ethiopia and parts of Arabia.
- toffee (noun): a type of confectionery made by boiling sugar (or treacle, etc) with butter or milk, then cooling the mixture so that it becomes hard
- tofu (noun): A protein-rich food made from curdled soy milk.
- tubeful (noun): Enough to fill a tube.
- tubful (noun): an amount that would fill a tub
- tuffet (noun): A clump of grass or similar vegetation; a small grass-covered mound.
- tuft (noun): A bunch of feathers, grass or hair, etc., held together at the base.