NYT Spelling Bee Answers for December 22, 2023
Game Summary
| Center Letter | O |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | c, g, i, j, n, u |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 31 words |
| Total Points | 167 points |
| Genius Level | 117 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</th><th>9</th><th>10 | Σ | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| G | 2 | 1 | - | 2 | - | - | - | 5 |
| I | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| J | 1 | 2 | - | 2 | 1 | - | - | 6 |
| N | 2 | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | 4 |
| O | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - | 2 |
| U | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | Σ | 7 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 31 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| C | CO×10 |
|---|---|
| G | GO×5 |
| I | IC×2 IO×1 |
| J | JI×1 JO×4 JU×1 |
| N | NO×3 NU×1 |
| O | ON×2 |
| U | UN×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| C | COC×3 COI×2 CON×4 COO×1 |
|---|---|
| G | GOI×1 GON×2 GOO×1 GOU×1 |
| I | ICO×2 ION×1 |
| J | JIN×1 JOG×1 JOI×2 JOU×1 JUN×1 |
| N | NOG×1 NOO×1 NOU×1 NUN×1 |
| O | ONG×1 ONI×1 |
| U | UNI×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) |
|---|---|---|
| jo...... † | JO8 | present participle of jounce |
| co... | CO5 | plural of coccus |
| co.... | CO6 | The silky protective case spun by the larvae of some insects in which they metamorphose, the pupa. |
| co....... | CO9 | present participle of cocoon |
| co.. | CO4 | A piece of currency, usually metallic and in the shape of a disc, but sometimes polygonal, or with a hole in the middle. |
| co..... | CO7 | present participle of coin |
| co... | CO5 | Synonym of conical |
| co..... | CO7 | To join together; to unite; to combine. |
| co........ | CO10 | present participle of conjoin |
| co..... | CO7 | present participle of con |
| co.... | CO6 | present participle of coo |
| go... | GO5 | present participle of go |
| go.. | GO4 | A percussion instrument consisting of a metal disk that emits a sonorous sound when struck with a soft hammer. |
| go..... | GO7 | present participle of gong |
| go.. | GO4 | A thug; a usually muscular henchman with little intelligence (also known as a 'hired goon'). |
| go..... | GO7 | present participle of gouge |
| ic.. | IC4 | An image, symbol, picture, or other representation usually as an object of religious devotion. |
| ic.... | IC6 | Relating to, or having the characteristics of, an icon. |
| io... | IO5 | of, relating to, or containing ions |
| ji... | JI5 | One who supports policy favouring war. |
| jo..... | JO7 | The action of the verb to jog. |
| jo.. | JO4 | An intersection of piping or wiring; an interconnect. |
| jo..... | JO7 | present participle of join |
| ju... | JU5 | Any bird of the genus Junco, which includes several species of North American sparrow. |
| no.... | NO6 | A small mug, cup or ladle. |
| no.. | NO4 | The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday. |
| no.. | NO4 | A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea; one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English. |
| nu.... | NU6 | The ecclesiastic title of a permanent diplomatic representative of the Roman Catholic Church to a sovereign state or international organization, who is accorded a rank equivalent to an accredited ambassador, and may also be given additional privileges including recognition as Dean in a country's diplomatic corps. |
| on..... | ON7 | Continuing, permanent, lasting. |
| on... | ON5 | A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice. |
| un... | UN5 | The act of uniting or joining two or more things into one. |
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.
- jouncing† (JO8)
- cocci (CO5)
- cocoon (CO6)
- cocooning (CO9)
- coin (CO4)
- coining (CO7)
- conic (CO5)
- conjoin (CO7)
- conjoining (CO10)
- conning (CO7)
- cooing (CO6)
- going (GO5)
- gong (GO4)
- gonging (GO7)
- goon (GO4)
- gouging (GO7)
- icon (IC4)
- iconic (IC6)
- ionic (IO5)
- jingo (JI5)
- jogging (JO7)
- join (JO4)
- joining (JO7)
- junco (JU5)
- noggin (NO6)
- noon (NO4)
- noun (NO4)
- nuncio (NU6)
- ongoing (ON7)
- onion (ON5)
- union (UN5)
Answer Definitions
- jouncing† (verb): present participle of jounce
- cocci (noun): plural of coccus
- cocoon (noun): The silky protective case spun by the larvae of some insects in which they metamorphose, the pupa.
- cocooning (verb): present participle of cocoon
- coin (noun): A piece of currency, usually metallic and in the shape of a disc, but sometimes polygonal, or with a hole in the middle.
- coining (verb): present participle of coin
- conic (adjective): Synonym of conical
- conjoin (verb): To join together; to unite; to combine.
- conjoining (verb): present participle of conjoin
- conning (verb): present participle of con
- cooing (verb): present participle of coo
- going (verb): present participle of go
- gong (noun): A percussion instrument consisting of a metal disk that emits a sonorous sound when struck with a soft hammer.
- gonging (verb): present participle of gong
- goon (noun): A thug; a usually muscular henchman with little intelligence (also known as a 'hired goon').
- gouging (verb): present participle of gouge
- icon (noun): An image, symbol, picture, or other representation usually as an object of religious devotion.
- iconic (adjective): Relating to, or having the characteristics of, an icon.
- ionic (adjective): of, relating to, or containing ions
- jingo (noun): One who supports policy favouring war.
- jogging (noun): The action of the verb to jog.
- join (noun): An intersection of piping or wiring; an interconnect.
- joining (verb): present participle of join
- junco (noun): Any bird of the genus Junco, which includes several species of North American sparrow.
- noggin (noun): A small mug, cup or ladle.
- noon (noun): The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.
- noun (noun): A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea; one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English.
- nuncio (noun): The ecclesiastic title of a permanent diplomatic representative of the Roman Catholic Church to a sovereign state or international organization, who is accorded a rank equivalent to an accredited ambassador, and may also be given additional privileges including recognition as Dean in a country's diplomatic corps.
- ongoing (adjective): Continuing, permanent, lasting.
- onion (noun): A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.
- union (noun): The act of uniting or joining two or more things into one.