NYT Spelling Bee Answers for December 29, 2023
Game Summary
| Center Letter | A |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | e, h, i, n, p, y |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 26 words |
| Total Points | 104 points |
| Genius Level | 73 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 | Σ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | - | 2 | - | - | - | 2 |
| E | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| H | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 6 |
| I | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| N | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | 5 |
| P | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | 9 |
| Y | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 2 | Σ | 10 | 11 | 4 | - | 1 | 26 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AP×2 |
|---|---|
| E | EP×1 |
| H | HA×2 HE×2 HI×1 HY×1 |
| I | IN×1 |
| N | NA×4 NE×1 |
| P | PA×8 PE×1 |
| Y | YA×1 YE×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | API×1 APN×1 |
|---|---|
| E | EPI×1 |
| H | HAP×2 HEA×1 HEN×1 HIY×1 HYE×1 |
| I | INA×1 |
| N | NAA×1 NAN×2 NAP×1 NEA×1 |
| P | PAE×1 PAI×1 PAN×2 PAP×3 PAY×1 PEA×1 |
| Y | YAP×1 YEA×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) |
|---|---|---|
| ep...... † | EP8 | An illuminating realization or discovery, often resulting in a personal feeling of elation, awe, or wonder. |
| ap... | AP5 | Relating to bees. |
| ap... | AP5 | The cessation of breathing, most often in reference to transient instances thereof during sleep. |
| ha.... | HA6 | To occur or take place. |
| ha... | HA5 | Having a feeling arising from a consciousness of well-being or of enjoyment; enjoying good of any kind, such as comfort, peace, or tranquillity; blissful, contented, joyous. |
| he.. | HE4 | A crowd; a throng; a multitude or great number of people. |
| he... | HE5 | A shrub, Lawsonia inermis, having fragrant reddish flowers |
| hi.. | HI4 | An informal greeting, hi, hello. |
| hy... | HY5 | Any of the medium-sized to large feliform carnivores of the subfamily Hyaenidae, native to Africa and Asia and noted for the sound similar to laughter which they can make if excited. |
| in... | IN5 | Lacking sense or meaning (often to the point of boredom or annoyance) |
| na.. | NA4 | A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine. |
| na.. | NA4 | A banana. |
| na... | NA5 | A child's nurse. |
| na.. | NA4 | The back part of the neck. |
| ne.. | NE4 | The tongue or pole of a cart or other vehicle drawn by two animals. |
| pa... | PA5 | A chant or song, especially a hymn of thanksgiving for deliverance or victory, to Apollo or sometimes another god or goddess; hence any song sung to solicit victory in battle. |
| pa.. | PA4 | An ache or bodily suffering, or an instance of this; an unpleasant sensation, resulting from a derangement of functions, disease, or injury by violence; hurt. |
| pa.. | PA4 | An individual sheet of glass in a window, door, etc. |
| pa.... | PA6 | A type of grilled sandwich made of a small loaf of bread, cut horizontally, filled with meat such as salami or ham, cheese or other food. |
| pa.. | PA4 | Dad, daddy, father; a familiar or old-fashioned term of address to one’s father. |
| pa.... | PA6 | A tropical American evergreen tree, Carica papaya, having large, yellow, edible fruit |
| pa... | PA5 | Like pap; soft; mushy. |
| pa... | PA5 | one to whom money is paid. |
| pe.... | PE6 | A female peafowl. |
| ya... | YA5 | Of a dog, yapping in an annoying manner. |
| ye.. | YE4 | yes. |
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.
- epiphany† (EP8)
- apian (AP5)
- apnea (AP5)
- happen (HA6)
- happy (HA5)
- heap (HE4)
- henna (HE5)
- hiya (HI4)
- hyena (HY5)
- inane (IN5)
- naan (NA4)
- nana (NA4)
- nanny (NA5)
- nape (NA4)
- neap (NE4)
- paean (PA5)
- pain (PA4)
- pane (PA4)
- panini (PA6)
- papa (PA4)
- papaya (PA6)
- pappy (PA5)
- payee (PA5)
- peahen (PE6)
- yappy (YA5)
- yeah (YE4)
Answer Definitions
- epiphany† (noun): An illuminating realization or discovery, often resulting in a personal feeling of elation, awe, or wonder.
- apian (adjective): Relating to bees.
- apnea (noun): The cessation of breathing, most often in reference to transient instances thereof during sleep.
- happen (verb): To occur or take place.
- happy (adjective): Having a feeling arising from a consciousness of well-being or of enjoyment; enjoying good of any kind, such as comfort, peace, or tranquillity; blissful, contented, joyous.
- heap (noun): A crowd; a throng; a multitude or great number of people.
- henna (noun): A shrub, Lawsonia inermis, having fragrant reddish flowers
- hiya (interjection): An informal greeting, hi, hello.
- hyena (noun): Any of the medium-sized to large feliform carnivores of the subfamily Hyaenidae, native to Africa and Asia and noted for the sound similar to laughter which they can make if excited.
- inane (adjective): Lacking sense or meaning (often to the point of boredom or annoyance)
- naan (noun): A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.
- nana (noun): A banana.
- nanny (noun): A child's nurse.
- nape (noun): The back part of the neck.
- neap (noun): The tongue or pole of a cart or other vehicle drawn by two animals.
- paean (noun): A chant or song, especially a hymn of thanksgiving for deliverance or victory, to Apollo or sometimes another god or goddess; hence any song sung to solicit victory in battle.
- pain (noun): An ache or bodily suffering, or an instance of this; an unpleasant sensation, resulting from a derangement of functions, disease, or injury by violence; hurt.
- pane (noun): An individual sheet of glass in a window, door, etc.
- panini (noun): A type of grilled sandwich made of a small loaf of bread, cut horizontally, filled with meat such as salami or ham, cheese or other food.
- papa (noun): Dad, daddy, father; a familiar or old-fashioned term of address to one’s father.
- papaya (noun): A tropical American evergreen tree, Carica papaya, having large, yellow, edible fruit
- pappy (adjective): Like pap; soft; mushy.
- payee (noun): one to whom money is paid.
- peahen (noun): A female peafowl.
- yappy (adjective): Of a dog, yapping in an annoying manner.
- yeah (particle): yes.