NYT Spelling Bee Answers for December 31, 2023

Dec 31, 2023 · 13 min read · spelling bee ·

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Spelling Bee "Hive" Board for December 31, 2023

Game Summary

Center Letter	M
Outer Letters	d, e, n, o, t, u
# of Pangrams	3 (Perfect: 1)
Total Words	73 words
Total Points	361 points
Genius Level	253 points
Bingo?	No

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
D	4	2	5	1	2	-	1	15
E	-	2	1	1	-	-	-	4
M	15	11	7	3	3	-	-	39
N	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
O	1	1	-	2	1	-	-	5
T	2	1	1	-	1	-	-	5
U	-	1	1	2	-	1	-	5
Σ	22	18	15	9	7	1	1	73

Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints

The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.

D	DE×9 DO×4 DU×2
E	EM×4
M	ME×11 MO×23 MU×5
N
O	OD×2 OM×1 OU×2
T	TE×3 TO×2
U	UN×5

Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints

The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.

D	DEE×2 DEM×6 DEN×1 DOM×2 DOO×2 DUM×1 DUO×1
E	EME×2 EMO×2
M	MEE×1 MEM×4 MEN×4 MET×2 MOD×2 MOM×2 MON×5 MOO×6 MOT×3 MOU×5 MUT×4 MUU×1
N
O	ODD×1 ODE×1 OME×1 OUT×2
T	TEE×2 TEN×1 TOM×1 TOT×1
U	UNM×5

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)
de........ ^†	DE10	Alternative spelling of dénouement
mo..... ^†	MO7	On horseback.
un....... ^†	UN9	simple past and past participle of unmount
de..	DE4	To judge, to pass judgment on; to doom, to sentence.
de....	DE6	simple past tense and past participle of deem
de......	DE8	Insane or mentally ill.
de..	DE4	A demonstration or visual explanation.
de....	DE6	simple past tense and past participle of demo
de...	DE5	An evil supernatural spirit. An evil spirit resident in or working for Hell; a devil. A false god or idol; a Satanic divinity. A very wicked or malevolent person; also a mischievous person, especially a child. A source (especially personified) of great evil or wickedness; a destructive feeling or character flaw.
de....	DE6	To lower the rank or status of.
de.....	DE7	simple past tense and past participle of demote
do..	DO4	A structural element resembling the hollow upper half of a sphere.
do...	DO5	In the form of a dome.
do..	DO4	Destiny, especially terrible.
do....	DO6	Assured to suffer death, failure, or a similarly negative outcome.
du....	DU6	A soft-nosed bullet that expands on impact to cause a gaping wound.
du......	DU8	The first part of the small intestine, starting at the lower end of the stomach and extending to the jejunum.
em...	EM5	To correct and revise (text or a document).
em.....	EM7	simple past tense and past participle of emend
em...	EM5	To display or express (emotions, mental states, etc.) openly, particularly while acting, and especially in an excessive manner. To deliver (a speech), say (lines of a play, words), etc., in a dramatic or emotional manner, especially if overly so.
em....	EM6	simple past tense and past participle of emote
me..	ME4	To make contact (with) while in proximity. To come face to face with by accident; to encounter.
me..	ME4	Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes.
me...	ME5	simple past tense and past participle of meme
me.....	ME7	A keepsake; an object kept as a reminder of a place or event.
me..	ME4	A short note; a memorandum.
me..	ME4	A place, as in clothing, which has been repaired by mending.
me....	ME6	simple past tense and past participle of mend
me....	ME6	A person who is being mentored
me..	ME4	The details of the food to be served at a banquet; a bill of fare.
me..	ME4	To measure.
me...	ME5	simple past tense and past participle of mete
mo..	MO4	One of several ancient Greek scales.
mo...	MO5	A device that encodes digital computer signals into analog/analogue telephone signals and vice versa and allows computers to communicate over a phone line.
mo....	MO6	A brief, unspecified amount of time.
mo......	MO8	Of a body in motion: the tendency of a body to maintain its inertial motion; the product of its mass and velocity, or the vector sum of the products of its masses and velocities.
mo...	MO5	A dialogue between master and student designed to obtain an intuitive truth.
mo..	MO4	Clipping of mononucleosis.
mo......	MO8	Having a single unvaried pitch.
mo...	MO5	A game in which three or four cards are dealt face-up and players bet on which of them will first be matched in suit by others dealt.
mo......	MO8	A structure built for commemorative or symbolic reasons, or as a memorial; a commemoration.
mo..	MO4	A mental or emotional state, composure.
mo...	MO5	simple past tense and past participle of moo
mo..	MO4	Alternative letter-case form of Moon (“the Earth's only permanent natural satellite”).
mo....	MO6	simple past tense and past participle of moon
mo..	MO4	Subject to discussion (originally at a moot); arguable, debatable, unsolved or impossible to solve.
mo....	MO6	Made, or proven to be, moot.
mo..	MO4	A small particle; a speck.
mo...	MO5	A composition adapted to sacred words in the elaborate polyphonic church style; an anthem.
mo...	MO5	A sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievement.
mo..	MO4	A pout, especially as expressing mock-annoyance or flirtatiousness.
mo...	MO5	An artificial hill or elevation of earth; a raised bank; an embankment thrown up for defense
mo.....	MO7	simple past and past participle of mound
mo...	MO5	A hill or mountain.
mu..	MU4	Not having the power of speech; dumb.
mu...	MU5	Not expressed strongly or openly.
mu..	MU4	A mongrel dog (or sometimes cat); an animal of mixed breed or uncertain origin.
mu....	MU6	The flesh of sheep used as food.
mu....	MU6	A long loose-fitting dress made of lightweight fabric printed with bright, stylized Hawaiian themes (such as flowers and palm branches).
od.....	OD7	A part of something that is left over, such as a piece of cloth.
od...	OD5	Alternative form of odeon
om..	OM4	Something which portends or is perceived to portend either a good or evil event or circumstance in the future, or which causes a foreboding; a portent or augury.
ou.....	OU7	To render (something) no longer fashionable.
ou......	OU8	Unfashionable.
te..	TE4	To be stocked to overflowing.
te....	TE6	simple past tense and past participle of teem
te......	TE8	A building that is rented to multiple tenants, especially a low-rent, run-down one.
to..	TO4	One in a series of volumes.
to...	TO5	Any natural object or living creature that serves as an emblem of a tribe, clan or family.
un...	UN5	Not met; unfulfilled; not achieved
un.....	UN7	To reverse a mount operation; to instruct the operating system that the file system should be disassociated from its mount point, making it no longer accessible.
un....	UN6	To restore the sound output (on a speaker or other audio device), having previously muted it.
un.....	UN7	simple past and past participle of unmute

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.

denouement^† (DE10)
mounted^† (MO7)
unmounted^† (UN9)
deem (DE4)
deemed (DE6)
demented (DE8)
demo (DE4)
demoed (DE6)
demon (DE5)
demote (DE6)
demoted (DE7)
dome (DO4)
domed (DO5)
doom (DO4)
doomed (DO6)
dumdum (DU6)
duodenum (DU8)
emend (EM5)
emended (EM7)
emote (EM5)
emoted (EM6)
meet (ME4)
meme (ME4)
memed (ME5)
memento (ME7)
memo (ME4)
mend (ME4)
mended (ME6)
mentee (ME6)
menu (ME4)
mete (ME4)
meted (ME5)
mode (MO4)
modem (MO5)
moment (MO6)
momentum (MO8)
mondo (MO5)
mono (MO4)
monotone (MO8)
monte (MO5)
monument (MO8)
mood (MO4)
mooed (MO5)
moon (MO4)
mooned (MO6)
moot (MO4)
mooted (MO6)
mote (MO4)
motet (MO5)
motto (MO5)
moue (MO4)
mound (MO5)
mounded (MO7)
mount (MO5)
mute (MU4)
muted (MU5)
mutt (MU4)
mutton (MU6)
muumuu (MU6)
oddment (OD7)
odeum (OD5)
omen (OM4)
outmode (OU7)
outmoded (OU8)
teem (TE4)
teemed (TE6)
tenement (TE8)
tome (TO4)
totem (TO5)
unmet (UN5)
unmount (UN7)
unmute (UN6)
unmuted (UN7)

Answer Definitions

denouement^† (noun): Alternative spelling of dénouement
mounted^† (adjective): On horseback.
unmounted^† (verb): simple past and past participle of unmount
deem (verb): To judge, to pass judgment on; to doom, to sentence.
deemed (verb): simple past tense and past participle of deem
demented (adjective): Insane or mentally ill.
demo (noun): A demonstration or visual explanation.
demoed (verb): simple past tense and past participle of demo
demon (noun): An evil supernatural spirit. An evil spirit resident in or working for Hell; a devil. A false god or idol; a Satanic divinity. A very wicked or malevolent person; also a mischievous person, especially a child. A source (especially personified) of great evil or wickedness; a destructive feeling or character flaw.
demote (verb): To lower the rank or status of.
demoted (verb): simple past tense and past participle of demote
dome (noun): A structural element resembling the hollow upper half of a sphere.
domed (adjective): In the form of a dome.
doom (noun): Destiny, especially terrible.
doomed (adjective): Assured to suffer death, failure, or a similarly negative outcome.
dumdum (noun): A soft-nosed bullet that expands on impact to cause a gaping wound.
duodenum (noun): The first part of the small intestine, starting at the lower end of the stomach and extending to the jejunum.
emend (verb): To correct and revise (text or a document).
emended (verb): simple past tense and past participle of emend
emote (verb): To display or express (emotions, mental states, etc.) openly, particularly while acting, and especially in an excessive manner. To deliver (a speech), say (lines of a play, words), etc., in a dramatic or emotional manner, especially if overly so.
emoted (verb): simple past tense and past participle of emote
meet (verb): To make contact (with) while in proximity. To come face to face with by accident; to encounter.
meme (noun): Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes.
memed (verb): simple past tense and past participle of meme
memento (noun): A keepsake; an object kept as a reminder of a place or event.
memo (noun): A short note; a memorandum.
mend (noun): A place, as in clothing, which has been repaired by mending.
mended (verb): simple past tense and past participle of mend
mentee (noun): A person who is being mentored
menu (noun): The details of the food to be served at a banquet; a bill of fare.
mete (verb): To measure.
meted (verb): simple past tense and past participle of mete
mode (noun): One of several ancient Greek scales.
modem (noun): A device that encodes digital computer signals into analog/analogue telephone signals and vice versa and allows computers to communicate over a phone line.
moment (noun): A brief, unspecified amount of time.
momentum (noun): Of a body in motion: the tendency of a body to maintain its inertial motion; the product of its mass and velocity, or the vector sum of the products of its masses and velocities.
mondo (noun): A dialogue between master and student designed to obtain an intuitive truth.
mono (noun): Clipping of mononucleosis.
monotone (adjective): Having a single unvaried pitch.
monte (noun): A game in which three or four cards are dealt face-up and players bet on which of them will first be matched in suit by others dealt.
monument (noun): A structure built for commemorative or symbolic reasons, or as a memorial; a commemoration.
mood (noun): A mental or emotional state, composure.
mooed (verb): simple past tense and past participle of moo
moon (proper noun): Alternative letter-case form of Moon (“the Earth's only permanent natural satellite”).
mooned (verb): simple past tense and past participle of moon
moot (adjective): Subject to discussion (originally at a moot); arguable, debatable, unsolved or impossible to solve.
mooted (adjective): Made, or proven to be, moot.
mote (noun): A small particle; a speck.
motet (noun): A composition adapted to sacred words in the elaborate polyphonic church style; an anthem.
motto (noun): A sentence, phrase, or word, forming part of an heraldic achievement.
moue (noun): A pout, especially as expressing mock-annoyance or flirtatiousness.
mound (noun): An artificial hill or elevation of earth; a raised bank; an embankment thrown up for defense
mounded (verb): simple past and past participle of mound
mount (noun): A hill or mountain.
mute (adjective): Not having the power of speech; dumb.
muted (adjective): Not expressed strongly or openly.
mutt (noun): A mongrel dog (or sometimes cat); an animal of mixed breed or uncertain origin.
mutton (noun): The flesh of sheep used as food.
muumuu (noun): A long loose-fitting dress made of lightweight fabric printed with bright, stylized Hawaiian themes (such as flowers and palm branches).
oddment (noun): A part of something that is left over, such as a piece of cloth.
odeum (noun): Alternative form of odeon
omen (noun): Something which portends or is perceived to portend either a good or evil event or circumstance in the future, or which causes a foreboding; a portent or augury.
outmode (verb): To render (something) no longer fashionable.
outmoded (adjective): Unfashionable.
teem (verb): To be stocked to overflowing.
teemed (verb): simple past tense and past participle of teem
tenement (noun): A building that is rented to multiple tenants, especially a low-rent, run-down one.
tome (noun): One in a series of volumes.
totem (noun): Any natural object or living creature that serves as an emblem of a tribe, clan or family.
unmet (adjective): Not met; unfulfilled; not achieved
unmount (verb): To reverse a mount operation; to instruct the operating system that the file system should be disassociated from its mount point, making it no longer accessible.
unmute (verb): To restore the sound output (on a speaker or other audio device), having previously muted it.
unmuted (verb): simple past and past participle of unmute

	4</th><th>5</th><th>6</th><th>7</th><th>8</th><th>9</th><th>10	Σ
D	4	2	5	1	2	-	1	15
E	-	2	1	1	-	-	-	4
M	15	11	7	3	3	-	-	39
N	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
O	1	1	-	2	1	-	-	5
T	2	1	1	-	1	-	-	5
U	-	1	1	2	-	1	-	5
Σ	22	18	15	9	7	1	1	73

	4</th><th>5</th><th>6</th><th>7</th><th>8</th><th>9</th><th>10	Σ
D	4	2	5	1	2	-	1	15
E	-	2	1	1	-	-	-	4
M	15	11	7	3	3	-	-	39
N	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
O	1	1	-	2	1	-	-	5
T	2	1	1	-	1	-	-	5
U	-	1	1	2	-	1	-	5
Σ	22	18	15	9	7	1	1	73