Game Summary

Table of Contents

As you scroll down this page, the clues get progressively more revealing. So scroll slowly!

1. Spelling Bee Grid
2. Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
3. Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
4. Extra Letter Hints (Incrementally Revealing) 🤯
5. Today's Complete Solution
6. 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.

Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints

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

Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints

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

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 (^†).

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.

• avalanche^†  (AV9)
• allele  (AL6)
• anal  (AN4)
• annal  (AN5)
• anneal  (AN6)
• call  (CA4)
• calla  (CA5)
• calve  (CA5)
• canal  (CA5)
• cancel  (CA6)
• cell  (CE4)
• challah  (CH7)
• chancel  (CH7)
• channel  (CH7)
• clan  (CL4)
• clave  (CL5)
• clean  (CL5)
• cleave  (CL6)
• clench  (CL6)
• elan  (EL4)
• eleven  (EL6)
• enclave  (EN7)
• enlace  (EN6)
• halal  (HA5)
• hale  (HA4)
• hall  (HA4)
• halva  (HA5)
• halvah  (HA6)
• halve  (HA5)
• heal  (HE4)
• heel  (HE4)
• hell  (HE4)
• helve  (HE5)
• lace  (LA4)
• lance  (LA5)
• lane  (LA4)
• lava  (LA4)
• lave  (LA4)
• leach  (LE5)
• lean  (LE4)
• leave  (LE5)
• leaven  (LE6)
• lech  (LE4)
• leech  (LE5)
• levee  (LE5)
• level  (LE5)
• nacelle  (NA7)
• naval  (NA5)
• navel  (NA5)
• valance  (VA7)
• vale  (VA4)
• valence  (VA7)
• valve  (VA5)
• veal  (VE4)
• venal  (VE5)

Answer Definitions

• avalanche^† (noun): A large mass or body of snow and ice sliding swiftly down a mountain side, or falling down a precipice.
• allele (noun): One of a number of alternative forms of the same gene occupying a given position, or locus, on a chromosome.
• anal (adjective): of, related to, intended for or involving the anus.
• annal (noun): The record of a single event or item.
• anneal (verb): To subject to great heat and then (often slow) cooling, and sometimes reheating and further cooling, for the purpose of rendering less brittle; to temper; to toughen.
• call (noun): A telephone conversation; a phone call.
• calla (noun): A marsh plant native to cooler areas throughout the northern hemisphere, Calla palustris, having pale green flowers in a white spathe.
• calve (verb): to give birth to a calf
• canal (noun): An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
• cancel (verb): To cross out something with lines etc.
• cell (noun): A single-room dwelling for a hermit.
• challah (noun): A traditional bread eaten by Ashkenazi Jews, usually braided for the Sabbath and round for a yom tov.
• chancel (noun): The space around the altar in a church, often enclosed, for use by the clergy and the choir. In medieval cathedrals the chancel was usually enclosed or blocked off from the nave by an altar screen.
• channel (noun): The physical confine of a river or slough, consisting of a bed and banks.
• clan (noun): A group of people all descended from a common ancestor, in fact or belief, especially when the exact genealogies are not known.
• clave (verb): simple past and past participle of cleave
• clean (adjective): Free of dirt or impurities or protruberances. Not dirty.
• cleave (verb): To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument.
• clench (verb): To grip or hold fast.
• elan (noun): Uncommon spelling of élan.
• eleven (numeral): The cardinal number occurring after ten and before twelve. Represented as 11 in Arabic digits.
• enclave (noun): A political, cultural or social entity or part thereof that is completely surrounded by another.
• enlace (verb): To bind or encircle with lace, or as with lace
• halal (adjective): Permissible, according to Muslim religious customs, to have or do.
• hale (adjective): Sound, entire, healthy; robust, not impaired.
• hall (noun): A corridor; a hallway.
• halva (noun): A confection usually made from crushed sesame seeds and honey. It is a traditional dessert in South Asia, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
• halvah (noun): Alternative spelling of halva
• halve (verb): To reduce to half the original amount.
• heal (verb): To make better from a disease, wound, etc.; to revive or cure.
• heel (noun): The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg.
• hell (proper noun): A place of torment where some or all sinners and evil spirits are believed to go after death.
• helve (noun): The handle or haft of a tool or weapon.
• lace (noun): A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread.
• lance (noun): A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen.
• lane (noun): A road, street, or similar thoroughfare.
• lava (noun): The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides.
• lave (verb): To pour or throw out, as water; lade out; bail; bail out.
• leach (noun): A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali.
• lean (verb): To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.
• leave (verb): To have a consequence or remnant. To cause or allow (something) to remain as available; to refrain from taking (something) away; to stop short of consuming or otherwise depleting (something) entirely.
• leaven (noun): Any agent used to make dough rise or to have a similar effect on baked goods.
• lech (noun): A strong, lecherous desire or craving.
• leech (noun): An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis.
• levee (noun): An elevated geographical feature.
• level (adjective): The same height at all places; parallel to a flat ground.
• nacelle (noun): A separate streamlined enclosure mounted on an aircraft to house an engine, cargo, or crew.
• naval (adjective): Of or relating to a navy.
• navel (noun): The indentation or bump remaining in the abdomen of mammals where the umbilical cord was attached before birth.
• valance (noun): A short curtain that usually hangs along the top edge of a window.
• vale (noun): A valley.
• valence (noun): An extract; a preparation, now especially one effective against a certain number of strains of a pathogen.
• valve (noun): A device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid through a pipe.
• veal (noun): The flesh of a calf (i.e. a young bovine) used for food.
• venal (adjective): Venous; pertaining to veins.