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.

• handbook^†  (HA8)
• abandon  (AB7)
• adobo  (AD5)
• ankh  (AN4)
• anon  (AN4)
• baba  (BA4)
• babka  (BA5)
• baboon  (BA6)
• banana  (BA6)
• band  (BA4)
• bandana  (BA7)
• bandanna  (BA8)
• bank  (BA4)
• baobab  (BA6)
• boba  (BO4)
• dank  (DA4)
• doodad  (DO6)
• haboob  (HA6)
• haka  (HA4)
• hand  (HA4)
• hank  (HA4)
• hookah  (HO6)
• kabob  (KA5)
• khan  (KH4)
• koan  (KO4)
• naan  (NA4)
• nabob  (NA5)
• nada  (NA4)
• nana  (NA4)

Answer Definitions

• handbook^† (noun): A topically organized book of reference on a certain field of knowledge, regardless of size.
• abandon (verb): to give up with the intent of never again asserting or claiming an interest in.
• adobo (noun): A Philippine dish in which pork or chicken is slowly cooked in a sauce including soy sauce, vinegar, and crushed garlic.
• ankh (noun): A cross shaped like a T with a loop at the top, the Egyptian hieroglyph representing the Egyptian triliteral ꜥnḫ (“life”) and often used as an amulet or charm for this concept.
• anon (adverb): Straight away; at once.
• baba (noun): A kind of sponge cake soaked in rum-flavoured syrup.
• babka (noun): A Central and Eastern European coffee cake flavored with orange rind, rum, almonds, and raisins.
• baboon (noun): An Old World monkey of the genus Papio, having dog-like muzzles and large canine teeth, cheek pouches, a short tail, and naked callosities on the buttocks.
• banana (noun): An elongated curved tropical fruit of a banana plant, which grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin. In particular, the sweet, yellow fruit of the Cavendish banana cultivar, which may be eaten raw, as distinct from e.g. a plantain for cooking.
• band (noun): A strip of material used for strengthening or coupling. A strip of material wrapped around things to hold them together. A narrow strip of cloth or other material on clothing, to bind, strengthen, or ornament it. A strip along the spine of a book where the pages are attached. A belt or strap that is part of a machine.
• bandana (noun): A large kerchief, usually colourful and used either as headgear or as a handkerchief, neckerchief, bikini, or sweatband.
• bandanna (noun): Alternative spelling of bandana
• bank (noun): An institution where one can place and borrow money and take care of financial affairs.
• baobab (noun): A tree, Adansonia digitata (and similar species), native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits.
• boba (noun): Synonym of tapioca pearl.
• dank (adjective): Dark, damp and humid.
• doodad (noun): Used to refer to something whose name one cannot recall: an unspecified device, gadget, part, or thing.
• haboob (noun): A violent sandstorm or duststorm in the deserts of Arabia, North Africa, India, or North America.
• haka (noun): A group dance of New Zealand's Maori people featuring rhythmic chanting, vigorous facial and arm movements, and foot stamping. Traditionally a war dance, today it is also performed to welcome guests, as a mark of respect at occasions such as commemorations and funerals, as a challenge to opposing teams at sports events, and for artistic purposes.
• hand (noun): The part of the forelimb below the forearm or wrist in a human, and the corresponding part in many other animals.
• hank (noun): A coil or loop of something, especially twine, yarn, or rope.
• hookah (noun): A pipe with a long flexible tube that draws the smoke through water, traditionally used for smoking tobacco, which is often flavored.
• kabob (noun): US spelling of kebab
• khan (noun): A ruler over various Turkish, Tatar and Mongol peoples in the Middle Ages.
• koan (noun): A story about a Zen master and his student, sometimes like a riddle, other times like a fable, which has become an object of Zen study, and which, when meditated upon, may unlock mechanisms in the Zen student’s mind leading to satori.
• naan (noun): A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.
• nabob (noun): An Indian ruler within the Mogul empire.
• nada (pronoun): Nothing.
• nana (noun): A banana.