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.

• biplane^†  (BI7)
• plebeian^†  (PL8)
• alien  (AL5)
• alienable  (AL9)
• alpine  (AL6)
• anal  (AN4)
• annal  (AN5)
• anneal  (AN6)
• apian  (AP5)
• apnea  (AP5)
• baleen  (BA6)
• banal  (BA5)
• banana  (BA6)
• bane  (BA4)
• bean  (BE4)
• beanball  (BE8)
• beanie  (BE6)
• beeline  (BE7)
• been  (BE4)
• biennia  (BI7)
• biennial  (BI8)
• blin  (BL4)
• blini  (BL5)
• elan  (EL4)
• enable  (EN6)
• inalienable  (IN11)
• inane  (IN5)
• innie  (IN5)
• lain  (LA4)
• lanai  (LA5)
• lane  (LA4)
• lean  (LE4)
• lien  (LI4)
• line  (LI4)
• lineal  (LI6)
• linen  (LI5)
• naan  (NA4)
• nail  (NA4)
• nana  (NA4)
• nape  (NA4)
• neap  (NE4)
• nene  (NE4)
• nibble  (NI6)
• nine  (NI4)
• ninepin  (NI7)
• nipple  (NI6)
• paean  (PA5)
• pain  (PA4)
• pane  (PA4)
• panel  (PA5)
• panini  (PA6)
• peen  (PE4)
• penal  (PE5)
• penile  (PE6)
• penne  (PE5)
• pinball  (PI7)
• pine  (PI4)
• pineapple  (PI9)
• pipeline  (PI8)
• pippin  (PI6)
• plain  (PL5)
• plan  (PL4)
• plane  (PL5)
• plena  (PL5)

Answer Definitions

• biplane^† (adjective): Composed of, or relating to, two planes (flat surfaces extending infinitely in all directions).
• plebeian^† (noun): A member of the plebs, the common citizens of ancient Rome.
• alien (noun): Any life form of extraterrestrial or extradimensional origin.
• alienable (adjective): Capable of being alienated, sold, or transferred to another
• alpine (adjective): Of, relating to, or inhabiting mountains, especially above the timberline.
• 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.
• apian (adjective): Relating to bees.
• apnea (noun): The cessation of breathing, most often in reference to transient instances thereof during sleep.
• baleen (noun): The bony material that makes up the plates in the mouth of the baleen whale, Mysticeti, which it uses to trap its food; formerly used in corsetry.
• banal (adjective): Common in a boring way, to the point of being predictable; containing nothing new or fresh.
• 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.
• bane (noun): A cause of misery or death.
• bean (noun): Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic family Fabaceae that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods.
• beanball (noun): A pitch deliberately thrown at the head of the batter.
• beanie (noun): A cap that fits the head closely, usually knitted from wool.
• beeline (noun): A very direct or quick path or trip.
• been (verb): past participle of be.
• biennia (noun): plural of biennium
• biennial (adjective): Happening every two years.
• blin (verb): To cease (from); to stop; to desist, to let up.
• blini (noun): A small pancake, of Russian origin, made from buckwheat flour; traditionally served with melted butter, sour cream and caviar or smoked salmon.
• elan (noun): Uncommon spelling of élan.
• enable (verb): To make somebody able (to do, or to be, something); to give sufficient ability or power to do or to be; to give strength or ability to.
• inalienable (adjective): Incapable of being alienated, surrendered, or transferred to another; not alienable.
• inane (adjective): Lacking sense or meaning (often to the point of boredom or annoyance)
• innie (noun): A navel that is formed of a hollow in the abdomen (as opposed to one that protrudes from the abdomen).
• lain (verb): past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”)
• lanai (noun): A Hawaiian-style roofed patio.
• lane (noun): A road, street, or similar thoroughfare.
• lean (verb): To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.
• lien (noun): A tendon.
• line (noun): A path through two or more points (compare ‘segment’); a continuous mark, including as made by a pen; any path, curved or straight.
• lineal (adjective): Having an ancestral relationship to mothers, fathers, grandparents, (etc.) and having a descendant relationship to sons, daughters, grandchildren (etc.), exclusive of collateral siblings.
• linen (noun): Thread or cloth made from flax fiber.
• naan (noun): A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.
• nail (noun): The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
• nana (noun): A banana.
• nape (noun): The back part of the neck.
• neap (noun): The tongue or pole of a cart or other vehicle drawn by two animals.
• nene (noun): The Hawaiian goose, Branta sandvicensis, which was designated the state bird of Hawaii in 1957.
• nibble (noun): A small, quick bite taken with the front teeth.
• nine (numeral): NATO & ICAO phonetic alphabet code for the numeral 9.
• ninepin (noun): The wooden pin used in the game of ninepins; a skittle.
• nipple (noun): The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female mammals, milk is secreted.
• 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.
• panel (noun): A (usually) rectangular section of a surface, or of a covering or of a wall, fence 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.
• peen (noun): The (often spherical) end of the head of a hammer opposite the main hammering end.
• penal (adjective): Of or relating to punishment.
• penile (adjective): Pertaining to the penis.
• penne (noun): A type of short, diagonally cut pasta.
• pinball (noun): A game, played on a device with a sloping base, in which the player operates a spring-loaded plunger to shoot a ball, between obstacles, and attempts to hit targets and score points.
• pine (noun): Any coniferous tree of the genus Pinus.
• pineapple (noun): A tropical plant, Ananas comosus, native to South America, having thirty or more long, spined and pointed leaves surrounding a thick stem.
• pipeline (noun): A conduit made of pipes used to convey water, gas or petroleum etc.
• pippin (noun): A seed
• plain (adjective): Flat, level.
• plan (noun): A drawing showing technical details of a building, machine, etc., with unwanted details omitted, and often using symbols rather than detailed drawing to represent doors, valves, etc.
• plane (adjective): Of a surface: flat or level.
• plena (noun): A style of Puerto Rican music having a highly syncopated rhythm and often satirical lyrics