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.

• backlit^†  (BA7)
• clickbait^†  (CL9)
• tailback^†  (TA8)
• abaci  (AB5)
• aback  (AB5)
• alibi  (AL5)
• baba  (BA4)
• babka  (BA5)
• bacilli  (BA7)
• back  (BA4)
• backbit  (BA7)
• backtalk  (BA8)
• bail  (BA4)
• bait  (BA4)
• balalaika  (BA9)
• balk  (BA4)
• ball  (BA4)
• batik  (BA5)
• biblical  (BI8)
• bilabial  (BI8)
• bilk  (BI4)
• bill  (BI4)
• blab  (BL4)
• black  (BL5)
• blackball  (BL9)
• blat  (BL4)
• cabal  (CA5)
• cabala  (CA6)
• callback  (CA8)
• ciabatta  (CI8)
• kickback  (KI8)
• kickball  (KI8)
• labia  (LA5)
• labial  (LA6)
• tabla  (TA5)
• tibia  (TI5)
• tibial  (TI6)

Answer Definitions

• backlit^† (verb): simple past tense and past participle of backlight
• clickbait^† (noun): Website content that is aimed at generating advertising revenue, especially at the expense of quality or accuracy, relying on sensationalist headlines to attract click-throughs; such headlines.
• tailback^† (noun): A line of motor vehicles causing or the result of traffic congestion or a traffic jam.
• abaci (noun): plural form of an ancient bead calculator.
• aback (adverb): Toward the rear; Phrase: 'to be taken ____', meaning 'surprised'.
• alibi (noun): The plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove being in another place when the alleged act was committed.
• 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.
• bacilli (noun): plural of bacillus
• back (adjective): At or near the rear.
• backbit (verb): simple past tense and past participle of backbite
• backtalk (noun): Verbal impudence or argumentative discourse, given in response.
• bail (noun): Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial.
• bait (noun): Any substance, especially food, used in catching fish, or other animals, by alluring them to a hook, snare, trap, or net.
• balalaika (noun): A plucked stringed instrument with a triangular body, short neck and three strings, of Russian origin.
• balk (noun): An uncultivated ridge formed in the open field system, caused by the action of ploughing.
• ball (noun): A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.
• batik (noun): A wax-resist method of dyeing fabric.
• biblical (adjective): Of or relating to the Bible.
• bilabial (adjective): Articulated with both lips.
• bilk (noun): The spoiling of someone's score in the crib.
• bill (noun): Any of various bladed or pointed hand weapons, originally designating an Anglo-Saxon sword, and later a weapon of infantry, especially in the 14th and 15th centuries, commonly consisting of a broad, heavy, double-edged, hook-shaped blade, with a short pike at the back and another at the top, attached to the end of a long staff.
• blab (verb): To tell tales; to gossip without reserve or discretion.
• black (adjective): Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless.
• blackball (noun): A rejection; a vote against admitting someone.
• blat (verb): To cry, as a calf or sheep; bleat.
• cabal (noun): A secret political clique or faction.
• cabala (proper noun): Alternative spelling of Kabballah
• callback (noun): The return of a situation to a previous position or state.
• ciabatta (noun): A broad, flat, white Italian bread.
• kickback (noun): A backward kick, a retrograde movement of an extremity.
• kickball (noun): A sport similar to baseball, where a ball is kicked rather than hit.
• labia (noun): The folds of tissue at the opening of the vulva, at either side of the vagina.
• labial (adjective): Of or pertaining to the lips or labia.
• tabla (noun): A pair of tuned hand drums, used in various musical genres of the Indian subcontinent, that are similar to bongos.
• tibia (noun): The inner and usually the larger of the two bones of the leg or hind limb below the knee, the shinbone
• tibial (adjective): Of or pertaining to a tibia or a structure associated with a tibia.