NYT Spelling Bee Answers for January 13, 2025

Jan 13, 2025 · 7 min read · spelling bee ·

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Spelling Bee "Hive" Board for January 13, 2025

Game Summary

Center Letter	A
Outer Letters	b, c, j, k, o, t
# of Pangrams	2 (Perfect: none)
Total Words	28 words
Total Points	132 points
Genius Level	92 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	5	6	7	8	Σ
A	-	2	1	-	-	3
B	4	1	2	-	1	8
C	2	2	-	-	1	5
J	1	1	1	-	1	4
K	-	1	-	-	-	1
O	-	-	-	-	-	-
T	3	1	1	2	-	7
Σ	10	8	5	2	3	28

Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints

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

A	AB×2 AT×1
B	BA×4 BO×4
C	CA×1 CO×4
J	JA×3 JO×1
K	KA×1
O
T	TA×5 TO×2

Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints

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

A	ABA×1 ABB×1 ATT×1
B	BAB×2 BAC×1 BAO×1 BOA×1 BOB×2 BOO×1
C	CAC×1 COA×1 COC×3
J	JAB×1 JAC×2 JOJ×1
K	KAB×1
O
T	TAB×1 TAC×3 TAT×1 TOB×1 TOC×1

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)
bo...... ^†	BO8	a V-shaped, or forked, device for pulling off boots.
ja...... ^†	JA8	A glossy leather calf-covering military boot, commonly associated with German soldiers of the WWII era.
ab...	AB5	Toward the rear; Phrase: 'to be taken ____', meaning 'surprised'.
ab...	AB5	The superior or head of an abbey or monastery.
at....	AT6	An attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of opponent or enemy.
ba..	BA4	A kind of sponge cake soaked in rum-flavoured syrup.
ba...	BA5	A Central and Eastern European coffee cake flavored with orange rind, rum, almonds, and raisins.
ba..	BA4	At or near the rear.
ba....	BA6	A tree, Adansonia digitata (and similar species), native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits.
bo..	BO4	A craft used for transportation of goods, fishing, racing, recreational cruising, or military use on or in the water, propelled by oars or outboard motor or inboard motor or by wind.
bo..	BO4	Synonym of tapioca pearl.
bo....	BO6	A North American wild cat, Lynx rufus, having tufted ears and a short tail.
ca...	CA5	A tree, Theobroma cacao, whose seed is used to make chocolate.
co..	CO4	An outer garment covering the upper torso and arms.
co..	CO4	Any of the four cultivated plants which belong to the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America.
co......	CO8	A bird of the family Cacatuidae with a curved beak and a zygodactyl foot.
co...	CO5	The dried and partially fermented fatty seeds of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made.
ja...	JA5	A cascading or ornamental frill down the front of a blouse, shirt, etc.
ja..	JA4	A coarse mediaeval coat of defence, especially one made of leather.
jo....	JO6	A shrub native to the southwestern United States and to Mexico, Simmondsia chinensis: the only plant known to store liquid wax in its seed.
ka...	KA5	US spelling of kebab
ta...	TA5	An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
ta..	TA4	A small nail with a flat head.
ta..	TA4	A Mexican snack food made of a small tortilla (soft or hard shelled) filled with ingredients such as meat, rice, beans, cheese, diced vegetables and salsa.
ta..	TA4	The sense of touch; feeling.
ta....	TA6	An image made in the skin with ink and a needle.
to.....	TO7	Any plant of the genus Nicotiana.
to.....	TO7	A piece of music (usually for a keyboard instrument) designed to emphasise the dexterity of the performer.

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.

bootjack^† (BO8)
jackboot^† (JA8)
aback (AB5)
abbot (AB5)
attack (AT6)
baba (BA4)
babka (BA5)
back (BA4)
baobab (BA6)
boat (BO4)
boba (BO4)
bobcat (BO6)
cacao (CA5)
coat (CO4)
coca (CO4)
cockatoo (CO8)
cocoa (CO5)
jabot (JA5)
jack (JA4)
jojoba (JO6)
kabob (KA5)
taboo (TA5)
tack (TA4)
taco (TA4)
tact (TA4)
tattoo (TA6)
tobacco (TO7)
toccata (TO7)

Answer Definitions

bootjack^† (noun): a V-shaped, or forked, device for pulling off boots.
jackboot^† (noun): A glossy leather calf-covering military boot, commonly associated with German soldiers of the WWII era.
aback (adverb): Toward the rear; Phrase: 'to be taken ____', meaning 'surprised'.
abbot (noun): The superior or head of an abbey or monastery.
attack (noun): An attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of opponent or enemy.
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.
back (adjective): At or near the rear.
baobab (noun): A tree, Adansonia digitata (and similar species), native to tropical Africa, having a broad swollen trunk and edible gourd-like hanging fruits.
boat (noun): A craft used for transportation of goods, fishing, racing, recreational cruising, or military use on or in the water, propelled by oars or outboard motor or inboard motor or by wind.
boba (noun): Synonym of tapioca pearl.
bobcat (noun): A North American wild cat, Lynx rufus, having tufted ears and a short tail.
cacao (noun): A tree, Theobroma cacao, whose seed is used to make chocolate.
coat (noun): An outer garment covering the upper torso and arms.
coca (noun): Any of the four cultivated plants which belong to the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America.
cockatoo (noun): A bird of the family Cacatuidae with a curved beak and a zygodactyl foot.
cocoa (noun): The dried and partially fermented fatty seeds of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made.
jabot (noun): A cascading or ornamental frill down the front of a blouse, shirt, etc.
jack (noun): A coarse mediaeval coat of defence, especially one made of leather.
jojoba (noun): A shrub native to the southwestern United States and to Mexico, Simmondsia chinensis: the only plant known to store liquid wax in its seed.
kabob (noun): US spelling of kebab
taboo (noun): An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
tack (noun): A small nail with a flat head.
taco (noun): A Mexican snack food made of a small tortilla (soft or hard shelled) filled with ingredients such as meat, rice, beans, cheese, diced vegetables and salsa.
tact (noun): The sense of touch; feeling.
tattoo (noun): An image made in the skin with ink and a needle.
tobacco (noun): Any plant of the genus Nicotiana.
toccata (noun): A piece of music (usually for a keyboard instrument) designed to emphasise the dexterity of the performer.