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.

• contrary^†  (CO8)
• acorn  (AC5)
• actor  (AC5)
• arcana  (AR6)
• arco  (AR4)
• attract  (AT7)
• attractant  (AT10)
• attractor  (AT9)
• cacao  (CA5)
• canary  (CA6)
• cancan  (CA6)
• canna  (CA5)
• cannon  (CA6)
• cannot  (CA6)
• canny  (CA5)
• canon  (CA5)
• cant  (CA4)
• cantata  (CA7)
• canton  (CA6)
• cantor  (CA6)
• canyon  (CA6)
• carat  (CA5)
• carny  (CA5)
• carrot  (CA6)
• carry  (CA5)
• cart  (CA4)
• carton  (CA6)
• cartoon  (CA7)
• cataract  (CA8)
• catty  (CA5)
• coat  (CO4)
• coca  (CO4)
• cocoa  (CO5)
• cocoon  (CO6)
• concoct  (CO7)
• contact  (CO7)
• contort  (CO7)
• contract  (CO8)
• contractor  (CO10)
• coot  (CO4)
• corn  (CO4)
• corny  (CO5)
• corona  (CO6)
• coronary  (CO8)
• cotton  (CO6)
• cottony  (CO7)
• cranny  (CR6)
• crayon  (CR6)
• croc  (CR4)
• crony  (CR5)
• croon  (CR5)
• cyan  (CY4)
• narc  (NA4)
• narco  (NA5)
• octant  (OC6)
• orca  (OR4)
• raccoon  (RA7)
• racy  (RA4)
• rancor  (RA6)
• rococo  (RO6)
• taco  (TA4)
• tact  (TA4)
• toccata  (TO7)
• tract  (TR5)
• tractor  (TR7)
• tycoon  (TY6)

Answer Definitions

• contrary^† (adjective): Opposite; in an opposite direction; in opposition; adverse.
• acorn (noun): The fruit of the oak, being an oval nut growing in a woody cup or cupule.
• actor (noun): Someone who institutes a legal suit; a plaintiff or complainant.
• arcana (noun): Specialized knowledge that is mysterious to the uninitiated.
• arco (adverb): A note in string instrument musical notation indicating that the bow is to be used in the usual way, usually following a passage that is played pizzicato.
• attract (verb): To pull toward without touching.
• attractant (noun): Anything that attracts, but especially a substance (such as a pheromone) that attracts insects or other animals
• attractor (noun): Something which attracts.
• cacao (noun): A tree, Theobroma cacao, whose seed is used to make chocolate.
• canary (noun): A small, usually yellow, finch (genus Serinus), a songbird native to the Canary Islands.
• cancan (noun): A high-kicking chorus line dance originating in France.
• canna (noun): Any member of the genus Canna of tropical plants with large leaves and often showy flowers.
• cannon (noun): A complete assembly, consisting of an artillery tube and a breech mechanism, firing mechanism or base cap, which is a component of a gun, howitzer or mortar. It may include muzzle appendages.
• cannot (verb): Can not (be unable to).
• canny (adjective): Careful, prudent, cautious.
• canon (noun): A generally accepted principle; a rule.
• cant (noun): An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup.
• cantata (noun): A vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement, typical of 17th and 18th century Italian music.
• canton (noun): A division of a political unit. One of the states comprising the Swiss Confederation. A subdivision of an arrondissement of France. A division of Luxembourg, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc. A subdivision of a county, of Quebec, Canada; equivalent to a township.
• cantor (noun): singer, especially someone who takes a special role of singing or song leading at a ceremony
• canyon (noun): A valley, especially a long, narrow, steep valley, cut in rock by a river.
• carat (noun): A unit of weight for precious stones and pearls, equivalent to 200 milligrams.
• carny (noun): A person who works in a carnival (often one who uses exaggerated showmanship or fraud).
• carrot (noun): A vegetable with a nutritious, juicy, sweet root that is often orange in colour, Daucus carota, especially the subspecies sativus in the family Apiaceae.
• carry (verb): To lift (something) and take it to another place; to transport (something) by lifting.
• cart (noun): A small, open, wheeled vehicle, drawn or pushed by a person or animal, more often used for transporting goods than passengers.
• carton (noun): An inexpensive, disposable box-like container fashioned from either paper, paper with wax-covering (wax paper), or other lightweight material.
• cartoon (noun): A humorous drawing, often with a caption, or a strip of such drawings.
• cataract (noun): A waterspout.
• catty (adjective): With subtle hostility in an effort to hurt, annoy, or upset, particularly among women.
• 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.
• cocoa (noun): The dried and partially fermented fatty seeds of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made.
• cocoon (noun): The silky protective case spun by the larvae of some insects in which they metamorphose, the pupa.
• concoct (verb): To prepare something by mixing various ingredients, especially to prepare food for cooking.
• contact (noun): The act of touching physically; being in close association.
• contort (verb): To twist in a violent manner.
• contract (noun): An agreement between two or more parties, to perform a specific job or work order, often temporary or of fixed duration and usually governed by a written agreement.
• contractor (noun): A person or company that builds or improves buildings.
• coot (noun): Any of various aquatic birds of the genus Fulica that are mainly black with a prominent frontal shield on the forehead.
• corn (noun): Any cereal plant grown for its grain, or the grain thereof.
• corny (adjective): Boring and unoriginal.
• corona (noun): A large, round, pendent chandelier, with spikes around its upper rim to hold candles or lamps, usually hung from the roof of a church.
• coronary (adjective): Pertaining to a crown or garland.
• cotton (noun): Gossypium, a genus of plant used as a source of cotton fiber.
• cottony (adjective): Having some characteristics of cotton; soft and fluffy
• cranny (noun): A small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink, as in a wall, or other substance.
• crayon (noun): A stick of colored chalk or wax used for drawing.
• croc (noun): A crocodile.
• crony (noun): A close friend.
• croon (verb): To hum or sing softly or in a sentimental manner.
• cyan (noun): A vibrant pale greenish-blue colour between blue and green in the visible spectrum; the complementary colour of red; the colour obtained by subtracting red from white light.
• narc (noun): A police officer assigned to or engaging in illegal narcotics control.
• narco (noun): Narcotics.
• octant (noun): The eighth part of a circle; an arc of 45 degrees.
• orca (noun): A sea mammal (Orcinus orca) related to dolphins and porpoises, commonly called the killer whale.
• raccoon (noun): A nocturnal omnivore native to North America, typically with a mixture of gray, brown, and black fur, a mask-like marking around the eyes and a striped tail; Procyon lotor.
• racy (adjective): Mildly risqué.
• rancor (noun): A feeling of long-lasting ire for another, sometimes to the point of hatred, over a perceived wrongdoing; bitterness.
• rococo (noun): A style of baroque architecture and decorative art, from 18th-century France, having elaborate ornamentation.
• 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.
• toccata (noun): A piece of music (usually for a keyboard instrument) designed to emphasise the dexterity of the performer.
• tract (noun): An area or expanse.
• tractor (noun): A vehicle used in farms e.g. for pulling farm equipment and preparing the fields.
• tycoon (noun): A wealthy and powerful business person.