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.

• hotline^†  (HO7)
• neolith^†  (NE7)
• elite  (EL5)
• entitle  (EN7)
• heel  (HE4)
• hell  (HE4)
• hellhole  (HE8)
• hellion  (HE7)
• hello  (HE5)
• hill  (HI4)
• hilt  (HI4)
• hole  (HO4)
• holt  (HO4)
• hotel  (HO5)
• inlet  (IN5)
• intel  (IN5)
• lenient  (LE7)
• lent  (LE4)
• lentil  (LE6)
• lento  (LE5)
• leonine  (LE7)
• lien  (LI4)
• lilt  (LI4)
• line  (LI4)
• linen  (LI5)
• linnet  (LI6)
• lint  (LI4)
• lintel  (LI6)
• lion  (LI4)
• lite  (LI4)
• lithe  (LI5)
• litho  (LI5)
• little  (LI6)
• loin  (LO4)
• loll  (LO4)
• lone  (LO4)
• loon  (LO4)
• loonie  (LO6)
• loot  (LO4)
• lotion  (LO6)
• lotto  (LO5)
• nettle  (NE6)
• noel  (NO4)
• nonillion  (NO9)
• oleo  (OL4)
• olio  (OL4)
• ollie  (OL5)
• online  (ON6)
• telethon  (TE8)
• tell  (TE4)
• tile  (TI4)
• till  (TI4)
• tilt  (TI4)
• tilth  (TI5)
• title  (TI5)
• tittle  (TI6)
• toil  (TO4)
• toile  (TO5)
• toilet  (TO6)
• toilette  (TO8)
• toll  (TO4)
• tool  (TO4)
• tootle  (TO6)

Answer Definitions

• hotline^† (noun): A telephone line that is always staffed and able to give immediate assistance.
• neolith^† (noun): A stone implement from the Neolithic era.
• elite (adjective): Of high birth or social position; aristocratic or patrician.
• entitle (verb): To give a title to. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
• heel (noun): The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg.
• hell (proper noun): A place of torment where some or all sinners and evil spirits are believed to go after death.
• hellhole (noun): A place of intense hatred, misery, or turmoil.
• hellion (noun): An unruly, rowdy or mischievous person.
• hello (interjection): A greeting (salutation) said when meeting someone or acknowledging someone’s arrival or presence.
• hill (noun): An elevated landmass smaller than a mountain.
• hilt (noun): The handle of a sword, consisting of grip, guard, and pommel, designed to facilitate use of the blade and afford protection to the hand.
• hole (noun): A hollow place or cavity; an excavation; a pit; a dent; a depression; a fissure.
• holt (noun): A small piece of woodland or a woody hill; a copse.
• hotel (noun): A large town house or mansion; a grand private residence, especially in France.
• inlet (verb): To let in; admit.
• intel (noun): intelligence (secret information)
• lenient (adjective): Lax; not strict; tolerant of dissent or deviation
• lent (noun): Alternative letter-case form of Lent
• lentil (noun): Any of several plants of the genus Lens, especially Lens culinaris, from southwest Asia, that have edible, lens-shaped seeds within flattened pods.
• lento (adjective): Slow (45–60 bpm).
• leonine (adjective): Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a lion.
• lien (noun): A tendon.
• lilt (verb): To do something rhythmically, with animation and quickness, usually of music.
• 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.
• linen (noun): Thread or cloth made from flax fiber.
• linnet (noun): A small passerine bird, the common linnet (Linaria cannabina, syn. Carduelis cannabina), in the finch family Fringillidae, native to Europe, western Asia, and north Africa.
• lint (noun): Clinging fuzzy fluff that clings to fabric or accumulates in one's pockets or navel etc.
• lintel (noun): A horizontal structural beam spanning an opening, such as between the uprights of a door or a window, and which supports the wall above.
• lion (noun): A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
• lite (adjective): Abridged; refers to a simpler or unpaid version of a product.
• lithe (verb): To go.
• litho (adjective): Clipping of lithographic.
• little (adjective): Small in size.
• loin (noun): The part of the body (of humans and quadrupeds) at each side of the backbone, between the ribs and hips
• loll (verb): To act lazily or indolently while reclining; to lean; to lie at ease.
• lone (adjective): Solitary; having no companion.
• loon (noun): An idler, a lout.
• loonie (noun): The Canadian dollar (both the coin and the monetary unit).
• loot (noun): A scoop used to remove scum from brine pans in saltworks.
• lotion (noun): A low- to medium-viscosity topical preparation intended for application to unbroken skin.
• lotto (noun): a game of chance similar to bingo
• nettle (noun): Any plant whose foliage is covered with stinging, mildly poisonous hairs, causing an instant rash. Especially, most species of herb genus Urtica, the stinging nettles: Most, but not all, subspecies of Urtica dioica (common nettle), Urtica incisa (Australian nettle); Wood nettle (Laportea canadensis); Bull nettles and spurge nettles of genus Cnidoscolus: Cnidoscolus stimulosus, bull nettle, spurge nettle, Cnidoscolus texanus, Texas bull nettle, Cnidoscolus urens, bull nettle, Nettle trees or tree nettles: Various species of the genus Dendrocnide: Urera baccifera (scratchbush), Urtica ferox (tree nettle); rock nettle (Eucnide); small-leaved nettle (Dendrocnide photinophylla).
• noel (noun): A kind of hymn, or canticle, of mediaeval origin, sung in honor of the birth of Christ; a Christmas carol.
• nonillion (numeral): 10.
• oleo (noun): A type of energy-absorbing landing gear strut in which sudden compression or extension of the strut causes a gas-filled chamber to push or pull a piston which forces oil through a small orifice, resulting in absorption of energy through viscous effects.
• olio (noun): A rich, thick, Spanish stew consisting of meat and vegetables.
• ollie (noun): An aerial maneuver in which one catches air by leaping off the ground with the skateboard and into the air.
• online (adjective): Of a system: connected (generally electrically) to a larger network. Of a generator or power plant: connected to the grid. Of a computer: actively connected to the Internet or to some other communications service.
• telethon (noun): A televised fundraising event encouraging viewers to make donations via telephone.
• tell (verb): To count, reckon, or enumerate.
• tile (noun): A regularly-shaped slab of clay or other material, affixed to cover or decorate a surface, as in a roof-tile, glazed tile, stove tile, carpet tile etc.
• till (preposition): Until; to, up to; as late as (a given time).
• tilt (verb): To slope or incline (something); to slant.
• tilth (noun): Agricultural labour; husbandry.
• title (noun): An appellation given to a person or family to signify either veneration, official position, social rank, the possession of assets or properties, or a professional or academic qualification. See also Category:Titles
• tittle (noun): Any small dot, stroke, or diacritical mark, especially if part of a letter, or if a letter-like abbreviation; in particular, the dots over the Latin letters i and j.
• toil (noun): Labour, work, especially of a grueling nature.
• toile (noun): plain or simple twilled fabric
• toilet (noun): A covering of linen, silk, or tapestry, spread over a dressing table in a chamber or dressing room.
• toilette (noun): Archaic form of toilet. (in all senses related to dressing and personal grooming, but not a water closet)
• toll (noun): Loss or damage incurred through a disaster.
• tool (noun): A mechanical device intended to make a task easier.
• tootle (verb): To make a soft toot sound.