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.

• upheaval^†  (UP8)
• aleph  (AL5)
• allele  (AL6)
• alpha  (AL5)
• appall  (AP6)
• appeal  (AP6)
• appellee  (AP8)
• apple  (AP5)
• halal  (HA5)
• hale  (HA4)
• hall  (HA4)
• halva  (HA5)
• halvah  (HA6)
• halve  (HA5)
• haul  (HA4)
• heal  (HE4)
• heel  (HE4)
• hell  (HE4)
• helluva  (HE7)
• help  (HE4)
• helve  (HE5)
• hula  (HU4)
• hull  (HU4)
• lapel  (LA5)
• lava  (LA4)
• lave  (LA4)
• leap  (LE4)
• leave  (LE5)
• levee  (LE5)
• level  (LE5)
• luau  (LU4)
• lull  (LU4)
• lulu  (LU4)
• paella  (PA6)
• palapa  (PA6)
• pale  (PA4)
• pall  (PA4)
• palp  (PA4)
• papal  (PA5)
• peal  (PE4)
• peel  (PE4)
• plea  (PL4)
• pule  (PU4)
• pull  (PU4)
• pulp  (PU4)
• pupal  (PU5)
• uvula  (UV5)
• uvulae  (UV6)
• vale  (VA4)
• value  (VA5)
• valve  (VA5)
• veal  (VE4)
• vulva  (VU5)
• vulvae  (VU6)
• vulval  (VU6)

Answer Definitions

• upheaval^† (noun): Disruptive change, from one state to another.
• aleph (noun): The first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, and its descendants in descended Semitic scripts, such as Phoenician 𐤀‎ (ʾ, ʾaleph), Aramaic 𐡀‎ (ʾ), Classical Syriac ܐ‎ ('ālaph), Hebrew א‎ (aleph) and Arabic ا‎ (ʾalif).
• allele (noun): One of a number of alternative forms of the same gene occupying a given position, or locus, on a chromosome.
• alpha (noun): The name of the first letter of the Greek alphabet (Α,  α), followed by beta. In the Latin alphabet it is the predecessor to A.
• appall (verb): To fill with horror; to dismay.
• appeal (noun): An application to a superior court or judge for a decision or order by an inferior court or judge to be reviewed and overturned. The legal document or form by which such an application is made; also, the court case in which the application is argued. A person's legal right to apply to court for such a review.
• appellee (noun): A respondent.
• apple (noun): A common, round fruit produced by the tree Malus domestica, cultivated in temperate climates.
• halal (adjective): Permissible, according to Muslim religious customs, to have or do.
• hale (adjective): Sound, entire, healthy; robust, not impaired.
• hall (noun): A corridor; a hallway.
• halva (noun): A confection usually made from crushed sesame seeds and honey. It is a traditional dessert in South Asia, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
• halvah (noun): Alternative spelling of halva
• halve (verb): To reduce to half the original amount.
• haul (verb): To transport by drawing or pulling, as with horses or oxen, or a motor vehicle.
• heal (verb): To make better from a disease, wound, etc.; to revive or cure.
• 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.
• helluva (adjective): (A) hell of a; extreme.
• help (noun): Action given to provide assistance; aid.
• helve (noun): The handle or haft of a tool or weapon.
• hula (noun): A form of chant and dance, which was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there.
• hull (noun): The outer covering of a fruit or seed.
• lapel (noun): Each of the two triangular pieces of cloth on the front of a jacket or coat that are folded back below the throat, leaving a triangular opening between.
• lava (noun): The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides.
• lave (verb): To pour or throw out, as water; lade out; bail; bail out.
• leap (verb): To jump.
• leave (verb): To have a consequence or remnant. To cause or allow (something) to remain as available; to refrain from taking (something) away; to stop short of consuming or otherwise depleting (something) entirely.
• levee (noun): An elevated geographical feature.
• level (adjective): The same height at all places; parallel to a flat ground.
• luau (noun): An elaborate Hawaiian feast featuring traditional foods and entertainment.
• lull (noun): A period of rest or soothing.
• lulu (noun): A remarkable person, object or idea.
• paella (noun): A savory Valencian dish made of rice, cooked in a frying pan with vegetables and meat or shellfish.
• palapa (noun): An open-sided dwelling with a thatched roof made of dried palm leaves.
• pale (adjective): Light in color.
• pall (noun): Senses relating to cloth. Fine cloth, especially purple cloth used for robes. A heavy cloth laid over a coffin or tomb; a shroud laid over a corpse. A piece of cardboard, covered with linen and embroidered on one side, used to cover the chalice during the Eucharist. A cloth used for various purposes on the altar in a church, such as a corporal (“cloth on which elements of the Eucharist are placed”) or frontal (“drapery covering the front of an altar”).
• palp (noun): Synonym of pedipalp.
• papal (adjective): Having to do with the pope or the papacy.
• peal (noun): A loud sound, or a succession of loud sounds, as of bells, thunder, cannon, shouts, laughter, of a multitude, etc.
• peel (verb): To remove the skin or outer covering of.
• plea (noun): An appeal, petition, urgent prayer or entreaty.
• pule (noun): A plaintive melancholy whine.
• pull (verb): To apply a force to (an object) so that it comes toward the person or thing applying the force.
• pulp (noun): A soft, moist, shapeless mass or matter. A mixture of wood, cellulose and/or rags and water ground up to make paper. A mass of chemically processed wood fibres (cellulose). A suspension of mineral particles, typically achieved by some form of agitation. The soft center of a fruit.
• pupal (adjective): Of or pertaining to the pupa stage of insect metamorphosis.
• uvula (noun): Ellipsis of palatine uvula.: the fleshy appendage that hangs from the back of the soft palate, that closes the nasopharynx during swallowing
• uvulae (noun): plural of uvula
• vale (noun): A valley.
• value (noun): The quality (positive or negative) that renders something desirable or valuable.
• valve (noun): A device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid through a pipe.
• veal (noun): The flesh of a calf (i.e. a young bovine) used for food.
• vulva (noun): The external female sexual organs, collectively.
• vulvae (noun): plural of vulva
• vulval (adjective): Pertaining to the vulva.