NYT Spelling Bee Answers for September 5, 2025
Game Summary
| Center Letter | A |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | b, e, j, l, n, y |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 41 words |
| Total Points | 161 points |
| Genius Level | 113 points |
| Bingo? | No |
Table of Contents
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 | 9 | Σ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 4 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | 11 |
| B | 8 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | - | 18 |
| E | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 |
| J | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 |
| L | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 4 |
| N | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| Y | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Σ | 18 | 9 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 41 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AB×3 AL×4 AN×4 |
|---|---|
| B | BA×13 BE×3 BL×2 |
| E | EL×1 EN×1 EY×1 |
| J | JE×2 |
| L | LA×2 LE×2 |
| N | NA×3 |
| Y |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ABB×1 ABL×2 ALL×4 ANA×2 ANN×2 |
|---|---|
| B | BAB×5 BAL×3 BAN×5 BEA×2 BEL×1 BLA×2 |
| E | ELA×1 ENA×1 EYE×1 |
| J | JEA×1 JEL×1 |
| L | LAB×1 LAN×1 LEA×2 |
| N | NAA×1 NAN×2 |
| Y |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| je....... † | JE9 | Alternative spelling of jelly bean |
| ab... | AB5 | the building or buildings occupied by a community of monks or nuns. |
| ab.. | AB4 | Having the necessary powers or the needed resources to accomplish a task. |
| ab.. | AB4 | In an able manner; with great ability. |
| al... | AL5 | To make quiet or put at rest; to pacify or appease; to quell; to calm. |
| al.... | AL6 | One of a number of alternative forms of the same gene occupying a given position, or locus, on a chromosome. |
| al... | AL5 | A narrow street or passageway, especially one through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots or buildings. |
| al.. | AL4 | To unite or form a connection between (people or things), as between families by marriage, or between states by confederacy, league, or treaty. |
| an.. | AN4 | of, related to, intended for or involving the anus. |
| an.... | AN6 | Involving the anus. |
| an... | AN5 | The record of a single event or item. |
| an.... | AN6 | To subject to great heat and then (often slow) cooling, and sometimes reheating and further cooling, for the purpose of rendering less brittle; to temper; to toughen. |
| ba.. | BA4 | A kind of sponge cake soaked in rum-flavoured syrup. |
| ba.... | BA6 | To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds |
| ba.. | BA4 | A baby or infant; a very young human or animal. |
| ba... | BA5 | Alternative form of Babel |
| ba.. | BA4 | A very young human, particularly from birth to a couple of years old or until walking is fully mastered. |
| ba.. | BA4 | Evil, especially considered as an active force for destruction or death. |
| ba.... | BA6 | The bony material that makes up the plates in the mouth of the baleen whale, Mysticeti, which it uses to trap its food; formerly used in corsetry. |
| ba.. | BA4 | A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass. |
| ba... | BA5 | Common in a boring way, to the point of being predictable; containing nothing new or fresh. |
| ba..... | BA7 | In a banal, trite or boring manner. |
| ba.... | BA6 | An elongated curved tropical fruit of a banana plant, which grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin. In particular, the sweet, yellow fruit of the Cavendish banana cultivar, which may be eaten raw, as distinct from e.g. a plantain for cooking. |
| ba.. | BA4 | A cause of misery or death. |
| ba.... | BA6 | An Indian trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer. |
| be.. | BE4 | Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic family Fabaceae that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods. |
| be...... | BE8 | A pitch deliberately thrown at the head of the batter. |
| be... | BE5 | To make (a rope) fast by turning it around a fastening point such as a cleat or piton. |
| bl.. | BL4 | To tell tales; to gossip without reserve or discretion. |
| bl.... | BL6 | Tending to blab or gossip a lot. |
| el.. | EL4 | Uncommon spelling of élan. |
| en.... | EN6 | To make somebody able (to do, or to be, something); to give sufficient ability or power to do or to be; to give strength or ability to. |
| ey..... | EY7 | The ball of the eye. |
| je.. | JE4 | Denim. |
| la... | LA5 | A small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached. |
| la.. | LA4 | A road, street, or similar thoroughfare. |
| le.. | LE4 | To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating. |
| le.... | LE6 | In a lean way. |
| na.. | NA4 | A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine. |
| na.. | NA4 | A banana. |
| na... | NA5 | A child's nurse. |
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.
- jellybean† (JE9)
- abbey (AB5)
- able (AB4)
- ably (AB4)
- allay (AL5)
- allele (AL6)
- alley (AL5)
- ally (AL4)
- anal (AN4)
- anally (AN6)
- annal (AN5)
- anneal (AN6)
- baba (BA4)
- babble (BA6)
- babe (BA4)
- babel (BA5)
- baby (BA4)
- bale (BA4)
- baleen (BA6)
- ball (BA4)
- banal (BA5)
- banally (BA7)
- banana (BA6)
- bane (BA4)
- banyan (BA6)
- bean (BE4)
- beanball (BE8)
- belay (BE5)
- blab (BL4)
- blabby (BL6)
- elan (EL4)
- enable (EN6)
- eyeball (EY7)
- jean (JE4)
- label (LA5)
- lane (LA4)
- lean (LE4)
- leanly (LE6)
- naan (NA4)
- nana (NA4)
- nanny (NA5)
Answer Definitions
- jellybean† (noun): Alternative spelling of jelly bean
- abbey (noun): the building or buildings occupied by a community of monks or nuns.
- able (adjective): Having the necessary powers or the needed resources to accomplish a task.
- ably (adverb): In an able manner; with great ability.
- allay (verb): To make quiet or put at rest; to pacify or appease; to quell; to calm.
- allele (noun): One of a number of alternative forms of the same gene occupying a given position, or locus, on a chromosome.
- alley (noun): A narrow street or passageway, especially one through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots or buildings.
- ally (verb): To unite or form a connection between (people or things), as between families by marriage, or between states by confederacy, league, or treaty.
- anal (adjective): of, related to, intended for or involving the anus.
- anally (adverb): Involving the anus.
- annal (noun): The record of a single event or item.
- anneal (verb): To subject to great heat and then (often slow) cooling, and sometimes reheating and further cooling, for the purpose of rendering less brittle; to temper; to toughen.
- baba (noun): A kind of sponge cake soaked in rum-flavoured syrup.
- babble (verb): To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds
- babe (noun): A baby or infant; a very young human or animal.
- babel (noun): Alternative form of Babel
- baby (noun): A very young human, particularly from birth to a couple of years old or until walking is fully mastered.
- bale (noun): Evil, especially considered as an active force for destruction or death.
- baleen (noun): The bony material that makes up the plates in the mouth of the baleen whale, Mysticeti, which it uses to trap its food; formerly used in corsetry.
- ball (noun): A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.
- banal (adjective): Common in a boring way, to the point of being predictable; containing nothing new or fresh.
- banally (adverb): In a banal, trite or boring manner.
- banana (noun): An elongated curved tropical fruit of a banana plant, which grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin. In particular, the sweet, yellow fruit of the Cavendish banana cultivar, which may be eaten raw, as distinct from e.g. a plantain for cooking.
- bane (noun): A cause of misery or death.
- banyan (noun): An Indian trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer.
- bean (noun): Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic family Fabaceae that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods.
- beanball (noun): A pitch deliberately thrown at the head of the batter.
- belay (verb): To make (a rope) fast by turning it around a fastening point such as a cleat or piton.
- blab (verb): To tell tales; to gossip without reserve or discretion.
- blabby (adjective): Tending to blab or gossip a lot.
- elan (noun): Uncommon spelling of élan.
- enable (verb): To make somebody able (to do, or to be, something); to give sufficient ability or power to do or to be; to give strength or ability to.
- eyeball (noun): The ball of the eye.
- jean (noun): Denim.
- label (noun): A small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached.
- lane (noun): A road, street, or similar thoroughfare.
- lean (verb): To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.
- leanly (adverb): In a lean way.
- naan (noun): A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.
- nana (noun): A banana.
- nanny (noun): A child's nurse.