NYT Spelling Bee Answers for October 9, 2025
Game Summary
| Center Letter | N |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | i, l, o, p, r, u |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 29 words |
| Total Points | 123 points |
| Genius Level | 86 points |
| Bingo? | Yes |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| L | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| N | 5 | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| O | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | 2 |
| P | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | 10 |
| R | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| U | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | 4 | Σ | 12 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 29 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| I | IN×1 IR×1 |
|---|---|
| L | LI×1 LO×2 |
| N | NO×6 NU×1 |
| O | ON×1 OP×1 |
| P | PI×4 PO×3 PR×2 PU×1 |
| R | RU×1 |
| U | UN×3 UP×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| I | INU×1 IRO×1 |
|---|---|
| L | LIO×1 LOI×1 LOO×1 |
| N | NOI×1 NON×2 NOO×1 NOR×1 NOU×1 NUL×1 |
| O | ONI×1 OPI×1 |
| P | PIL×1 PIN×2 PIP×1 POP×1 POR×2 PRI×1 PRO×1 PUR×1 |
| R | RUI×1 |
| U | UNI×1 UNP×1 UNR×1 UPO×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) |
|---|---|---|
| pu..... † | PU7 | To take the property of another, often in breach of trust; to appropriate wrongfully; to steal. |
| in... | IN5 | To place (the remains of a person who has died) in an urn or other container. |
| ir.. | IR4 | A common, inexpensive metal, silvery grey when untarnished, that rusts, is attracted by magnets, and is used in making steel. |
| li.. | LI4 | A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe. |
| lo.. | LO4 | The part of the body (of humans and quadrupeds) at each side of the backbone, between the ribs and hips |
| lo.. | LO4 | An idler, a lout. |
| no.. | NO4 | Of or pertaining to film noir, or the atmosphere associated with that genre |
| no....... | NO9 | 10. |
| no...... | NO8 | Not part of a labor union; not unionized. |
| no.. | NO4 | The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday. |
| no.. | NO4 | A type of seaweed, a red alga, laver (genus Pyropia, including species P. yezoensis and P. tenera). |
| no.. | NO4 | A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea; one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English. |
| nu.. | NU4 | A non-existent or empty value or set of values. |
| on... | ON5 | A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice. |
| op..... | OP7 | A belief, judgment or perspective that a person has formed, either through objective or subjective reasoning, about a topic, issue, person or thing. |
| pi..... | PI7 | A pad behind the saddle of a horse for a second rider. |
| pi.... | PI6 | A wing. |
| pi... | PI5 | Alternative form of pin-up |
| pi.... | PI6 | A seed |
| po.... | PO6 | A fabric of many varieties, usually made of silk and worsted; used especially for women's dresses. |
| po.. | PO4 | Pornography. |
| po... | PO5 | Pornographic |
| pr... | PR5 | A self-propagating misfolded conformer of a protein that is responsible for a number of diseases that affect the brain and other neural tissue. |
| pr..... | PR7 | A type of word that refers anaphorically to a noun or noun phrase, but which cannot ordinarily be preceded by a determiner and rarely takes an attributive adjective. English examples include I, you, him, who, me, my, each other. Any of the pronouns by which a person prefers to be described, typically reflecting gender identity. |
| ru.. | RU4 | The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle. |
| un... | UN5 | The act of uniting or joining two or more things into one. |
| un... | UN5 | To unfasten by removing a pin. |
| un.... | UN6 | To straighten something that has been rolled, twisted or curled. |
| up.. | UP4 | Physically above and in contact with. |
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.
- purloin† (PU7)
- inurn (IN5)
- iron (IR4)
- lion (LI4)
- loin (LO4)
- loon (LO4)
- noir (NO4)
- nonillion (NO9)
- nonunion (NO8)
- noon (NO4)
- nori (NO4)
- noun (NO4)
- null (NU4)
- onion (ON5)
- opinion (OP7)
- pillion (PI7)
- pinion (PI6)
- pinup (PI5)
- pippin (PI6)
- poplin (PO6)
- porn (PO4)
- porno (PO5)
- prion (PR5)
- pronoun (PR7)
- ruin (RU4)
- union (UN5)
- unpin (UN5)
- unroll (UN6)
- upon (UP4)
Answer Definitions
- purloin† (verb): To take the property of another, often in breach of trust; to appropriate wrongfully; to steal.
- inurn (verb): To place (the remains of a person who has died) in an urn or other container.
- iron (noun): A common, inexpensive metal, silvery grey when untarnished, that rusts, is attracted by magnets, and is used in making steel.
- lion (noun): A big cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly much of Europe.
- loin (noun): The part of the body (of humans and quadrupeds) at each side of the backbone, between the ribs and hips
- loon (noun): An idler, a lout.
- noir (adjective): Of or pertaining to film noir, or the atmosphere associated with that genre
- nonillion (numeral): 10.
- nonunion (adjective): Not part of a labor union; not unionized.
- noon (noun): The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.
- nori (noun): A type of seaweed, a red alga, laver (genus Pyropia, including species P. yezoensis and P. tenera).
- noun (noun): A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea; one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English.
- null (noun): A non-existent or empty value or set of values.
- onion (noun): A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.
- opinion (noun): A belief, judgment or perspective that a person has formed, either through objective or subjective reasoning, about a topic, issue, person or thing.
- pillion (noun): A pad behind the saddle of a horse for a second rider.
- pinion (noun): A wing.
- pinup (noun): Alternative form of pin-up
- pippin (noun): A seed
- poplin (noun): A fabric of many varieties, usually made of silk and worsted; used especially for women's dresses.
- porn (noun): Pornography.
- porno (adjective): Pornographic
- prion (noun): A self-propagating misfolded conformer of a protein that is responsible for a number of diseases that affect the brain and other neural tissue.
- pronoun (noun): A type of word that refers anaphorically to a noun or noun phrase, but which cannot ordinarily be preceded by a determiner and rarely takes an attributive adjective. English examples include I, you, him, who, me, my, each other. Any of the pronouns by which a person prefers to be described, typically reflecting gender identity.
- ruin (noun): The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.
- union (noun): The act of uniting or joining two or more things into one.
- unpin (verb): To unfasten by removing a pin.
- unroll (verb): To straighten something that has been rolled, twisted or curled.
- upon (preposition): Physically above and in contact with.