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.

• backfill^†  (BA8)
• abaci  (AB5)
• aback  (AB5)
• acacia  (AC6)
• acai  (AC4)
• alack  (AL5)
• alfalfa  (AL7)
• alibi  (AL5)
• alkali  (AL6)
• baba  (BA4)
• babka  (BA5)
• bacilli  (BA7)
• back  (BA4)
• bail  (BA4)
• bailiff  (BA7)
• balalaika  (BA9)
• balk  (BA4)
• ball  (BA4)
• biblical  (BI8)
• bilabial  (BI8)
• blab  (BL4)
• black  (BL5)
• blackball  (BL9)
• cabal  (CA5)
• cabala  (CA6)
• calf  (CA4)
• call  (CA4)
• calla  (CA5)
• callback  (CA8)
• cilia  (CI5)
• clack  (CL5)
• facial  (FA6)
• fail  (FA4)
• fall  (FA4)
• fallback  (FA8)
• filial  (FI6)
• flab  (FL4)
• flack  (FL5)
• flail  (FL5)
• flak  (FL4)
• iliac  (IL5)
• kickback  (KI8)
• kickball  (KI8)
• labia  (LA5)
• labial  (LA6)
• lack  (LA4)
• laic  (LA4)
• laical  (LA6)
• lilac  (LI5)

Answer Definitions

• backfill^† (verb): To refill a hole with the material dug out of it.
• abaci (noun): plural form of an ancient bead calculator.
• aback (adverb): Toward the rear; Phrase: 'to be taken ____', meaning 'surprised'.
• acacia (noun): A shrub or tree of the tribe Acacieae.
• acai (noun): Any of several South American palms, of the genus Euterpe, having a dark purple drupe.
• alack (interjection): An expression of sorrow or mourning.
• alfalfa (noun): A plant, principally of Medicago sativa, grown as a pasture crop.
• alibi (noun): The plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove being in another place when the alleged act was committed.
• alkali (noun): One of a class of caustic bases, such as soda, soda ash, caustic soda, potash, ammonia, and lithia, whose distinguishing peculiarities are solubility in alcohol and water, uniting with oils and fats to form soap, neutralizing and forming salts with acids, turning to brown several vegetable yellows, and changing reddened litmus to blue.
• baba (noun): A kind of sponge cake soaked in rum-flavoured syrup.
• babka (noun): A Central and Eastern European coffee cake flavored with orange rind, rum, almonds, and raisins.
• bacilli (noun): plural of bacillus
• back (adjective): At or near the rear.
• bail (noun): Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial.
• bailiff (noun): An officer of the court, particularly: A reeve, the chief officer executing the decisions of any English court in the period following the Norman Conquest or executing the decisions of lower courts in the late medieval and early modern period. A high bailiff: an officer of the county courts responsible for executing warrants and court orders, appointed by the judge and removable by the Lord Chancellor. A bound bailiff: a deputy bailiff charged with debt collection. Any law enforcement officer charged with courtroom security and order. A huissier de justice or other foreign officer of the court acting as either a process server or as courtroom security.
• balalaika (noun): A plucked stringed instrument with a triangular body, short neck and three strings, of Russian origin.
• balk (noun): An uncultivated ridge formed in the open field system, caused by the action of ploughing.
• ball (noun): A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.
• biblical (adjective): Of or relating to the Bible.
• bilabial (adjective): Articulated with both lips.
• blab (verb): To tell tales; to gossip without reserve or discretion.
• black (adjective): Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless.
• blackball (noun): A rejection; a vote against admitting someone.
• cabal (noun): A secret political clique or faction.
• cabala (proper noun): Alternative spelling of Kabballah
• calf (noun): A young cow or bull.
• call (noun): A telephone conversation; a phone call.
• calla (noun): A marsh plant native to cooler areas throughout the northern hemisphere, Calla palustris, having pale green flowers in a white spathe.
• callback (noun): The return of a situation to a previous position or state.
• cilia (noun): plural of cilium
• clack (noun): An abrupt, sharp sound, especially one made by two hard objects colliding repetitively; a sound midway between a click and a clunk.
• facial (adjective): Of or affecting the face.
• fail (verb): To be unsuccessful.
• fall (verb): To be moved downwards. To move to a lower position under the effect of gravity.
• fallback (noun): An act of falling back.
• filial (adjective): Pertaining to or befitting a son or daughter.
• flab (noun): Soft, loose flesh on a person's body; fat.
• flack (verb): To flutter; palpitate.
• flail (noun): A tool used for threshing, consisting of a long handle with a shorter stick attached with a short piece of chain, thong or similar material.
• flak (noun): Ground-based anti-aircraft guns firing explosive shells.
• iliac (adjective): Relating to the ilium.
• kickback (noun): A backward kick, a retrograde movement of an extremity.
• kickball (noun): A sport similar to baseball, where a ball is kicked rather than hit.
• labia (noun): The folds of tissue at the opening of the vulva, at either side of the vagina.
• labial (adjective): Of or pertaining to the lips or labia.
• lack (noun): A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want.
• laic (noun): A layperson, as opposed to a member of the clergy.
• laical (adjective): Of or pertaining to a layperson, layman, laywoman, or laypeople (laity).
• lilac (noun): A large shrub of the genus Syringa, especially Syringa vulgaris, bearing white, pale-pink, or purple flowers.