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.

• pavilion^†  (PA8)
• aioli  (AI5)
• anal  (AN4)
• anion  (AN5)
• annal  (AN5)
• anon  (AN4)
• anvil  (AN5)
• apian  (AP5)
• appall  (AP6)
• avail  (AV5)
• avian  (AV5)
• lain  (LA4)
• lanai  (LA5)
• lanolin  (LA7)
• lava  (LA4)
• llano  (LL5)
• loan  (LO4)
• naan  (NA4)
• nail  (NA4)
• nana  (NA4)
• naval  (NA5)
• nova  (NO4)
• opal  (OP4)
• oval  (OV4)
• pail  (PA4)
• pain  (PA4)
• palapa  (PA6)
• pall  (PA4)
• palp  (PA4)
• panini  (PA6)
• papa  (PA4)
• papal  (PA5)
• papilla  (PA7)
• papillon  (PA8)
• pavlova  (PA7)
• piano  (PI5)
• pianola  (PI7)
• plain  (PL5)
• plan  (PL4)
• poppa  (PO5)
• vain  (VA4)
• vanilla  (VA7)
• vanillin  (VA8)
• vanpool  (VA7)
• vial  (VI4)
• villa  (VI5)
• villain  (VI7)
• viola  (VI5)
• voila  (VO5)

Answer Definitions

• pavilion^† (noun): An ornate tent.
• aioli (noun): A type of sauce, similar to mayonnaise, made from garlic, egg, lemon juice and olive oil.
• anal (adjective): of, related to, intended for or involving the anus.
• anion (noun): A negatively charged ion.
• annal (noun): The record of a single event or item.
• anon (adverb): Straight away; at once.
• anvil (noun): A heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can be struck and shaped.
• apian (adjective): Relating to bees.
• appall (verb): To fill with horror; to dismay.
• avail (verb): To turn to the advantage of.
• avian (adjective): Characteristic of or pertaining to birds, or to bird-like or flying creatures.
• lain (verb): past participle of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”)
• lanai (noun): A Hawaiian-style roofed patio.
• lanolin (noun): A greasy yellow substance chemically akin to wax that is secreted from wooly animals, with a variety of uses from rust prevention, lubrication and waterproofing to cosmetics and skin ointments.
• lava (noun): The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides.
• llano (noun): A plain or steppe in parts of Latin America.
• loan (noun): An act or instance of lending, an act or instance of granting something for temporary use.
• naan (noun): A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.
• nail (noun): The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
• nana (noun): A banana.
• naval (adjective): Of or relating to a navy.
• nova (noun): Any sudden brightening of a previously inconspicuous star.
• opal (noun): A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO2·nH2O. A precious gem, an iridescent gemstone found in the opal-silica mineral substrate (potch)
• oval (noun): An elongated round shape resembling an egg or ellipse.
• pail (noun): A vessel of wood, tin, plastic, etc., usually cylindrical and having a handle -- used especially for carrying liquids, for example water or milk; a bucket (sometimes with a cover).
• pain (noun): An ache or bodily suffering, or an instance of this; an unpleasant sensation, resulting from a derangement of functions, disease, or injury by violence; hurt.
• palapa (noun): An open-sided dwelling with a thatched roof made of dried palm leaves.
• 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.
• panini (noun): A type of grilled sandwich made of a small loaf of bread, cut horizontally, filled with meat such as salami or ham, cheese or other food.
• papa (noun): Dad, daddy, father; a familiar or old-fashioned term of address to one’s father.
• papal (adjective): Having to do with the pope or the papacy.
• papilla (noun): A nipple-like protuberance on a part or organ of the body. A vascular process of connective tissue extending into and nourishing the root of a hair, feather, or developing tooth. Any of the vascular protuberances of the dermal layer of the skin extending into the epidermal layer and often containing tactile corpuscles. Any of the small protuberances on the upper surface of the tongue often containing taste buds.
• papillon (noun): A small dog of a certain breed having large ears.
• pavlova (noun): A meringue dessert usually topped with fruit and cream.
• piano (noun): a percussive keyboard musical instrument, usually ranging over seven octaves, with white and black colored keys, played by pressing these keys, causing hammers to strike strings
• pianola (noun): A mechanical piano which uses a roll of perforated paper to operate its keys, instead of being played by a pianist.
• plain (adjective): Flat, level.
• plan (noun): A drawing showing technical details of a building, machine, etc., with unwanted details omitted, and often using symbols rather than detailed drawing to represent doors, valves, etc.
• poppa (noun): father, papa.
• vain (adjective): Overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason.
• vanilla (noun): Any tropical, climbing orchid of the genus Vanilla (especially Vanilla planifolia), bearing podlike fruit yielding an extract used in flavoring food or in perfumes.
• vanillin (noun): A chemical compound, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, that is the primary constituent of vanilla.
• vanpool (noun): The transport of a pool of commuters in a shared van.
• vial (noun): A glass vessel or bottle, especially a small tube-shaped bottle used to store medicine, perfume or other chemicals.
• villa (noun): A house, often larger and more expensive than average, in the countryside or on the coast, often used as a retreat.
• villain (noun): (Can we clean up this sense?) A vile, wicked person. An extremely depraved person, or one capable or guilty of great crimes. A deliberate scoundrel.
• viola (noun): A stringed instrument of the violin family, somewhat larger than a violin, played under the chin, and having a deeper tone.
• voila (interjection): Alternative spelling of voilà