NYT Spelling Bee Answers for December 19, 2025
Game Summary
| Center Letter | V |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, e, i, l, p, t |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 32 words |
| Total Points | 141 points |
| Genius Level | 99 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 | 10 | Σ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | - | 2 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| E | 2 | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 3 |
| I | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| L | 3 | 3 | - | - | 1 | - | - | 7 |
| P | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 3 |
| T | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| V | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 13 | Σ | 13 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 32 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AL×2 AP×1 AV×2 |
|---|---|
| E | EA×1 EL×1 EV×1 |
| I | |
| L | LA×2 LE×4 LI×1 |
| P | PA×2 PE×1 |
| T | TI×1 |
| V | VA×4 VE×4 VI×5 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ALI×1 ALL×1 APP×1 AVA×1 AVI×1 |
|---|---|
| E | EAV×1 ELE×1 EVI×1 |
| I | |
| L | LAV×2 LEA×1 LEV×3 LIV×1 |
| P | PAL×1 PAV×1 PEE×1 |
| T | TIT×1 |
| V | VAL×3 VAP×1 VEA×1 VEE×1 VEI×1 VEL×1 VIA×1 VIL×2 VIT×2 |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| pa........ † | PA10 | No definition found; request failed |
| al... | AL5 | Having life; living; not dead. |
| al....... | AL9 | To reduce or lessen the severity of a pain or difficulty . |
| ap........ | AP10 | Having the quality of desiring gratification. |
| av... | AV5 | To turn to the advantage of. |
| av.... | AV6 | To operate an aircraft. |
| ea.. | EA4 | Alternative form of eaves (“the underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building”) |
| el..... | EL7 | To raise (something) to a higher position. |
| ev.. | EV4 | Intending to harm; malevolent. |
| la.. | LA4 | The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides. |
| la.. | LA4 | To pour or throw out, as water; lade out; bail; bail out. |
| le... | LE5 | 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. |
| le... | LE5 | An elevated geographical feature. |
| le... | LE5 | The same height at all places; parallel to a flat ground. |
| le...... | LE8 | To cause to rise in the air and float, as if in defiance of gravity. |
| li.. | LI4 | To be alive; to have life. |
| pa.. | PA4 | To cover something with paving slabs. |
| pe... | PE5 | An annoyance or grievance. |
| ti...... | TI8 | To make small improvements or alterations to (one's appearance etc.); to add some finishing touches to, to spruce up or touch up. |
| va.. | VA4 | A valley. |
| va... | VA5 | A man's personal male attendant, responsible for his clothes and appearance. |
| va... | VA5 | A device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid through a pipe. |
| va.. | VA4 | Clipping of vaporizer. |
| ve.. | VE4 | The flesh of a calf (i.e. a young bovine) used for food. |
| ve.. | VE4 | The Vice President of the United States; the office of Vice President of the United States, especially during an election cycle where several are in the running for the nomination. |
| ve.. | VE4 | Something hung up or spread out to hide or protect the face, or hide an object from view; usually of gauze, crepe, or similar diaphanous material. |
| ve.... | VE6 | A closely woven fabric (originally of silk, now also of cotton or man-made fibres) with a thick short pile on one side. |
| vi.. | VI4 | A glass vessel or bottle, especially a small tube-shaped bottle used to store medicine, perfume or other chemicals. |
| vi.. | VI4 | Morally low; base; despicable. |
| vi... | VI5 | A house, often larger and more expensive than average, in the countryside or on the coast, often used as a retreat. |
| vi... | VI5 | Relating to, or characteristic of life. |
| vi..... | VI7 | To spoil, make faulty; to reduce the value, quality, or effectiveness of something. |
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.
- palliative† (PA10)
- alive (AL5)
- alleviate (AL9)
- appetitive (AP10)
- avail (AV5)
- aviate (AV6)
- eave (EA4)
- elevate (EL7)
- evil (EV4)
- lava (LA4)
- lave (LA4)
- leave (LE5)
- levee (LE5)
- level (LE5)
- levitate (LE8)
- live (LI4)
- pave (PA4)
- peeve (PE5)
- titivate (TI8)
- vale (VA4)
- valet (VA5)
- valve (VA5)
- vape (VA4)
- veal (VE4)
- veep (VE4)
- veil (VE4)
- velvet (VE6)
- vial (VI4)
- vile (VI4)
- villa (VI5)
- vital (VI5)
- vitiate (VI7)
Answer Definitions
- palliative† (n/a): No definition found; request failed
- alive (adjective): Having life; living; not dead.
- alleviate (verb): To reduce or lessen the severity of a pain or difficulty .
- appetitive (adjective): Having the quality of desiring gratification.
- avail (verb): To turn to the advantage of.
- aviate (verb): To operate an aircraft.
- eave (noun): Alternative form of eaves (“the underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building”)
- elevate (verb): To raise (something) to a higher position.
- evil (adjective): Intending to harm; malevolent.
- 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.
- 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.
- levitate (verb): To cause to rise in the air and float, as if in defiance of gravity.
- live (verb): To be alive; to have life.
- pave (verb): To cover something with paving slabs.
- peeve (noun): An annoyance or grievance.
- titivate (verb): To make small improvements or alterations to (one's appearance etc.); to add some finishing touches to, to spruce up or touch up.
- vale (noun): A valley.
- valet (noun): A man's personal male attendant, responsible for his clothes and appearance.
- valve (noun): A device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid through a pipe.
- vape (noun): Clipping of vaporizer.
- veal (noun): The flesh of a calf (i.e. a young bovine) used for food.
- veep (noun): The Vice President of the United States; the office of Vice President of the United States, especially during an election cycle where several are in the running for the nomination.
- veil (noun): Something hung up or spread out to hide or protect the face, or hide an object from view; usually of gauze, crepe, or similar diaphanous material.
- velvet (noun): A closely woven fabric (originally of silk, now also of cotton or man-made fibres) with a thick short pile on one side.
- vial (noun): A glass vessel or bottle, especially a small tube-shaped bottle used to store medicine, perfume or other chemicals.
- vile (adjective): Morally low; base; despicable.
- villa (noun): A house, often larger and more expensive than average, in the countryside or on the coast, often used as a retreat.
- vital (adjective): Relating to, or characteristic of life.
- vitiate (verb): To spoil, make faulty; to reduce the value, quality, or effectiveness of something.