NYT Spelling Bee Answers for May 1, 2026
Game Summary
| Center Letter | L |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | c, d, e, h, i, k |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 49 words |
| Total Points | 212 points |
| Genius Level | 148 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | - | 1 | 14 |
| D | 3 | - | 2 | 1 | - | - | 6 |
| E | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 2 |
| H | 4 | - | 3 | 1 | - | - | 8 |
| I | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 3 |
| K | 2 | - | 2 | - | - | - | 4 |
| L | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 12 | Σ | 18 | 9 | 14 | 7 | - | 1 | 49 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| C | CE×3 CH×6 CI×1 CL×4 |
|---|---|
| D | DE×3 DI×3 |
| E | EL×2 |
| H | HE×6 HI×2 |
| I | IC×1 ID×2 |
| K | KE×2 KI×2 |
| L | LE×5 LI×7 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| C | CEL×3 CHI×6 CIC×1 CLI×4 |
|---|---|
| D | DEC×1 DEL×2 DID×2 DIL×1 |
| E | ELI×2 |
| H | HEC×2 HEE×2 HEL×2 HIL×2 |
| I | ICI×1 IDL×2 |
| K | KEE×2 KIL×2 |
| L | LEC×1 LED×1 LEE×3 LIC×3 LID×1 LIE×1 LIK×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) |
|---|---|---|
| ch....... † | CH9 | Innocent and trustful; credulous; artless. |
| ce.. | CE4 | A single-room dwelling for a hermit. |
| ce.... | CE6 | Containing cells; cellular. |
| ce... | CE5 | plural of cello |
| ch.... | CH6 | The milky latex of the sapodilla tree, used after coagulation as the principal ingredient of chewing gum |
| ch... | CH5 | A person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority). |
| ch... | CH5 | The pungent, spicy fresh or dried fruit of any of several cultivated varieties of capsicum peppers, used in cooking. |
| ch... | CH5 | A moderate, but uncomfortable and penetrating coldness. |
| ch..... | CH7 | Cooled. |
| ci..... | CI7 | Any of many tropical fish, of the family Cichlidae, popular as aquarium fish. |
| cl.... | CL6 | Alternative form of cliché |
| cl..... | CL7 | Alternative spelling of clichéd |
| cl... | CL5 | A brief, sharp, not particularly loud, relatively high-pitched sound produced by the impact of something small and hard against something hard, such as by the operation of a switch, a lock, or a latch. |
| cl..... | CL7 | past participle of click |
| de.... | DE6 | A frame or edge which limits the pulp and, consequently, the size of the resulting paper. |
| de.. | DE4 | A shop that sells cooked or prepared food ready for serving. |
| de.. | DE4 | A valley, especially in the form of a natural hollow, small and deep. |
| di.... | DI6 | In percussion, two consecutive notes played by the same hand (either RR or LL), similar to the drag, except that by convention diddles are played the same speed as the context in which they are placed. |
| di..... | DI7 | simple past tense and past participle of diddle |
| di.. | DI4 | Anethum graveolens (the type species of the genus Anethum), a herb, the seeds of which are moderately warming, pungent, and aromatic, formerly used as a soothing medicine for children; also known as dillseed. |
| el... | EL5 | To leave out or omit (something). |
| el.... | EL6 | simple past tense and past participle of elide |
| he.... | HE6 | To question harshly in an attempt to find or reveal weaknesses. |
| he..... | HE7 | simple past tense and past participle of heckle |
| he.. | HE4 | The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg. |
| he.... | HE6 | simple past tense and past participle of heel |
| he.. | HE4 | simple past tense and past participle of hold |
| he.. | HE4 | A place of torment where some or all sinners and evil spirits are believed to go after death. |
| hi.. | HI4 | An elevated landmass smaller than a mountain. |
| hi.... | HI6 | simple past tense and past participle of hill |
| ic.... | IC6 | A drooping, tapering shape of ice. |
| id.. | ID4 | Empty, vacant. |
| id... | ID5 | simple past tense and past participle of idle |
| ke.. | KE4 | A large beam along the underside of a ship’s hull from bow to stern. |
| ke.... | KE6 | simple past tense and past participle of keel |
| ki.. | KI4 | To put to death; to extinguish the life of. |
| ki.... | KI6 | simple past tense and past participle of kill |
| le.. | LE4 | A strong, lecherous desire or craving. |
| le.. | LE4 | A man; a person. |
| le... | LE5 | An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis. |
| le..... | LE7 | simple past tense and past participle of leech |
| le.. | LE4 | The vegetable Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum, having edible leaves and an onion-like bulb but with a milder flavour than the onion. |
| li.. | LI4 | plural of louse |
| li.. | LI4 | To stroke with the tongue. |
| li.... | LI6 | simple past tense and past participle of lick |
| li.... | LI6 | simple past tense and past participle of lid |
| li.. | LI4 | An art song, usually sung solo in German and accompanied on the piano. |
| li.. | LI4 | To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of. |
| li... | LI5 | simple past tense and past participle of like |
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.
- childlike† (CH9)
- cell (CE4)
- celled (CE6)
- celli (CE5)
- chicle (CH6)
- child (CH5)
- chili (CH5)
- chill (CH5)
- chilled (CH7)
- cichlid (CI7)
- cliche (CL6)
- cliched (CL7)
- click (CL5)
- clicked (CL7)
- deckle (DE6)
- deli (DE4)
- dell (DE4)
- diddle (DI6)
- diddled (DI7)
- dill (DI4)
- elide (EL5)
- elided (EL6)
- heckle (HE6)
- heckled (HE7)
- heel (HE4)
- heeled (HE6)
- held (HE4)
- hell (HE4)
- hill (HI4)
- hilled (HI6)
- icicle (IC6)
- idle (ID4)
- idled (ID5)
- keel (KE4)
- keeled (KE6)
- kill (KI4)
- killed (KI6)
- lech (LE4)
- lede (LE4)
- leech (LE5)
- leeched (LE7)
- leek (LE4)
- lice (LI4)
- lick (LI4)
- licked (LI6)
- lidded (LI6)
- lied (LI4)
- like (LI4)
- liked (LI5)
Answer Definitions
- childlike† (adjective): Innocent and trustful; credulous; artless.
- cell (noun): A single-room dwelling for a hermit.
- celled (adjective): Containing cells; cellular.
- celli (noun): plural of cello
- chicle (noun): The milky latex of the sapodilla tree, used after coagulation as the principal ingredient of chewing gum
- child (noun): A person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority).
- chili (noun): The pungent, spicy fresh or dried fruit of any of several cultivated varieties of capsicum peppers, used in cooking.
- chill (noun): A moderate, but uncomfortable and penetrating coldness.
- chilled (adjective): Cooled.
- cichlid (noun): Any of many tropical fish, of the family Cichlidae, popular as aquarium fish.
- cliche (noun): Alternative form of cliché
- cliched (adjective): Alternative spelling of clichéd
- click (noun): A brief, sharp, not particularly loud, relatively high-pitched sound produced by the impact of something small and hard against something hard, such as by the operation of a switch, a lock, or a latch.
- clicked (verb): past participle of click
- deckle (noun): A frame or edge which limits the pulp and, consequently, the size of the resulting paper.
- deli (noun): A shop that sells cooked or prepared food ready for serving.
- dell (noun): A valley, especially in the form of a natural hollow, small and deep.
- diddle (noun): In percussion, two consecutive notes played by the same hand (either RR or LL), similar to the drag, except that by convention diddles are played the same speed as the context in which they are placed.
- diddled (verb): simple past tense and past participle of diddle
- dill (noun): Anethum graveolens (the type species of the genus Anethum), a herb, the seeds of which are moderately warming, pungent, and aromatic, formerly used as a soothing medicine for children; also known as dillseed.
- elide (verb): To leave out or omit (something).
- elided (verb): simple past tense and past participle of elide
- heckle (verb): To question harshly in an attempt to find or reveal weaknesses.
- heckled (verb): simple past tense and past participle of heckle
- heel (noun): The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg.
- heeled (verb): simple past tense and past participle of heel
- held (verb): simple past tense and past participle of hold
- hell (proper noun): A place of torment where some or all sinners and evil spirits are believed to go after death.
- hill (noun): An elevated landmass smaller than a mountain.
- hilled (verb): simple past tense and past participle of hill
- icicle (noun): A drooping, tapering shape of ice.
- idle (adjective): Empty, vacant.
- idled (verb): simple past tense and past participle of idle
- keel (noun): A large beam along the underside of a ship’s hull from bow to stern.
- keeled (verb): simple past tense and past participle of keel
- kill (verb): To put to death; to extinguish the life of.
- killed (verb): simple past tense and past participle of kill
- lech (noun): A strong, lecherous desire or craving.
- lede (noun): A man; a person.
- leech (noun): An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis.
- leeched (verb): simple past tense and past participle of leech
- leek (noun): The vegetable Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum, having edible leaves and an onion-like bulb but with a milder flavour than the onion.
- lice (noun): plural of louse
- lick (verb): To stroke with the tongue.
- licked (verb): simple past tense and past participle of lick
- lidded (verb): simple past tense and past participle of lid
- lied (noun): An art song, usually sung solo in German and accompanied on the piano.
- like (verb): To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of.
- liked (verb): simple past tense and past participle of like