NYT Spelling Bee Hints & Analysis

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• aback by surprise
• able (usually followed by ‘to’) having the necessary means or skill or know-how or authority to do something
• alack
• allele (genetics) either of a pair (or series) of alternative forms of a gene that can occupy the same locus on a particular chromosome and that control the same character
• allocable capable of being distributed
• aloe succulent plants having rosettes of leaves usually with fiber like hemp and spikes of showy flowers; found chiefly in Africa
• baba a small cake leavened with yeast
• babble flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise
• babe a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
• babel a confusion of voices and other sounds
• babka a coffee cake flavored with orange rind and raisins and almonds
• back located at or near the back of an animal
• bake be very hot, due to hot weather or exposure to the sun
• bale make into a bale
• balk refuse to comply
• ball to live very well
• ballcock floating ball that controls level in a water tank
• baobab African tree having an exceedingly thick trunk and fruit that resembles a gourd and has an edible pulp called monkey bread
• beak hit lightly with a picking motion
• blab divulge confidential information or secrets
• black marked by anger or resentment or hostility
• blackball vote against; refuse to endorse; refuse to assent
• bleak offering little or no hope
• blockable
• boba
• bola a rope with weights attached to the ends; is thrown to entangle the legs of an animal; of South American origin
• bookable subject to being reserved or booked
• cabal engage in plotting or enter into a conspiracy, swear together
• cabala an esoteric or occult matter resembling the Kabbalah that is traditionally secret
• cable fasten with a cable
• cacao tropical American tree producing cacao beans
• cackle emit a loud, unpleasant kind of laughing
• cake form a coat over
• call call a meeting; invite or command to meet
• calla South African plant widely cultivated for its showy pure white spathe and yellow spadix
• callable subject to a demand for payment before due date
• callaloo
• callback a request by the manufacturer of a defective product to return the product (as for replacement or repair)
• clack make a rattling sound
• cloaca (zoology) the cavity (in birds, reptiles, amphibians, most fish, and monotremes but not other mammals) at the end of the digestive tract into which the intestinal, genital, and urinary tracts open
• cloak hide under a false appearance
• coal burn to charcoal
• coca a South American shrub whose leaves are chewed by natives of the Andes; a source of cocaine
• cocoa powder of ground roasted cacao beans with most of the fat removed
• cola carbonated drink flavored with extract from kola nuts
• collab
• cookable
• kabob cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables
• kale informal terms for money
• kebab cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables
• koala sluggish tailless Australian arboreal marsupial with grey furry ears and coat; feeds on eucalyptus leaves and bark
• kola tree bearing large brown nuts containing e.g. caffeine; source of cola extract
• label attach a tag or label to
• lace do lacework
• lack be without
• lake a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
• leak be leaked
• local relating to or applicable to or concerned with the administration of a city or town or district rather than a larger area
• locale the scene of any event or action (especially the place of a meeting)
• lockable