# Help me finish today's NYT Spelling Bee (spoilers!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [August 27, 2020, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145 "2020-08-27T13:02:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/1 "2020-08-27T13:02:14Z")
I hate these days where you have to get almost 200 points. I’ll forgive them if there’s an ED that you can add to most of the answers, but that’s not the case today. The rules are that you have to use the capitalized letter at least once in every word. Otherwise, you can use any combination of the remaining letters, as many times as necessary. Today, the letters are: Oabclny I’m pretty close to finishing today, and I’d like to sic the brains here on this annoyingly long puzzle. Here are the words I have so far: - Alloy - Annoy - Anon - Baboon - Bacon - Balcony - Balloon - Baobab - Blob - Blobby - Bola - Boll - Bolo - Bonny - Bonobo - Bony - Boob - Booboo - Boon - Cacao - Canola - Clonal - Cloy - Cocoa - Cola - Colon - Colony - Cool - Coolly - Loan - Lobby - Lobo - Local - Locally - Loco - Loll - Loon - Loony - Loyal - Loyally - Nabob - Noob - Noon - Nylon - Only That’s 173 points. I have to get to 197 – you get 1 point for a four letter word, 5 for a 5 letter, 6 for 6, etc., plus extra points if you use all the letters (a pangram – I found one, BALCONY, but there may be others). With you people on the case, we should be able to find ALL the words, but I’ll happily just get to 197. ETA: No cheating! I know where to find the answers, but I trust that no one here will search them out. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/2 "2020-08-27T13:12:07Z")
Right off the bat: Cloaca Obol Yoyo ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/3 "2020-08-27T13:18:39Z")
And: Banal Banally ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/4 "2020-08-27T13:21:05Z")
I’m assuming proper nouns are not allowed? Albany, for instance. Cabana, in any case, and Banana. Blab. Anal Annal ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/5 "2020-08-27T13:30:14Z")
You have to use the letter O in the answer. Thanks for cloaca! Yo-yo is hyphenated and it doesn’t recognize obol (neither do I). Capitalized words are not allowed. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/6 "2020-08-27T13:52:05Z")
Sorry that I missed that about the “O”. For scoring, a 4 letter word is worth 1 point, and a 5 is worth 5? Should that be “a 5 is worth 2”? An obol is an ancient Greek coin. and you can use “canyon”. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/7 "2020-08-27T13:56:04Z")
It’s 1 point for a four letter, then 5, 6, 7 points. I guess four letter words are so easy or so common? Then, you get an extra 7 points, I think, if it’s a pangram. So a ten-letter pangram would be 17 points. Canyon! Thanks! And, it reminded me of Canon and Cannon, which got me over the 197 points. So, I’m a Genius, with your help. There are still more words to be found. ---
**Author:** ![emulsified](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emulsified/32/2915_2.png) [@emulsified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emulsified)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/8 "2020-08-27T13:57:25Z")
Canon Cannon Cannonball ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/9 "2020-08-27T13:59:24Z")
Canola Nonlocal Nobly Coyly ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/10 "2020-08-27T14:01:00Z")
Fantastic! Keep 'em coming! I’m up to 53 words, and there are 65 total words, according to one of the answer sites. (All I did was look up the total number of words, I swear!) ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/11 "2020-08-27T14:03:05Z")
Bonbon Noncola? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/12 "2020-08-27T14:03:28Z")
Yes to bonbon, no to noncola. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/13 "2020-08-27T15:17:01Z")
coocoo? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/14 "2020-08-27T15:17:49Z")
Nope, but that did lead me to cocoon, so thanks! ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/15 "2020-08-27T18:59:13Z")
Any last guesses? I’ll probably hold off until around 5PM (EDT) and then look at the answers. I need 10 more. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2020, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/16 "2020-08-27T21:21:20Z")
Here are the ones I missed: Ballboy Bloc Boba Booby Callaloo Coal Coca Colcannon Llano Onlay I should have gotten onlay, since I have one of those, booby because hee hee, ballboy, bloc, coal, and coca. I excuse myself for boba, callaloo, colcannon, and llano. Thanks for the help! I’ll be back next time they give me 200 points to get. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2020, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/17 "2020-08-28T00:10:34Z")
That was fun! Glad to help. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2020, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-finish-todays-nyt-spelling-bee-spoilers/919145/18 "2020-08-28T01:10:50Z")
Here’s hoping tomorrow’s puzzle doesn’t need as many words.