The NYT Spelling Bee for 21 December 2025 offered a surprisingly accessible letter set with T anchoring the hive. This puzzle leaned heavily on letter repetition and familiar word patterns, rewarding players who recognized common consonant clusters and didn't shy away from doubling letters. With balanced vowel coverage and strong consonant flexibility, solvers found themselves building longer words more naturally than in trickier puzzles.

About today's puzzle

Today's hive placed T in the middle, surrounded by A, B, C, K, L, and O. The set felt approachable, with solid vowel support and familiar consonant pairings that opened doors to multiple word families. The repeated-letter potential—especially with words containing double T, double L, or double O—meant patient players could unlock surprising depth. The presence of both hard consonants (C, K, B) and softer letter combinations made this puzzle feel more generous than most.

Words and answers: 21 December 2025

Here's a comprehensive list of words that fit today's rules. Keep in mind: some are uncommon, so the official NYT list may vary slightly.

4-Letter Words

  • alto
  • blat
  • blot
  • boat
  • bolt
  • boot
  • clot
  • coat
  • colt
  • coot
  • loot
  • tack
  • taco
  • tact
  • talc
  • talk
  • tall
  • tock
  • toll
  • took
  • tool
  • toot

5-Letter Words

  • abbot
  • allot
  • atoll
  • bloat
  • lotto
  • octal
  • tabla
  • taboo
  • total

6-Letter Words

  • attack
  • ballot
  • blotto
  • bobcat
  • cobalt
  • tattoo

7-Letter Words

  • backlot
  • catcall
  • tobacco
  • toccata

8-Letter Words

  • backtalk
  • cockatoo

9-Letter Words

  • bootblack

Pangrams of the day

Bootblack uses all seven letters in elegant, natural ways. It demonstrates how the puzzle's letter set—dominated by the repeatable T—allows for extended constructions that feel less forced than many pangrams. If you found it, you unlocked a significant score boost. Let us also know if there were any panagrams you found.

Quick tactics for any puzzle

  • Start with the center letter
  • Play with repeated letters (T, L, O all appear twice easily)
  • Anagram your discoveries
  • Look for word patterns like -oot, -all, -ack
  • Try doubling the center letter (T) for common words

Final thoughts

Overall, 21 December's puzzle struck a balance between accessibility and depth. Many players likely reached the mid-20s before hitting natural walls. The abundance of 4-letter words kept this puzzle from feeling punishing, while the longer words—especially the 8 and 9-letter surprises—rewarded thorough exploration. Did you spot the cockatoo early, or did bootblack catch you off guard?