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Spelling Bee Word Finder – NYT Answers 20 August 2025

Anya Tsukru
5/5 - (1 vote)

Every day, the New York Times Spelling Bee challenges us to think creatively with a set of seven letters. The goal is simple yet addictive: make as many words as possible using only these letters, always including the center letter. Today’s puzzle (August 20, 2025) gave us L as the required letter, with the outer letters U, W, O, A, K, T, T.

After a little head-scratching and experimentation, I discovered today’s pangram: WALKOUT.

How I Found the Pangram

When I first saw the letters, I immediately noticed strong consonants like K, T, and W paired with the softer vowels O and A. My strategy is usually to scan for prefixes and suffixes:

  • -OUT looked promising right away.

  • Adding W gave me “WOUT,” which didn’t make sense, but with ALK, I quickly realized “WALKOUT” was valid.

That was the moment of today’s breakthrough—finding the pangram that ties the puzzle together.

spelling bee finders 20 aug 25

Word List for Today’s Puzzle

Here’s the complete list of possible words I worked out from today’s set of letters (always including L):

4-Letter Words

  • Lout

  • Loot

  • Tall

  • Tool

  • Wool

  • Alto

  • Look

  • Kola

  • Talk

  • Wool

5-Letter Words

  • Allow

  • Koala

  • Trawl

  • Lowly

  • Kloof

  • Allot

  • Allow

  • Koala

  • Lotto

  • Total

6-Letter Words

  • Tallow

  • Towall

  • Outlaw

  • Wallow

7+-Letter Words

  • Walkout (pangram
  • Lookout

  • Outtalk

  • Outwalk

  • Awkward

  • Outlook

The beauty of today’s puzzle is that many of the words circle around themes of looking, walking, or outlawing, which kept the solving process lively and thematic.

My Solving Process

  1. Started with short words – I built confidence with words like loot and tool. This helped me warm up and get into the flow.

  2. Spotted familiar patterns – Words ending in -out and -low started to emerge.

  3. Built longer words – Using the core fragments, I pushed towards six- and seven-letter words like outlaw and lookout.

  4. Found the pangram – The breakthrough moment was piecing together walkout. Once I had this, the puzzle felt complete.

It’s always satisfying when the pangram clicks because it confirms that the day’s effort has paid off.

nyt word finders 20 aug 2025

Reflections on Today’s Puzzle

Compared to other days, this puzzle was moderately challenging. The letter W limited some combinations, but the inclusion of K and O allowed for creative connections. The puzzle also leaned toward less common words like kloof (a steep-sided valley), which added a nice twist.

If you’re practicing with Spelling Bee regularly, I recommend focusing on:

  • Letter pairs: Like “KL” and “TW” which often hide interesting words.

  • Prefixes/suffixes: “Out-” and “-low” gave me half the word list today.

  • Thinking visually: Sometimes imagining the letters as a crossword grid helps connections pop.

Buzzing Off with a Bang

Today’s pangram, WALKOUT, captured the essence of the puzzle: strong, clear, and rewarding once found. With around 30–35 playable words, the puzzle struck a nice balance between accessible and tricky.

For me, the highlight was uncovering unusual gems like kloof alongside more common words like lookout and outlaw. That’s what I love about the Spelling Bee—it sharpens your vocabulary while keeping the solving journey fun and surprising.

How many words did you find today? Did you spot walkout early, or did it take you a while like me? Let me know in the comments!

Best apps for Spelling Bee practice and pangrams

Tip for players: If you’re enjoying the Spelling Bee and want to practice daily, apps like Spelling Better can help you track progress, challenge friends in 1v1 word games, and even solve pangrams together. It makes the learning process just as fun as the Bee itself.

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