- Letters: V/AEILNT
- Words: 63
- Points: 338
- Pangrams: 2
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The table provides clues for the roots of words in today's NY Times Spelling Bee. You're responsible for prefixes, suffixes,
tense changes, plurals, doubling consonants before suffixes, and alternate spellings of roots. An exception:
since Sam won't allow S, when the root contains an S, the clue may be for a plural or suffixed form. "Mice" for example.
If a clue isn't self-explanatory, try googling it.
The TL;DR about the site comes after the table.
Past clues are available here |
Today's puzzle
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Table content
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| root # | answers covered | answer's first two letters | answer's length | clue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 1 | AL | 5 | Exist, verb; or not on tape (TV show), adj. |
| 1 | 1 | AL | 9 | Make suffering less severe |
| 2 | 1 | AN | 5 | Heavy block for metalworking |
| 3 | 1 | AT | 9 | State of listening carefully |
| 4 | 1 | AV | 5 | Make use of (… yourself of), or use (to no …) |
| 5 | 1 | AV | 5 | Bird-related adj. (...Flu, e.g.) |
| 6 | 1 | AV | 6 | Pilot or fly in a plane, verb (from Latin for bird) |
| 7 | 1 | EA | 4 | Roof overhang, NOT Adam’s mate |
| 9 | 1 | EL | 6 | Hour before noon |
| 8 | 1 | EL | 7 | Raise up, verb |
| 23 | 1 | EN | 7 | Exist, verb; or not on tape (TV show), adj. |
| 10 | 1 | EV | 4 | Number that can be divided by 2 without a remainder, or flat & smooth; adj.; or to make or become that (… out the edges) |
| 12 | 1 | EV | 4 | Wicked (ELO’s “… Woman”, Santana's "… Ways") |
| 11 | 1 | EV | 5 | Thing that happens (“When in the course of human…s”) |
| 14 | 1 | IN | 6 | Create something new (device, e.g.) |
| 15 | 1 | IN | 6 | Ask someone to a party |
| 15 | 1 | IN | 7 | Ask someone to a party |
| 14 | 1 | IN | 9 | Create something new (device, e.g.) |
| 13 | 1 | IN | 10 | Cause to begin, or admit into a secret society; verb; or novice, noun |
| 3 | 1 | IN | 11 | State of listening carefully |
| 16 | 1 | LA | 4 | Molten rock from a volcano |
| 17 | 1 | LA | 4 | Wash |
| 18 | 1 | LE | 5 | Depart, verb |
| 20 | 1 | LE | 5 | River embankment to prevent flooding |
| 21 | 1 | LE | 5 | Flat, adj.; or straightening tool with bubble, noun |
| 19 | 1 | LE | 6 | Cause to rise, as bread with yeast |
| 22 | 1 | LE | 8 | Rise or cause to rise and hover in the air |
| 23 | 1 | LI | 4 | Exist, verb; or not on tape (TV show), adj. |
| 23 | 1 | LI | 5 | Exist, verb; or not on tape (TV show), adj. |
| 27 | 1 | NA | 4 | Central part of a church building |
| 24 | 1 | NA | 5 | Showing a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgment |
| 26 | 1 | NA | 5 | Seafaring military force, adj., not belly button |
| 28 | 1 | NA | 5 | Belly button |
| 25 | 1 | NA | 6 | Associated with the place or circumstances of a person's birth |
| 24 | 1 | NA | 7 | Showing a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgment |
| 29 | 1 | TE | 9 | Not certain or fixed; provisional; or hesitant |
| 30 | 1 | TI | 8 | Spiff up (clothing or appearance), obscure verb |
| 31 | 1 | VA | 4 | Conceited (Carly Simon “You’re So…”) |
| 32 | 1 | VA | 4 | Low area of land between mountains (… of Tears) |
| 37 | 1 | VA | 4 | Device that shows wind direction |
| 34 | 1 | VA | 5 | Parking attendant, or one who helps you dress |
| 36 | 1 | VA | 5 | Device that controls passage of fluid or air (shut-off …, heart …) |
| 35 | 1 | VA | 7 | Possessing or showing courage or determination |
| 38 | 1 | VA | 7 | Flavor from beans of white (plain…) ice cream + chemical compound of that flavor, C₈H₈O₃ |
| 38 | 1 | VA | 8 | Flavor from beans of white (plain…) ice cream + chemical compound of that flavor, C₈H₈O₃ |
| 33 | 1 | VA | 9 | Sweetheart, especially on February 14 |
| 39 | 1 | VE | 4 | Calf meat (… Parmesan) |
| 40 | 1 | VE | 4 | Bride’s face covering |
| 41 | 1 | VE | 4 | Tube that returns blood to the heart |
| 46 | 1 | VE | 4 | Exhaust outlet (clothes dryer, e.g.), noun; or let out your frustrations, verb |
| 44 | 1 | VE | 5 | Corrupt (susceptible to bribery), adj. |
| 42 | 1 | VE | 6 | Soft fabric, developing antler cover, or Lou Reed’s “… Underground” rock band |
| 45 | 1 | VE | 6 | Catholic minor forgivable sin, adj. |
| 43 | 1 | VE | 9 | Soft cotton fabric, or a kid’s stuffed rabbit who wants to become real |
| 47 | 1 | VE | 9 | Cause air to enter and circulate freely in a room or building |
| 48 | 1 | VI | 4 | Small glass container (… of poison), NOT despicable |
| 49 | 1 | VI | 4 | Despicable, NOT a small glass container; adj. |
| 53 | 1 | VI | 4 | Climbing plant (Marvin Gaye “I Heard It Through The Grape…”) |
| 50 | 1 | VI | 5 | Large & luxurious country house (Roman …) |
| 54 | 1 | VI | 5 | Essential, or lively (… signs) |
| 51 | 1 | VI | 7 | Bad guy in a story (starts with above) |
| 55 | 1 | VI | 7 | Formal, obscure verb meaning spoil or impair; or legal term meaning destroy or annul the force & effect of an act or instrument; (also Star Wars Sith Emperor Tenebrae) |
| 52 | 1 | VI | 10 | 19–stanza poem made up of five tercets (3 stanzas) followed by a quatrain (4 stanzas), with two repeating rhymes and two refrains, from French |
This site provides clues for a day's New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle. It exists to make it easier for Kevin Davis to take a day off. Most of the clues come from him. There may be some startup problems, but long term I think I can put the clues together with no more than half an hour's work.
The "Bee Roots" approach is to provide explicit clues for root words, not every word. This is similar to what Kevin Davis does, but without information about parts of speech As logophiles, we are pretty good at putting on prefixes and suffixes, changing tense, and forming plurals (including Latin plurals!). The clues cover root words, arranged alphabetically by root word, with a count of words in the puzzle that come from each root. For example, if a puzzle includes ROAM and ROAMING, there will be a clue for ROAM and a count of 2. The root may not appear in the puzzle at all; for example, the 2021-07-23 Bee included ICED, DEICE, and DEICED. For such a puzzle, the clue would be for ICE with a word count of 3.
The Bee Roots approach involves judgement sometimes. For example, if a puzzle includes LOVE, LOVED, and LOVELY, how many roots are needed to cover them? LOVE and LOVED share the root LOVE, certainly, but LOVELY is tricky. LOVE is part of its etymology, but by now, the word means "exquisitely beautiful," which is a lot farther from the meaning of LOVE than swithcing to past tense. I'm inclined to treat LOVE and LOVELY as separate roots. You may not agree, which is fine. Another thing we logophiles share is a LOVE of arguing about words on Twitter.
One last complication, until another one pops up: a few roots have multiple spellings, for example LOLLYGAG and LALLYGAG. Depending on the day's letters, and maybe even the editor's whims, one or both could be in the puzzle's answer list. With such roots, you could see a word count of 2, even if there are no applicable prefixes or suffixes.
I will do my best to keep this site up to date and helpful (I hope). Check it out, and tweet feedback to @donswartwout Tweet to @donswartwout
Many thanks to Kevin Davis, whose 4,500-word clue list made this possible.