- Letters: R/GIMNPU
- Words: 41
- Points: 229
- 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, ...) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GR | 4 | Forbidding, uninviting, humorless, depressing |
| 2 | 1 | GR | 4 | Smile broadly, verb/noun |
| 3 | 1 | GR | 4 | Grasp tightly, verb/noun |
| 5 | 1 | GR | 5 | Bad-tempered and irritable (or looking that way, like the late … Cat) |
| 4 | 1 | GR | 7 | Complain about something in a persistent, irritating way |
| 2 | 1 | GR | 8 | Smile broadly, verb/noun |
| 3 | 1 | GR | 8 | Grasp tightly, verb/noun |
| 5 | 1 | GR | 8 | Bad-tempered and irritable (or looking that way, like the late … Cat) |
| 6 | 1 | GU | 4 | Indian spiritual teacher |
| 30 | 1 | IN | 5 | Vase used for storing ashes |
| 7 | 1 | IN | 7 | Accustom someone to something unpleasant |
| 8 | 1 | IN | 8 | Transfer ashes to a ceramic receptacle after cremation (similar in construction to enhalo), verb |
| 10 | 1 | MI | 5 | Sweet Japanese cooking wine made from fermented rice |
| 9 | 1 | MI | 6 | Stretch of swampy ground, noun; or cause to be stuck in mud, verb; or figuratively, involve someone in a difficult situation that's hard to get out of, verb/noun |
| 11 | 1 | MU | 6 | Soft, indistinct sound (noun/verb) |
| 11 | 1 | MU | 9 | Soft, indistinct sound (noun/verb) |
| 12 | 1 | NI | 6 | Sushi consisting of a small ball of rice smeared with wasabi sauce and topped with raw fish or other seafood |
| 13 | 1 | PR | 4 | Self-righteously moralistic person |
| 14 | 1 | PR | 4 | Stiffly formal and respectable (… and proper) |
| 16 | 1 | PR | 5 | Spend time making minor adjustments to one's hair, makeup, or clothes |
| 15 | 1 | PR | 7 | Of the best possible quality; excellent (USDA … beef), adj.; or (math) a number divisible only by itself and one, adj./noun; or make something ready for use or action (… the pump) |
| 17 | 1 | PR | 7 | Cut back a plant to help it grow better, verb; or dried plum, noun |
| 16 | 1 | PR | 8 | Spend time making minor adjustments to one's hair, makeup, or clothes |
| 19 | 1 | PU | 4 | Happy cat rumbling sound |
| 18 | 1 | PU | 7 | Abrupt or violent removal of a group of people, noun/verb (Stalin's notorious …s) |
| 19 | 1 | PU | 7 | Happy cat rumbling sound |
| 22 | 1 | RI | 4 | Make a bell sound, verb/noun; encircle, verb/noun |
| 20 | 1 | RI | 7 | Make a boat ready for sailing by providing it with sails and rope (gerund form can also be a noun); or an apparatus for drilling or pumping oil |
| 21 | 1 | RI | 7 | The edge of a bowl or crater, noun; or act as an outer edge for something, verb |
| 22 | 1 | RI | 7 | Make a bell sound, verb/noun; encircle, verb/noun |
| 23 | 1 | RI | 7 | Tear or pull something quickly or forcibly, verb/noun |
| 22 | 1 | RU | 4 | Make a bell sound, verb/noun; encircle, verb/noun |
| 25 | 1 | RU | 4 | Destroy, verb (eating snacks before dinner will…your appetite) |
| 26 | 1 | RU | 4 | Butt |
| 24 | 1 | RU | 5 | Regret, verb; or perennial evergreen shrub with bitter strong-scented lobed leaves, noun |
| 25 | 1 | RU | 7 | Destroy, verb (eating snacks before dinner will…your appetite) |
| 27 | 1 | RU | 7 | Move fast on foot |
| 28 | 1 | UM | 8 | Baseball referee |
| 20 | 1 | UN | 5 | Make a boat ready for sailing by providing it with sails and rope (gerund form can also be a noun); or an apparatus for drilling or pumping oil |
| 20 | 1 | UN | 9 | Make a boat ready for sailing by providing it with sails and rope (gerund form can also be a noun); or an apparatus for drilling or pumping oil |
| 29 | 1 | UR | 6 | Strong desire or impulse, noun/verb |
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.