Bee Roots

Bee Roots for 2022-12-06

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

Letters: U/CDELOP

Words: 57

Points: 288

Pangrams: 3

Source: pngwing.com

Table content

with first two letters of answer and length

answers covered answer's first two letters answer's length clue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...)

1 CE 7 Prison “room,” or smallest unit of an organism

2 CL 5,7 Where rain comes from, noun/verb

2 CL 4,5 Hint, or what a detective seeks (Get a …!), noun/verb

1 CO 5 Cylindrical metal container, noun; be capable, verb, fire from a job (slang verb)

2 CO 7,8 Cooperate in a secret or unlawful way

1 CO 6 Deep ravine, or lava flow; from French “to flow” (Grand … Dam in WA)

1 CO 4 Sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government

1 CO 5 Car with a fixed roof, two doors, and a sloping rear

2 CO 6,7 Two people who are closely associated romantically or sexually, noun; or combine, verb; or have sex, verb

2 CU 6,7 Hold close for affection

1 CU 4 Something that signals an actor or other performer, noun/verb

2 CU 4,6 Remove unwanted from the herd

1 CU 6 Small bowl with a handle that you can drink from, noun/verb

2 DE 8,9 Two people who are closely associated romantically or sexually, noun; or combine, verb; or have sex, verb

2 DE 6,7 Draw a logical conclusion

2 DE 6,7 Believe true even when you know better

1 DE 5 A playing card with the number 2 on it (the … of spades), noun

2 DU 4,5 Slang for “guy” (Aerosmith “… Looks Like a Lady”), noun; dress up elaborately, verb

2 DU 4,6 Pistol fight at dawn

2 DU 4,6 Not shiny, adjective/verb

2 DU 4,5 Trick (… into)

1 DU 5 In music, rhythm based on two main beats to the measure

2 ED 5,6 Formal verb meaning to draw out something hidden

2 EL 5,6 Dodge, or fail to be grasped

1 LO 4 Sound at high volume

1 LO 5 Magnifying glass without a handle, homophone of curve that rejoins itself, noun

2 LU 4,6 Soothe (… into a false sense of security), verb; or a pause in activity, noun

1 LU 4 Doozy, or “To Sir With Love” singer

2 OC 7,8 Stop, close up, or obstruct an opening, orifice, or passage

1 PU 4 Dark red or purple-brown color

2 PU 6,7 Small pool of rainwater on the ground, noun/verb

2 PU 4,5 Literary for “whimper” (usually ends in –ING)

2 PU 4,6 Tug on, verb

2 PU 4,6 Soft, wet, shapeless mass (“… Fiction” film), or floating bits of fruit in orange juice, noun/verb

1 UP 5 Toward a higher place, position, or volume (turn … the music), adv./prep./adj./noun/verb

1 UP 4 Women's hairstyle in which the hair is swept up and fastened away from the face and neck

answers covered	answer's first two letters	answer's length	clue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...)
1	CE	7	Prison “room,” or smallest unit of an organism
2	CL	5,7	Where rain comes from, noun/verb
2	CL	4,5	Hint, or what a detective seeks (Get a …!), noun/verb
1	CO	5	Cylindrical metal container, noun; be capable, verb, fire from a job (slang verb)
2	CO	7,8	Cooperate in a secret or unlawful way
1	CO	6	Deep ravine, or lava flow; from French “to flow” (Grand … Dam in WA)
1	CO	4	Sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government
1	CO	5	Car with a fixed roof, two doors, and a sloping rear
2	CO	6,7	Two people who are closely associated romantically or sexually, noun; or combine, verb; or have sex, verb
2	CU	6,7	Hold close for affection
1	CU	4	Something that signals an actor or other performer, noun/verb
2	CU	4,6	Remove unwanted from the herd
1	CU	6	Small bowl with a handle that you can drink from, noun/verb
2	DE	8,9	Two people who are closely associated romantically or sexually, noun; or combine, verb; or have sex, verb
2	DE	6,7	Draw a logical conclusion
2	DE	6,7	Believe true even when you know better
1	DE	5	A playing card with the number 2 on it (the … of spades), noun
2	DU	4,5	Slang for “guy” (Aerosmith “… Looks Like a Lady”), noun; dress up elaborately, verb
2	DU	4,6	Pistol fight at dawn
2	DU	4,6	Not shiny, adjective/verb
2	DU	4,5	Trick (… into)
1	DU	5	In music, rhythm based on two main beats to the measure
2	ED	5,6	Formal verb meaning to draw out something hidden
2	EL	5,6	Dodge, or fail to be grasped
1	LO	4	Sound at high volume
1	LO	5	Magnifying glass without a handle, homophone of curve that rejoins itself, noun
2	LU	4,6	Soothe (… into a false sense of security), verb; or a pause in activity, noun
1	LU	4	Doozy, or “To Sir With Love” singer
2	OC	7,8	Stop, close up, or obstruct an opening, orifice, or passage
1	PU	4	Dark red or purple-brown color
2	PU	6,7	Small pool of rainwater on the ground, noun/verb
2	PU	4,5	Literary for “whimper” (usually ends in –ING)
2	PU	4,6	Tug on, verb
2	PU	4,6	Soft, wet, shapeless mass (“… Fiction” film), or floating bits of fruit in orange juice, noun/verb
1	UP	5	Toward a higher place, position, or volume (turn … the music), adv./prep./adj./noun/verb
1	UP	4	Women's hairstyle in which the hair is swept up and fastened away from the face and neck

About this site

This site provides clues for a day's New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle. It follows in Kevin Davis' footsteps. The original set of 4,500 clues came from him, and they still make up about three quarters of the current clue set.

The "Bee Roots" approach is to provide explicit clues for root words, not every word. 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