- Letters: T/ADINOP
- Words: 55
- Points: 284
- 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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| answers covered | answer's first two letters | answer's length | clue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | AD | 5,10 | Get used to a new situation, or modify for new use |
| 1 | AD | 8 | Math operation with plus (+) symbol, or new rooms that expand a house |
| 2 | AD | 5,8 | Legally take responsibility for someone else's child; choose to take up, follow, or use |
| 1 | AN | 6 | Ceremonially smear someone with oil, or designate as a successor |
| 1 | AN | 4 | Opposed to (prefix), NOT uncle’s wife nickname |
| 1 | AN | 10 | Write something, for example music, in a specialized system |
| 1 | AP | 7 | Assign someone to a job or role |
| 1 | AT | 6 | Succeed in getting, or reach; verb (… nirvana), noun form is a pangram |
| 1 | AT | 4 | Opposite of bottom |
| 1 | DA | 4 | Facts & stats, computer info, or Star Trek Next Gen android |
| 1 | DI | 4 | Archaic word whose only surviving use is “by [means] of” (hard work) |
| 1 | DI | 5 | “Same here” or “same as above” |
| 1 | DO | 8 | Give to a good cause |
| 1 | ID | 5 | Stupid person (village …) |
| 1 | IN | 5 | Not suitable or appropriate in the circumstances, adj. |
| 1 | IN | 10 | Cause to begin, or admit into a secret society; verb; or novice, noun |
| 1 | IN | 4 | Enter (go … the room), preposition |
| 1 | IN | 10 | Character of sound, a sound (dial or ring-); noun; give greater strength or firmness to a body or a muscle; verb |
| 1 | IO | 4 | 9th Greek letter, I; or extremely small amount |
| 1 | NA | 6 | Swimming or floating adj. from Latin |
| 1 | NA | 6 | Country, or temperance activist Carrie |
| 1 | NO | 8 | Write something, for example music, in a specialized system |
| 1 | NO | 6 | Vague idea, or small sewing accessory |
| 1 | ON | 4 | Preposition when mounting an animal or boarding a large vehicle |
| 1 | OP | 6 | Choice |
| 1 | PA | 5 | Latex or oil-based wall coating |
| 1 | PA | 6 | Term of respect for a Hindu scholar &/or priest, from Sanskrit; rhymes with masked “robber” word |
| 1 | PA | 4 | What a dog does when it’s hot, verb; or singular of trousers, noun |
| 1 | PA | 6 | Green film from aging on copper, or sheen on wood from polishing |
| 1 | PA | 5 | Outdoor terrace adjoining a house, from Spanish (… furniture) |
| 1 | PI | 6 | Stuffed añimal with toys & cañdy that you hit with a stick |
| 1 | PI | 5 | Wine grape variety |
| 1 | PI | 8 | Locate exactly, or sharp end of sewing fastener, compound |
| 1 | PI | 4 | 16 fluid oz., or typical UK beer serving |
| 1 | PI | 5 | Type of bean, horse, or Ford car |
| 1 | PI | 5 | Ground-dwelling bird that wags its tail & is named for its song |
| 1 | PI | 4 | Flat bread with a pocket, often dipped in hummus or filled with falafel |
| 1 | PI | 7 | Rhyming, usually hyphenated, adv. for rapid beating (my heart went …) |
| 1 | PI | 5 | Rock-climbing spike |
| 1 | PO | 5 | Indicate with finger, or end of sharp object |
| 1 | PO | 7 | Temp floating bridge; or cylinder full of air, two of which keep a type of slow boat afloat |
| 1 | PO | 6 | Spud |
| 1 | PO | 6 | Witch or mad scientist concoction; “love,” e.g. |
| 1 | TA | 5 | Smear of corruption or pollution, noun/verb |
| 1 | TA | 6 | Brown chemical in tea & wine used to preserve leather, noun |
| 1 | TA | 4 | Spanish bar snack (usually plural) |
| 1 | TA | 6 | Skin “ink” |
| 1 | TI | 4 | Shade of color, noun; or darken car windows, verb |
| 1 | TI | 6 | Rhyming compound adj. that means “of the very best quality” (in … condition), compound |
| 1 | TI | 5 | Pre-Olympic god, largest Saturn moon, or industry bigwig |
| 1 | TO | 4 | Frog cousin |
| 1 | TO | 4 | Animated film or character, slang abbr. (car…) |
| 1 | TO | 4 | Short horn sound; noun/verb |
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.
A few words can have one meaning as a suffixed form and another as a stand-alone word. EVENING, for example. In those cases I will use the meaning that I think is more common.
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