- Letters: O/AEGLTV
- Words: 50
- Points: 186
- Pangrams: 1
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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, ...) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AG | 4 | Very excited to hear or see something, adj. |
| 1 | AL | 5 | Apportion $ or other resource (time, e.g.) |
| 1 | AL | 4 | Sunburn gel from “… vera” plant |
| 1 | AL | 4 | Sax smaller than a tenor, or voice higher than one |
| 1 | AT | 5 | Coral island (Bikini, e.g.) |
| 1 | EV | 6 | Develop gradually (Darwin said that humans and apes …ed from a common ancestor), verb |
| 1 | GA | 6 | Slang for a clumsy or oafish person (“You big …”) |
| 1 | GA | 7 | Medium-paced French dance in quadruple meter, popular in the 18th century, marked by raising rather than sliding of the feet |
| 1 | GE | 6 | Italian ice cream; limone is my fav |
| 1 | GE | 6 | Add locational data to a photo, video, or social media post |
| 1 | GL | 5 | Be smug in your success or your opponent’s misfortune, verb |
| 1 | GL | 7 | Of a sound produced by the opening between the vocal folds; a … stop is the sound of the T in “cat,” e.g.; adj. |
| 1 | GL | 5 | Covering for your hand with fingers (fits like a …) |
| 1 | GO | 4 | Objective, or sport target or point |
| 1 | GO | 4 | Alt milk source (nannies, billies, & kids) |
| 1 | GO | 6 | Pointed beard |
| 1 | GO | 6 | Eye protector for swimming or skiing; or stare with wide & bulging eyes |
| 1 | GO | 6 | Popular web search site |
| 1 | GO | 6 | Large number (10¹⁰⁰), NOT a web search site |
| 1 | GO | 5 | Have to do so, slang contraction (I’ve … run) |
| 1 | LE | 6 | Musical direction indicating that the notes are to be played or sung smoothly & connected |
| 1 | LO | 4 | Theater section behind orchestra |
| 1 | LO | 4 | Company graphic symbol; Target’s is a red bullseye ◎ |
| 1 | LO | 4 | Hang out or droop, as a dog’s tongue |
| 1 | LO | 4 | Pirate treasure, noun; or to steal during a riot, verb |
| 1 | LO | 5 | State-sponsored numbers betting ticket (Powerball, e.g.) |
| 1 | LO | 6 | Large edible white-flowered plant of the parsley family |
| 1 | LO | 4 | The ♥ in I♥NY, or “zero” in tennis |
| 1 | OG | 4 | S–shaped line or molding, noun; or having a double continuous S–shaped curve, adj. |
| 1 | OG | 4 | Eye amorously |
| 1 | OL | 4 | Margarine |
| 1 | OV | 4 | Shape of a running track or 🥚, from Latin for “egg” |
| 1 | OV | 5 | Adjective for egg shape (biology) |
| 1 | TA | 6 | Skin “ink” |
| 1 | TE | 8 | Abstain from drinking alcohol (compound) |
| 1 | TO | 4 | Wrap worn in ancient Rome (… party) |
| 1 | TO | 6 | Key or command that switches between two modes, such as the caps lock key, noun/verb |
| 1 | TO | 4 | Road use fee (paid at a booth) |
| 1 | TO | 8 | Barrier across the road that raises when you pay the usage fee (compound) |
| 1 | TO | 4 | An implement (hammer & screwdriver, e.g.); often stored in a …box |
| 1 | TO | 4 | Short horn sound; noun/verb |
| 1 | TO | 6 | Drive or move in a leisurely manner, or play gently or repeatedly on a flute |
| 1 | TO | 5 | The whole amount (sum of numbers, e.g.) |
| 1 | TO | 4 | Reusable bag, noun; or schlep, verb |
| 1 | VE | 4 | Presidential rejection of a Congressional bill, noun/verb |
| 1 | VL | 4 | Personal website or social media account where a person regularly posts short videos, noun/verb |
| 1 | VO | 4 | Small burrowing rodent AKA field mouse |
| 1 | VO | 4 | Unit of electric potential (110 … socket) |
| 1 | VO | 7 | Electromotive force (… meter); in the US it’s 110 at a typical socket; pangram noun |
| 1 | VO | 4 | What you do on Election Day, 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