Bee Roots for 2024-07-14

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: I/CEJNOT
  • Words: 51
  • Points: 309
  • Pangrams: 2
Source: painscale.com

Table content

  • with first two letters of answer and length
answers coveredanswer's first two lettersanswer's lengthclue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...)
1CI4Quote as evidence
1CO5Spherical or nearly spherical bacterium
1CO4Metal $, noun; or come up with a new phrase, verb
1CO7Excessive pride in oneself
1CO10Create a mixed drink, potion, or wild story
1CO5Ice cream holder shape
1CO8combining all or both people or things involved, adjective
1CO10Join (4, perhaps?) things together, verb/noun
1CO10Peacefully happy or satisfied, adj.; or what’s included, noun (a book’s “Table of …s”)
1CO10Ability to control bowel movements or bladder functions
1CO9One of the world's seven main bodies of land
1CO6Kid’s imaginary germ, or a body louse
1CO7Link, connect (… in holy matrimony)
1EJ8Force or throw something out; escape from a disabled fighter plane
1EN6Legal term meaning to prohibit someone from doing something
1EN6Tempt or lure by offering pleasure or advantage
2IC4,6Symbol (you tap on phone screen, e.g.), adverb form is a pangram
1IN12Ability to control bowel movements or bladder functions
1IN11One of the world's seven main bodies of land
1IN6Provoke unlawful behavior (… a riot)
2IN6,9Introduce a liquid into a body using a syringe or similar device
1IN5Concave belly button, slang
2IN8,9Guiltless
2IN6,9Determined to do (I’m … on finishing this puzzle), adj.; or objective, noun
1IN4Enter (go … the room), preposition
1IN6Character of sound, a sound (dial or ring-); noun; give greater strength or firmness to a body or a muscle; verb
1IO5Atom or molecule with a net electric charge
2JI4,5Arabian air or flame spirit, portrayed as living in lamps & granting 3 wishes
1JO4Link, connect (… in holy matrimony)
1JO5Place where 2 bones connect & allow motion (knee, knuckle, e.g.)
1NI4Pleasant in manner; or city in SE France
1NI8Addictive substance in tobacco
1NI5Your sibling’s daughter
1NI4Number of justices on Supreme Court
1NI8One more than the number of holes on a golf course
1NI4Part of the day when it’s dark, slang spelling
1NO6Become aware of, verb; or written announcement (board)
1NO6Vague idea, or small sewing accessory
1ON5Veg that makes you cry when cut (for some, this is the "dreaded root veg")
1TE8Earth plates that shift & cause quakes, adj.
1TI5Archaic for shade of color, seen now only in “–URE of iodine”
1TI4Fork prong
1TI4Shade of color, noun; or darken car windows, verb
1TO5Carbonated water often mixed with gin
1TO7Annuity scheme where last survivor collects all
1TO6Canada $2 coin nickname derived from their $1 avian coin name

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.

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