Bee Roots for 2024-07-20

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: H/ACIORT
  • Words: 58
  • Points: 276
  • Pangrams: 3
Source: SoundCloud

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, ...)
1AC5What a sneeze sounds like
1AR4Curved span
1AR7No longer in use (words, e.g.), adj.
1AR5Buddhist who has achieved nirvana; ends in “cap” synonym
1AR9Swelling and tenderness of one or more joints
1AT6Fasten 2 things together, noun form is a pangram
1CA7Excessive buildup of mucus; sounds like feline + pirate sound; has double R
1CA5Intercept & hold (a fish, a thrown ball, e.g.)
1CA9The process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions
1CH4Spiced Indian tea (… latte)
1CH5Furniture for sitting
1CH7Complete disorder and confusion
1CH4Partially burn & blacken, verb; or trout-like fish
1CH7Horse-drawn two-wheeled vehicle (…s of Fire), pangram
1CH5Nautical map, or pictorial data representation (pie, bar …)
1CH4Informal conversation, noun or verb (online … room, group …)
1CH4Faddish “pet” mint plant
1CH4Fashionable
1CH5Girl, Spanish
1CH6Pretentious style (or almost 2x fashionable)
1CH4IOU note, Navy memo
1CH8Idle small talk; slang compound noun or verb that starts with a list word
1CH5Singing group (Mormon Tabernacle …)
1CO7Furniture for sitting
1CO5Athletic instructor or trainer, noun/verb; or bus, noun
1CO4Silver Pacific salmon
1CO6A sidekick, or Roman military unit of 6 centuries (1/10 legion)
1CR6Groin
1HA4“Age of Aquarius” ‘60s nude hippie rock musical, or what grows on your scalp
1HA7French name for navy bean, pangram
1HA4♂ deer, not ♥
1HA5Emerge from an egg, verb
1HA4Archaic 3rd person singular present form of "possess" (Hell … no fury)
1HA5Yoga type that pairs poses with breathing
1HI5“Psycho” director Alfred nickname, or slang for thumb a ride, verb; or device on a vehicle that allows it to attach a trailer, noun
1HO4Crystallized frost
1HO5Cheap liquor
1HO6US Marine cheer word, each syllable pronounced separately
1HO4Owl sound, noun/verb
1HO4Jewish circle dance (“The …”)
1HO8Milky drink made from ground almonds, tiger nuts, or rice
1HO6Scary Steven King genre
1IC5Greek gods’ blood; or wound seepage
1IT4What you scratch (an …)
1OA4Vow or pledge (you’re under one in court testimony)
1OR8Prescription shoe insert
1RH6English speaking style in which R before a consonant or at the end of a word is pronounced
1RI4Wealthy, adj.
1RO5Scurrying insect; often starts with COCK–
1TA4Dashboard engine RPM gauge abbr.
1TH4Pronoun for the other thing (this & …)
1TH6Straw roof covering
1TH8The part of your body between neck and abdomen
1TH6Front of neck, “Deep …” Watergate source
1TO5What you chew with
1TO51st 5 books of Bible in scroll form for Jews
1TO5“Tiki” flame holder
1TR5Archaic var. of “honesty”; you pledge your … in marriage vows

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