Bee Roots for 2024-07-26

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: R/CDNOTU
  • Words: 47
  • Points: 202
  • Pangrams: 2
Source: pngwing.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, ...)
1CO7Agreement or harmony among nations or other groups; adj. form is a pangram
1CO6Agree (I…with your opinion), verb
1CO6Large vulture like bird
1CO9Behavior, noun (disorderly …); or lead an orchestra, verb; or allow electricity to flow, verb
1CO7Twist or bend out of the normal shape
1CO7Outline, or mold into a specific shape designed to fit snugly, verb
1CO4Unit of firewood, or a string-like object (umbilical, vocal, electric …)
1CO6Line or circle of police, soldiers, or guards preventing access, noun/verb (they'll have to … off the building)
1CO4Veg on a cob
1CO5Where trials are held
1CR4Holey shoe, or alligator relative abbr.
1CR5Hum or sing in a soft, low voice, especially in a sentimental manner (think Sinatra or Bublé)
1CR7Dried bread cube on a salad
1CR4Yucky stuff
1CU4Casein-rich part of coagulated milk, used as the basis for cheese
1CU4Rudely brief, adj.
1DO6“Who” travels in a TARDIS, or physician + degree they & professors hold; adjective form of the degree is a pangram
1DO5Someone who gives (blood, organs, $)
1DO4Room or bldg. entrance
1DO4Gloomy appearance or manner
1NO12Behavior, noun (disorderly …); or lead an orchestra, verb; or allow electricity to flow, verb
1OC5Happen, exist, or come to mind (it never …-ed to me)
1OD4Bad smell (body …)
1OR7Full, round, and imposing voice; or pompous writing
1OU7opposite of inside the house, adj., compound
1OU5Closing show music (antonym begins with IN–)
1OU6Sprint more quickly or farther in a footrace than someone else, compound
1RO6Ornamental decorative style from the late Baroque
1RO5Musical form with recurring theme, often final movement of a piece, from Italian
1RO4Large crucifix above altar, anagram of bldg. entrance
1RO4Plant anchor that sucks up water
1RO5Device or blade that spins
1RO6Plump (Saint Nick might be called this)
1RO5Circular, adj.
1RO4Disorderly retreat, or decisive defeat
1RU6Slight error in rotating tool, compound
1RU4Smallest of the litter
1TO4Ripped, adj. or past participle
1TO4Bull, Spanish
1TO4Legal wrong, NOT pastry
1TO4Take a guided one of these in a foreign city (on a … bus?) adj/noun/verb
1TR4Step on; snake flag motto "Don't … on me"
1TR4Fast walking pace for horses or people
1TR5Common game fish (rainbow …, e.g.)
1TU4Change direction, verb/noun/adj. (use your … signal when driving!)
1TU7Number of people who show up at an event (we had a great … last night for our poetry reading), compound
1TU5Private instructor

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