- Letters: I/ADLNOT
- Words: 59
- Points: 283
- 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 | 8,10 | Math operation with plus (+) symbol, or new rooms that expand a house, adj. form is a pangram |
| 1 | AI | 5 | Garlic mayonnaise, from French for garlic |
| 1 | AL | 4 | Illumination, noun/verb (Let there be …) |
| 1 | AN | 6 | Ceremonially smear someone with oil, or designate as a successor |
| 1 | AN | 4 | Opposed to (prefix), NOT uncle’s wife's nickname |
| 1 | AN | 5 | Atom or molecule with a net electric charge |
| 1 | AN | 10 | Write something, for example music, in a specialized system; or write comments in the margins of a book |
| 1 | AT | 6 | Succeed in getting, or reach; verb (… nirvana), noun form is a pangram |
| 1 | AT | 5 | Move into a sloping position, or fight windmills (… at) |
| 1 | DI | 4 | What you turn on a rotary phone or radio knob (don't touch that …!) |
| 1 | DI | 8 | Make wider or more open, noun form is a pangram |
| 1 | DI | 5 | Phallus-shaped sex toy |
| 1 | DI | 4 | Pickle spice |
| 1 | DI | 4 | Flintstones pet, or T. Rex family abbr. |
| 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 | ID | 4 | Punk rocker Billy; “American …” TV singing contest; or public figure you worship (…-ize) |
| 1 | IN | 7 | First (letter, as in J.R.R. Tolkien) |
| 1 | IN | 10 | Cause to begin, or admit into a secret society; verb; or novice, noun |
| 1 | IN | 6 | Not on the coast |
| 1 | IN | 6 | Decorate something by embedding pieces of a different material in it, flush with its surface, compound |
| 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 | LA | 5 | Hawaiian porch or island |
| 1 | LA | 7 | Sheep (wool) oil, used as skin moisturizer |
| 2 | LA | 4,4 | Put something down |
| 1 | LI | 4 | Singsong accent |
| 1 | LI | 4 | Dryer fluff |
| 1 | LI | 4 | Roaring animal that travels in a pride (… King) |
| 1 | LO | 4 | Sex organ region of body (fruit of my …s); anagram of “… King” animal |
| 1 | LO | 6 | Moisturizing or suntan cream |
| 1 | NA | 5 | Greek water nymph, or dragonfly larva |
| 1 | NA | 4 | Spike that’s hammered, noun/verb |
| 2 | NA | 6,8 | Country, or temperance activist Carrie |
| 1 | NO | 9 | 1 followed 30 zeroes; Latin 9 prefix |
| 1 | NO | 8 | Write something, for example music, in a specialized system; or write comments in the margins of a book |
| 1 | NO | 10 | Another word for margin comment (lop off 2 letters from the start of the other list word), or system of symbols (algebraic…) |
| 2 | NO | 6,8 | Vague idea, or small sewing accessory |
| 1 | OL | 4 | Mixture, or spicy Spanish stew, NOT margarine |
| 1 | ON | 5 | Veg that makes you cry when cut (for some, this is the "dreaded root veg") |
| 1 | TA | 4 | Dogs wag this hind appendage |
| 1 | TA | 5 | Smear of corruption or pollution, noun/verb |
| 1 | TA | 6 | Fringed prayer shawl |
| 1 | TA | 4 | Ankle bone |
| 1 | TA | 6 | Brown chemical in tea & wine used to preserve leather, noun |
| 1 | TI | 5 | Ocean ebb & flow at the beach, or laundry soap brand |
| 1 | TI | 4 | Cash register or drawer, noun; “up to,” preposition; or prep soil for planting, verb |
| 1 | TI | 4 | Move into a sloping position, or fight windmills (… at) |
| 1 | TI | 4 | Shade of color, noun; or darken car windows, verb |
| 1 | TI | 5 | Pre-Olympic god, largest Saturn moon, or industry bigwig |
| 1 | TI | 11 | Stimulate or excite, especially in a sexual way |
| 1 | TO | 4 | Work hard (… away, trying to find the last few Spelling Bee words) |
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