- Letters: C/ANORTU
- Words: 69
- Points: 383
- 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 letter | answer's length | clue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | A | 7,10 | $ held for you, (bank, savings, checking…, e.g.) |
| 1 | A | 5 | Nut from an oak tree |
| 1 | A | 5 | Do something |
| 1 | A | 8 | Cause a machine to start up, or motivate a person |
| 1 | A | 6 | 1 of 2 classes in a tarot pack (major & minor), a mystery or deep secret, or specialized knowledge, noun |
| 1 | A | 4 | Musically, “with the bow,” or gas brand |
| 3 | A | 7,9,10 | Entice, lure, or evoke (… attention; opposites …), verb |
| 1 | A | 8 | Dictator with absolute power; the form of government characterized by this is a pangram |
| 1 | C | 5 | Bean source of Hershey Bars |
| 1 | C | 6 | Leggy French dance |
| 1 | C | 5 | Tropical “lily” |
| 1 | C | 6 | Wheeled artillery |
| 1 | C | 6 | “I am unable to do so,” formally |
| 1 | C | 5 | Nikon rival, or accepted (Church) lore, noun, adverb form is a pangram |
| 1 | C | 4 | Tilt, or “I am unable to do so” contraction; hypocritical and sanctimonious talk |
| 1 | C | 7 | Medium-length narrative music for voice & instruments, from Italian for “sung” |
| 1 | C | 6 | Swiss “state,” or upper inner corner of a flag (blue field with white stars here) |
| 1 | C | 6 | Someone who sings liturgical music in a synagogue |
| 1 | C | 5 | Unit of weight for gems, NOT bunny food |
| 1 | C | 6 | Orange veg that bunnies eat |
| 1 | C | 4 | Shopping trolley you push |
| 1 | C | 6 | Container (milk …) |
| 1 | C | 7 | Funny animated film |
| 1 | C | 8 | Eye cloudiness, or waterfall |
| 1 | C | 4 | Outdoor jacket (trench-…) |
| 1 | C | 4 | 1st part of popular soda brand name |
| 1 | C | 5 | Hot winter drink with marshmallows, or the powder it’s made from |
| 1 | C | 7 | Tropical fruit in Mounds & Piña Colada |
| 1 | C | 6 | Nest for butterfly larva, noun; or wrap up like one, verb |
| 1 | C | 7 | Create a mixed drink, potion, or wild story |
| 1 | C | 6 | Agree, verb (I … with your opinion) |
| 1 | C | 7 | Get in touch with, verb; or list of people’s numbers on your phone (if plural), noun |
| 1 | C | 7 | Twist or bend out of the normal shape |
| 1 | C | 7 | Outline, or mold into a specific shape designed to fit snugly, verb |
| 2 | C | 8,10 | Legally enforceable agreement, noun/verb; or shrink, verb |
| 1 | C | 4 | Foolish old ♂, or water bird |
| 1 | C | 4 | Veg on a cob |
| 1 | C | 6 | Upper part of the sun's atmosphere |
| 1 | C | 6 | Soft fabric or its plant source |
| 1 | C | 5 | Tally, verb; or title for Dracula & Monte Cristo, noun |
| 1 | C | 5 | Where trials are held |
| 1 | C | 4 | Holey shoe, or alligator relative abbr. |
| 1 | C | 5 | Hum or sing in a soft, low voice, especially in a sentimental manner (think Sinatra or Bublé) |
| 1 | C | 7 | Dried bread cube on a salad |
| 1 | C | 7 | Dutçh Çaribbean island, or blue liqueur with bitter orange peel |
| 1 | C | 7 | Keeper or custodian of a collection |
| 1 | C | 7 | Dried fruit similar to a raisin, NOT up to date |
| 1 | C | 4 | Rudely brief, adj. |
| 1 | C | 6 | Cardboard person (how you make one), or spy intermediary, compound |
| 1 | N | 4 | Drug cop, slang |
| 1 | N | 5 | Drug dealer, old-fashioned slang |
| 1 | O | 5 | Happen, exist, or come to mind (it never …-ed to me) |
| 1 | O | 6 | Arc of a circle that’s 1/8 of circumference, or obsolete navigation device |
| 1 | O | 4 | Killer “whale” |
| 1 | R | 7 | Mammal with a mask |
| 1 | R | 6 | Bitterness or resentfulness, especially when long-standing |
| 1 | R | 6 | Ornamental decorative style from the late Baroque |
| 1 | T | 4 | Mexican filled tortilla, or “… Bell” restaurant |
| 1 | T | 4 | Diplomacy, sensitivity |
| 1 | T | 7 | Virtuoso musical piece (Bach’s “… & Fugue in D Minor”) |
| 1 | T | 6 | Froot Loops mascot Sam; bird with large colorful beak |
| 1 | T | 5 | Large land area, or body passage (“digestive …”) |
| 1 | T | 7 | Farm vehicle for towing |
| 1 | T | 8 | Traitor/defector, compound pangram, starts with change of direction, ends in jacket synonym |
| 1 | U | 5 | Divide into pieces with a knife or other sharp implement, verb/noun |
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