Bee Roots for 2025-03-09

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: M/AGELNT
  • Words: 72
  • Points: 345
  • Pangrams: 2
Source: pngwing.com

Table content

answers coveredanswer's first two lettersanswer's lengthclue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...)
1AG6Shine brightly, especially with reflected light, verb/noun
2AM7,10Mixture or blend (Ag/Hg dental fillings, e.g.)
1AM4Prayer-ending word
2EL7,9The periodic table is full of these (singular)
1EM7Flow or originate from (warmth from a fireplace, e.g.)
1EN6Opaque or semitransparent glassy substance applied to hard surfaces for ornament or as a protective coating; or the hard coating your teeth have
1EN5Rectal wash (Fleet, e.g.)
1EN10Commit to marry (with an …-ment ring)
1EN12Twist together into a confused mass, verb/noun, noun form with a prefix and suffix is a pangram
1GA4Competitive form of play (poker, soccer, Scrabble, etc.)
1GA6Bio term for mature reproductive cell (sperm, e.g.)
1GA5Γ, γ (3rd Greek letter), & shortest-length EM radiation (… rays)
2GE9,9Chivalrous, courteous, or honorable ♂, pangram
1GL4Movie star beauty & style; or women’s magazine, British spelling is a pangram
1GL5Shine brightly, especially with reflected light, verb/noun
1LA4Tibetan Buddhist monk (Dalai …)
1LA4Disabled or weak; esp. foot or leg, causing a limp
1LA6Song or poem expressing grief or sorrow, noun/verb
1LE5Math term for intermediate or helping theorem in a proof
1LL5S Am camel
1MA4Literary term for a wizard
1MA7Light purplish red
1MA5Hot fluid below Earth’s crust; lava before it’s erupted
1MA7Wealthy and influential person, especially in business
1MA6Metal that attracts materials such as iron, steel, or nickel
1MA4♂, the sex that produces sperm
1MA4Shopping center with many stores under one roof
1MA6Hammer with a large, usually wooden head, used especially for hitting a chisel
1MA4Convert grain for brewing (…–ed milk), noun/verb
2MA4,5♀ parent, slang
1MA6Vertebrate class that has hair, milk, & live birth
2MA6,10Administer (she got promoted to …ment)
1MA7Florida creature AKA “sea cow”
1MA4Hair on a horse or ♂ lion’s neck
1MA5Japanese graphic novels
1MA5Skin disease caused by mites, especially in dogs
1MA6Severely mutilate, disfigure, or damage
1MA5Exodus food from the sky
1MA5Ray (fish)
1MA6Shelf above a fireplace, where stockings traditionally hang at Christmas
1MA6The layer between the earth's crust and core
1MA4Fellow member (cast-…) or joint occupant (room-…)
1MA5Dull finish on paint or photos
1ME4Breakfast, lunch, or dinner
2ME4,5The average in math, noun; unkind, adj. (“… Girls”); or intend (I didn’t … to do it)
1ME4Animal flesh for consumption (beef, ham, etc.)
1ME4Encounter (I’m supposed to … him in the park)
1ME4Greek prefix for large, often used to mean 1 million
1ME7Mixture or medley
1ME5Confusing scuffle
1ME4What ice cream does when you leave it out of the freezer, verb
1ME4Viral internet funny image, noun/verb
1ME6Relating to the mind (He has … health issues)
1ME6Experienced and trusted adviser, usually an older person
1ME4Beyond prefix, greek
1ME5Hard but malleable material such as iron, steel, bronze, etc
1ME4Dispense justice (“… out punishment”), homophone of “animal flesh for consumption”
1ME6Person’s ability to cope with adversity (test your …), NOT iron or tin; noun
1NA4What you’re called (Kevin or Susan, e.g.)
1NA7Sticker you wear to identify yourself, compound
1TA6Mexican dish of seasoned meat wrapped in cornmeal dough and steamed or baked in corn husks
1TA4Not wild, adj./verb
1TE4Group of sports players (Yankees, e.g.), noun; … up, verb
1TE8A fellow player in the same group, compound
1TE4Be full or swarming with; homophone of Yankees group
1TE8Set of rooms within a house, or cheap multi-family bldg.

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