- Letters: P/ACIORT
- Words: 69
- Points: 345
- Pangrams: 3
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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, ...) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AI | 7 | Where you catch flights, compound |
| 1 | AP | 5 | Separately (… from that), or in pieces (taken …) |
| 1 | AP | 7 | Soviet admin system (…-chik) |
| 1 | AP | 7 | Soft juicy orange-yellow fruit with a pit, resembling a small peach, pangram |
| 1 | AT | 4 | Opposite of bottom |
| 1 | CA | 9 | Component in an electric circuit that stores charges for a little while, pangram |
| 1 | CA | 4 | Mafia boss, or moveable bar on a guitar |
| 1 | CA | 5 | Tight-fitting pants that end near the calf |
| 1 | CA | 6 | Someone who imprisons someone else |
| 1 | CA | 4 | Gefilte fish source, noun; or to complain (… about), verb |
| 1 | CA | 9 | Italian hors d'oeuvre consisting of thin slices of raw beef or fish served with a sauce |
| 1 | CA | 7 | Parking space with a roof next to your house |
| 1 | CA | 5 | Group of eight bones that form the wrist and part of the hand |
| 1 | CO | 4 | Chicken pen, noun; or confine in a small space, verb (…ed up) |
| 1 | CO | 5 | Usually hyphenated verb: take for your own use or for another purpose |
| 1 | CO | 7 | Collection of written texts, especially the entire works of a particular author |
| 1 | CR | 4 | Excrement, or something of extremely poor quality, noun/verb |
| 1 | CR | 4 | Plant grown for profit, noun; or cut off the edges of a picture, verb |
| 1 | OC | 6 | Aquatic animal with eight arms |
| 1 | OP | 5 | Relating to the eye (… nerve), med. adj. |
| 1 | PA | 4 | Formal agreement, treaty (don’t make one with the Devil) |
| 1 | PA | 4 | Twosome (socks, aces, e.g.) |
| 1 | PA | 4 | Father, slang |
| 1 | PA | 9 | Squad of soldiers who drop from planes; (…-er) |
| 1 | PA | 6 | Talking tropical bird, noun; or to mimic someone, verb |
| 1 | PA | 4 | Some but not all, or line combed into hair |
| 1 | PA | 7 | Musical suite of variations, usually for a solo instrument |
| 1 | PA | 5 | Outdoor terrace adjoining a house, from Spanish (… furniture) |
| 2 | PA | 7,9 | Person who vigorously supports their country & is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors (… Act or missile), adj. form is a pangram |
| 1 | PI | 4 | A printed type size, or medical condition that makes you want to eat non-foods |
| 1 | PI | 7 | Cooked in a sauce of lemon, parsley, & butter (chicken or veal …) |
| 1 | PI | 5 | One of a series of small ornamental loops forming an edge on ribbon or lace |
| 1 | PI | 5 | Ground-dwelling bird that wags its tail & is named for its song |
| 1 | PI | 7 | Someone from a ship that flies the Jolly Roger; sea thief, often depicted with an eye patch |
| 1 | PI | 4 | Flat bread with a pocket, often dipped in hummus or filled with falafel |
| 1 | PI | 7 | Rhyming, usually hyphenated, adv. for rapid beating (my heart went …) |
| 1 | PO | 4 | Tire out (I’m …ed); or defecate, slang verb/noun |
| 1 | PO | 4 | Lacking $, or worse than ideal |
| 1 | PO | 5 | Daddy |
| 1 | PO | 4 | Nautical “left,” harbor, or wine from Lisbon |
| 1 | PO | 7 | Roof supported by columns at regular intervals, typically attached as a porch to a building |
| 1 | PO | 8 | Depiction of someone on canvas (… artist, self …) |
| 1 | PO | 6 | Spud |
| 1 | PR | 4 | Brit slang for a fool or butt (“…fall”); similar to “Jurassic Park” actor Chris |
| 1 | PR | 7 | Penis adj.: resembling one, relating to ♂ sexuality, or having a persistently erect one; from Greek mythology |
| 1 | PR | 5 | Existing before in time, adj. (Sorry, I have a … engagement) |
| 1 | PR | 7 | Someone who monitors students taking an exam, noun/verb |
| 1 | PR | 4 | Support (… up), verb; on-stage object or ballot initiative abbr., noun |
| 1 | PR | 8 | Prolong (usually appears in past tense: the two countries were locked in a …ed conflict) |
| 1 | PR | 10 | Device for measuring angles |
| 1 | RA | 7 | Close relationship with good communications |
| 1 | RA | 4 | Fascinated, mesmerized; adj. |
| 1 | RA | 6 | Carnivorous bird (eagle, hawk, owl, vulture) or dinosaur (veloci-…) |
| 1 | RA | 7 | Device to catch large rodents, or a run-down place, compound |
| 1 | TA | 4 | Spanish bar snack (usually plural) |
| 1 | TA | 7 | Cassava root starch used in pudding & boba tea balls |
| 1 | TA | 5 | Animal similar in appearance to a pig, lives in Central & S America & SE Asia |
| 1 | TA | 7 | Central plant anchor that grows straight down (others branch off it) & sucks up water; compound; a carrot is one |
| 1 | TA | 4 | Waterproof sheet used as outdoor roof, abbr. |
| 1 | TI | 4 | Native Am conical hut; Spelling Bee accepts 3 spellings |
| 1 | TI | 6 | Rhyming compound adj. that means “of the very best quality” (in … condition), compound |
| 1 | TO | 7 | Lightweight jacket, or final layer of paint; compound |
| 1 | TO | 5 | Subject of a discussion (his ears must have been burning because he was the current … of conversation) |
| 1 | TO | 6 | Lethargy, not quite hibernation |
| 1 | TR | 4 | Device for catching things |
| 1 | TR | 4 | Journey, noun (you’ve won a … to Paris!), or stumble (… over your own 2 feet), verb |
| 1 | TR | 5 | Soldiers (usually plural), or unit of Boy or Girl Scouts |
| 1 | TR | 6 | Area near the equator |
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