- Letters: F/AGILNT
- Words: 50
- Points: 285
- 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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| root # | answers covered | answer's first letter | clue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | A | Legal term for someone who swears to a statement of fact |
| 2 | 1 | A | Officially attach or connect to an organization, verb/noun, gerund form is a pangram |
| 3 | 1 | A | Grass for hay, or Little Rascal |
| 4 | 1 | A | Anti-fascist group used as a scapegoat by the right |
| 5 | 2 | F | Don’t pass a test, negated gerund form is a pangram |
| 6 | 2 | F | Lose consciousness, verb; or barely perceptible, adj.; adv. form is a pangram |
| 7 | 2 | F | Autumn, noun; or plummet, verb |
| 8 | 1 | F | Device, manual or electrical, that moves air for cooling or drying, noun/verb; enthusiastic supporter of a sports team |
| 9 | 1 | F | Large sharp tooth, esp. of a dog, wolf, or vampire |
| 10 | 1 | F | With a backend in the shape of a device for moving air, compound (… pigeon, … shrimp) |
| 11 | 1 | F | Deadly, adj. (“… Attraction” film) |
| 12 | 1 | F | Destiny, kismet, 1 of 3 Greek goddesses who determine yours |
| 13 | 1 | F | Italian car brand (part of Chrysler/Stellantis), formal decree, or arbitrary order |
| 14 | 1 | F | Small flute used with a drum in military bands, noun/verb |
| 15 | 1 | F | Folder of related papers, or tool for smoothing edges (fingernails, e.g.), noun/verb |
| 16 | 1 | F | Of or due from a son or daughter, adj. |
| 17 | 2 | F | Add material until the container or hole is at capacity |
| 18 | 1 | F | Get something by devious or dishonest means, pangram (gerund form is NOT a pangram) |
| 19 | 1 | F | Last one (… exam, “… Countdown”); noun form meaning the state of being this way is a pangram |
| 20 | 1 | F | Impose a $ penalty (the judge …d him $100 for speeding) |
| 21 | 1 | F | Ornament at end or top of an object |
| 22 | 1 | F | Of suitable quality (all the news that's … to print), adj.; be of the right shape and size, verb/noun |
| 23 | 2 | F | Old Glory, noun; or mark for special attention, verb; or lose energy or enthusiasm, verb, negated gerund form is a pangram |
| 24 | 2 | F | Swing (arms) wildly |
| 25 | 1 | F | Caramel-topped custard |
| 26 | 1 | F | A projecting flat rim, collar, or rib, noun/verb |
| 27 | 1 | F | Having no depth or height (… as a pancake), or ♭ in music (opposite of ♯) |
| 28 | 1 | F | Die (informal), compound made from opposite of bumpy + straight path between two points, gerund form is a pangram |
| 29 | 2 | F | Throw forcefully (monkeys often … poop at spectators) |
| 30 | 1 | F | Michigan city with tainted water, or stone that makes sparks |
| 31 | 2 | F | Move swiftly & lightly, as a bird, e.g. (… about) |
| 32 | 1 | G | Stick with hook or barbed spear for fishing, or sailboat spar, NOT a social or speaking faux pas |
| 33 | 2 | G | A (wrapped?) present for someone (don't look a … horse in the mouth) |
| 17 | 1 | I | Add material until the container or hole is at capacity |
| 34 | 1 | I | Baby, noun; suffixed form meaning the state of acting like a baby is a pangram |
| 35 | 1 | I | Material that plugs a hole, noun; or build on vacant land in a dense city |
| 36 | 1 | I | Fill with air; make something appear larger than it is, gerund form is a pangram |
| 37 | 2 | L | Raise up (fork…), not Uber competitor |
| 38 | 1 | N | Inexperienced person (from French) |
| 39 | 1 | T | Petty quarrel, or computer image format |
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