Bee Roots for 2025-06-15

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: L/ABCHIN
  • Words: 47
  • Points: 237
  • Pangrams: 2
Source: pngwing.com

Table content

root #answers coveredanswer's first letterclue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...)
11ACriminal’s excuse
21AYearly record book
31AOpening at the end of the alimentary canal through which solid waste matter leaves the body, adj. form also means uptight
43BDrunken celebration in honor of the Roman god of wine, fertility, and revelry, plural form is a pangram
51BRod-shaped microorganism
61BFee to avoid prison, noun; scoop water out of a ship, or abandon, verb
71BWhere Cinderella lost her slipper, noun; or squeeze or form into a spherical shape, verb/noun
81BUnoriginal, dull, noun form is a pangram
91BHoly book (starts with Genesis)
101BInvoice, or actor Murray, noun/verb
111BReveal a secret by indiscreet talk
121BDull, informal adj. or exclamation
131BWhiten or make pale; or flinch or go pale because of shock; or briefly immerse a food in boiling water
142BRussian pancake
341BLatin for lips, or lips of vagina
151CSecret political faction
161CJewish mysticism; usually starts with K
171CPhone, name, summon, or shout (out)
181CArum plant referred to as a lily
191CArtificial waterway (Erie, Suez, Panama …)
201CSomeone who eats human flesh
211CJewish Sabbath braided egg bread
221CHot pepper, or spicy meat stew (… con carne)
231CCool (in the fridge), or relax (… out)
241CS Am rodent with dense fur we use for clothing
251CShort microscopic hairlike vibrating structure found in large numbers on the surface of certain cells; (anatomy) eyelash
261CGroup of related (Scottish) families
271CSecure a victory (If they win today, the team will … a spot in the playoffs), or hug a boxing opponent to bind his arms; verb
283CMedical facility (health …)
291HFrozen rain “stone,” noun; or summon a taxi, verb
301HKosher in Islam
311HCorridor, or Let’s Make a Deal’s Monty
321HWhat Jack & Jill went up
331IHip bone
342LLatin for lips, or lips of vagina
352LNon-clerical
361LHawaiian porch or island
371LPut something down
381LPurple flower or shade
391NSpike that’s hammered, noun/verb

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