Bee Roots for 2024-11-11

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: H/ADOPRT
  • Words: 33
  • Points: 137
  • Pangrams: 2
Source: Albuquerque Outdoors Magazine

Table content

root #answers coveredanswer's first letterclue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...)
11ABuddhist who has achieved nirvana; ends in “cap” synonym
21AInvertebrate animal, such as an insect, spider, or crustacean, pangram
31DThird person singular present of do (archaic)
41HDifficult; or opposite of soft
51HNoggin covering worn by construction workers (compound)
61HMotor vehicle with a rigid roof, compound pangram
71HAngelic stringed instrument, noun; or talk persistently and annoyingly about something, verb
81H♂ deer, not ♥
91HArchaic 3rd person singular present form of "possess" (Hell … no fury)
101HYoga type that pairs poses with breathing
111HCrystallized frost
121HAmass (money or valued objects) and hide or store away, verb/noun
131H“Little Red Riding …” noggin covering
141HColumn of weathered rocks, or black magic; rhyming word
151HO you jump through or spin around your waist (hula …)
161HUS Marine cheer word, each syllable pronounced separately
171HOwl sound, noun/verb
181HJewish circle dance (“The …”)
191HScary Steven King genre
201HAsian dish similar to fondue; AKA steamboat, compound
211HCar, usually American, that has been modified for more speed or acceleration, often by replacing the engine (compound)
221OVow or pledge (you’re under one in court testimony)
231PFlaky North Indian flatbread
241PWalking or bike trail
251PAncient Egyptian ruler (watch the vowel order!)
261P“Excellent” in hip-hop slang, NOT obese
271PPicture made using a camera: short form is more common in the Bee, long form is a pangram
281PChristopher Robbins’ Winnie The … Bear
291TPronoun for the other thing (this & …)
301TFront of neck, “Deep …” Watergate source
311TWhat you chew with
321T1st 5 books of Bible in scroll form for Jews
331TArchaic var. of “honesty”; you pledge your … in marriage vows

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