Bee Roots for 2025-05-21

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: T/EKMNPU
  • Words: 33
  • Points: 133
  • Pangrams: 1
Source: The New 96.1

Table content

root #answers coveredanswer's first letterclue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...)
11EFriendly understanding between countries (French)
21KRetain (an item)
31KWell cared for, adj. (usually negative, which is a pangram)
41KBrightly colored, banded material made in Ghana
51MEncounter (I’m supposed to … him in the park)
61MInformal gathering of people, service to organize online groups that hold in-person events, compound
71MExperienced and trusted adviser, usually an older person
81MDispense justice (“… out punishment”), homophone of “animal flesh for consumption”
91MNot able to make sound, noun/verb
101MMixed-breed dog, slang
111PArchaic for “repressed,” now used as …-up frustration, adj.
121PAmerican football kick when the offense gives up; or flat-bottomed boat; or Irish £ (slang)
131PMarionette, but no strings (Elmo, e.g.)
141PHit a golf ball gently on the green
151TBe full or swarming with; homophone of Yankees group
161TAdolescent (…ager), or numbers 13–19
172TNative Am conical hut; Spelling Bee accepts 3 spellings
181TOffice worker fill-in, slang abbr.
191TEntice (as a donut to a dieter, e.g.), verb
201TSet of rooms within a house, or cheap multi-family bldg.
211TA principle or belief; or a Christopher Nolan time-travel film
221TShelter you sleep in while camping
231TSync the pitch of instruments before concerts
241TPeriodic car maintenance, compound (oil change, tire rotation, etc.)
251TPrivate instructor
261TBallet skirt, or S Afr Bishop Desmond
21URetain (an item)
31UWell cared for, adj. (usually negative, which is a pangram)
51UEncounter (I’m supposed to … him in the park)
91UNot able to make sound, noun/verb
231USync the pitch of instruments before concerts
271UCountless, slang (reasons, times, etc.)

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