This site provides clues for a day's New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle. It exists to make it easier for Kevin Davis to take a day off. Most of the clues come from him. After a getting-up-to-speed period, I think I can put the clues together with up to half an hour's work.
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!). So the clues will cover root words, arranged alphabetically by root word, with a count of words in the puzzle that come from that 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.
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 Tweet to @donswartwout
| words | clue |
|---|---|
| 1 | Extreme pain |
| 1 | Put (fears) at rest |
| 1 | Two or more metals combined to make a new one, (brass, steel, etc.); noun/verb |
| 1 | Friend (person, country) who joins you for a common purpose in a conflict |
| 1 | Comparison (life is like a box of chocolates) |
| 1 | Irritate, vex, irk |
| 1 | Opening at the end of the alimentary canal through which solid waste matter leaves the body |
| 1 | Acknowledgement of regret (I owe him an…for my insult) |
| 1 | Submit your résumé (to a college or job), or be relevant (terms & conditions may…) |
| 1 | Said of a person who is tall, thin, and awkward |
| 1 | Homosexual (used especially of a man); lighthearted and carefree (dated) |
| 2 | Sticky and amorphous substance, typically something unpleasant (2 spellings) |
| 1 | Eye protector for swimming or skiing; or stare with wide & bulging eyes |
| 1 | Informal exclamation of surprise (part of Little Richard song title “Good…, Miss M…”) |
| 1 | Unfocused or rolling eyes, adj.; or cricket bowling variation |
| 1 | Black-footed albatross |
| 1 | Gwyneth Paltrow’s brand, or unpleasant messy gel |
| 1 | Fall behind; verb/noun |
| 1 | Sluggish, adj., or “study of” suffix |
| 2 | Dawdle, slang (ends in “mouth covering” synonym) |
| 1 | “Crazy” water bird on Canada $1 coin |
| 1 | Closed curve |
| 2 | Faithful, devoted |
| 1 | Annoy or irritate with persistent fault-finding or continuous urging |
| 1 | ♀ goat, or nursemaid |
| 1 | Synthetic stocking fabric |
| 1 | Pre-molded tooth restoration that covers chewing surface |
| 1 | Sole, nothing more (“I’m…human!”) |
| 1 | Splendid display; complete or impressive collection of things |
| 1 | Pontiff adj. |
| 1 | Tropical fruit with black seeds |
| 1 | Slang term for father or grandfather |
| 1 | Bribe paid to a radio DJ to air a particular song |
| 1 | Staged drama, or what kids do at recess |
| 1 | Cunning ruse |
| 2 | Geometric figure with an unspecified number of sides |
| 1 | Small growth on a stalk (in your colon, e.g.) |
| 1 | Yankee Doodle went riding into town on this small horse breed |
| 1 | Flower used to make opium or honor veterans |
| 1 | Traffic cone or endzone marker |
| 1 | Representing heaven, positivity, masculinity, and activity (Chinese philosopy) |
| 1 | Sharp, shrill bark; slang term for a person's mouth; Pacific island with giant coins |
| 1 | Bendy, meditative exercise on mats |