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
Past clues are available here
| words | clue |
|---|---|
| 1 | Having the power, skill, means, or opportunity to do something, adj. (She was…to walk at 14 months) |
| 1 | (Bio term) 1 of 2 or more versions of a gene |
| 1 | Distribute (resources) for a particular purpose |
| 1 | Sunburn gel from “…vera” plant |
| 3 | Ask for a court ruling to be reversed, verb + adj. (can be done) + person against whom it’s filed (3 words) |
| 1 | 1 of these fruits a day keeps the doctor away |
| 1 | Talk rapidly in a foolish or excited way (like an infant); homophone of Genesis “Tower of…,” verb |
| 1 | Infant, slugger Ruth, or pig film |
| 1 | Genesis “Tower of…,” noun |
| 1 | Parcel of hay, or actor Christian |
| 1 | Fast jazz style (“Cowboy…” anime series) |
| 1 | Car horn sound, noun/verb |
| 1 | It rings |
| 1 | Southern pretty ♀ (Scarlett O'Hara, e.g.) |
| 1 | Cover a profanity with a sound (…out) |
| 1 | Type of “head” doll that nods when moved |
| 1 | Italian game similar to lawn bowling |
| 1 | Thick wire rope (...bridge), San Francisco trolley (...car), or insulated wire (power or USB...) |
| 1 | Phone, name, summon, or shout (out) |
| 1 | Fit to do or achieve a specified thing |
| 1 | Superhero back covering, or land that juts into water (…Cod) |
| 1 | Person who’s well-known, slang abbr. |
| 1 | Prison “room,” or smallest unit of an organism |
| 1 | Yo-Yo Ma’s instrument |
| 1 | Repair or make, especially shoes; make or put together roughly or hastily |
| 1 | Deal effectively with something difficult |
| 1 | Run away to marry |
| 1 | Fencing sword |
| 1 | Tag or sticky paper with info (Avery mailing…) |
| 1 | Frilly fabric, or shoestring |
| 1 | Jacket edge that’s folded back |
| 1 | Forceful jump (of faith?), noun/verb |
| 1 | Brain section, or part of ear most commonly pierced |
| 1 | Place where something happens (exotic...) |
| 1 | Run like a wolf, with bounding strides |
| 1 | Double reed orchestra-tuning instrument |
| 1 | Margarine |
| 2 | Walk back & forth anxiously |
| 1 | Spanish rice, saffron, & meat dish |
| 1 | Official residence of a sovereign, archbishop, or other exalted person |
| 1 | White-faced, NOT a bucket |
| 1 | So intense (a feeling or atmosphere) as to seem almost physical (a…sense of loss), or can be felt by touch |
| 2 | Tranquility |
| 1 | Repeated bell ringing or laughter |
| 1 | Small rock (…Beach golf course near Monterey, CA) |
| 2 | Skin of a fruit, noun; or to remove it, verb |
| 1 | Baby bird sound, Easter marshmallow, or a furtive look |
| 1 | Humanity, or celeb mag with annual “sexiest man” |
| 1 | A particular position or point in space, noun/verb |
| 1 | Harmless medicine or procedure prescribed for the psychological benefit of the patient |
| 1 | Urgent request (Mercy!), or court statement of guilt or innocence |
| 1 | Commoner, slang insult, from Latin |
| 1 | Military academy cadet, slang |
| 1 | What a firefighter slides down |
| 1 | Francis, Pius, etc. (head of Roman Catholic Church) |