Bee Roots for 2021-12-04

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. The TL;DR about the site comes after the table. The Halloween, 2021 redesign improved the usability, I hope.

Past clues are available here

Today's puzzle

Table content

root #answers coveredanswer's first two lettersanswer's lengthclue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...)
21EM4Give off (radiation, signals)
11EM7Renowned (scholar); used with “domain” to mean gov property grab
21EM8Give off (radiation, signals)
31GI5Slang for an easy answer, or a rude way of saying “hand it over!”
41IM8About to happen (… demise, e.g.), adj.
51IT4One thing as part of a set, 10 or fewer of these at an express register
51IT7One thing as part of a set, 10 or fewer of these at an express register
51IT9One thing as part of a set, 10 or fewer of these at an express register
61ME4Encounter (I’m supposed to … him in the park)
71ME4Viral internet funny image, noun/verb
91ME4Dispense justice (“… out punishment”), homophone of “animal flesh for consumption”
101ME4Mediterranean appetizer platter
101ME5Mediterranean appetizer platter
71ME6Viral internet funny image, noun/verb
81ME6Person who is trained by a guide (–EE suffix)
91ME6Dispense justice (“… out punishment”), homophone of “animal flesh for consumption”
61ME7Encounter (I’m supposed to … him in the park)
111MI4A person’s look or expression, NOT an average
121MI4Silent performer
131MI4Where you dig for ore, or anti-ship bomb
141MI4Smaller version (as in Cooper car), slang abbr.
171MI4Breath candy or its flavor or plant source, noun; or create coins, verb
181MI4Tiny tick, or very small amount (I'm a … testy today)
191MI4Catcher’s glove, or Sen. Romney
151MI51/60 dram, UK music ½ note, or calligraphy short vertical stroke
121MI6Silent performer
131MI6Where you dig for ore, or anti-ship bomb
201MI6Fingerless winter glove for a kid or Sen. Bernie Sanders at inauguration
211MI6Rearmost sail & mast on a ship
171MI7Breath candy or its flavor or plant source, noun; or create coins, verb
161MI8Smallest amount (the … bet at this table is $100)
161MI10Smallest amount (the … bet at this table is $100)
221TE4Be full or swarming with; homophone of Yankees group
221TE7Be full or swarming with; homophone of Yankees group
231TE8Set of rooms within a house, or cheap multi-family bldg.
241TI4What clocks measure & display
241TI6What clocks measure & display

About this site

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. There may be some startup problems, but long term I think I can put the clues together with no more than half an hour's work.

The "Bee Roots" approach is to provide explicit clues for root words, not every word. This is similar to what Kevin Davis does, but without information about parts of speech 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.

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

Many thanks to Kevin Davis, whose 4,500-word clue list made this possible.