Bee Roots for 2022-02-13

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/CEIMNX
  • Words: 41
  • Points: 179
  • Pangrams: 1
Source: pennington.com

Table content

  • with first two letters of answer and length
root #answers coveredanswer's first two lettersanswer's lengthclue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...)
21CE41/100th of a dollar
11CE6Powder mixed for concrete & mortar
31CI4Quote as evidence
61EM4Give off (radiation, signals)
41EM6Med that induces vomiting
51EM7Renowned (scholar); used with “domain” to mean gov property grab
81EN6Tempt or lure by offering pleasure or advantage
71EN7Friendly understanding between countries, French
81EN10Tempt or lure by offering pleasure or advantage
101EX4Leave, verb; the door by which you leave, noun
91EX6Cause strong feelings of enthusiasm
111EX6Degree, size, scope, or amount (… of damage, to some …)
121EX7(Of a species or volcano) has died out (gone…), adj.
91EX10Cause strong feelings of enthusiasm
131IM8About to happen (… demise, e.g.), adj.
141IN6Provoke unlawful behavior (… a riot)
151IN6Determined to do (I’m … on finishing this puzzle), adj.; or objective, noun
141IN10Provoke unlawful behavior (… a riot)
161IT4One thing as part of a set, 10 or fewer of these at an express register
171ME4Encounter (I’m supposed to … him in the park)
191ME4Dispense justice (“… out punishment”), homophone of “animal flesh for consumption”
181ME6Experienced and trusted adviser, usually an older person
211MI4Breath candy or its flavor or plant source, noun; or create coins, verb
221MI4Tiny tick, or very small amount (I'm a … testy today)
231MI4Catcher’s glove, or Sen. Romney
241MI6Fingerless winter glove for a kid or Sen. Bernie Sanders at inauguration
201MI7Imitative behavior, adj. (related to above & below words)
251NE4Word you hear when it’s your turn at the deli
271NI4Part of the day when it’s dark, slang spelling
261NI8One more than the number of holes on a golf course
281TE4Be full or swarming with; homophone of Yankees group
291TE4Adolescent (…ager), or numbers 13–19
321TE4Shelter you sleep in while camping
331TE4Short, written message sent by a mobile phone to another one
311TE5Recent Christopher Nolan time-travel film, or a principle or belief
301TE8Set of rooms within a house, or cheap multi-family bldg.
341TI4What clocks measure & display
361TI4Fork prong
371TI4Shade of color, noun; or darken car windows, verb
351TI5Archaic for shade of color, seen now only in “–URE of iodine”
381TI7Small songbirds; plural; starts with “breast” slang & ends in “3 blind” rodent

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.