Bee Roots for 2022-07-19

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: I/ACDMNY
  • Words: 39
  • Points: 179
  • Pangrams: 1
Source: pngwing.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, ...)
21AC4Trendy smoothie berry
31AC4Below 7 on the pH scale (amino …, sulfuric …, hydrochloric …)
31AC5Below 7 on the pH scale (amino …, sulfuric …, hydrochloric …)
11AC6African or Australian wattle tree
31AC6Below 7 on the pH scale (amino …, sulfuric …, hydrochloric …)
41AD5Back office staff, slang abbr.
51AM4Surrounded by, preposition
61AN5Jungian term for inner ♀ part of ♂
81CA4♀ sleeveless undergarment top, slang abbr.
111CA5Member of the dog family, noun
71CA6Alligator with name similar to British Caribbean islands (George Town) (alt spelling is the same)
91CA6Unposed photo, or frank; adj. (Smile! You’re on “…Camera”)
101CA9Someone running for office or applying for a job
121CI6Noisy 17–year insect
131CY5Doubter, pessimist
141DY7Characterized by constant change, activity, or progress (IP address that’s not static, e.g.), pangram adj. (think explosives)
151IM4Prayer leader at mosque
161IN6Subspecies of cannabis plant
171IN7Bulk-mail postage stamp substitute, or other distinguishing mark
191MA48 of them were milking in a Xmas carol
201MA4Permanently injure
211MA4Primary (Street), adj.
222MA5Craze, noun (Beatle-…)
221MA6Craze, noun (Beatle-…)
181MA9Nut used in candy from Hawaii
231MI4Flaky rock that breaks off in sheets
251MI4Computer music protocol, calf-length skirt, or noon in French
271MI4Intention (I changed my …), noun; or dislike (I don’t … a little rain) or heed (… your manners), verb
281MI4Smaller version (as in Cooper car), slang abbr.
261MI5Parrot someone’s speaking & mannerisms, verb; or the person doing it, noun
301MI51/60 dram, UK music ½ note, or calligraphy short vertical stroke
241MI6Noon
311MI6Smallest amount (the … bet at this table is $100)
321MI6Jewish prayer quorum (10 people, traditionally ♂)
291MI7Small, handheld video-capturing device used by TV reporters
331NA5Greek water nymph, or dragonfly larva
351NI5Foolish or silly person
341NI6Vitamin B3

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.