- Letters: A/CDKPRT
- Words: 43
- Points: 148
- Pangrams: 1
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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
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Table content
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| root # | answers covered | answer's first two letters | answer's length | clue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | AD | 5 | Get used to a new situation, or modify for new use |
| 2 | 1 | AP | 5 | Separately (… from that), or in pieces (taken …) |
| 3 | 1 | AP | 7 | Soviet admin system (…-chik) |
| 5 | 1 | AT | 5 | Flower oil for perfume |
| 4 | 1 | AT | 6 | Assault, noun (an enemy …) or verb (… the problem head-on) |
| 6 | 1 | AT | 7 | Entice, lure, or evoke (… attention; opposites …), verb |
| 8 | 1 | CA | 4 | Thing used to play poker & bridge, noun; or ask for ID as proof of age before entry, verbified noun |
| 9 | 1 | CA | 4 | Gefilte fish source, noun; or to complain (… about), verb |
| 11 | 1 | CA | 4 | Shopping trolley you push |
| 7 | 1 | CA | 5 | Unit of weight for gems, NOT bunny food |
| 10 | 1 | CA | 7 | British word for a lot or garage where you can pay to leave your car temporarily |
| 12 | 1 | CA | 8 | Eye cloudiness, or waterfall |
| 14 | 1 | CR | 4 | Excrement, or something of extremely poor quality, noun/verb |
| 13 | 1 | CR | 5 | Slang for cocaine you smoke, or fracture line, noun + adj. |
| 15 | 1 | DA | 4 | Absence of light |
| 16 | 1 | DA | 4 | Spike thrown at a board |
| 17 | 1 | DA | 4 | Facts & stats, computer info, or Star Trek Next Gen android |
| 18 | 1 | DR | 4 | Mild exclamation of annoyance used by cartoon villains, anagram of spike thrown at board |
| 20 | 1 | KA | 4 | Small racing vehicle (Go-…), NOT shopping basket |
| 7 | 1 | KA | 5 | Unit of weight for gems, NOT bunny food |
| 19 | 1 | KA | 5 | 10th Greek letter, popular in frat & sorority names |
| 21 | 1 | PA | 4 | Throw clothes into a suitcase, verb |
| 22 | 1 | PA | 4 | Formal agreement, treaty (don’t make one with the Devil) |
| 23 | 1 | PA | 4 | Father, slang |
| 24 | 1 | PA | 4 | Large public green area in a town, used for recreation (a walk in the …, or …s & rec), noun; or turn your car off and leave it temporarily, verb |
| 26 | 1 | PA | 4 | Some but not all, or line combed into hair |
| 25 | 1 | PA | 5 | Warm hooded coat, usually lined with fur or fake fur |
| 27 | 1 | PR | 4 | Brit slang for a fool or butt (“…fall”); similar to “Jurassic Park” actor Chris |
| 28 | 1 | RA | 4 | Frame used to lock up bikes, set up billiards balls, organize spices, or dry dishes, e.g. |
| 30 | 1 | RA | 4 | Fascinated, mesmerized; adj. |
| 29 | 1 | RA | 5 | Nickname of Cpl. O’Reilly in M.A.S.H., or Doppler weather sensor acronym |
| 31 | 1 | RA | 7 | Machine gun sound |
| 32 | 1 | RA | 7 | Device to catch large rodents, or a run-down place, compound |
| 33 | 1 | TA | 4 | Small nail (thumb…, carpet…), noun; use one, or sail into the wind, verb |
| 34 | 1 | TA | 4 | Diplomacy, sensitivity |
| 35 | 1 | TA | 4 | Spanish bar snack (usually plural) |
| 36 | 1 | TA | 4 | Waterproof sheet used as outdoor roof, abbr. |
| 37 | 1 | TA | 4 | Open filled pastry, noun; or sharp taste, adj. |
| 38 | 1 | TA | 6 | Fish sauce, or tooth buildup |
| 42 | 1 | TR | 4 | Device for catching things |
| 39 | 1 | TR | 5 | What people, cars, & horses race on |
| 41 | 1 | TR | 5 | Large land area, or body passage (“digestive …”) |
| 40 | 1 | TR | 8 | Alt name for computer touch input device (mouse substitute); compound pangram |
This site provides clues for a day's New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle. It follows in Kevin Davis' footsteps. The original set of 4,500 clues came from him, and they still make up about three quarters of the current clue set.
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!). 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