Bee Roots

Bee Roots for 2023-04-23

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: W/ADELON

Words: 60

Points: 274

Pangrams: 1

Source: Time

Table content

with first two letters of answer and length

answers covered answer's first two letters answer's length clue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...)

2 AL 5,7 Permit, verb

1 AN 4 Opposite of old

1 AW 4 Feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder, noun/verb

2 DA 6,7 Move slowly and idly

2 DA 4,6 1st appearance of light in the sky

1 DE 8 HBO historical western, part of a tree that is no longer alive, or something no longer useful, compound noun

1 DO 5 Connecting or supporting peg or rod

2 DO 4,6 ↓ elevator button you push to go to the lobby from a higher floor

2 DO 8,10 Copy a song, video, or app from the cloud to your computer or phone, compound, past tense is a pangram

2 DW 5,7 Reside at, or linger over a worry

2 EN 5,7 Bequeath $, or given by "Creator with unalienable Rights"

1 LA 4 Area of short, mown grass in a yard, garden, or park

1 LE 4 Obscene (behavior, usually)

1 LO 5 Opposite of high; sound made by cattle

1 LO 7 Slang compound adj. for mean & unfair (… dog), or noun for “inside info” (get the … on), compound

1 LO 7 Sunken terrain, or region of Scotland if plural, compound

1 NE 5 Supporting post on a staircase or railing

1 OW 4 Have an obligation to pay or repay

1 OW 5 Possess, verb; or something that belongs to you, pronoun (I got QB on my …)

1 WA 6 Compress something soft into a lump or ball (the kids were shooting spit …s in study hall)

2 WA 6,7 Walk with short steps and a clumsy swaying motion

2 WA 4,5 Walk in ankle-deep water

1 WA 4 Ridge on fabric (corduroy, e.g.) or a ship (gun-…), NOT large marine mammal, NOR a loud, unhappy sound from a baby

2 WA 4,6 Barrier between rooms, or Pink Floyd album ("The …")

2 WA 6,8 Roll around in mud, or indulge "in" emotion (misery, self-pity)

1 WA 4 What a magician, wizard, or TSA agent waves

2 WA 4,5 Decrease (esp. moon), NOT Batman alter ego Bruce

1 WA 5 “Would like to do,” slang contraction

1 WE 4 Archaic noun for that which is best for someone or something (common-…); remove –THY from end of rich synonym

2 WE 4,6 Taper someone off of, esp. mother’s milk

1 WE 6 Marry

2 WE 4,6 Unwanted plant, noun, or remove them from the garden, verb

2 WE 4,6 Join metal with a blowtorch

2 WE 4,6 Hole in the ground you draw water from

2 WE 4,6 Go, in a non-linear route; meander; (of person, river, path)

1 WO 5 Seek the favor or support of someone; or try to convince someone to marry you

3 WO 4,6,6 Forest (Pooh’s “100 acre …”) or tree flesh, noun

1 WO 8 Tree-covered terrain (…creatures), compound noun

2 WO 4,6 Warm, itchy knitted fabric made from sheep hair, noun/adj.

1 WO 5 Exclamanation expressing astonishment or admiration; or greatly impress someone, verb

answers covered	answer's first two letters	answer's length	clue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...)
2	AL	5,7	Permit, verb
1	AN	4	Opposite of old
1	AW	4	Feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder, noun/verb
2	DA	6,7	Move slowly and idly
2	DA	4,6	1st appearance of light in the sky
1	DE	8	HBO historical western, part of a tree that is no longer alive, or something no longer useful, compound noun
1	DO	5	Connecting or supporting peg or rod
2	DO	4,6	↓ elevator button you push to go to the lobby from a higher floor
2	DO	8,10	Copy a song, video, or app from the cloud to your computer or phone, compound, past tense is a pangram
2	DW	5,7	Reside at, or linger over a worry
2	EN	5,7	Bequeath $, or given by "Creator with unalienable Rights"
1	LA	4	Area of short, mown grass in a yard, garden, or park
1	LE	4	Obscene (behavior, usually)
1	LO	5	Opposite of high; sound made by cattle
1	LO	7	Slang compound adj. for mean & unfair (… dog), or noun for “inside info” (get the … on), compound
1	LO	7	Sunken terrain, or region of Scotland if plural, compound
1	NE	5	Supporting post on a staircase or railing
1	OW	4	Have an obligation to pay or repay
1	OW	5	Possess, verb; or something that belongs to you, pronoun (I got QB on my …)
1	WA	6	Compress something soft into a lump or ball (the kids were shooting spit …s in study hall)
2	WA	6,7	Walk with short steps and a clumsy swaying motion
2	WA	4,5	Walk in ankle-deep water
1	WA	4	Ridge on fabric (corduroy, e.g.) or a ship (gun-…), NOT large marine mammal, NOR a loud, unhappy sound from a baby
2	WA	4,6	Barrier between rooms, or Pink Floyd album ("The …")
2	WA	6,8	Roll around in mud, or indulge "in" emotion (misery, self-pity)
1	WA	4	What a magician, wizard, or TSA agent waves
2	WA	4,5	Decrease (esp. moon), NOT Batman alter ego Bruce
1	WA	5	“Would like to do,” slang contraction
1	WE	4	Archaic noun for that which is best for someone or something (common-…); remove –THY from end of rich synonym
2	WE	4,6	Taper someone off of, esp. mother’s milk
1	WE	6	Marry
2	WE	4,6	Unwanted plant, noun, or remove them from the garden, verb
2	WE	4,6	Join metal with a blowtorch
2	WE	4,6	Hole in the ground you draw water from
2	WE	4,6	Go, in a non-linear route; meander; (of person, river, path)
1	WO	5	Seek the favor or support of someone; or try to convince someone to marry you
3	WO	4,6,6	Forest (Pooh’s “100 acre …”) or tree flesh, noun
1	WO	8	Tree-covered terrain (…creatures), compound noun
2	WO	4,6	Warm, itchy knitted fabric made from sheep hair, noun/adj.
1	WO	5	Exclamanation expressing astonishment or admiration; or greatly impress someone, verb

About this site

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.

A few words can have one meaning as a suffixed form and another as a stand-alone word. EVENING, for example. In those cases I will use the meaning that I think is more common.

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