Bee Roots for 2023-05-28

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: F/DEINTU
  • Words: 56
  • Points: 329
  • Pangrams: 4
Source: americanprofile.com

Table content

  • with first two letters of answer and length
answers coveredanswer's first two lettersanswer's lengthclue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...)
2DE6,8Resist an attack or protect from harm
2DE6,7Give the meaning of a word, as a dictionary
1DE8Not vague or doubtful (plans, opinion, proof), adj.
1DE4Neatly skillful, quick & clever (… footwork)
1DE6Openly resist or refuse to obey
1DE7Treat someone or something as a god
2DE6,8A pool of $ (mutual, reserve…), noun; or provide $ for a particular purpose
1DI9Modest or shy because of a lack of self-confidence
1DU4Beer brand in “The Simpsons,” or actress Hilary of “A Cinderella Story”)
1ED7Instruct or improve someone, morally or intellectually
1EF6Pretentious, flowery, or weak, adj.
1FE4Give a meal to
2FE5,7Deceptive movement in sports (esp. swordplay), not "keel over"
2FE4,6Look after & provide for oneself, without any help from others
2FE4,5Honor lavishly, verb; from French for “party”
1FE5Extremely foul-smelling, adj.
2FE4,6Prolonged bitter quarrel, or “Family …” game show
1FE4What you cover with a sock
1FI4Medieval for feudal land or area of control; often has –DOM suffix
1FI5Devilish person, or slang for addict or fanatic
2FI4,5Small flute used with a drum in military bands, noun/verb
1FI7Quinceañera age
1FI6Flat appendage on the body of an aquatic animal (dorsal …)
1FI4Locate something that was lost, verb/noun
2FI4,5Impose a $ penalty (the judge …d him $100 for speeding)
1FI6Having limits (amount), not ∞, adj.
1FI8The state of having limits or bounds
1FI6Of suitable quality (all the news that's … to print), adj.; be of the right shape and size, verb/noun
2FU4,6A pool of $ (mutual, reserve…), noun; or provide $ for a particular purpose
1ID10Find out who or what someone or something is
1IN10Not vague or doubtful (plans, opinion, proof), adj.
1IN8Having limits (amount), not ∞, adj.
1IN10The state of having limits or bounds
1TE4Cereal grain from Ethiopia
1TI4Petty quarrel, or computer image format
1TU6Footstool or low seat (where Little Miss Muffet sat)
2TU4,6Clump of hair that sticks up
1UN10Resist an attack or protect from harm
1UN9Give the meaning of a word, as a dictionary
2UN5,8Of suitable quality (all the news that's … to print), adj.; be of the right shape and size, verb/noun
1UN8A pool of $ (mutual, reserve…), noun; or provide $ for a particular purpose
1UN12Find out who or what someone or something is
1UN5Malnourished expressed as a negative; ends in past tense of list word; adj.
1UN7Make into a whole (Prussia …ed Germany; physicists want a Grand …ed Theory)

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