Bee Roots for 2023-12-22

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: O/CGIJNU
  • Words: 31
  • Points: 167
  • Pangrams: 1
Source: pngwing.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, ...)
1CO5Spherical or nearly spherical bacterium
2CO6,9Nest for butterfly larva, noun; or wrap up like one, verb
2CO4,7Metal $, noun; or come up with a new phrase, verb
1CO7Swindle, verb; someone serving a prison sentence (noun, slang)
1CO5Ice cream holder shape
1CO6Soft murmur made by a dove or pigeon, noun/verb
2CO7,10Link, connect (… in holy matrimony)
1GO5Leave; move from one place to another
2GO4,7Orchestra chime or dinner bell
1GO4Ruffian
1GO7Make a groove with a sharp tool; overcharge (figurative)
2IC4,6Symbol (you tap on phone screen, e.g.), adverb form is a pangram
1IO5Atom or molecule with a net electric charge
1JI5Vociferous supporter of war, especially in the name of patriotism
1JO7Run at a slow pace for exercise (she went out for a …)
2JO4,7Link, connect (… in holy matrimony)
1JO8Jolt or bounce, gerund form is a pangram
1JU5North American songbird related to the buntings, with mainly gray and brown plumage
1NO6Head, slang (use your…), noun
1NO412:00, midday, 🕛
1NO4In grammar, a person, place or thing
1NU6Papal ambassador
1ON7Leave; move from one place to another
1ON5Veg that makes you cry when cut (for some, this is the "dreaded root veg")
1UN5Labor org. (Teamsters, AFL-CIO); or in math, what you get from putting sets together

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