Bee Roots for 2025-07-04

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: C/EFINOT
  • Words: 61
  • Points: 404
  • Pangrams: 4
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, ...)
1CE41/100th of a dollar
1CI4Quote as evidence
1CO5Spherical or nearly spherical bacterium
1CO6Nest for butterfly larva, noun; or wrap up like one, verb
1CO11Numerical or constant quantity placed before and multiplying the variable in an algebraic expression, pangram
1CO6Hot drink from roasted & ground beans; you might get some at Starbucks
1CO6Burial box, noun; or put a dead person in a burial box, verb (past tense is a pangram)
1CO4Style someone’s hair, verb/noun
1CO4Metal $, noun; or come up with a new phrase, verb
1CO7Excessive pride in oneself
2CO7,10Create a mixed drink, potion, or wild story
2CO4,5Ice cream holder shape
1CO7Make something by putting together various elements
1CO10Dish or delicacy made with sweet ingredients, pangram
1CO8Small pieces of colored paper thrown during a celebration, pangram
1CO7Restrict in space, scope, quantity, or time (jailed, e.g.), past tense is a pangram
1CO6Duck or other meat cooked & preserved in its own fat, French
2CO7,10Join (4, perhaps?) things together, verb/noun, adj. form is a pangram
1CO7(of a word or fact) imply, verb
2CO7,10Peacefully happy or satisfied, adj.; or what’s included, noun (a book’s “Table of …s”)
1CO10Ability to control bowel movements or bladder functions
1CO9One of the world's seven main bodies of land
1CO4Foolish old ♂, or water bird
1CO6Kid’s imaginary germ, or a body louse
1CO4Dove shelter, NOT a jacket
1CO6Soft fabric or its plant source
1EC7Region of transition between 2 biological communities, starts with “green” prefix
1EF6Result of an action (cause & …), noun/verb, negated adjective form is a pangram
1EF9Achieving max productivity, or not wasteful (energy …), adj.
1EN6Tempt or lure by offering pleasure or advantage
1FE5Wall (white picket, chain-link), engage in swordplay, or deal in stolen goods; noun/verb
1FI7Book with made-up stories
1FO4Center of interest or activity, noun; adjust a camera to get a clear image, verb
2IC4,6Symbol (you tap on phone screen, e.g.), adverb form is a pangram
1IN12Ability to control bowel movements or bladder functions
1IN11One of the world's seven main bodies of land
1IN11Achieving max productivity, or not wasteful (energy …), adj.
1IN6Provoke unlawful behavior (… a riot)
2IN6,9Pass on a disease to someone, varb, adjective and noun forms are pangrams
2IN8,9Guiltless
1IO5Atom or molecule with a net electric charge
1NE6Person with non-traditional right-wing political views, slang abbr.
1NI4Pleasant in manner; or city in SE France
1NI8Addictive substance in tobacco
1NI5Your sibling’s daughter
1NO10Book with made-up stories
1NO5Literary word meaning “for the [time being]”
1NO6Become aware of, verb; or written announcement (board)
1OC5Group of 8 (musicians)
1OF6White-collar workplace with desks
1ON4A single time (they deliver … a week)
1TE8Earth plates that shift & cause quakes, adj.
1TI5Archaic for shade of color, seen now only in “–URE of iodine”
1TO5Carbonated water often mixed with gin

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