- Letters: R/ACGINU
- Words: 71
- Points: 388
- Pangrams: 2
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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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| answers covered | answer's first two letters | answer's length | clue for root (answer may need prefix, suffix, tense change, alt spelling, ...) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AC | 8 | Make provision for a charge at the end of a financial period for work that has been done but not yet invoiced |
| 1 | AG | 4 | Seaweed gel used as food thickener & bacteria culture medium |
| 1 | AG | 8 | Relating to cultivation of land (an … society) |
| 1 | AI | 6 | What you breathe |
| 1 | AR | 8 | Deep-fried sicilian rice balls |
| 1 | AR | 6 | Part of the circumference of a circle or other curve, noun; or electric discharge between electrodes, noun; move with a curving trajectory, verb |
| 1 | AR | 6 | 1 of 2 classes in a tarot pack (major & minor), a mystery or deep secret, or specialized knowledge, noun |
| 1 | AR | 7 | Debate, verb |
| 1 | AR | 4 | Opera solo |
| 1 | AR | 6 | Yellow daisy used to treat bruises |
| 2 | AR | 7,10 | Call someone into court to answer an indictment |
| 1 | AR | 9 | Organize something |
| 2 | AU | 5,8 | Portend |
| 1 | AU | 4 | Supernatural glow encircling a person |
| 1 | CA | 5 | Pile of commemorative stones, or terrier (dog) breed |
| 1 | CA | 6 | Feel concern or interest, verb/noun |
| 1 | CI | 5 | Stogie |
| 1 | CI | 5 | “Around” when used before a year, Latin |
| 1 | CI | 5 | Cloud forming wispy streaks (“mare's tails”) at high altitude |
| 1 | CR | 4 | Steep or rugged cliff or rock face, Celtic |
| 1 | CR | 7 | Large, tall machine used for moving heavy objects, noun; stretch out one's body or neck in order to see something, verb |
| 1 | CR | 6 | Scientific name for skull |
| 1 | CR | 8 | Bend the head and/or body in fear or in a servile manner |
| 1 | CU | 6 | Heal someone, verb/noun; or preserve meat or fish by salting, drying, or smoking, verb |
| 1 | GA | 8 | Building for parking cars |
| 1 | GR | 7 | Simple elegance or refinement of movement, noun; Honor someone with your presence, verb |
| 2 | GR | 5,8 | Cereal crop used as food, wheat for example; pattern of fibers in wood, paper or fabric |
| 1 | GR | 4 | Parent’s mom, slang abbr. |
| 2 | GR | 4,8 | Smile broadly, verb/noun |
| 1 | GU | 4 | Cluster bean |
| 1 | GU | 4 | Indian spiritual teacher |
| 2 | IN | 5,9 | Become subject to (something unwelcome or unpleasant) as a result of one's own behavior or action (… debt) |
| 2 | IN | 7,10 | Firmly establish a habit or belief in someone |
| 1 | IN | 7 | Accustom someone to something unpleasant |
| 1 | IN | 8 | Transfer ashes to a ceramic receptacle after cremation (similar in construction to enhalo), verb |
| 1 | IN | 5 | Vase used for storing ashes |
| 1 | NA | 4 | Drug cop, slang |
| 1 | NI | 6 | Sushi consisting of a small ball of rice smeared with wasabi sauce and topped with raw fish or other seafood |
| 1 | RA | 6 | Grouping of people based on shared physical characteristics (regardless of …, creed, or color) |
| 1 | RA | 7 | An old piece of cloth used for cleaning, noun; or criticize or make fun of someone, verb |
| 1 | RA | 4 | Indian ♫ pattern used as basis for improv, starts with old cloth |
| 1 | RA | 6 | Extreme, violent, or uncontrolled anger, noun/verb |
| 1 | RA | 4 | Sauce made from tomatoes and ground or chopped meat, which is cooked for a long time, usually served with pasta (also a brand of Italian sauces sold in grocery stores) |
| 2 | RA | 4,7 | Liquid precipitation |
| 1 | RA | 7 | Area between a lower and upper limit, noun/verb; or a series of mountains, noun; or an area for grazing, noun (Home, home on the …, where the deer and the antelope play) |
| 1 | RA | 4 | Hindu queen, anagram of liquid precipitation |
| 1 | RA | 6 | Full of enthusiasm (… to go) |
| 1 | RA | 4 | Make a bell sound, verb/noun; encircle, verb/noun |
| 1 | RI | 6 | Swamp grass which is widely cultivated as a source of food, especially in Asia, noun; or force cooked potatoes or other vegetables through a sieve, verb |
| 1 | RI | 5 | Poison from castor beans, NOT a pilaf grain |
| 1 | RI | 7 | Make a boat ready for sailing by providing it with sails and rope (gerund form can also be a noun); or an apparatus for drilling or pumping oil |
| 2 | RI | 4,7 | Make a bell sound, verb/noun; encircle, verb/noun |
| 1 | RU | 4 | Make a bell sound, verb/noun; encircle, verb/noun |
| 1 | RU | 5 | Regret, verb; or perennial evergreen shrub with bitter strong-scented lobed leaves, noun |
| 2 | RU | 4,7 | Destroy, verb (eating snacks before dinner will … your appetite) |
| 1 | RU | 7 | Move fast on foot |
| 1 | RU | 5 | Letter of an ancient Germanic alphabet |
| 1 | UN | 8 | Feel concern or interest, verb/noun |
| 2 | UN | 5,9 | Make a boat ready for sailing by providing it with sails and rope (gerund form can also be a noun); or an apparatus for drilling or pumping oil |
| 1 | UR | 6 | Strong desire or impulse, noun/verb |
| 1 | UR | 4 | Medical adj. for pee (… acid) |
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