NYT Spelling Bee

[Langue_doc]

On the NYT Games twitter, I noticed it has a post about what's not allowed in the bee, including "anything too informal"... like wanna, gonna, dunno (was that in there)?

Haha! They haven't eliminated the words above, at least not in any of the recent bees. Do they still include the line about how they diligently "hand-curate" the words in the bee list?

[ab_grp]

On the NYT Games twitter, I noticed it has a post about what's not allowed in the bee, including "anything too informal"... like wanna, gonna, dunno (was that in there)?

Haha! They haven't eliminated the words above, at least not in any of the recent bees. Do they still include the line about how they diligently "hand-curate" the words in the bee list?

It was really just a link to a 2020 article about the bee with some bullet-point reminders about what is not included.  They do mention in that article that Sam is the curator and lends the human touch to it. 

"And yes, sometimes naughty words show up,” he continued. “If they’re really bad ones, I will just not use the word. But very often, there are infelicitous words that are unavoidable because their letters are so common. For example, ENEMA and DILDO happen to come up a lot. In cases like that, we usually just shrug and leave them off the official answer list."

I know that there was a while where enema was not accepted, but I didn't recall that about dildo.  I have reread this part several times and think my brain must be clunky.  These words do not appear to be in the category of so bad that he will not use them.  But he will also leave them off the official answer list.  It's unfortunately too late for coffee at this point, so I am not sure if any further clarity will come. 

Anyway, here's the tweet https://twitter.com/NYTGames/status/1618963533080707072 and attached article https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/crosswords/spellingbee-puzzles.html.  The specific rule about informal words is listed in the article as:

Nothing so informal that players might say, ‘That’s not really a word … ’

Well, I don't consider wanna, gonna, journo, photog, ... to be words.  I don't know.

[Langue_doc]

My beef with the bee is that there seems to be no rhyme or reason for deciding which words are acceptable, and which aren't. I too don't think that gonna, wanna, and other abbreviations which are used only in speaking (and not in writing) should be included in the list of acceptable words. I recall my surprise when I saw that dildo was accepted, but not coition. On the two occasions when I wrote to the bee about words that I thought should have been included I got the same five-paragraph blather of how they "hand-curate" the words, hence my disdain for the so-called rationale for choosing the word lists. There seem to be some contradictions between what Sam says and the words that are or aren't accepted by SB.

End of rant.

I have reread this part several times and think my brain must be clunky.

It isn't your brain, just the inconsistencies with the word choices and also the abrupt changes regarding a word's acceptability (see the discussion on attaint). One never knows what changes lie in wait for us!

ab_grp, hope the medical appointment went well. It must be a relief not to have to drive to hospital city.

[ciao_yall]

I have had my worst bee performance ever today. Normally I get to GWPABM. Today, with the grid and the 2LL I am still 1 point away from Genius!

[ab_grp]

Finally got a 2fer!

Ciao_yall, I feel ya.  It took me foreeever to get to genius, and I am totally stumped.  What other words (or "words") could possibly be in there?! Good luck!

Langue_doc, thanks! The appointment went fine, and he was able to negotiate cardiac rehab at home since he has already been doing a bunch of walking and has been through cardiac rehab before so understands the type of protocol.  He's thinking about getting a stationary bike.  I haven't been on a bike in years, so that sounds like a safe one to try! As for the curation, it's certainly subjective, though I guess it would be by definition to some extent.  I know that they have introduced some kinds of diverse or diversity panels for other NYT games but am not sure about the bee.  Maybe it would be good to have a bunch of people of various ages, backgrounds and cultures, etc. vote on which words to accept or not.  Of course it would still not make everyone happy, but at least it wouldn't be one young man (even a very intelligent one, it seems).

[ciao_yall]

QBwATHICG and I finally relented to making a list of words. Of course, as I was making my list, I entered ones that I didn't even notice should have been on today's bee! GAH!

LB railed-dumbfound.

As far as the Bee list goes, Sam was once on a podcast about the Bee and shared some background. Sam does have a team of editors. Apparently there is a methodological approach to seeing how frequently a word has appeared - as a newspaper, they have a media database so they can search for word usage.

Happy solving!

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

Got to genius plus with the pangram (first word for me, a little longer for husband) pretty easily today.  A nice change from yesterday! I had a few left when we compared but was proud to have remembered tantara.  I remember my first bee encounter with that word and looking it up only to find that it's a short form of taratantara and wondering why that's not accepted! We almost had team QB but needed help with nonart, which I think is nonsense.  I don't feel bad about missing that.  But I was also missing jinn(i) again and ninja.  I think that's it.  Well, it's a lot better than I thought I'd end up with.   And I remembered rotini, tortoni this time!

For LB, I got uniform-mandible.  Congrats on your 2fer, ciao_yall!

And thanks for sharing that about the podcast.  I don't think I heard that one.  If that infrastructure is in place, I don't think it's working as well as it could. 

Happy solving!

[cathwen]

Good afternoon!

I never did get back to the Bee yesterday and missed the following words:  initiator, nitro, nonart, notator, rotini, tantara, tantra, titration.  Today the pangram was the first word I saw, but I now have two words to go and am flummoxed.

LB:  I had inbound-dreamful.  I was skeptical of the second word, but it was accepted.  Lots of solutions this time!  I found a 2fer today also.

Happy puzzling!

[ciao_yall]

GwP and my new list of words is, so far, useless.

[Langue_doc]

Afternoon.

Didn't think I'd find today's pangram, but just did, which put me just above genius.

Missed nonart and a few other words yesterday. nonart?! The team of editors must be hand-curated otherwise they wouldn't come up with a list of words that defy logic and usage. I don't see words such as baht appearing frequently. I also don't see gonna, wanna, and their ilk being used in standard writing. ab_grp, I like your idea of having a team of editors that spans age, gender, and culture.

dumbfound/derail

Just got back from a bird walk, so don't think I'll be getting back to the bee. There's an entire crossword that needs to be tackled.

Happy solving!

[ab_grp]

Got to QBABM! Yay!

Still no huge luck on LB.  Congrats on your additional solutions, Langue_doc and cathwen, and on another today! 

Langue_doc, thanks for mentioning the crossword.  I had totally forgotten to complete it (and had barely started)! And yes, a hand-curated group may not be a big help in mitigating the effects of hand-curation of the list! Hope you enjoyed your bird walk.

[ciao_yall]

QB, needed a hint for paella. I think what gets me is the odd letter combinations like ae. LB skylight-topaz.

Happy solving!

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

Got to genius with the pangrams.  Yesterday I got to QBABM, and I think my final words included aleph, alpha.  Paella often gets me, too, ciao_yall!

And congrats on your 2fer! I had no luck.  I was a little surprised that a word was considered acceptable that some singers got some backlash for using recently.   

Another long call this afternoon, so I'm trying to get the afternoon deadline puzzles done ASAP.

Happy solving!

[cathwen]

Good afternoon!

Congratulations on QBABY, ab_grp!  I stumbled over both paella and palapa, words that I have gotten in the past.  Today I am at Beta with both pangrams. 

LB:  I also had skylight-topaz.  No 2fer yet today! 

Happy puzzling!

[Langue_doc]

Afternoon!

Pangrams (first two words) and just above genius. Managed to get to QB with palp--found the difficult words without much difficulty later in the afternoon.

Nursing a blister (result of long walks two days in a row wearing the same hiking boots). ab_grp, yes, the bird walk was quite interesting as I enjoyed not only seeing birds and having them pointed out to us, but also catching up with people I'd met in previous walks. Today's walk, with another organization, was also enjoyable, as here too I got to catch up with people I'd met on previous walks.

Happy solving!