NYT Spelling Bee

[ab_grp]

Good morning/afternoon!

I have four words left, not at Alpha yet.  Husband got to QBABH! I also tried puptent and was unhappy.  Yesterday wahine was our final word, which I guess Hawaii(an) helped prime, even though they weren't accepted.

Congrats on all your 2fers! I was so close with washtub(s) but couldn't get the mate.  And congrats on 2fers again today, cathwen and ciao_yall!

I hope you all have very happy NYE.  We will be keeping it low key again (not straying far from pjs for sure), though I need to get cracking on the pizza dough and sauce, which I haven't made in a while.  Youngest's boyfriend of 1.5 years broke up with her seemingly suddenly yesterday, so hopefully next year will be a better one all around.

Happy solving!

[Langue_doc]

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone!

One of the outdoors/conservation organizations usually has a New Year's Day walk in a state park. At the end of the walk, there's plenty of good food and wine/champagne. This year, the walk is on, but we were advised to bring snacks to eat on the walk and that the restrooms might not be open, so no indoor gathering/socialization/champagne/food. I was planning to go this year but with the forecast for rain tomorrow and the alarming number of covid cases, it makes sense to stay home.

As you've probably read in the news, there's been an upsurge in the number of cases and hospitalizations and no guidance whatsoever on what to do other than to stand in long lines to be tested. I'm staying out of the subway and other public places until at least the middle of the month, as the numbers are only going to go up and not down.

Sorry to hear about your youngest, ab_grp. This is not a good time of the year to break up.

Hope the coming year is good to us all!

[Parasaurolophus]

GWP this morning.

[ab_grp]

Thanks about youngest, Langue_doc! A complicating factor is that he lives two doors down from her mom, and she's over there until Sunday.  Luckily, it's raining, so hopefully she can stay in and watch some movies and heal a bit.  Definitely never an easy thing.

And it's a shame to miss the walk, but if they are so limited, no champagne, no good food offered, and possibly no restrooms, plus rain and pandemic... I hope you get to make up for some of these missed experiences in the new year, at least.

[cathwen]

Good morning, and Happy New Year!

(At least, I hope it will be happy, or happier than the two previous years.)

Beta with both pangrams this morning, and a 2fer.  Yesterday my last word was umpteen. 

LB:  I had factotum-mightier.

Ab_grp, I'm sorry to hear about your daughter.  Breakups are so hard, and there is nothing one can do except offer an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on.  A day of movies or TV sounds like a good way to spend the day.

Ciao_yall, how was your dinner party?  You are the dinner party queen!

Langue_doc, that is really too bad about the walk.  Staying away seemed like the best option, given the circumstances.

We went to the first New Year's party we've been to in years.  It was a small gathering (all of us covid-tested that morning, and all are triple-vaxxed) consisting mainly of people in the choral group my husband and the hostess belong to.  (The hostess is also my physical therapist, and I was in particularly good form, walking without a cane and without a limp until the end).  I frankly was not looking forward to being out so late, but we had a very good time. 

Anyway...happy puzzling!

[Langue_doc]

Happy New Year!

Pangram and above genius; might or might not get to the rest of the words as the crossword needs to be completed.

Last word yesterday was unpen.

cathwen, we have the same LB solution. Glad to hear that you were able to walk without a cane and without limping. Hope your progress continues and that you can walk long distances soon.

When I lived in Philly, we used to go to the annual New Year's Eve party hosted by friends. Good company (one of the guests at the first party ended up becoming a good friend) good food, and a good way to start the new year.

It's been a rainy Christmas and a rainy New Year. It's been raining and/or drizzling since morning. I can now hear foghorns so it must be foggy as well not too far away. On one of our walks during my Christmas visit, I was surprised to see straggly forsythias on people's hedges. This is a town further north, so I was even more surprised to hear that the forsythias had started blooming in November. Here's hoping that the new year brings some semblance of normalcy.

[ab_grp]

Good morning/afternoon and Happy New Year!

I have four more words to QB and managed to get to Alpha.  My last words yesterday, unbelievably, were putt, mutt.  I do not know what was happening with my brain that I couldn't find them without help.

No luck on LB despite many contenders and trying off and on all night.  Congrats on your 2fers! I think your co-solution was better than the schmofficial one.  And congrats again today, cathwen! And thanks for the kind thoughts for my daughter.  I'm so glad you were able to get around so well at the party!

I was dreading the Saturday crossword, but it wasn't too bad.  NW was hardest for me, same as yesterday.

I was thinking fondly last night of all the NYE parties I went to for years at a friend's farmhouse.  They were so much fun with so many good friends.  And I wondered how I stayed up so late! All night! We made it to about 1:30 AM last night to finish the movie we were watching, and my brother decided to be a pain in the neck about Bob Odenkirk, so we had a text war for a bit.  Maybe too much wine was involved.  I oversalted the pizza.  :-( We watched a replay of the ball drop.  I had sent in a wish to the wishing wall, so hopefully it is manifested into the universe.  And we decided to put off eggnog French toast until tomorrow and have the leftover banana pancakes this morning.  It's rainy here as well, so they were yummy and welcome.

Happy solving!

[ciao_yall]

Morning!

QBwG. Well, one word short so I went to the 2LL. Last word, which I thought I had already gotten, was unpen.

LB - fumigate-eachother. Perfect for these "unprecedented times" (eyeroll.)

cathwen, thank you for asking. Went well! Getting my groove back. Told husband I want to entertain more often. Leftovers for days, now...

Happy solving!

[ab_grp]

Got a 2fer! That means that I have gotten a 2fer every day of 2022.  Woot!

Glad your party went well, ciao_yall! You sound like a fabulous hostess.

[ciao_yall]

GwP and 2fer!

I love having dinner parties. Husband doesn't enjoy hosting so if it were up to me I'd have people over at least once a week. But that'd kill him.

[ab_grp]

Congrats, ciao_yall! And I hope that you get to enjoy more dinner parties in the new year than you probably did in 2021.

I finally got to QBABM! That was quite a slog toward the end.  Husband has three words left.  There are a couple that I had to guess at, so those may be among the ones he's missing.

[cathwen]

Good morning!

My last word yesterday was morocco.  Congratulations on QBABY, ab_grp! 

This morning I got to QB, but needed a hint for the last word—something I would never have gotten.

LB:  I had the "official" jumpshot-trick.  I have a 2fer today also. 

Happy puzzling! 

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

I think I have four words left but am not at Alpha yet.  Crossword took a while.  Congrats on your QB, cathwen, and thanks! My final word yesterday was rancor.  I got morocco just by trying it, figuring I will try all "proper" nouns at this point.  I was glad to remember cayman!

I also had the schmofficial LB solution yesterday.  Congrats on another one today, cathwen!

Happy solving!

[ciao_yall]

Morning!

QBWATHICG - last word was morocco. New one for me.

jumpshot-trick - nothing else?

Happy puzzling and solving!

[Langue_doc]

Afternoon!

Found the pangram and got to above genius early morning, and then went back to sleep.

Morocco was one of the first words yesterday--this is a familiar word as I recall references to morocco leather and other status symbol accessories in the stories and novels I used to read.

I didn't have the time or the energy to get back to the puzzles yesterday, after the morning stint. It was quite liberating not to be on someone else's schedule. I might not have any time today either other than to look at the crossword.

This is the weekend to just laze and talk to family and friends on the phone.