NYT Spelling Bee

[ab_grp]

Congrats on the QBs, cathwen and ciao_yall!

Cathwen, I totally get speeding up the process when time is limited.  And, if you started the cleaning blitz and are making progress, sounds like quite an accomplishment to me! I always feel like I do all this cleaning because someone's coming over, but then I wish it were always that clean so that I could enjoy it myself.  Yet, I still do the same thing each time.  I guess it's like fixing up your house to sell it!

Got the sudokus out of the way without too much trouble, but I haven't had much luck at LB other than some contenders.  One more meeting that I have to actually participate in (but with friends), then back to it!

[Langue_doc]

Morning!

Genius with a pangram. Might not continue as it looks like a case of diminishing returns time-wise.

checkouts/serjeant; the latter was my misspelled sergeant, but was accepted all the same.

Happy solving, all!

cathwen, hope you have a nice visit with daughter and BF.

[cathwen]

Good morning!

Thanks for the good wishes, Langue_doc.  They arrive this evening, and we are both eager to see them again.

I am also at genius with the pangram, but I doubt that I'll have time to try to go much further, given all the last-minute bustling around I'll be doing today. 

Yesterday's LB was carjacks-southern, which is a less "clean" solution than the "official" one.  I have a 2fer today, also.

Ab_grp, I know what you mean about cleaning.  I hate it with a passion.  I am not one of those people whose joy is sparked by removing dust and dirt—just a grim sense of satisfaction.  It might be more joyous if things would just stay clean!  But no, before long, you have to do it all over again.  One of these days I will actually break down and hire a cleaning service once or twice a month. 

Anyway—enough venting.  Happy puzzling, everyone!

[ciao_yall]

Morning!

SB - Queen yesterday - bathtub was the last word when Shunn told me, after a process of elimination, that I was missing a 7-letter BA word that was a compound. Maybe I could have found it on my own but I was getting impatient, wondering if there was a "bee special" in there.

Genius with pangram this morning. cathwen I hear ya. There is that point when new words slow down and stop, my tricks stop working, and I wonder if I will find it on my own or am I looking for some weird bird or fish?

LB - jacks-southern, and 2fer already.

Fasting blood draw this morning then job search continues.

Cleaning - some friends of ours put on the disco music every Saturday morning and have a cleaning/dance party. Their place is spotless.

I have always been messy, and my husband is very neat. When we first started dating he would clean my place and I never really knew it. I wondered why it seemed I could go so long without cleaning.

He gave me a plant and would have to water and dust it. Well, I have other gifts, I guess.

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

I'm 4 words from QB but not at Alpha yet.  Sounds like Langue_doc and I are thinking similarly... I feel like I am just trying various combos of prefixes and suffixes, not many interesting words in there.  And I can't remember what I've tried, and there are some words that seem like they should have been accepted but weren't while there are others that I weren't sure were words but just tried.  Husband is past me, so he may make it.  We'll see where we get.  He is working at home today, off tomorrow, and hopefully no A/C or other emergencies, so hopefully we will have time to just relax and enjoy the puzzles a bit.  bathtub was the final word for both of us yesterday.  I saw it just before we were about to end a break, after trying all sorts of weird letter combos.  Geez.

For LB, I finally got coatchecks-sojourn.  Lots of different solutions again!

As for cleaning, neither my husband nor I are big on it.  We mostly just have a lot of clutter (books, etc.).  But thinks do seem to get dusty quickly here, and since we both have allergies I guess we would do better for ourselves if we did more keeping up with that.  I do feel good when I feel like some part of cleaning is "finished", but as we've discussed that doesn't really seem to happen often.  At one point, I printed a bunch of little 5-, 10-, 15-minute clean up lists for different rooms, but even that seemed like a lot to do.  As ciao_yall says, I guess at least we have other gifts! I love the music idea.  We do that while cooking, but maybe we could try it out while doing other domestic chores.  But then I have to change the songs when I want to hear something else, so...

Have a fantastic visit, cathwen! The anticipation and last-minute running around is a fun part of it, but don't wear yourself out before they get here! :-)

And good luck with the fasting (ugh!) blood draw and job search, ciao_yall.

Congrats on your 2fers already, cathwen and ciao_yall! I hope to follow in your footsteps.

Happy solving!

[Parasaurolophus]

I'm somewhere in early Beta today.

[ab_grp]

Hurrah, Parasaurolophus! Sending you cooling bee vibes!

[ciao_yall]

Getting close-ish. But it won't take words it seems it should. I suspect there are a few "bee specials" lurking around in there.

[ab_grp]

We finally compared and went to Shunn and got to impure team QB.  Ugh, not really a fun puzzle IMO.  I don't really think there were many (if any?) bee words in there, ciao_yall.  Lots of beekeeping and prefix/suffix combos.

Also realized the date, so happy Canada Day, Parasaurolophus!

[ciao_yall]

Finally hit the Wordplay blog for a few nudges. No "bee specials" really except one new word.

[cathwen]

Good morning!

No QBs for me yesterday, pure or impure.  I missed divvied and invitee.  Today I am at genius with pangram.  I did get unitive through random addition of the suffix -tive.

Yesterday's LB:  encrypt-toughie.  I found a 2fer today, too.

Youngest Daughter and Boyfriend arrived around 8:30pm last night from the West coast.  Today we head to Upstate NY to see her mother, stepfather (I am her stepmother), and stepfather's daughter, husband, and kids.  So, a large blended family gathering!  If I get any puzzling time, I'll be amazed. 

Anyway—happy puzzling, and congratulations on all victories!

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

I got to QBABM, but the pangram was my final word! Wasn't sure I would ever find it.  Husband is still searching.  I guessed unitive yesterday but don't remember what  my final words were.

Never did get an LB solution yesterday! Congrats on yours and on already getting one today, cathwen! And good luck on the bee if you get time! Hope you have a great trip and visit with the blended family.

Husband will be going to pick up a huge amount of BBQ, and we are going to eat in our PJs and watch a movie or two if I can keep my eyes open.  Hopefully this "day off" for him goes better than last week's!

Happy solving!

[ciao_yall]

Morning!

SB: New word -  unitive. But it wouldn't take unvetted or unvented? cathwen I also missed divvied and invitee yesterday until a nudge from Wordplay. Not quite "bee specials" but words that aren't top of mind. This morning, genius with pangram pretty quickly.

LB: Yesterday - encryption-nought and have a 2fer today with a word I guessed, but it took, so hey. Probably not the official solution.

[Langue_doc]

Morning/Afternoon(?)!

QB--found unitive because I was indiscriminately affixing -ive. The last word was one that I thought I had entered much earlier.

QB today--no difficult words; try compounds if you are stuck. The pangram was my second word.

cathwen, sounds like a happy family gathering, more so because of the travel and social restrictions that have been in place for over a year.

ab_grp, enjoy your lazing around in your jammies evening.

I had to get the usual oil change, inspection sticker, and have the service place attach my new registration inside the windshield. Takes an hour at least to get to the dealer/service place, and then had to wait for a couple of hours for them to decide if the car needed anything else. Traffic wasn't too bad, probably because of the forecast. So now I'm ready for my Fourth outing, where I'll have no internet, but will nevertheless have a good time with friends. I'm driving out tomorrow and will be back mid-week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for light traffic on what is usually a very heavily trafficked long drive because of the forecast and because I'm assuming that travelers might have already left for the weekend. I might get to do some of the puzzles, but might not post as I don't have my account set up on the phone.

Happy Fourth, y'all!

[ab_grp]

Thanks for the reminder about divvied, cathwen and ciao_yall! That was my last word yesterday.  I think intuitive was second-to-last for some reason.  I didn't understand why unenvied wasn't in there, and uninvite seems like common enough parlance compared to some slang they have in there.  Same with the words you mentioned.  Congrats on your 2fer!

Thanks, Langue_doc! We actually already started on BBQ in jammies with a late breakfast of various mini taco/burrito thingies and watched the opening part of the movie.  Will regroup in an hour or so to watch more and have lunch and then more for dinner later! I am so looking forward to brisket! I hope your trip goes well.  Talking about your registration/inspection stickers reminded me that I had to have my windshield replaced once after something hit my windshield like a bullet while I was driving.  Guy came to my house to do it but wouldn't move my stickers from my old windshield to new until I pretty much begged him.  Why should I have to go get new stickers? Criminy!! He obviously knows it's my windshield.  In any case, I hope your fourth outing is splendid and that you enjoy time with your friends.  Of course you will be missed!  Happy fourth!! And congrats on QB!

Got sudokus all done, so I just need to try to fit some Duo in between movie and BBQ action.  Haven't really looked at LB yet, though.