NYT Spelling Bee

[ciao_yall]

QB - 2... Shunn gave a nudge for 2 and I know which ones I am missing.

ETA: Went to Wordplay blog for nudges for the last two. One I might have gotten eventually, or maybe not. The other was a headsmacker.

[Parasaurolophus]

Made my way into Beta again today.

[ciao_yall]

Morning!

Congrats on Beta,  Parasaurolophus!

SB: Last two words from Wordplay for mononym (may never have guessed that on my own) and eggnog ARGH!

LB: crowl-liquidate. I just guessed at crowl and it took - turns out it's an Irish/Scottish term for dwarf/stunt. I would have had crewel-liquidator b4ss.

Not started yet. Long hike planned for today so not sure how much progress will be made on puzzles.

Happy solving!

[ab_grp]

Good morning/afternoon!

I think I have 6 more words left to QB but am pretty sure we will be Shunning, as we are both stumped (and husband has 11 more to go).  Not at Alpha yet, 6 points away from that.  The crossword took a while, with the top left being a sticking point for both of us.

Congrats on your 2fer, ciao_yall! I had a bunch of contenders but no luck.  Have fun on your hike.

Congrats on getting to beta, Parasaurolophus!

Happy solving!

[Parasaurolophus]

Made it again! Now for LB.

[cathwen]

Good afternoon!

Having a lovely time on the shore of one of the Finger Lakes.  I'm now sitting in an Adirondack chair on a dock by the lake and feeling very mellow. 

Yesterday's SB was at QB-1; I missed eggnog.  Today I am seven words short of QB, and doubt that I'll get them by the end of the day. 

LB yesterday was the same as the "official" answer.  I found a 2fer this afternoon, against all expectations (I thought this was a hard one!).

Congratulations to the QBs, Betas, and 2fers!  Happy puzzling, and enjoy the weekend!

[ab_grp]

Well, now I'm one word from QB, but I haven't had any luck.  Waiting for husband to get to Alpha before comparing, and he is close.

Congrats on getting there again, Parasaurolophus!

It sounds as though you are having a lovely, restful trip, cathwen! And you have gotten pretty far on the bee given the peaceful surroundings! It has been a slog.  Good luck if you try more on it, and congrats on your 2fer! It sounds like a rough one today.

Got sudokus done.  It seemed like medium was harder than hard for some reason.  Time for Duo, some LB attempts, then back to the bee.

[ciao_yall]

Morning!

Yesterday went hiking and someone in the group turned out to be another SB-er! We compared lists but were still at Genius, and a ways away from Queen so I turned her on to Shunn and the Wordplay blog. She tsked about "cheating" but I learned a new word adenine which she helped me spell, and later after I got home I hit Queen with words I thought I had but didn't. That's what happens when the word lists get that long!

LB - cornflower-rajahs which was the schmofficial solution. I was just guessing that you could spell rajah with an h. A good reminder to be bold!

ab_grp yes that top left corner in Saturday's crossword was also the last to go. Finally had to Google the Verdi opera and was able to connect the rest of the dots.

cathwen Don't forget to enjoy the view from beyond your gizmo!

Parasaurolophus Welcome to LB!

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

Just got QBABM! I didn't think that was going to happen.  I had gotten lucky in that I saw a Nextdoor posting that I mentioned to my husband that spurred that "isn't there something like...", and I looked it up and found out that there was a similar word but it wasn't what I thought.  So I guess it's sort of impure.  I think that was the only word that was kind of tough (for me, but I would guess not for some others here...).

That's so cool that you met another SBer on your hike, ciao_yall! I guess everyone has their rules for what is allowed or what they will turn to at various points of solving.  It was a really long list, a lot of beekeeping.  We eventually compared, and I just figured out nannied (ugh!), and husband I think had only past tenses of a couple words that he was missing.  Just too long of a list.  I think he was also missing adenine, though he usually gets those kinds of words.  Congrats on QB!

Congrats on the LB solution, too! I don't think I ever would have come up with that.  Dare to be bold!

As for the crossword, I eventually had to hit the blog and saw the embankment strengthening word, which I never would have guessed! That helped with the acrosses up there.  Yeek.  I hate to do that, but I was completely stumped in that corner.  The Verdi opera answer looked like what it ended up being from the letters I had, but I didn't know there was an opera with that title. 

Have to get today's hard sudoku in before 4, and then I will try LB again...

Happy solving!

[cathwen]

Good afternoon!

I stayed at QB-7 yesterday, and today am at genius with the pangram. 

Congratulations on QBABM, ab_grp!  And ciao_yall, how nice to meet another SBer on your hike!

My LB answer for yesterday was also cornflower-rajahs.  I found a 2fer today, too.

Still chilling out by the lake.  We saw a bald eagle fly by yesterday, which is always a thrill.  And the person at whose cottage we're staying has two hummingbird feeders (plus flowers that attract them), so we've seen several hummingbirds.  Loons and cormorants have been swimming by.  Home tomorrow, I think, although there is some pressure for us to stay until Tuesday morning.  We'll see....

In the meanwhile, happy puzzling!

[ab_grp]

Thanks, cathwen! Good luck with the bee, and congrats on your 2fer again today! I have still had no luck there yet.

Hummingbirds are cuties! And bald eagles are definitely always a treat to see.  Enjoy all the wildlife and peacefulness, whether you stay until tomorrow or Tuesday.  I was going to say you could compromise and come home Monday, but I suppose that is tomorrow.  Clearly doing smart things over here!

[ciao_yall]

QB - 2 with Shunn, and a 2fer. Hoping the last two words (both start with B) come to mind before hitting the Wordplay blog.

Hummingbirds! We had a fuchsia plant that attracted them. Once I was pruning it and heard a squawking. There I was, eye level with a hummingbird "yelling" at me for invading its plant!

[ab_grp]

Finally got a 2fer!!

Good luck on the remaining bee words, ciao_yall!

[ciao_yall]

QB - 2. Wordplay, quick guess on one. Google, nada, finally busted out the dictionary.

Queen. Dammit. I'm the bloody Queen.

[cathwen]

Good afternoon!

QB-3 for me yesterday.  Today I am at amazing with the pangram.

No solution yet for today's LB.  Yesterday was necrotic-cheaply, which is not the official solution, so I imagine there will be some variation in our answers.

We'll be leaving for home soon.  The visit has reminded me of all the things I loved when I lived here, so it's been a little nostalgic. 

Happy puzzling!