NYT Spelling Bee

[Parasaurolophus]

Eventually found my way to beta.

[Langue_doc]

Good morning!

QB yesterday.

oxidize/electrician

Genius with two pangrams; don't think that I have the energy to find the rest of the words today.

ab_grp, thanks for the link.

Did any of you try the bonus spelling emailed to you by the NYT on July 8th? Mine is still sitting in my inbox unopened.

cathwen, I think your vacation place sounds familiar--probably the same as or close to the location of my trip a couple of months ago.

Happy solving, all!

[cathwen]

Good afternoon!

I did not get LB yesterday, even though I had oxidize and electric/electron.  Doh!  It would have been small step to electrician.

But I found a 2fer today.

As for SB, I made QB yesterday with a small nudge from Shunn.   My last word yesterday was tomtit, one of our bee bird words.  Today I am at QB-3 and have run out of steam.  Definitely a time to put the puzzle away and come back later if I have time.

Ab_grp, thanks for that link!  I enjoyed reading it.

Langue_doc, I think we have covered similar terrain.  I used to live in NYC and also in the Finger Lakes region, where we just went for the weekend.  I would go back in a heartbeat if not for the winters, and the fact that you can't get much of anywhere from there very easily. 

Anyway—congratulations on Alphas, Betas, QBs, and LBs!  Happy puzzling!

[ab_grp]

Good morning/afternoon!

Today's bee is a long one! Yikes.  I think I have 6 words left, and husband has a few more than that, but we are similar in points.  He is still missing a pangram, so I would guess a bunch of his remaining words are four-letter.  Neither of us have made it to Alpha.  Glad you got to beta yesterday, Parasaurolophus! I can't remember what our final words were at this point.  Looking back at the list, I am sorry to say that bloom was my final word.  Gaah.

Congrats on your 2fers, ciao_yall and Langue_doc! Darnit.  I had oxidize and thought it was a good option because it uses X and Z, but I couldn't find a mate.  I had so many good words yesterday!! I thought centralize could work because it used up most of the letters, but not enough of them, I guess.

Langue_doc, I don't even think I saw that email! I have been diligent about deleting emails (but apparently not very accurate), so I probably just deleted it.  I'll check the trash folder.  I still haven't done the holiday puzzletacular that my husband obtained.  :-(

Did anyone else find the crossword to be more of a bear than usual even for a Saturday? Those entries that run the full width are great if you can get them.  Not so much otherwise.  I actually had to look at the blog for a hint for the top of the puzzle after not getting anywhere with it for a long time.  With the bee being long and sudokus switching over at 4, no time to play around here!

We also spent a fair amount of time this morning making a Korean bbq marinade.  It's a bit of work but pays off.  Still have to make some potato salad and collards later.

Happy solving!

On preview: congrats on your 2fer, cathwen! And you are so close to QB! Good luck!

[ab_grp]

Straggled in to an impure team QB.  Husband beat me to the finish line.  That was a tough one.  Thank you, Shunn!

I have a bunch of LB contenders that seem promising, but no solution yet.

At least I got the sudokus done before they changed over!

[ciao_yall]

Hiya!

SB yesterday - my last word, with Shunn pointing out I was missing a 5 letter B-word, was boomy, Gah. The streak continues. Today at Genius with 2 pangrams, trying to stay out of Shunn and enjoy my vacation. Short ~ 40 points but keep finding easy words every now and then.

LB yesterday - cilantro-oxidize which was official. 2fer today as well.

[Parasaurolophus]

I'm afraid I don't have what it takes for today's bee. Close, but no cigar!

[cathwen]

Good morning!

Parasaurolophus, I probably won't make it, either.  I'm at genius with one of the two pangrams and don't think I'll get much beyond that.  Having H as the required letter makes it difficult, especially since they won't accept Elizabethan verb forms!  Harumph!

I fell short of QB yesterday, missing intuit, lantana, and nautili.  I should have gotten intuit, and I remember lantana from before.  But nautili never would have occurred to me.  Ab_grp and ciao_yall, congratulations on your QBs!

As for LB, yesterday I had blowfishes-shark.  An ichthyological theme!  Today I also have a 2fer.

Happy puzzling, all!

[ciao_yall]

Morning!

SB - Didn't get to QB because Shunn only went so far, and the Wordplay blog was crashed. There I was at QB - 7. So I cruised around looking for other hint sites, found a new word nautili and this morning realized I missed some I should have gotten - attaint, cacti, natant, tactual, tali, tutti. Thought I tried tactual but maybe not?

LB - belief-freakshow.

Happy solving!

[Langue_doc]

Morning/afternoon?

If you're stuck on the pangrams look closely at the letters for word endings. If you found one pangram, it shouldn't be too difficult to find the other one. There are at least four compound words, which should also help (not with the pangrams though). I'm between alpha and beta, I think.

Gave up on the bee yesterday after making it to above 250 points. Haven't looked at yesterday's solution yet to see what I missed.

Happy solving, all!

[ciao_yall]

Oh, pressure is on now. Amazing with one pangram, several 3fers. On the edge of the dopamine rush...

I'm like that crazy old lady in the casino putting nickels in the slot machine with little tinkling wins, eagerly awaiting the flood of a jackpot. But, no waitress bringing me free screwdrivers.

[ab_grp]

Good morning/afternoon!

Finally got to QBABM! There is one word I stumbled upon just using combos that made sense.  Did not know what it was.  Other than that, I don't think there were tough words, it's just hard to find them with the H in the middle and not having other letters that would typically go with some endings.  Husband's got three words left and is just shy of Alpha.  Good luck! Hope you get your jackpot, ciao_yall! Nautili was my final word yesterday.  It took quite a while.

Congrats on your 2fers yesterday! Whew.  I tried and tried and thought I had some good ones, but I didn't end up with any of your solutions or the schmofficial one.  And congrats on getting one today, cathwen! I will try again.

Happy solving!

[cathwen]

Congratulations on QBABY, ab_grp!  I just got to QB, but not ABM.  I lost patience and went to Shunn.  There were two words that I did not know and have chalked up as bee words—although maybe they are familiar to others.

Langue_doc gives good advice.

I love the image of the crazy old lady at the slot machines, ciao_yall!  I can relate.

[ab_grp]

Congrats on the QB, cathwen! If I hadn't just guessed the one word, I'm sure I would have been headed to Shunn. 

And I got a 2fer on my first try! Whee, finally!

[ciao_yall]

QB, needed Wordplay to point me to a final word which was a headsmacker.

And, LB.