NYT Spelling Bee

[ciao_yall]

QBwH for catchall. Already at QB -2 ABM but may need to hit the grid.

LB carbombs-stack. Was only getting 3fers out of breakfast. Today a few good contenders so hope something will shake loose.

Happy solving!

[Langue_doc]

Good morning!

Easy romp to genius. Missed chocoholic and loach, which according to the web,

are fish of the superfamily Cobitoidea. They are freshwater, benthic fish found in rivers and creeks throughout Eurasia and northern Africa.

Why loach is acceptable, whereas parula, which I've seen in several of the NYC parks, isn't part of the accepted list of words is a mystery.

firebombs/stack; found breakfast(s), but couldn't find a mate.

As for pronunciation, the variation I always hear is for pileated woodpeckers:  Is it PIE-leated or PILL-eated?  My daughter-in-law says PILL, I say PIE.  Apparently, like PAR-u-la and par-U-la, both pronunciations are correct.

I think I've heard both; this isn't one of our common birds, so I don't recall which pronunciation was used on the bird walks. As for parula, the first time I heard the word was on a walk in Battery Park, long before the pandemic, pronounced as parula, by a highly experienced birder. I was surprised to hear the alternate pronunciation by equally experienced birders on subsequent walks.

ab_grp, good question about the bird names; it appears that some of the names are sort of "last resort" names because the more descriptive ones have already been taken. Will get back to you on this with some examples later. In this instance, it could be because "blue-backed" has already been claimed for at least a couple, if not more, bird names.

Happy solving!

[ab_grp]

Got a 2fer! It's lopsided, so I may try for another if I have time.

Congrats on QB, Langue_doc! And I'm sure the avian nomenclature can be complicated, especially since there are similar bird species and so much variety within species.  Maybe the blue yellow-backed warbler isn't as bluely backed as a blue-backed bird should be.  I see that there's a black-throated blue warbler that seems blue backed, but again they don't call it that.  Hmm.  I guess they can't just go back and rename previously named birds if a new bird comes along that fits the name better.  I look forward to any additional examples!

[Parasaurolophus]

GWP.

[ciao_yall]

QB-1 so hit the grid and remembered ablaze. LB phi-infamously.

So far, GWP and a 2fer with a word I thought I made up but hey, it's a thing. So it counts.

Happy solving!

[cathwen]

Good morning!

I got all the way to QB-1 then needed help to find bazoo.  Today I'm at Beta.

LB:  I also had phi-infamously.  I have a 2fer today, but relatively normal words—ciao_yall, I'm looking forward to seeing your "made up" word tomorrow!

Happy puzzling!

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

Got to genius with the pangram.  I tried several other things I thought might be the pangram, but they were not accepted.  Yesterday we almost made it to team QB but for some reason both needed help with mezzo despite getting the less obvious ones.

I had the same 2fer, though I did not expect it to be schmofficial! Congrats, ciao_yall and cathwen.  And congrats on your solutions today! Ciao_yall, I am also looking forward to hearing what you found.

Happy solving!

[Langue_doc]

Afternoon!

Pangram and genius; last word yesterday was bazoo which I found by playing with letter combinations.

fashions/slumpy (didn't think that the latter was a word or that it would be accepted)

Went on a gull identification walk this morning.

Happy solving!

[Langue_doc]

Good morning!

Pangram and above genius; last word yesterday was impair.

formulate/expire

Happy solving!

[cathwen]

Good morning!

Genius with pangram today, only four words to go, but they are currently invisible to my eyes.  Yesterday I put SB down and never got back to it—missed impair, impala, malarial, rampart, and taillamp. 

LB:  I had the "official" forearm-multiplex.  Congratulations, Langue_doc, on your different solution!  As for today, no 2fer yet.

Happy puzzling!

[Parasaurolophus]

Quick GWP.

[ciao_yall]

QBwH - taillamp is one word. Okay. LB foram-multiplex, foxtail-lumper. A foram is a type of crustacean. Tried it and was surprised it took.

Happy solving!

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

Got to genius + with the pangram so far.  Yesterday we had team QB, and I was missing taillamp, which I'm pretty sure I always miss.  I guess I thought paramilitia, paramilitarial might be pangrams, so I tried them right off, but no luck.  Maybe they're not even words.

For LB, I got profile-extramural.  Lots of variety again (and two for ciao_yall)! I have a promising contender for today, so hopefully I can turn that into a 2fer.

Happy solving!

[ciao_yall]

QBwALTHICG for tacet, and a wild guess for taxa. LB just 2fer b4ss naturalistic-cozy, zirconia-altruistically and a bunch of 3fers.

Happy solving!

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

Wow it took me a while to figure out the pangram, but I finally did and managed to get exactly to genius.  Happy to be there for now.  Yesterday I was missing acetate, eave, and we were both missing tact.

No luck on LB despite some good contenders! I was nowhere near ultrasonic.

Happy solving!