NYT Spelling Bee

[ab_grp]

Got a 2fer! So many b4ss, but finally a contender and mate.

[ciao_yall]

Got a 2fer! So many b4ss, but finally a contender and mate.

Congratulations! I can't get the b, v, and/or z in one word without running into b4ss issues.

I do have b and z in one word. Woohoo.

If anyone feels like sending hints, I'm about to go on a long Zoom call to observe our Board meeting and could use some entertainment. And i don't want to go to the solver site. Not yet.

[ciao_yall]

2fer b4ss. I looked up scientific terms. Not there yet.

[Langue_doc]

QB yesterday; almost genius with a pangram.

vandalized/doubt

I don't use any strategies other than trying to remember words that I encountered in previous puzzles. I recall oolong and muumuu in recent puzzles; although these are words that I don't use, I knew that I should try them out as I had encountered them in previous bees. I also grew up reading whatever I could get my hands on and playing word games. The schools I went to insisted on correct spellings, which also helps with the puzzles. Knowing bird-words such as tomtit and pippit also helps as does trying suffixes and prefixes. I recently found a correct word because I remembered missing the same word (prefix non-) not too long ago. I resort to the NYT bee website if I'm stuck after getting to genius. Yesterday, for instance, I knew that I had found all the 4-letter words for the day, and also the long one (bumblebee) which I recall was a word that I missed in a previous puzzle because I had thought that this was a compound.

Happy solving, all!

ETA genius

[ciao_yall]

Morning!

SB - Missed a few I should have gotten. Oh well. Goal is QBAM.

LB - Combo of hints from ab_grp and the online solver and finally got the 2fer vandalized-doubt. Early on I found analize which didn't take, so I figured it wasn't taking alternative spelling -ize endings but now that I look at it, I realize i should have kept playing. 2fer b4ss was benzidine-evaluation.

Happy solving!

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

So far, it sounds as though we all got the schmofficial solution, but cathwen hasn't come by the thread yet.  Ciao_yall, I'm glad the hints helped.  Trying to send from my phone + wine = who knows! I thought nebulized might work but couldn't get a mate for it.

Today I'm at 161 in the bee with 4 words left, but it feels tough! Langue_doc, I agree that reading a lot from a young age also helps a lot with these puzzles (I'll thank my dad for that as well).  I think my last words yesterday were dumbbell and mull.  Usually I can get all the 4 letters pretty easy, but I guess I thought I already had that one since I had mulled.  Glad I finally just started typing every 4-letter I could think of.  And congrats on your QB yesterday, Langue_doc!

Happy solving!

[ciao_yall]

Morning!

SB - At genius now. I think for me it's the words being top of mind. I hit genius, then peter out. Come back and add a few more here and there. The ones I missed were words I easily knew, and probably with a nudge from the wordplay blog I could have gotten them.

LB - 3fers abound, hope a 2fer is nigh.

[cathwen]

Good morning!

LB:  I also got the "official" solution yesterday.  I don't yet have one for today.

SB:  I am at Alpha with two words left.  Yesterday, my last word was dumdum, which I tried in desperation; I was surprised when SB accepted it, as I thought it might be hyphenated or not even counted as a "real" word (too slangy).  I guess it just goes to show that one should not hesitate to try anything.

Well, now I'm off to see if I can find a solution to LB!

Happy puzzling!  And congratulations on all yesterday's successes!

[Parasaurolophus]

Cathwen: IIRC 'dumdum' is the official name for soft-nosed bullets. Even though it sounds dumb-dumb.

[ab_grp]

Now I'm also at Alpha with two words left! Good luck, cathwen! Maybe we are missing the same words.  I agree, just try anything.  As usual, they are inconsistent today about which words they will accept. 

For LB, no luck yet aside from a contender or two.  Edited because I thought I had ships, but they were sunk by a b4ss.

[ab_grp]

Just got to team QB.  The Shunn site doesn't seem to be producing the full list (at least when I ran it), so I will say make sure to try other spellings.

Time to get on a Zoom seminar and work on LB and the hard sudoku...

[ciao_yall]

SB - well into genius. Every time I get on I find another word or two but the pace is slowing.

LB - 2fer and a pretty clean one - only reuses one letter.

[cathwen]

Parasaurolophus:  Now that you mention it, I have a very dim memory of having heard of dumdums.   But I would never have been able to answer the question, "What do you call soft-nosed bullets?"

I'm down to one 7-letter word in SB.  I am mystified.  Congratulations on QB, ab_grp!

And still no LB solution!  Lots of good words, though.  But no 2fers.  Ciao_yall, congratulations on yours!

[ab_grp]

Congrats on your 2fer, ciao_yall! I got a bunch of contenders during the seminar, but nothing yet.

Good luck on your final bee word, cathwen! A 7-letter was my penultimate word, maybe the same one.  I hope you find whichever one it is!

ETA: Yay, got a 2fer.  Also pretty clean, one letter reused, and I'm glad I got a mate for this particular contender. 

[Langue_doc]

Congrats, all.

I found a couple of interesting words, one of them derogatory, but couldn't find mates. Then I found two two-fers. Also QB.

I've been taking a break from the computer which means that my posts are limited to phrases and one-liners. Typing on the kindle is a pain as it takes me ages to correct autocorrect.

cathwen, hope you found the last word; if not, try suffixes.