NYT Spelling Bee

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

Wow, cathwen, you already found a 2fer?! Congrats! Mine was COP-POWERWALKING.  I had been trying a ton of -ing including cowering, tried powering and something clicked.  I still want to see if it's ever possible to get a true 1fer!

Sounds like cathwen and Langue_doc both had solutions similar to the official one.  I would prefer the growler (of beer) Langue_doc found than a glower.

As for googol, I am familiar but still got it pretty late in the game.  Just started into todays but got 2 pangrams.  I will keep my out for a third, thanks! First crosswords and definitely coffee.

Happy Tuesday solving!

[ciao_yall]

Yesterday managed to get QB, woohoo. Last word was LULU.

My LB was PACKING-GLOWER which was the official solution but I like ab_grp's much better!

On to today's.

ETA: Genius, 3fer. Hope the 2fer comes soon. cathwen whatever vitamins you are taking every morning, I need some.

[ab_grp]

Congrats on your QB, ciao_yall! Lulu is one of those that tends to escape me.  I think of it as somewhat a bee/crossword word.  And yay on your official 2fer yesterday and genius today! I'm sure you will get your 2fer.  I could also use some of cathwen's vitamins.  Looks like some tough letters to deal with today.

It helped to know that there was a third pangram, so thanks, Langue_doc! I got to 132, so Alpha with 7 or so points to go, but I am stuck again for now.

[ab_grp]

Can't modify, but I finally got QB!

Still working on medium sudoku, and only one contender so far for LB.

[cathwen]

QB!  Congratulations, ab_grp! 

I am stuck with one long word to go (1 word, 9 points. Ugh!). I have the three pangrams, though.  But at least I made Alpha, so that is some consolation.  I'll keep spinning those letters...

[ab_grp]

QB!  Congratulations, ab_grp! 

I am stuck with one long word to go (1 word, 9 points. Ugh!). I have the three pangrams, though.  But at least I made Alpha, so that is some consolation.  I'll keep spinning those letters...

Congrats on Alpha! And I know which word you mean.  Not difficult, but one of those inconsistencies, like why accept that and not other similar things.  Good luck.  You've got this!

[ab_grp]

Can't modify again, but I managed to get a 2fer.

[Langue_doc]

Congrats on QBs and two-fers.

SB wasn't too bad, but I still get frustrated because the program keeps rejecting 'kine'.

There was only one word that gave me trouble, but I managed to chase it down.

Other than noting the q and z, I haven't made any progress on LB. But the other puzzles are done.

cathwen, I think I know the elusive word; it's something that would come to mind if you're an outdoors person.

[ab_grp]

If anyone would like a hint about anything, let me know, and if I'm still around I will be happy to provide one.

Sounds like you got QB, Langue_doc, so congrats!

[Langue_doc]

Thanks, ab_grp, I'll take you up on your offer.

Yes, I did get to QB. 

[ab_grp]

Hooray! Hope the hints help.

I'm trying a new strategy with the sudokus I can't complete.  Tell it to give me a hint so it highlights a cell, figure out possibilities for cell, print as many copies of puzzle filled in with all my entries and candidates as there are possibilities, and follow each possibility to completion or a conflict.  I am hoping it will help me see what I am missing when I can't get any further.  Anyway, it's an experiment.  Luckily, my first case involved only two possibilities.  One led to a solution, the other eventually led to needing two numbers to fit into one cell.  But it took a long path to get there! I was going to try that with today's hard puzzle, and asked it for the hint cell, but I ended up solving it myself by going back through diligently row by row, column by column, container by container, etc. and finding that I had not noticed particular restrictional information. 

I honestly do not know how you consistent sudoku solvers (I think of Langue_doc and cathwen, here) do it.  Kudos!!

[ciao_yall]

Lots of 3fers, no 2fer yet. Lots of tricky letters and I haven't found the one that gobbles up enough of them to make a 2fer.

[ab_grp]

Lots of 3fers, no 2fer yet. Lots of tricky letters and I haven't found the one that gobbles up enough of them to make a 2fer.

I'll send you my hints (with space in case).  Good luck!

[ciao_yall]

Lots of 3fers, no 2fer yet. Lots of tricky letters and I haven't found the one that gobbles up enough of them to make a 2fer.

I'll send you my hints (with space in case).  Good luck!

Thanks! Once you pointed out the first word, I had already found the second word. Woohoo!

[ab_grp]

Lots of 3fers, no 2fer yet. Lots of tricky letters and I haven't found the one that gobbles up enough of them to make a 2fer.

I'll send you my hints (with space in case).  Good luck!

Thanks! Once you pointed out the first word, I had already found the second word. Woohoo!

Hooray! Glad to help! Congrats!