NYT Spelling Bee

[ab_grp]

Cathwen, that was one of my last words!

I got one more word on the bee, so 234, still not at Alpha.  Husband has now passed me and is at 237 with one fewer word.  So I guess we have something different!

Congrats on the 2fer, cathwen! I have some contenders that I'm working with.

Langue_doc, Mom does not know of (or remember, at least) the Pie Lady but mentioned some Amish bakers and said she usually shops at Famous Fourth St Cookies and Termini.  Sounds as though she may have missed out on some great pies and cakes back in the day!

I managed to get personal best times on the sudokus, so I feel like that will jinx my word games...

[Langue_doc]

I have 51 words and 236 points. I'll keep working on it as I'm finding today's puzzle to be challenging in a stimulating kind of way.

As for LB, it's interesting that we all came up with different solutions. Today's doesn't look too difficult (I've probably jinxed myself).

ab_grp, thank you for asking your mom about the Pie Lady. She was at the Terminal Market during the late '90s.

I would be very surprised to hear that cathwen didn't find a two-fer first thing in the morning.

[ab_grp]

I would be very surprised to hear that cathwen didn't find a two-fer first thing in the morning.

Too true!

I am thinking that you must also have something different than husband and I, Langue_doc.  I'm at 234/51, he's at 237/50, and you said you are at 236/51.  I am going to keep working on it, too.  There are still a bunch of points left, though I am currently unclear as to what the words could be. 

And the LB does not seem too tough, but I don't know.  The contenders I have seem to use up hard letters and also just leave few remaining, but we shall see.

Good luck!

[cathwen]

Oof.  I'm at 238/50.  Six more words to go, but I can't imagine what they could be, either.  I think that's it for me tonight, but I wish you all well in getting to QB! 

As for LB, I did find an early solution, but I'm not happy with it.  The second word seems iffy to me, but it was accepted.  You'll all probably find more sensible solutions.

[ab_grp]

I think the bee today was pretty tough.  I got to 259/55 and had to give up.  I'm glad I did, because the final word was a doozy (at least in my estimation).  I will send my leftover juju to anyone still trying.

But I did get a 2fer! I can say with near 100% certainty that it is not the official solution because it is slightly dirty.  Okay, maybe that is just how it read to me.  But it was accepted! If I get time, I might try with some of the other contenders, but likely not with delivered dinner and spouse-made choco chip cookies awaiting.

[Langue_doc]

It's a shame that you had to give up when you were so close to the finish line, ab_grp. I found the last couple of words by trying consonant/vowel combinations so there are a few words that don't quite look English but were accepted.

Congrats on the two-fer. Is your second word clothing-related? My first word sounds legal, and the second, exhibitionist.

[ab_grp]

I'm so glad you got to QB, Langue_doc! Maybe you can guess which unusual word was beyond me.  And I think we might have two different, interesting LB solutions!

[Langue_doc]

Good morning!

LB: deports/skintight; should have come up with desports and skintight, as they go together. I have no idea what hotdesking means--perhaps something the younguns at the NY Times do when the grown-ups aren't looking?

SB: still don't know what maraca and matcha mean; I've encountered the other unusual words in recent puzzles. As for today, found the pangram and reached genius.

Happy solving, all.

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

For LB, I got PORKING-GHOSTED, or what I thought of as Acts I and II of a play about modern dating.  I like our solutions better than the official one.  I think hotdesking means not having one particular assigned desk, but your intuition may be correct, Langue_doc.

As for SB yesterday, I missed catarrh.  WTF is that! We looked it up, and I guess it sounds like what it is, having phlegm? Or speaking like a pirate about a Middle Eastern nation.  I knew maraca because my backyard neighbor had a set when I was little, and I was fascinated with them.  She let me take them home with me one night, and of course we were very careful with them! I think matcha is some sort of tea or tea flavor or something.  I guess we must have had catarrh before, but I'm sure I won't remember it next time, either.

For today, somehow I got to 123, so I guess maybe one or two 4-letter words left.  I was struggling for a bit, and there are some sort of tough words in there.

Good luck and happy solving!

[ciao_yall]

Morning!

LB Yesterday I got knighted-deports and prinking-ghosted. Prinking was a typo but it turns out to be an old word for primping. Who knew?

SB I thought of catarrh and went to check the spelling. In my head it was some sort of Middle Eastern spice, like frankincense or myrrh.

Just starting today, so still at Amazing with no pangram (keep seeing chopstick) and for LB, a pretty clean 3fer. That WH on the same side is super annoying.

Happy solving all!

[cathwen]

Good afternoon!

It's not a good puzzle day for me!  I do not have a 2-fer for LB yet, and SB is limping along; I'm only at amazing.

For yesterday's LB, I got deport-thinkings.  I was surprised that thinkings was accepted, but there you go. 

Yesterday's SB I missed cami, chai (should have gotten those!), chitchat (odd, since I had both chit and chat), circa, matcha, and tramcar.  So now I know that matcha is a word—I would never have thought of that.  I knew maraca because we had them in our elementary school music classroom.  And I don't know why catarrh came to me, but it did.  I think that matcha is that annoying prove-you're-not-a-robot image-matching procedure that some sites use.

Langue_doc, congratulations on making QB yesterday!  Ab_grp, with 123 points today, you are sure to make QB!

[ab_grp]

Thanks, cathwen! I did finally make it to QB a few minutes ago! It also took me until nearly the end yesterday to get chitchat, and I am impressed with those of you who got catarrh.  I just don't think that set of letters would have occurred to me.

No LB 2fer yet, though I have a couple reasonable contenders.

Of course, this all means that I am tanking on the medium and hard sudokus.  Whatevs.

Hope the recent vaccinnatees are feeling well!

[Langue_doc]

Congrats, ab_grp. Sending good wishes to all for two-fers.

I'm at 26/104, and probably not getting any further. I know catarrh-- it's a familiar word for those with allergies.

I'm grading assignments that demonstrate unfamiliarity with the course materials, feedback on previous assignments, and total disregard of feedback from peer reviews. I'll be heading to the teaching thread soon.

[ciao_yall]

SB - Genius but no pangram. I keep seeing chopsticks and pickpocket.

LB - lots of 3fers, hope the 2fer appears soon.

Vaccine - got my first shot Wednesday and no side effects as far as I could tell. I felt a little off but that was probably because I didn't get my usual post-lunch nap.

[cathwen]

I made genius, finally, but like ciao_yall, no pangram!  Still no 2-fer for LB.  Lots of good words, but I can't make them fit together. 

Ciao_yall, I'm glad you're not having side effects from the vaccine.  I got my first shot Thursday; the only side effect was a slightly sore arm on Friday, but only if I moved it in a certain way.

Langue_doc, good luck with the grading.  It sounds frustrating.