NYT Spelling Bee

[cathwen]

I'm now at 187, and it's been a struggle.  But at least I have found two words that I missed on previous puzzles—so that's a small victory. 

I hope the grading goes smoothly, Langue_doc!

[Langue_doc]

Thanks for the good wishes ab_grp and cathwen. Finished today's crossword with15 minutes to spare, and just completed tomorrow's while taking a break from the computer.

I've given up on the bee and haven't even looked at LB.

[ab_grp]

Ooh, good that you got today's crossword in on time.  Luckily husband had mentioned that he still had to complete it, and I recalled the earlier turnover time on the weekend, so he managed to get it done in time as well. 

Cathwen, good luck! I also seem to keep finding words that I have missed before.  I am still hoping to find the remaining words, but, unfortunately, I am not becoming more alert as the day goes on.  Quite the opposite. 

I did get a 2fer, though!

[Parasaurolophus]

Really struggling today. Stuck at 66, no pangrams.

[Langue_doc]

Hope you found more words, Parasaurolophus.

Genius today, with one pangram. There's probably another one, given the number of points to get to genius (183). I haven't looked at yesterday's solutions yet--saving that for later in the day.

Happy solving, all.

[cathwen]

Good morning!

I gave up on SB last night and looked at the answers.  While I remembered tentpole and lollop from previous puzzles, I failed to recognize lento and toluene!  I wonder what I'm not seeing today.  I have made it to genius (187), one pangram.  According nytbee.com, there is only one pangram, even though the maximum number of points is 261!  (53 words)

As for LB, I got the "official" solution yesterday.  Ab_grp, congratulations on your 2fer!  I wonder if it's the same?

I found a 2fer for today as well.

[ciao_yall]

Morning! SB - I remembered toluene and lollop from last time.

LB - gave up and went to the online solver. blackout-thyme /headsmack I had black, I remembered thinking "oh, too bad there isn't an s or I would have had thymus." My 2fer b4ss was thumbtack-keyhole.

[Langue_doc]

Found a two-fer without much difficulty. I got the second word first, and liked it so much that I played with the remaining letters to get the first word.

SB--missed loupe, lunette, poult, and outpoll. 225 today. What with the effortless two-fer, and the easy crossword, I think I'm happy with my accomplishments for today.

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

We ended up giving up on QB and just comparing lists and made it to a team QB.  I was missing two words, he was missing three I think.  Glad we compared, because I don't think I would have gotten them.  Outpoll and penult (which, sadly, became my final word rather than second to last!).  I'm sure I have missed penult before.  At least I got tootle and unlet! And lollop! I completely guessed tupelo and poult. 

Cathwen, congrats on your 2fer already today! Yep, I had the same solution.

Congrats on your early 2fer as well, Langue_doc!

We just got up and haven't had any coffee yet, so I will see how things go once we sit down to puzzle.  Happy solving!

[ciao_yall]

Genius, 2fer, now a full day of Zoom meetings.

Living the dream.

[ab_grp]

Congrats, ciao_yall! Hope you get to do other stuff during the meetings.

I got to Alpha (242) but am stuck again.  We had to air out the house after using the self-cleaning function on the oven, and I hope this headache goes away!

I think I have a good contender for LB, but still a bunch of tough letters to use.

[cathwen]

 Congratulations on genius and the 2fer, ciao_yall!  And ab_grp, congratulations on Alpha! 

I am at 228 points/48 words, so firmly in the Beta range.  I need five words and 33 more points for QB.  Prospects are looking dim, because I am really stuck.  But I'm happy enough with what I've got. 

Ab_grp, I bet you make QB!  And I hope that the house is well aired now, and that your headache has gone away.

[ab_grp]

Thanks, and good luck to you, cathwen.  I also feel that prospects are dim and am really stuck but am also okay where I am.  I haven't found any new words since this morning.  They are really throwing some tough bees at us lately! I just always hope I'm not missing obvious words.   And the house is much better now, thanks.  Thankfully (?) it was another very windy day, so we just opened everything up for a couple minutes at a time, and it blew everything out. 

More contenders for LB, but still no winners.

[Langue_doc]

Hope you're feeling better, ab_grp.Glad to hear that you were able to open the windows and get the smells out.

I've been at 233/48 since afternoon, and have given up as the crosswords and sudokus will be out soon.

As for LB, I'm sending you a hint. Read your message only if you want to.

cathwen and ciao_yall, did you make it to QB? Inquiring minds want to know.

[ciao_yall]

QB? Moi? Not unless I go play on the Wordplay column. On my own I rarely make Beta, much less Alpha. I came on here just barely into "genius" to crab that it won't take titian. I'm at 43 words and 214 right now.

LB - yes, I have a 2fer. I guess we are sticking to PMs instead of sharing on the thread after a certain time? Not sure if it's official but it only reuses one vowel so it's pretty clean but not balanced in that the words aren't the same length and it relies on a rather easy transition. What, I'm a snob about LB?