NYT Spelling Bee

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

I'm at 188 today, so not Alpha and have apparently run out of the easier words.  Three pangrams that luckily came pretty quickly.  My last word yesterday was concoction, which I thought of as I was packing the truck up for husband to go for his shot.  I'm still very excited about Langue_doc's double QB!

For LB, Langue_doc's clueing got me to the official solution.  I was trying so hard with fountainhead since it only left P and W, but I couldn't make it work starting with D or ending with F. :-(  That was a pretty timely article, Langue_doc!

Good luck, and happy solving.  I have a two-hour call later and have to look through 100 articles or so, so I'm not sure what timing will be like for puzzling.

ETA: Forgot to say congrats to cathwen on the 2fer today, and I know ciao_yall's will come soon!

[Parasaurolophus]

Had an easy time to genius and the three pangrams this morning.

[ab_grp]

Congrats, Parasaurolophus!

I got to a little over Alpha (205), but apparently 16 points and two words left.  Whee.  No LB mates yet.

[Langue_doc]

Me too, Parasaurolophus.

I made it to 191--found a weird word but don't think I can find any more words.

cathwen and ciao_yall always, always, find the LB solution. I have an 11-letter word. I should look for other solutions instead of trying to find a mate.

ab_grp, I'm sure you'll get to QB! I don't think I'll have much time today as I have a meeting coming up and also have to give written feedback on assignments.

ETA ab_grp, I think we posted at the same time.

[cathwen]

Congratulations on all the successes! 

I'm sitting here during my as always unattended office hour; nothing to do but turn back to the puzzles.  I'm up to 200 on SB—11 points, three words yet to find.  But whatever can they be? 

[ciao_yall]

SB - Seem to have topped off at 183 points / 34 words / 3 pangrams.

LB - finally went up to the solver site. I had the second word but for some reason the first word wasn't jumping out at me, even though similar ones did. Oh well.

[Langue_doc]

Good morning!

QB yesterday, but stuck at amazing today with no pangram in sight. I need 12 points to get to genius. I still don't know how I found wigwag, but it was accepted. I have no idea what it means. I was probably thinking of wigwam when I entered the letters.

I found philosophic, but couldn't get a second word; the same result with shrimp. I considered the former to be an accomplishment, so didn't spend too much time trying to find a mate for the latter.

Happy solving!

[cathwen]

Good morning!

Langue_doc, congratulations on making QB!

I got to 206 points yesterday, but missed wanna and wigwagging.  Oddly, I got wigwag—like Langue_doc, probably thinking of wigwam.  So—are words like wanna and gonna now proper English words?  In conversation, sure, but in writing?  I'm not usually a language crank.  I admit that I've seen these two words in informal writing, but my brow always furrows when I do.  I suppose I should relax.  How many times have I told my students that language is a living thing, always evolving? 

Today, I got to genius with the pangram and found my 2fer.  My solution for yesterday's LB was the same as the "official" one—unlocks-shrimp. 

Happy puzzling!

[Langue_doc]

cathwen, wanna and gonna have been two of my pet peeves on the bee. I'm surprised that these are accepted, but not aint or dont. I remembered wanna from a previous puzzle.

Now, why am I not surprised that you've already found the two-fer?

ETA: pangram and genius.

ETA: two-fer, probably not the official one.

[ciao_yall]

SB: wigwag? Okay. Another new word. Hit genius this morning.

LB: had uplink, unlink, clocks... got shrimp early on. I had a 2fer it wouldn't take - columns-shprink - sometimes they take Yiddish-isms. Kept trying to do things with philosoph, cushion, column, oh well. Slow-ish start this morning. Would have a great word, b4ss, which sounds like a nice chaser to my morning coffee. ETA: 2fer!

@Langue_doc, they are all official 2fers. We celebrate 2fer diversity and equity here.

Zoom call with student, phone call with a few college activists, then grading a bunch of papers and midterms that I may just procrastinate until next week when it's spring break anyway.

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

We missed wigwag and wigwagging, though I tried wigwan just because at one point.  I agree about wanna and etc.  And phat! But real words aren't accepted.  I don't think they took pluot, pentuple, pentuplet, among many others.  For today, I'm at 126 and stuck, so not Alpha.  We got a little later start because husband was dead tired, probably from the shot, so we got a little more sleep.  Hopefully that will help with puzzle solving!

I got shrimp on the LB and played around with lock but couldn't get the solution.  Congrats on your 2fers already, cathwen, Langue_doc, and ciao_yall! Langue_doc, philosophic is an accomplishment all on its own, in my book.  It's painful to get such a good word and not be able to find a mate for it.

Happy solving!

[ab_grp]

I got to Alpha just now (138), but it has been slow going. 

And I feel like I have a good contender for LB but might have to abandon it if I can't find a mate.  But at least sudokus are done, so aside from actual work I might have time to figure this out.

[Parasaurolophus]

I stalled at 'great'. I know we've had this puzzle relatively recently, however (I remember the pangram).

[Langue_doc]

That's impressive, ab_grp, as I've been stuck at 118 and don't see any signs of making any more progress. So many proper nouns going to waste--Bangor, Zabar, Gaza, Rangoon, and a few others. I keep trying to enter gazebo, but no e alas!

As for LB, I'll send you a hint after 8 PM if you are still stuck. One of my words is quite wacky though.

[ab_grp]

Well, thanks, Langue_doc, but it is really a struggle at this point.  I did get one more word, so one to go.  I know how many letters it is but not what it starts with.    I try all the proper nouns anyway, in case they are accepted like panama is.  I also just enter words with misspellings that sound like other words just in case. 

As for LB, sure, a hint would be great.  And I like wacky words! I have a couple more contenders, but no triumph yet.