NYT Spelling Bee

[ab_grp]

Nuthatch is what got me to genius (and a little beyond yesterday).  I figured it was fitting.

Got the two-fer and the QB. (Sigh of relief).

Hooray!

SB - Went online to the puzzle commenters and after reviewing a list of hints, achieved "Genius." QB eludes me yet. They wouldn't take OLLA or ILIAL today. Whatever. I'm a QB in my own mind.

Yes!

I will be interested to see what we all came up with for LB today and what the official solution is.  I had (finally!!) found a good list of J words, but it took me forever to find a mate for one of them.

[Langue_doc]

The LB turned out to be quite easy once I decided not to include the j and the y in the same word. So the first word ended in s, and the rest of the letters along with additional ones arranged themselves into a commonly used word.

Yes, ciao_yall, we're all QBs and lords of all that we survey (somehow "ladies of all that we survey" doesn't quite have the same ring to it).

[ciao_yall]

SB - found the panagram early on, but now it's going slowly. Stuck at "Great" but hope to achieve "Amazing" before joining my new friends at the crossword puzzle comments.

Don't worry, you all are still my "ride or die" crowd.

LB- my yesterday solution used fewer letters than the official solution. Today, already finding 4 and 5-word solutions, so hope the 2-fer will appear soon.

[ab_grp]

We were still almost 20 points away today after comparing.  Interestingly, my program turned up one from the database that no longer seems to be accepted? It's in there multiple times, so I don't think I just mistyped it.  In the beginning, I was typing in all the answers, but I quickly started copying them in from the spelling bee solver site, so this is a little weird.  There is also a word that is not in there that I think should be given others of similar type that they include.

For LB yesterday, I got the official solution.  I was so hoping the remaining letters would allow for "strictly", as that's what popped out at me, but no joy.  At least I finally figured out a second word that worked.  I'll take a look at today's after breakfast. 

Wishing everyone good puzzling and solving today!

[ciao_yall]

Achieved "genius" with help from the crossword puzzle commenters, but lots of hints I'm just not getting.

LB- found a very efficient 3-fer so hope the 2-fer appears soon.

[ab_grp]

I managed to get a 2-fer in LB, though not down the avenue that I had thought might work out.

[Langue_doc]

I saw both your emails this morning but couldn't post my responses as I was using my phone and couldn't remember my password, all of which relegated me to guest status. Anyway, I got the pangram while waiting for my car to be serviced, but had made it to genius before I left in the morning.

I was surprised to see 'moil' accepted yesterday. This word has been consistently refused, as I keep entering it whenever I see the four letters. Today I kept getting words with 'n' such as pound, around, apron, and so on. I would have had quite a list if only 'n' had been one of today's words.

As for LB, I found a three-word solution: I'll have to keep trying for a two-fer.

[ab_grp]

Langue_doc, when you mentioned the word that had not previously been accepted, I thought that was it (after perusing my list).  I didn't remember that one, either.  And I was also looking for apron and etc. today.  Good luck with the 2-fer! I might try again, because I doubt my solution is the official one.  They tend to have more elegant solutions.  Glad you're back from being a guest!

[Langue_doc]

I got to QB and completed the crossword. SB wouldn't accept what I thought was a perfectly legit 6-letter word ending in -p.

I've probably given up on LB. I kept wanting to get the letters to spell "velociraptor"--no 'r', alas, and even with the 'r', the other letters wouldn't have been on the right sides. Sigh!

[ciao_yall]

Never found the 2-fer yesterday. Was the official solution the one you found, ab_grp?

I found some things I wish were words, like SANIVIPE which sounds like a cleaning product my great-grandmother would have used. And a very tight 3-fer BLOCK-KNAVES-SIP which did nothing for getting me to the official solution but note that I didn't reuse a single letter....

[ab_grp]

Never found the 2-fer yesterday. Was the official solution the one you found, ab_grp?

I suppose I could have gotten the official solution off of mine if I had kept at it, but I did not.  In any case, I got CLOVES-SPINBACK.  I was trying to do something with canvases.  I don't think spinback is a really good word, if it is a word, so it's kind of like my first ever 2-fer that included SPOTCH.  Doesn't really feel like a victory.

[Langue_doc]

Mine were backspins and solve. Made it to genius in SB, with two pangrams. I found a few words with the q, but can't get the remaining letters into a single word.

[ab_grp]

I just barely made it to genius today but didn't realize there's a second pangram, so that might help (if I can find it!).  Thanks for the tip, Langue_doc! As for LB, I haven't looked at it yet but am not sure if the Q will make it easier or harder... sounds like harder.  I'll take a look after the easy sudoku.

[Langue_doc]

The second pangram is quite easy, ab_grp. The words I've found so far are pretty standard. I might have to look for more esoteric ones to reach QB. I'm still a square amiss on the crossword.

I usually do the mini crossword and the sudokus as soon as they are released. Sometimes I start on the crossword at night. Last night I almost completed the crossword except for that pesky letter.

Today's schedule is the crossword, QB, and LB, in that order. All of this will have to wait until later this evening.

Good luck with the two-fer.

[ab_grp]

Thanks! We ended up comparing lists, and I found out that husband had already gotten both pangrams.  I will blame his beating me to it on a not-great night of sleep.  That is also why I don't look at the puzzles the night they are released.  The mini is easy enough, but if I look at the bee I will be turning the letters over and over in my head all night.  And if I only had one square left in the crossword, that would be keeping me up, too.  I do the sudokus and LB on the computer, so that is during the day.   I just looked back at the crossword to try to guess which square was your obstacle.  Not quite sure.   Good luck!

I managed to screw up the easy sudoku by jamming along to a Metallica concert while solving.  Oh well, it was worth it.  I'm working on medium sudoku now and am glad to be getting better at it.  I will have to try the hard one once I get faster at medium.

For LB, I have a couple good contender Q words but am still missing a second word.