NYT Spelling Bee

[ciao_yall]

Morning!

GnP yesterday, then found valentine. Never found ventilate. Would never have found titivate or villanelle, for that matter, either.

Just a b4ss yesterday heterosexual-lovely and lots of 3fers. I got in the neighborhood of the official solution with ale-exhausts-savory but alas, no 2fer.

Well, happy solving!

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

We each have 3 words to go, not at Alpha.  I was having a lot of difficulty finding ventilate and needed a hint from husband.  And I missed titivate (again!) but found villanelle this time.  Woohoo for that.  Yesterday was kind of a big fail for me at the bee, as I ended up being quite a few words short of QB.

No 2fer for me, either.  Maybe today.

Happy solving!

[cathwen]

Good afternoon!

Miraculously, I got to QBABM today!

I never made it yesterday—I was at QB-6 and then never got back to it.  But I can guarantee you I would never have found titivate, even with hints.

No 2fer yesterday, and still no 2fer today. 

Happy puzzling!

[Langue_doc]

Afternoon!

Made it to almost genius earlier this morning. Didn't get a chance to look at yesterday's list--I probably missed two or three.

I'm waiting for a call back from the MTA--I need to report an incident at a subway station and also ask that the agency send a police officer to that entrance which doesn't have any employees who I could have talked to. The rep just called, I'm on a brief hold.

That's it for puzzling as I have my book discussion meeting later this evening.

[ab_grp]

Langue_doc, I hope you're okay! That doesn't sound good.

I have some good LB contenders, but no luck yet.  Still, it's a better feeling than previous days.  And haven't gotten back to the bee.

Just a heads up if you do Wordle that there are two different words today.  One will be the solution if you are on the old website, and the other will be the solution on the NYT website.  If you have a choice, the NYT word is easier.  There is an article about this that I came across somewhere, but it mentions both solutions without much warning, so I figure best to avoid spoilers.

[Langue_doc]

ab_grp, I can no longer get Wordle on my kindle. As for the phone and computer, Wordle thinks I'm two different people!

NYT is now "cleaning" the word list, according to this report:
https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/15/22934587/wordle-solutions-changed-new-york-times

As for the subway, on my way home from the dentist, I had to use an entrance that didn't have an agent. I was surprised to see a man hold open the exit and asking for "donations". A few people just walked into the station through this open gate. I suspect this person had tampered with one or more of the turnstiles because despite swiping my card more than 15 times I couldn't get the turnstile to let me through. Eventually I gave up and walked in through the open gate. I called the MTA to alert them about the damaged turnstiles and also the panhandler holding the door open for anyone to walk through.

You have to be on high alert these days. Last week when I was coming home from the doctor's I noticed that everyone on the platform was standing against the wall instead of near the edge of the platform. Today on my way home I was in an almost empty car, and noticed a person to the far right, openly masturbating. I was going to get off that car and wait for the next train, but fortunately this person got off at the next station. I have more dental and medical appointments scheduled for this month and the next, and have to take the subway to get to these. Oh, well!

[ab_grp]

Oh my gosh, Langue_doc! Well, first, I am glad the part about calling the MTA was more minor than it could have been (and yay for being a good citizen!), but yikes about the... person engaged in self-love! I know this kind of thing does happen at times on public transit, but yuck.  Do you think the people last week were standing against the wall because of the shovers?

And thanks for the article about Wordle.  Given all the complaints we have had here about what is or is not accepted in the bee and LB, I am skeptical that the changes they are making to the word lists will all be good ones.  The article mentioned getting rid of "pupal", possibly because it's too close to "pupil"? That is ridiculous.  I think you should be able to guess just about any real word (okay, I can see not wanting some offensive ones to be included) because sometimes the more obscure ones have letter combos or patterns that are helpful for figuring out the solution.  Ugh.  I'm sorry you are not being recognized correctly between devices.  I still am not sure how they even know who we are if we don't have to sign in, so it must be the device or cookies or something.  I wonder why your Kindle no longer allows you to play it?!

[ab_grp]

Finally got a team 2fer!

Congrats on your QBABY, cathwen!

[Langue_doc]

Good morning!

Pangram and QB.

It turns out that I missed only one word yesterday, lallygag, which I could have easily found if I had looked at the puzzle in the afternoon or evening.

ab_grp, people are being cautious not only because of the shovings but also related crimes such as unprovoked stabbings and snatching people's bags. I noticed this last November at another subway station where the commuters were standing against the wall. These stations are in safe neighborhoods in Manhattan.

[ciao_yall]

Morning! QBwH, would never have thought to spell gullably that way. And matchboxes-siege.

Yikes on the subway, Langue-doc. We are also experiencing an uptick in the same things you are seeing. Still, with there being more people returning to work, shopping, etc it seems to also be sending the mentally ill/homeless back into the shadows.

Anyway, good solving everyone.

[cathwen]

Good morning!

Alpha with pangram this morning, two words to go.  Yesterday's QBABM surprised me; algal was my last word, right after alga.  Congratulations on QB already, Langue_doc and ciao_yall!

Congratulations on your 2fer, ab_grp!  Was it the "official" one?  I found a number of good words, but could not make anything out of the remaining letters.  I found a 2fer today, though. 

Langue_doc, what an awful subway experience!  I'm glad you reported it. 

There have been a lot of purse snatchings and carjackings in certain near-by shopping centers.  A car had its windows smashed in broad daylight while the owner was at the gym.  An 83-year-old woman was knocked to the ground, causing a hip fracture, and her purse stolen.  I have started shopping elsewhere.

On that note...

Happy puzzling!

ETA:  QBABM!

[Parasaurolophus]

Weirdly, fell a few short yesterday and never found the pangram. Easy beta for me today.

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

I think I have 4 words left today, not at Alpha.  Congrats on your QBABYS, Langue_doc and cathwen and on beta, Parasaurolophus! I thought about gullably a lot yesterday but never tried it because I also didn't think it was spelled that way! Argh.  We finally went to Shunn when we each had one word left of the same length and finally tried it, but I feel pretty mad at myself about that one.

I had the same 2fer as ciao_yall.  Husband came up with matchboxes, which was the more important part, so more a win for him.  I had a lot of good contenders, but that one finally sealed the deal.  Congrats on your 2fer today, cathwen!

That is so distressing to hear about the subway and shopping centers! Hopefully if folks stick together there is less danger, but it just seems as though perps get more and more carefree about where and when they commit crimes.  In our area, the police have deprioritized investigating some more "minor" crimes, so maybe that also stokes the flames of the desire to maraud. 

Happy solving!

[ab_grp]

We finally made it to team QB, but we each had a final word we needed the other's help with.  Mine was dumber than his was.

No luck on LB yet, though we are going to keep trying while we wait for child to arrive home from class.

[OneMoreYear]

No love on LB for me. I'm out of time tonight. Congrats to catwen and anyone else who got it today.
I've been enjoying Wordle so much (thank you to whoever recommended it on this thread), that I'm now playing Quordle.  4 Wordles at a time! That's got to be good for brain power, right?