NYT Spelling Bee

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

Got to genius with the pangram pretty quickly today again but not much time or luck since.  Congrats on already beecoming QB, Langue_doc! Yesterday we also had to get help (Steve G help, since Shunn didn't even do the trick) for the M word.  Glad we're not the only ones who had trouble with that one.  Aside from that, I also needed help with bellmen, noblemen, manhattan.

No luck on LB despite feeling really close with a couple contenders! I was nowhere near the schmofficial solution.

Happy solving!

[cathwen]

Good afternoon!

QB today, but yesterday needed help for embed/ded, mooed (all of which I should have seen), and melodeon.

LB:  No 2fer yesterday, and none so far today, despite a number of good words.  I'll keep trying...

Happy puzzling!

[ab_grp]

Got a 2fer!

Congrats on your QB as well, cathwen! I still have some left to go but will hope it works out well.

[Parasaurolophus]

Blah, don't have it in me today. I think I often founder on this one.

[Langue_doc]

Good morning!

Pangram and genius; don't have the energy or time to chase down the remaining words.

Happy solving!

[cathwen]

Good morning!

QB yesterday with help for the last word, cicada, which I was sure I had entered previously—so the need for a hint was a little deflating.  Today I am above genius with the pangram and stuck.  The Bee has already rejected two words that I *know* are words, so that is a little annoying.

LB:  No solution yesterday!  Ab_grp, congratulations on yours!  I got a quick 2fer today, though. 

Happy puzzling!

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

Got to genius with pangram pretty easily again, thankfully.  Yesterday I made it by the skin of my teeth to QB, just before we were about to give up and compare.  My final word was addict.  Cathwen, if you think you already entered it, then I definitely think it counts.  At least, I count it when it happens to me! Though I know what you mean about feeling a little let down about it.  I will be interested to hear tomorrow about today's rejected words!

For LB, I got crump-polyphobia.  It was a tough one, and there were a lot of other contenders that I thought were more likely to lead to a solution.  I got the latter word first.  Congrats on yours today, cathwen, and thanks!

Happy solving!

[ciao_yall]

QBwH for cattail which in my brain is two words.

And another big 3fer day...

broch-hail-lumpy
bap-phylum-macro
parabolic-chum-may
phobic-curly-yam

... among others and 2fer b4ss. A few 3fers today as well - think it's gonna be one of those days.


Happy solving!

[cathwen]

Good morning!

QBwH yesterday to find unroll (argh!) and larrup, which I found only by playing with letter combinations in frustration.  Today I'm just shy of Beta, but not holding out high hopes of finishing unaided.

I was annoyed yesterday that purpura and parula were rejected.  Parula is a kind of warbler.  Given the obscure (to me) fish names SB often allows, I was surprised that it was rejected.

LB:  I had the "official" overbought-taxed.  I also found a 2fer today.

Happy puzzling!

[ab_grp]

Good morning! 

Not to genius yet, but I do have the pangram.  We also got tripped up on larrup yesterday! And I was missing upon.  Ugh.

No luck on LB despite some good contenders! Congrats, cathwen, and on another today!

Happy solving!

ETA: Forgot to mention that I had looked up purpura and feel like this isn't the first time that it appeared but wasn't accepted, but I had not heard of parula, as far as I know!

[ciao_yall]

QBwH for a new word larrup which I would use in a sentence today but already forgot what it means.

LB - just close 3fers reverb-bought-taxed, overtaxed-dough-hob, brought-taxed-dove. Let's see if I can break the 3fer streak today.

Happy solving!

[ab_grp]

Got a 2fer! And I finally got to genius.  Whew.

[Langue_doc]

Afternoon!

Didn't think I'd find the pangram or get to genius, but I did. That's it for today.

Missed larrup; I agree that it's annoying to have words that are in common use rejected while obscure words seem to be legit. It isn't surprising though because the bee claims to "hand-curate" the list of words which is a weaselly way of saying "we get to decide/choose; don't bother to ask for any rationale for our choices". I've given up getting frustrated over their arbitrary list of words.

We saw the northern parula on several of our walks until sometime in October. They've gone south for the winter though.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Parula/overview

Scroll down for the reason behind the naming of the bird.

Before this species received the name Northern Parula (a diminutive form of parus, meaning little titmouse), Mark Catesby, an English naturalist, called it a "finch creeper" and John James Audubon and Alexander Wilson called it a "blue yellow-backed warbler."

Incidentally one of the participants on the last bird walk informed us that titmice as well as titmouses are both considered legit plural forms of titmouse.

I've been puzzled by the different pronunciations of the bird's name--one of the bird walk leaders stresses the first syllable parula, whereas at least three other leaders stress the second syllable parula. It turns out that either pronunciation is fine:

Some bird names are hard to pronounce, and the Northern Parula has started its share of lively debates. Most people say "par-OOH-la" or "PAR-eh-la," while others say "PAR-you-la."

Happy solving!

[cathwen]

Good morning!

A very impure QB yesterday with help from the hints.  Last words were litchi and oilcloth.  Today I have one word to go until QB and hope to find it without caving. 

LB:  I had breakfasts-somatic.  I found a 2fer today, after a bit of a struggle.

Langue_doc, I don't think I've ever seen a parula warbler!  Lucky you!  As for pronunciation, the variation I always hear is for pileated woodpeckers:  Is it PIE-leated or PILL-eated?  My daughter-in-law says PILL, I say PIE.  Apparently, like PAR-u-la and par-U-la, both pronunciations are correct.

Anyway...happy puzzling!

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

Got to genius with pangram, looks like 3 words left.  Good luck, cathwen! I needed help with litchi as well and don't remember seeing that variant (?) before.  And we both needed help with oilcloth.  There were a couple others I needed help with as well that I can't recall.

I had breakfast(s) and tried so hard to find a mate and just failed.  But (had to go back and add this because I completely forgot until I looked at my notepad) I did have briefs-smokestack.  Congrats, cathwen, and on another one today!

Regarding the parula, it looks like it is blue-backed and yellow-fronted.  Is there a bird reason why they call it blue yellow-backed? Maybe I just need more coffee.

Happy solving!