NYT Spelling Bee

[ciao_yall]

Got a 2fer with a strange compound word.

[ab_grp]

Got a 2fer with a strange compound word.

Hooray! I just got a 2fer, too. 

Still about 4 points away from Alpha Bee.  Argh! Husband has the same number of words but more points, so he probably got some longer ones I didn't get while I got shorter ones he didn't get, as usual.  I am determined to get to Alpha Bee!

I think my easy sudoku time was my best ever, 3 minutes flat.  Then medium was a bit of a slog but completed in a mediocre time.  But it was completed, no errors, which is my goal for that.  Still working on hard.  I feel like I have made good progress, at least.  On some of those, it's hard to find even a foothold.

[Langue_doc]

ab_grp, it sounds as though you need just a few 4-letter words or a 5-er. Those aren't too difficult.

There was a literary term, so let me know if anyone needs a hint. I get frustrated at the non-acceptance of villein, a proper medieval term, while archaic and specialized words are accepted. I keep trying all the same.

Incidentally, the same person is listed as the editor of SB and LB. Can't imagine why this person would assume that the words that are legit in LB are not legit in SB!

Congrats all on the LB.

QB for me, but no LB.

[ab_grp]

Langue_doc, wow on getting to QB!! Congrats! That was a very tough one for me.  I finally got another (obvious, in retrospect, of course) 5-letter word to get to Alpha Bee, and we compared lists.  Husband donated another 5-letter to me, and I donated one or two 4-letter words to him.  Thank the masters of the universe that I finally made it over that threshold.  Good gravy.  Good luck with LB if you try again.  If you want a hint, feel free to PM, and if I'm around I will happily comply.

And I managed to finish today's hard sudoku and the one from 1/13, so those are cleared out of the queue.  Both took an hour or more, but I finished without checking answers and without mistakes.  Whew.  Maybe I can finish 1/14 hard before the next round come out.

[Langue_doc]

ab_grp, thank you for your offer of a hint. I thought about it, but then decided that the upcoming crossword would take up my time, so didn't pursue it.

Cheers on the sudokus!

Made it to genius today; rather boring list, what with the letters and the derived forms. As usual, kine, a good ol' poetic word, was rejected. I'm done with the crosswords, sudokus, and vertex, and got some first words on LB, but no second word yet.

Happy solving all!

[ciao_yall]

LB - yesterday ended up with CHANGEUP-PERFECTS but HANGUP and PREFECTS also worked. I had been trying to get to PREFECTURE, alas, b4ss.

ETA: Already some 3fers so should be close. 

SB - off to a start. Need to remember to add the -ING to every word I come up with and should hit "genius" soon enough.

[ab_grp]

You're welcome and thank you, Langue_doc! Good thinking on the crossword, though.  It wasn't that bad once some of the longer answers got filled in, but you never know with a Saturday.   BTW, I see that the bee creator was the crossword constructor today. 

Ciao_yall, I got CHANGEUP-PREFECTS before I realized that PERFECTS also worked.   Haven't gained much traction on today's yet.

I'm right at 80% on the bee so far but will keep trying for Alpha Bee.  Got easy and medium sudokus done and am making progress on hard.  I know the next round come out earlier today, so I'm trying to get as far as I can.  At least I managed to finish the unsolved hard sudoko queue.

Yesterday's bee annoyed me because alee and alienee weren't in there, though they are always in the dang crossword.  Like I said above, Sam Ezersky did the crossword today, and I am keeping a mental notebook of any answers there to see if they are accepted in the bee when the letters allow.  If not, he will receive correspondence from me. ;-)

Good day and happy solving to you all!

[ab_grp]

After a fair number of contenders in LB, I finally managed to wrangle remaining letters for one of them into a mate, so I got a 2fer.  Was close with another one if not for the B4SS issue.

Still 6 points away from Alpha Bee, darn it.  Husband is ahead of me but still has one point to go before he is at Alpha Bee.  That is his goal now, too!

But, I did finish the hard sudoku without errors.

[cathwen]

I also have one point to go for Alpha Bee.  I know it must be there, but I just don't see it—never mind the several more I need for QB.   Like Langue_doc, I was annoyed that kine was rejected.  I like those old words (like wight a few days ago)!  And what's up with the rejection of knap/knapping? 

For yesterday's LB, I got hangup-prefects. But today was my real victory, as I found a solution on the very first try!  It will be a long time before that happens again. 

I unlocked the key to the hard sudoku by what I imagined was razor-sharp reasoning, but it was probably just a lucky guess. 

[ab_grp]

Yay, Cathwen, on your immediate LB! And good luck getting your one more point in the bee!  We ended up with a satisfactory (if not super exciting) finale for the bee today.  Husband got his four-letter word to get him to Alpha Bee (117 pts), and thankfully I got a 6-letter that brought me to the same total, same number of words.  So we both made it to Alpha Bee, and when we compared we had the exact same lists.  The final three words that I had to look at the answers for were ones I doubt we would ever have come up with unless we just stumbled upon them, so I'm glad we got to Alpha and quit!!  We also tried knap/knapping and a bunch of other stuff.  There's a word I have been waiting for the right letters for, and it wasn't in there! Too archaic, I guess? That would be a laugh considering some of what's in there today.

I don't doubt you have razor-sharp sudoku reasoning skills! There's a situation I come across sometimes that I feel implies a particular outcome, but I'm not sure if it does or not.  I've started going with it, and it's worked out.  Maybe if I thought it through in the abstract I could figure out if it's for real or not.  So I'm feeling my way around and think I'm developing some intuitions.  In any case, I guess the next round has come out, so I'll see how I do there.

[ciao_yall]

I got a 2fer as well.

cathwen, wow on the 2fer! 2fer on the first try - that needs an acronym. 2F1G (2fer on the first go?) 2F1S (2fer on the first strike?) Suggestions?

[Langue_doc]

Yay to y'all.

I've been prepping, mainly tweaking directions for assignments and due dates, so haven't made any progress on any of the puzzles. I did get a head start on the crossword earlier this afternoon.

I'll probably continue with the prep as I seem to be on a roll.

[Parasaurolophus]

Got my genius SB, but noted several omissions. We'll see if I remember them tomorrow.

[Parasaurolophus]

...nankeen?

Yesterday rejected kine, pika, and kenning.

[Langue_doc]

Haven't found the pangram yet, but made it to above genius. Alpha Bee yesterday.

As for yesterday's LB, I found the two-fer late last night, after I had completed the Sunday crossword. I have the same words as the official solution. I decided to give LB one more try as I didn't want to be left out of the two-fer crowd.

On to vertex and then LB.

ETA: kine, villein, and a few other words of the same vintage are routinely rejected. I try them anyway.