NYT Spelling Bee

[ab_grp]

Cathwen, I really think a lot of my bee success comes from having played it every day for months and always looking up any words we miss.  Sure, a good vocabulary helps or a sense of what letter patterns are likely or not, but so many of these words are pretty esoteric.  And there's the getting bitten by not remembering particular prefixes or suffixes (especially -ee, -i, -ae for me) that makes those of us who are very stubborn vow never again.   Of course I do forget again.  Some days are just easier than others for whatever reason.  Or at some point you might happen upon a pattern you hadn't considered.  Believe it or not, what I would consider to be a primary pattern in today's puzzle that was in MANY words is one that my dear husband did not happen upon for quite a long while.  Obviously, getting to genius was tough until he did...  Anyway, you've made QB already, so clearly you have a pretty good knack for it.  Maybe you just need to become more obsessed.  ;-) Today there were a lot of words and word groups that I just remembered from previous puzzles.

Congrats on your 2fer, ciao_yall! And nearly a second 2fer!

[Langue_doc]

Cathwen, I really think a lot of my bee success comes from having played it every day for months and always looking up any words we miss.  Sure, a good vocabulary helps or a sense of what letter patterns are likely or not, but so many of these words are pretty esoteric.  And there's the getting bitten by not remembering particular prefixes or suffixes (especially -ee, -i, -ae for me) that makes those of us who are very stubborn vow never again.   Of course I do forget again.  Some days are just easier than others for whatever reason.  Or at some point you might happen upon a pattern you hadn't considered.  Believe it or not, what I would consider to be a primary pattern in today's puzzle that was in MANY words is one that my dear husband did not happen upon for quite a long while.  Obviously, getting to genius was tough until he did...  Anyway, you've made QB already, so clearly you have a pretty good knack for it.  Maybe you just need to become more obsessed.  ;-) Today there were a lot of words and word groups that I just remembered from previous puzzles.

Congrats on your 2fer, ciao_yall! And nearly a second 2fer!

I too find solutions because I'm keeping track of words that I've seen in previous puzzles. There were a few words in today's puzzle that I knew to look for because I'd seen them recently. I knew that candida wouldn't be accepted based on past experience, but I try these words anyway just out of orneriness. I also pay attention to suffixes. Today, for example I looked for three-letter verbs and also for verbs that ended in -e so that I could enter the participial forms. -ic, -ical, -al, -ion, etc are other possibilities. Very often, the letters have to be aligned in a certain configuration to see words which was how I found the second pangram a few minutes ago. I also miss words that I'd seen before as was the case with epee and teepee in a recent puzzle.

Cathwen, I hope this helps.

Made it to Alpha Bee. Some of the words were quite obvious, not at the beginning though, but much later in the day. Got a two-fer in LB, both words we all know.

[ab_grp]

Yeah on Alpha, Langue_doc! Congrats!! I also felt like some of the words took a while to see today, even ones that are normally more obvious.  I think that bookkeeping patterns that show up a lot in a particular bee day (plus lots of points to attain) can make it hard to see other, more common words or to rearrange letters into unusual patterns that are also common words.  It's like they block me from seeing normal words.  The tip you gave about suffixes is a really good one.  There are puzzles in which you can't make a four-letter word, for example, but you can make three letters + an ending.  Or two letters + an ending.  So the base bunch of letters (root?) is not acceptable, but some form of it with a suffix is.  But I would also keep trying words that were previously not accepted, given that the "dictionary" or word list they use seems not to be static and that they add and delete acceptable words at times, especially if people complain.  Quantity of complaints, or quality of arguments, I don't know. 

I do feel like LB has kind of similar underlying skills in some ways.  But it's more like if you want a 2fer in LB you have to find the pangram (not the actual term) as the solution, whereas in the bee you could probably (on most days) not get the pangram and still score a good deal of points, at least enough for genius.   We have had several LB days on which there was purportedly only really one solution.  There are others, of course, on which multiple solutions work.  I feel as though they are related skills, but one is more exhaustive, and one is more sophisticated? That is not the right description, but maybe someone knows what I'm getting at.

[ciao_yall]

SB - I sometimes remember words from previous puzzles but I don't keep track. When I run out of steam (either Amazing or just into Genius) I might go to the Comments board where they jog a few memories. Usually it's words I should have gotten but overlooked or didn't cross my mind while moving letters around (yesterday... canning, cringing, cardigan). They do a good job with hints that start off subtle and build up a little steam.

Arcadia and Arcadian? Those aren't proper nouns? Really?

LB - I got UNTOWARD-DISHPAN, so nowhere near the official solution. Not sure I would have guessed either word. First got UNTOWARD-DIPSH*T.  Also got UPWARDS-SHINTO but it wouldn't take SHINTO even though it took that Christian gospel that started with a K that I can't recall from a few weeks ago.  I really wanted to do something with DINOSAUR but was not to be.

For strategy, I start looking for combos that eat up a lot of letters. I take screenshots of 3fers and B4SS solutions so I can stare at them between fooling with letters.

The Comments board goes right into giving away the solution so I don't like to go there. Wish they would ease into it a bit.

Anyway, on to today's!

ETA:

SB: In the long sludge of Amazing, slowly finding odd words, waiting for it to flash GENIUS!

LB: Got some 3fers and a 2fer B4SS solution so think I'm going to finish my coffee and take a shower.

Will poke around during the day and see if anything shakes loose.

[ab_grp]

I also tried UPWARDS-SHINTO yesterday, ciao_yall.  And I like your first solution, even if they didn't take it! I would never, ever have come up with the official solution.  I've been taking the approach of writing down the "hard" letters on the side of my notepad and trying to work with them first, noting combos of letters that might work in a solution.  At least writing my attempts down has helped me get my handwriting back into some sort of legible form.

Also was surprised about arcadia and arcadian in the bee yesterday.  I really wanted raindancing, dragracing, arancini, or radicand to work!! Husband donated cadging to my list, and we both missed indicia despite finally remembering indica.  Argggghhh.

Today I'm at 169 points, so a bit shy of Alpha (about 178?) but am hoping to get there at some point.

Good luck on today's puzzles, everyone!

[Langue_doc]

I remembered arcadia and arcadian from previous puzzles so didn't even bother to see if they were proper nouns or not. I thought that I'd entered narc, but sometimes the words don't get through when I type them on the kindle. I should have found cigar and cirri--I recall seeing the latter not too long ago.

Spoiler alert: made it to genius with a slinky underwear word.

As for LB, puritans and shadow, much less esoteric than the official solution. But three vowels on the same side--aarrgh!

[ab_grp]

Hurrah, Langue_doc! I had to look through my list to figure out what slinky underwear you were talking about.  I think that is the word I got just before I got the word that finally got me to Alpha Bee.  I like your LB 2fer better than the official solution from yesterday. 

Since we both got to Alpha, we compared and got to QB.  I had missed two words that I am pretty sure I have missed before, naturally.

I have a mediocre contender so far in LB and have to go back to the medium sudoku, which I managed to screw up and had to delete some entries.  Had a bagel, will try again.

[cathwen]

Several solutions for yesterday's LB!  I got PATDOWN-NOURISH.  I found a 2-fer for today's as well. 

I missed a number of words on yesterday's SB that I should've gotten.  And thanks for the suggestions, too, everyone.  I made genius today, plus a few points, and will get back to that later.  I did find the pangram, which jumped out at me right away.

[ciao_yall]

2fer and genius.

So diem was carpe'd or however you say it.

[ab_grp]

Congrats on your unique 2fer yesterday, cathwen, and your 2fer and genius + today!

And yay for ciao_yall and the carpe'd diem of genius and 2fer.

I am still trying the LB, but I'm still slowly working on problem solving my computer.  Ughhh. 

[Langue_doc]

If only SB would accept huguenot, I'd have15 more points.

Found an interesting two_fer, interesting because two separate words are possible from the remaining letters.

[ab_grp]

I tried huguenot, too.  No luck.  Congrats on your 2fer 2fer! That's neat.

I will come back to LB briefly later but think I will probably not find a 2fer today.  I will be interested to hear what you all found!

[Langue_doc]

Congrats on the QB, ab_grp.

I missed ghetto, which I should have found as I was looking for gh-initial words, tent and tote both of which I had entered but apparently didn't get through, and tenon and nonet.

Made it to genius today, but no pangram yet, alas.

LB words were memorials and sticky/stocky.

ETA Woohoo, just got a two- fer on my first attempt. Both common words, the second, one that we academics use on a regular basis.

Happy solving, all.

[ciao_yall]

LB - I got ALTIMETERS-STOCKY

This morning, SB is at "genius" but no panagram. LB - lots of 3fers but no 2fer yet.

I did the Saturday mini in 38 seconds which I think is a record for me. I usually try to get the regular minis in under 30 seconds but Saturday is it's own thing.

[ab_grp]

I somehow managed to get to QB before finishing my coffee today.  I think that's a first! It was weird... I was at Alpha + and husband mentioned that he hadn't found the pangram yet, and I realized I hadn't either.  That plus a couple four-letter words got me to the QB.  So good luck everyone.  Nothing super tricky in there, but there was at least one word that I have missed in the past.

Congrats on your 2fers yesterday and today, Langue_doc! And for yours yesterday, ciao_yall.  I was nowhere near the official solution.  Again with some weird words there.