NYT Spelling Bee

[Langue_doc]

Morning!

Today's LB is appropriate for today's theme. Got the two-fer without much effort.

Stuck on genius.

ab_grp, hope the roads aren't too treacherous for your valentine.

[ab_grp]

Thanks for the good thoughts, Langue_doc.  I am really crossing my fingers that he doesn't have to go.  And thank you for the hint! I was wondering if it would be day-appropriate, and your hint easily led me to a 2fer!  I had been chasing down several contenders in the wrong direction, so yay!

[ciao_yall]

SB yesterday wouldn't take "boffin."

LB - My illegal solution was JEWEL-LITHOGRAM. Lithogram is a thing per Google but the puzzle wouldn't take it, and it isn't in the dictionary. I also spent a lot of time playing with MAHARAJA. 

On to today's...

[Parasaurolophus]

LB - My illegal solution was JEWEL-LITHOGRAM.

Mine, too! Grrr.

[ciao_yall]

Genius, 2fer, achieved.

"Logarithm" was a tricky one with the 3 consonants in a row. At one point logjam was a contender, b4ss.

Okay, time to fetch the old-school papers and get my puzzles on!

[ab_grp]

I think the illegal solution should be accepted.  Congrats! Yep, the ones with consonants in a row like that can definitely be hard to spot.

Finally got to Alpha, barely, at 189.  It would be nice to have an E.

[cathwen]

Happy Valentine's Day, fellow word puzzle lovers!

I clawed my way to Beta yesterday on SB before giving up.  Although I got belief, oddly, I missed nonbelief, the one pangram! 

Today's SB is at genius, with dim hopes of getting further.  We'll see.  I did, at least, get the pangram.  Ab_grp, congratulations on Alpha!

As for LB, I got yesterday's "official" solution.  But I also vote to make LITHOGRAM acceptable!  Phooey on the LB judges! 

Yesterday, I got  LOGARITHM first, and then JEWEL popped out at me.  I got today's LB with its season-appropriate theme. 

[ab_grp]

Cathwen, Beta is great, and they are so inconsistent about what non- and en- words they will take, as well as what suffixes are acceptable with which roots.  It is quite irksome.  Husband and I were just talking recently about which non- words they tend to take, and they seem usually to be words in which the non- is required (e.g., nonchalant, nonillion, nonagaon, nonagonal).  Now nonbelief? I am in disbelief. ;-)

We finally gave up and compared lists so we could move on, and we still had a couple words to look up.  Missed a couple easy ones that we usually get, as well as one that is slightly more obscure, but definitely not unknown or too, too unfamiliar. 

[ciao_yall]

This morning: Bee - genius. LB - 3fer. But ouch.

cath_wen, thinking about your approach from yesterday. I tend to attack the hard letters like J and W and see what emerges. You went the opposite route. So today with an X and a Z maybe that will work better?

Happy solving!

[ab_grp]

Good morning!

Bee has gone pretty quickly, but I still have one four-letter word left until QB! Argh!! Husband caught up and only has one five-letter word left, so we each have each other's words but won't compare just yet.  I figure we should each be able to figure out the remaining word.  Maybe!

Rex P. again said that the crossword was harder than a typical Monday.  This time I might agree due to some of the crosses.  I think it probably took about a minute more than average Monday.  Not too bad, though once some things became evident.

Looks like some fun letters on LB, and I still have today's hard sudoku to start.

Have fun!

[Parasaurolophus]

Easy Bee fr me, too. Now to try LB.

[ciao_yall]

Got a 2fer just now. That was faster than expected.

[ciao_yall]

Rex P. again said that the crossword was harder than a typical Monday.  This time I might agree due to some of the crosses.  I think it probably took about a minute more than average Monday.  Not too bad, though once some things became evident.

I got thru the puzzle pretty quickly except had one wrong letter. Darn Hawaiians...

[cathwen]

I'm one point from Alpha on SB, but LB came pretty easily in spite of the X and Z.   

Yesterday, I actually got BUTCHER-ROMANTIC first, and then saw ROMANTIC-CHERUB, more in keeping with the Valentine's Day theme!

Ciao_yall, congratulations on your 2-fer, and also to those who are near QB!

[Langue_doc]

Morning!

Genius, crossword and vertex done.

Back to grading.