SPELLING BEE
Can someone post the letter counts for the 9/3 Spelling Bee? Sorry if it has been posted already but I don't see it. Two words left, and at wit's end. Thanks.
4
@mikew
I succumbed and used Wordmine to find the last two words.
5xF (2@4,1@6,1@8,1@9)
4xL (2@4,1@6,1@9)
2xO (1@5,1@8)
20xP (13@4,5@5,1@6,1@9 pangram)
3XR (1@6,2@7)
6XT (1@4,1@5,3@6,1@7)
0XI
Further Hints:
The 6 letter L word is one that was hinted at below, and is a verb suggestive of a bear. A real doozy, clotbur-ish to me. The 5 letter O word I only got because it was used in a Spelling Bee not long ago, and might be familiar to someone who is not a complete landlubber. One of the 4 letter P words has no vowel, which really does not seem fair. One of the 5 letter P words is a small animal which I believe was accepted in a Bee not long ago, but which I had totally forgotten.
4
Congrats on the debut! I greatly enjoyed it. I got mentally blocked on the SPIGOT / AWKWARDAGE intersection, but eventually it fell.
On the SB, I finally found a panagram after hours of staring. Stuck at 28/105. Here’s to finding 10 more points while vegging to TV.
1
I’m at 34/126. I too spent forever looking for the pangram and I don’t know why. It is not an uncommon word by any means. It just completely eluded me.
1
Hi NYT. Please note that “Eskimo” (clue 47D) is a derogatory term for Inuit people. I’d encourage better, more respectful terminology.
6
Veronica,
I'm sure you know that not all Arctic and Subarctic First Peoples are Inuit; that while the Inuit prefer to call themselves their own name for themselves, Eskimo as derogatory has been debunked; that The New York Times is not a Canadian paper, and that most Alaska Natives (US First Peoples) do not object to the term Eskimo.
http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/resources/inuit-eskimo/
7
This is just what the doctor (Evans) ordered: A smooth solve with no frustrating hangups. In fact, a new PR (No, *not* PRESS RELEASE!) of just under 9 mins. (not "speed solving" per se). After last week (even Monday), I needed this.
As many others (I bet), briefly had loA instedad of KEA. Also, a brain spasm with SOcO instead of SOHO (the former being the copycat designation of my neighborhood, "South Congress (Ave)." Brief panic about adjacent J and L at 59D. Only unknowns were PAEAN and OSS.
Next up: Read the comments about yesterday's marathon puzzle!
4
Congratulations on your debut, Trent, and welcome to the constructors' stable.
Nice Monday puzzle. Are you going to work your way through the week? Be careful on Thursday!
I especially liked AWKWARD AGE for some reason. Just the way it looks I guess.
Didn't know ARROWHEADS as clued, but it's apparently sports-related, so that seems logical.
They're threatening two-three more days of unbearable weather. This makes me unhappy becausse I have a doctor appointment on Wednesday (not put-off-able; my pain doc, who tries to make STANDING and WALKING more bearable).
I hope everyone had a good Labor Day, and took time to remember the importance of unions. Solildarity forever!
1
Deadline,
For Wednesday, I hope your choice of air-conditioned transportation will be RUNNING, and that you will be SITTING in or on it but not too long at the doctor's office.
And no DUCK JOKES.
The Union makes us strong!
@Barry Ancona
Thank you, Barry.
I'll be taking cabs both ways (RUNNING through my budget quite quickly), since WALKING to and from the bus stops and STANDING there waiting -- especially for buses that are empty enough that I can be sure of SITTING -- is way too much in this heat.
I hope Shannon is not overdoing.
Deadline,
She's taking it easy. She did 57 miles Saturday when it was cooler, and 12 yesterday for fun, but today was just over the bridge to yoga. Commute and practices restart tomorrow.
no comments showing at 15:43.
They're playing hide and seek, Bob.
Test. Not a beta test, just a plain old test.
Seems like comment posts were still being allowed but the comments weren't showing up? Either there was inadvertent downtime or there was maintenance update (hard to believe they'd do it during the day, but I don't think there is a good time at any time).
Wen,
Maybe the servers got too hot today, or went to a BBQ. I'm sure they didn't walk out in support of the Newspaper Guild.
1
@Barry Ancona
When I finally got to comments just a little bit ago, reading Oldest first, anything newer than 6 hours old refused to load. Had to come to Newest first and start reading the end of the comments in backwards order.
I guess it got lopped off in the comment pruning weirdness, but last night I posted a thank you to qatburger, Wen and the rest of the Hive Mind for help on the Bee. Good hints, guys! I got there. I was missing one of the easiest words, of course.
Queen for a day, drone tomorrow. That’s how my life goes.
4
It's wax on, wax off, Honey.
Welcome back, PfP
2
As frustrating as the comment system is at the moment and in the last several months, I'd say please be patient. At some point I'm sure they'll sort it all. I'm willing to be very patient for all of the great people and great comments (ok, not always great, but mostly great) being posted here.
2
Wen,
The timing of your post was most ironic!
The irony was definitely not lost on me. sigh...
I'd like to add my 2¢ (I had better make that 2$ now) to the blog comment appearance and disappearance issue(s), FWIW. I apparently have things set up so that when I make a comment I get notified by the NYT by email that my comment has posted. That email replicates my comment and includes a link to it which I can click on to reach it. I do so and -- lo and behold -- I am back in the blog and see it posted.
Will any of this help?
Dr W,
No, it won't. But thanks.
@Dr W
The email with the full content of your post is pretty new and started maybe a month ago (my first of such came on August 3rd). You received it because, when you post the comment, there is a checkbox at the bottom labeled "Receive email notifications when comments are published" and it defaults as checked. Most of us just click Submit and don't bother with unchecking that checkbox.
It helps you to find your own comments or replies that have been published. However, the current comment system display still limits itself to showing the first 2 replies to a comment, and when there are 3 or more, there is the little button labeled "VIEW ALL REPLIES". When you click on that, it only shows the 3rd reply, not any of the subsequent ones.
For a while, it was random - sometimes we'd see all replies, sometimes we wouldn't. And when we wouldn't, it was random which 3 were being shown. Now at least it's very consistent in that it shows the first 2, then 3 and never the rest of the replies, unless you click on Share and select the Permalink and paste the link into the address bar, which would take you to the comment and all of the replies after clicking on x replies ,where x is the number of replies.
2
And, Dr W -- 4th reply -- twilight had nothing to do with light (or, necessarily, with age).
Another neat one. Would have been great to include LEAPING (as in lizards, perhaps).
I have a 57A: How many sides does a 43D have?
Answer: two.
2
Great Monday puzzle whether SITTING, STANDING, WALKING, or RUNNING.
Like PAEAN, NEHIS, and SPIGOT in particular... don’t know why, just do.
Bring on Tuesday!
:-)
4
Very sweet note of introduction and greeting from the constructor. Thank you, Trent H. Evans!
7
Have I completely overlooked the "one-click" link on the home page to the Crossword?
It seems to have disappeared, altho I occasionally I see it in the blue box which usually says, " 'GIFT' (ugh-seriously???) the NYTimes", but not always.
I know other ways to reach the puzzle(s), but would like to see a DIRECT link reappear somewhere on the home page.
@Marcia Wilheim
Look in the bottom-of-page list of links, under "Living."
Marcia,
The link on the NYT home page to the Crossword page is now way down on the right side. Or, from the menu upper left, select MORE then Crossword. Or bookmark it.
@Barry Ancona and Alan J:
Thanks -- that is what I'm using, but it now requires me to log in every time, for pity's sake.
I guess we've lost our status and don't merit a direct link any longer.
My five favorite clues from last week:
1. Number 2 or 6 (5)
2. Watch words? (9)
3. Luxurious Italian house (5)
4. Word that looks like its meaning when written in lower case (3)
5. Brightly colored blazer (3)
ADAMS
SWISS MADE
PRADA
BED
SUN
9
@Lewis
Did *not* like SUN. Colored?
1
An obvious labor of love on Labor Day, and a fine, fine debut!!
How many first-timers can END with NO END?
How many can be ALL ERGY while having NO EN[D]?
How many will have the GENIE-us to know never to CHASE a SITTING DUCK AUR A RUNNING JOKE? How about a MARCH HARE?
I liked that little NW sequester of the AWARKWARDAGE, but avoid the world according to AARP. Went briefly astray with SIGN_UP and SLIT/SNIP. Always enjoy a puzzle that can exercise the body as well as the mind (even if only on paper).
Trent H. Evans, have to say you're T.H.E. Man! Hope it won't be long before you lay ON US what goodies you have in your CRAWL SPACE.
12
@Leapfinger.
No room for this on your love of puffins comment. I tried even when there was only one reply.
I love puffins as well, Leapy. I especially remember ones we encountered on an Iceland holiday. They definitely posed when they saw people getting out their cameras.
2
Do clinical psychologists perform word association tests when they construct a puzzle?
4
A nice puzzle. It gave me exactly what I want for a Monday, and I liked the theme. The fill was good but I personally hate that alternate spelling of eyRIES. This is the second time I've seen it so I guess it's fairly standard crossword-ese, but it ruffles my feathers for some reason!
I think my favorite clue was "part of an urn that can turn."
1
@Nick
Not crosswordese, but American-ese. According to both the Merriam-Webster and Oxford on-line dictionaries, AERIE is the preferred North American spelling, while EYRIE is the preferred British spelling.
4
@Alan J
Oh wow! That's so weird...I'm fully American, but I've always thought it was EYRIE. I think it's because of Glen Eyrie...I grew up in Colorado Springs, and that's the name of a famous historic building there.
Excellent Monday - super smooth fill, until I fell into a YIKES/YIPES hole and added 90 seconds to my time. Ah, well.
Congratulations are in order to Mr. Evans, although I'm not sure what's more impressive - a NYTXWD debut or having a child graduate college and actually secure employment in their chosen field of study!
Well done on both counts...
5
Chungclan,
A clinical psychologist might approve of the assumption, but our constructor did *not* say environmental science was his child's chosen field of study.
"My oldest is a college graduate and working in his first professional job in environmental science."
1
SPELLING BEE
Queen Bee: 40 Words, 165 points. No pride in accomplishment, however!!!
Today's bee was an annoyance with three words not in my vocabulary. For one of them, a 6 letter word, I resorted to scrolling through the Apple dictionary using roots of words to find it.
HINTS AHEAD:
For that pesky 6 letter word: take one of the oft used Bee 7 letter words and behead it. The etymology suggests they are related. I never heard the word before and I saw a bear in the N.C. woods as recently as last week. It waited for our car to pass and then politely and gracefully crossed the road at the "Bear Crossing" sign. (Who knew bears could read? Maybe they could play the Bee.)
As to the two other stumpers, a 6 letter word beginning with F was a spelling variation I tried on a proper noun that is also a modifier of a useful tool. Can't claim any valor in knowing the word, only in typing possibilities! (I.e.: guessing) Similarly, a 5 letter O word was gained as a random alternate ending for a fabric.
These three words removed the Bee from being fun for me today. I also think it rendered the Bee a tad clobur-rish. Good luck all.
8
I was hoping, given the holiday, that protoil might be a word. Alas.
@Liane
I'm at 32/119 Genius
BUT
below there is a discussion and the letters do NOT match the Wee Bee I have today.
This is too weird.
Those comments all referred to yesterday’s Bee. Unclear why they’re in today’s collection of comments unless it has to do with the initiator’s west coast residence.
A very clean, perfectly pleasant, and not at all challenging puzzle that I will have forgotten by 10:08 this morning.
Let me tell you my real life, up close and personal URI Geller (58D) experience. He came to do a demonstration of his spoon bending powers at the Literary Guild in the 1070s, where I worked as an editor. (We had taken one of his books as an Alternate Selection.) We sat around a big round table in the conference room where we held our Friday editorial meetings. URI proceeded to bend a spoon. I was ready for that. I knew it was some kind of trick. But then he did something that I found far more mind-blowing. He had asked that people bring in a sealed envelope with a mysterious something inside. My friend Cathy pulled an envelope from her handbag and handed it to him. He stared at it -- then on a piece of paper, he drew a small, uneven figure eight, going over it with a pencil over and over again until it was dark black. As I say, uneven -- and thicker and blacker in some parts than others. He then opened up the envelope. There was that figure -- the exact same size and shape and thickness of his drawing! Cathy had taken hairs from her beloved black dog (a puli), wrapped them into a makeshift figure eight and glued them to a piece of paper. It was uncanny. I have never figured out how he did it.
3
Nancy,
This may offer a hint:
https://books.google.com/books?id=ko7Yy08C1PUC&pg=PA11#v=onepage&...
1
The link was cut off. From the page where you land, enter Uri Geller in the search box, and from the results click on page 11.
Trent, are you JUMPING FOR JOY? You should be in celebration of your impressive debut. Congratulations!
6
In his remarks our constructor tells us he is a psychological counselor. Maybe that's why this puzzle is gentle, easy to get started with, smooth, thought-provoking, with a few surprises and discoveries here and there. I feel better already!
7
Acrosses. Downs. Acrosses again and done. Rare for me and had to be a record time or close to it. Really liked the theme and thought there were a number of nice bonus answers as well. Looking forward to more from Mr. Evans.
Bit of a coincidence with 11d and the weird part of my brain. I'm a bit of a homonym freak and when I woke up this morning I had a strange idea floating around. Went to Wikipedia and looked up AUK, looking for possibilities; the best I came up with was "Razorbill or Puffin?" with the answer: AUKWORD. Probably not going to see that in a puzzle. And sorry, I guess I'm at that auk word age.
Also wondered if 32a had ever been clued with a FITB as: "Is this the end of ____?" (with or without 'Mother of mercy'). Nope, though it has referenced Little Caesar several times.
6
Addendum (sorry, but once I get going it's hard to stop):
It also occurred to me that "The end of Rico?" might be a cute clue for LONGO, though I see that that entry has appeared only twice in Times' puzzles.
@Rich in Atlanta
As you may have anticipated, I'm a fan of your AUK WORD construction. Sad to say, the Recommended articles list has just includrd one on the current endangered status of puffins, one of my favourite birds ever since reading the Enid Blyton books as a kid.
2
@Leapfinger
I was also very unhappy to read about the plight of the puffins.
1
Fun Monday. Congrats to Mr. Evans on his debut! I'm hoping that in a couple of years, once retired, that I can explore puzzle construction as well. I have a gut feeling that crossword construction is very much like software development (which I've spent my life doing). Starting with a high level view (theme, if you will), planning out the overall structure (grid, theme/long entries) and then writing good, tight code. I may never get published (although how great would that be!) but at least I'll have a great hobby for my twilight years.
7
"...a great hobby for my twilight years."
Sounds good, Steve F, but be sure there are no bugs in that good, tight code you write (i.e., words matter). I'd say older commenters here are in their *golden* years; in *twilight* you may no longer be able to solve, much less construct, crosswords.
@Barry Ancona & Steve Faiella
Started in Fortran on the 7094 with McCracken in the 1960's. Still Fortran coding now using an online version of Basic on the Mac. Had a brush with C in the '90s on the Cray and was told I still don't know C syntax. A buddy came to the rescue and told me that a good Fortran programmer can program in Fortran in any language.
@Barry Ancona
"...in *twilight* you may no longer be able to solve, much less construct, crosswords."
That's what LED lamps are for. I get my best ideas in the wee hours. Sometimes in moonlight if the occultation between adjacent buildings is just right.
2
I am an intermittent commenter here, as you know. I'll just give my first impressions. (Often, I just don't have time to do the crossword, so I don't comment.)
The Crossword community here is a great group and a wonderful resource. However, it has always amazed me how small it is, for the NYT. It seems like a really small group.
I was somewhat dismayed by the recent NYT p. 2 article about this blog. Frankly, I would not have mentioned any names (or aliases); I think it has the potential to alienate some long-time commenters. The article would have been just as good without having done that.
I like to comment in Science, since that's my area, but those columns are rarely open for comments, and they seem much less read. So last year I ventured into the "main tank." (FWIW, I think that every "recommend" out there is worth about 100 in here -- this can be a tough crowd!)
Anyway, the problems mentioned in here are pervasive out there, too; these are site-wide problems. The comments architecture has regressed for some reason. You shouldn't take it personally.
It's a big problem; we all like back-and-forth, but why bother composing a long reply if it quickly gets flushed out with the three-comment overflow? And where did the green-check icons go? For "All" why do we have to click "Newest" *and* "Oldest" now? It also all just looked better before.
I agree, I think NYT IT is in over their heads with some sort of upgrade/security fix. Why not just tell us about it?
8
@Blue Moon From a noob's perspective (less than a year doing NYT XWPs and coming to WordPlay), I didn't mind the article. It was kind of fun to see quotes from people that I see on here a lot, many who have been here for years. Plus, the invite to participate was extended to all (I submitted my info for consideration too) so I don't think it was off-putting. As far as the comment system is concerned, this seems to be a far reaching issue that goes beyond the NYT. Without naming names, I've seen several commenting systems go awry over the years and it always takes a long time to get them back up and running correctly. Being a computer professional myself, I have my suspicions of where the comment system may be going wrong, but I'm seeing the light of retirement glowing at the end of the tunnel, and I'm really close, so they'll have to solve it without my help... ;-)
5
@Steve Faiella
First off, I don't want to reply because now I'm sucking up one of three reply slots! I don't want your comment to overflow out! But I need to say that I'm not in here most days, and I completely missed the invite to participate (and I would have been embarrassed to do so, honestly, as I am a noob duffer at best). It's really that people seem to be taking these crossword comment problems personally, and that's just silly, since sooner or later the crossword blog was going to be forced into the main tank, as the crossword is a part of the overall NYT. Now, if people can figure out how to make all of the comments in the NYT more like this crossword blog, that would be wonderful, but that's another matter, and I fear that's too much to ask ...
1
@Blue Moon
I read the article and I can see how those of you who are longtime members of this group feel it is a nice little community, but I myself find it cliquey. A little unwelcoming about the SB and its comments, possibly even snobby. It has occurred to me, as I read - and enjoy - the comments (even the prickly ones) - that it is a small version of what has happened politically. Everyone feels so comfortable, but forgets they are outnumbered by the not-us.
I understand that the outside world has no place in this blog, but I felt empowered by the comment on the NYT article - which itself had no comment space, if it had, I would have made this comment there.
6
Another fine debut. In order of preference, for me, SITTING, WALKING, STANDING, and I can't remember when I last did any RUNNING. The clues were well chosen in that the meaning of the theme word was quite different when it was combined with the second part of the answer. Like others I look forward to more from Trent.
7
@suejean Your second sentence, word for word.
Standing in one place is absolutely the worst thing for my back; I'll take sitting or walking any day. And yep, no memory of the last time I did any RUNNING.
4
Couldn’t agree more that standing in place is hard on my back, too. Much worse than walking.
3
@All
Amen!
Sometimes people stare at me when I pace at bus stops, but it helps alleviate some of the pain of standing.
2
Congratulations Mr. Evans on your NYT debut. I very much enjoyed your puzzle (and that's no lie, bald-faced or boldfaced).
7
Just one issue. Lies are ehite or BALD-faced, not boldface. Thst's fonts.
2
Chris,
I hope you'll review last night's discussion of bold/bald right here in the comments.
4
Nice work, Trent. Looking forward to your next ones!
and Elke
This puzzle reminds me of a story in my High School Classic Greek primer. The Latin teacher had offered to teach Classic Greek as an adjunct . An hour before regular classes started- there were two of us (Hi-Phil Anisman) -Bloor Collegiate Inst.,Toronto , mid 1950's.
Anyhoo- ''ONCE upon a time ,(maybe AESOP's), a young man came with a GROAN to the doctor . His complaint was that he had pains when he was lying, or SITTING, or STANDING,or WALKING and especially when RUNNING. Well, the doctor, a PARAGON of medicine , suggested the only thing left was for the young man to be 'HANGING'. ''
AWKWARD- huh.
The teacher (Mr. Comrie), a true PARAGON of dedication (who later became the principal of the school), also taught us 'Oh my darling Clementine' in Greek. He made learning great fun.
So was this puzzle.
10
This was fun! Very pleasant! I don't usually do them until the morning, but tomorrow will be a very busy day. I hope everyone has a great Labor Day! Yay, unions!
7
I am chasing my own tail over today’s Bee. I have 139 points, 33 words, and need — according to the hints — one, last 5-letter word beginning with m. It was frustrating me so much that I did a word search for it, and it seems it does not exist. Either the counts were wrong on the hints, or someone has a secret dictionary. Or the bees hate me.
I think I need more in my life.
1
There's only one 5-letter word beginning with M, and it's in all the dictionaries.
(The 7 M-words are 4,4,5,6,6,6,6.)
@Passion for Peaches
There are 145 points and 34 words total to hit QB today, so you're missing a 6-letter word.
I believe the person who first entered QB hints made a typo in his counts. I got the following:
12x4-letter words, 11x5, 8x6, 2x7 and 1x9. There are 4 6-letter words that begin with M. Hope that helps.
1
Congratulations on your first puzzle, Trent Evans! It was an easy Monday for me to solve, but I am in awe of anyone who creates these, particularly so soon after beginning to solve them. I thought a lot of it was clever. Now that you've found a new hobby, perhaps you won't have to worry about having a sixth child!
6
Adding to Passion and Wen's discussion of Queen Bee:
When you achieve Queen Bee status you are finished. The little Queen appears with her crown on, but only until you leave or click on anything. After that you revert "Genius" and the game pretends to be active although there are no more points to be earned or (accepted) words to be found.
If PfP got the QB screen, then the puzzle is solved as far as the beekeepers are concerned, no point in trying harder!
Also - someone has written that the easier way to determine points for Queen Bee is to simply double the next-to-last number in the catalog, whatever its called.
2
Hey, I can do all of those things, AND I can talk at the same time. (I just passed an assessment for admission to a CCRC--oh, just go look it up, you need to know anyway--but my advice is: don't wait too long to be tested.)
Totally Monday, enjoyed it, now annoyed that I have spoiled my morning.
Maybe I can just continue gnawing on the Saturday Stumper.
Happy Labor Day (is that the right greeting???)
Solidarity!
1
@Mean Old Lady - I am going to continue gnawing on the Acrostic - this week's is making me remember how I felt about them 20 years ago (unsolvable drudgery). Nothing is working out in my solve and I haven't felt this dense in a long time!
1
@David Connell Same experience but stay with it! I came thisclose to revealing a word but finally light dawned, more by the patterns in the grid than the definitions, all of which of course turned out to be reasonable and non-naticky. For me I was struggling with a few of the words ending in a vowel which I initially resisted . . .
1
@David
Stick with it. It's a really nice acrostic.
I like the progression of theme answers -- SITTING, STANDING, WALKING, RUNNING -- in an order of least-to-most effort.
Lovely clean grid, and an impressive debut!
And may I add (and I had this written down before seeing @barry's earlier post): We are, at present, in an AWKWARD AGE, due to a RUNNING JOKE, that could use some WALKING PAPERS.
18
@Lewis
Well put. I assume you mean the SITTING (lamest of the lame) DUCK?
3
4th reply on Martin's thread (2nd post attempt)
David,
I'm inclined to think it's incompetence rather than intention. After being bombarded with evidence that a fourth reply to thread-starting posts was knocking off replies, the band-aid is to not permit more than three posts. If it were an intentional policy change, why would "overflow" posts go into a permalink, rather than getting a "you can't reply" response? They're in over their heads. They need to fly in Rich and Martin to fix it (and I'll be happy to beta test their fix).
5
@Barry Ancona There is an incredibly simple way to fix the replies issues. Either remove the 'reply to a reply' option or ignore it and treat every reply as a reply to original comment.
Then you just store the replies in the order they were typed with the original comment having a chain pointer to the first reply, that reply having a pointer to the next, etc. etc. Very simple loop, running that chain until you encounter an empty pointer.
Actually not that hard at all to also handle replies to replies, with two chain pointers and a call to an inner loop, but I'd rather not test the abilities of the NYT IT staff with that option.
I'm available; I could actually use the work.
5
@Barry Ancona Alternatively, they should investigate the robust commenting systems that are already out there and have been successfully powering blogs for years (DISCUS comes to mind immediately but there are others). They probably aren't cheap, but hey, it's the NYT!!
1
@Rich in Atlanta I'm also thinking that they're not handling DB locks correctly. I can't tell you how many systems I've worked on over the years where the DB layer was written with the assumption that two users would *never* be working on the same account, so why bother writing code to handle those pesky locks...
Apparently the commentsphere has gone pear shaped while I was gone, and now one can have just three replies? Good grief.
So here are replies, for my comment below, that supposedly posted, but didn’t (?):
@qatburger, so I just got the Queen Bee (28 words, 103 pts.), and clicked to continue play. Should I assume there are more words to be formed, or is the Bee leading me on?
And:
..forgot to add that I like the supportive Nice, Great, Amazing, Genius progress updates on the Bee. Kind of like daily affirmations. But they could bee so much more-ish. Or more fun. How about Beeutiful! Now you’re buzzing! Beeyond amazing! Or even Bee Careful! when a word is rejected?
Plus sound effects!
Life is hard and games are fun. The Bee is a bee-it more spartan in design than it needs to bee.
Was looking for a funny bee quote and found one worth pondering instead:
“All the lessons of history in four sentences:
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power.
The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small.
The bee fertilizes the flower it robs.
When it is dark enough you can see the stars.”
Charles A. Beard
2
@Passion for Peaches
I posted something for you which might make it through the emus later, because I thought it clever to add a couple of emojis.
Anyway, I'm going repeat myself here again. Genius is 70% of total possible points for a given puzzle. Queen Bee is 100%.
@Nick said yesterday:
QB today is 34 words/145 pts, 1 perfect pangram
That means there is a total of 34 words and 145 points possible at Queen Bee level. This is for the puzzle you're currently working on today.
The other hints:
Word length frequencies:
4x12, 5x11, 6x8, 7x2, 9x1
First letter frequencies:
Ax3, Dx13, Ix0, Mx7, Px4, Rx5, Dx13
As for your suggestions - before they add the bells and whistles to Spelling Bee, we'd all like them to fix the comments system first! (We'll get some kind of answer to the effect that the people responsible for the comments are not the same ones responsible for the Spelling Bee).
1
@Wen, okay, so now I’m confused. I got to Queen Bee (hello, Bee!) clicked on continue, and was once again at Genius on the progress bar. Found new words (including the panagram) and got to 118 points, 30 words. I guess I have four more to go. The frequencies help. Thanks!
The Bee is a work in progress, I guess. And yes, I am perplexed and annoyed by the reply limit. Makes me reluctant to reply to anyone but myself!
@Passion for Peaches
The last dot is NOT Queen Bee - it's Genius. So until you get to 34 words, you're not at Queen Bee level. You are "merely" at Genius.
Given how far you are on points (4 words, 27 points), I'm guessing that you're missing at least of the longer words.
I'm guessing you're missing a D word, 9 letters, she works with cows. And a Y word, 7 letters, an outer extreme of a place for ships.
Share my thoughts, eh? Okay, my thoughts are that anyone here who doesn't think a three response max on a thread, or the ability to post links, or (if we can ever have real discussions with more than three voices) randomly listed responses -- random in terms of which ones display and random in terms of their temporal arrangement, should share THEIR thoughts with the fine folks at
[email protected]
I did, and I believe my thoughts were clear. And it felt great. Happy Labor Day!
12
Martin,
You'll probably get a response in a week or two asking you if the problems *you* were having have cleared up. I'm being optimistic on the time frame; a similar response to my last report of system-wide problems took three weeks.
Might I suggest that you ask Will or Joel to test-solve the Wordplay comments?
1
My thoughts: I opined months ago that all of the changes starting with making the blog a column were designed to destroy the community of fans / commenters here. Despite the intervening little piece on Wordplay, I still believe it. They (the big they) are working toward total destruction of playful interchange of ideas and thoughts, stories and songs, that had (yes, HAD) made this a great place to spend time.
5
@David Connell
I shared that thought, too. I wondered why they were trying to destroy the community they were ostensibly proud of, and, in the unlikely possibility that they were merely so incompetent as to mimic that intention, do they realize that is what they have done?
It would be good if they heard this from others, again, in case.
2
Close to a record Monday here. I particularly liked how all the entries were written from left to right!
Interesting pairings:
CASE and CHASE
AESOP and AERIES
KEA and LEA
IONIA and SONIA
DUCK and GEESE
Middle school might be an AWKWARD AGE, but “seniordom” is not always graceful either.
7
Forgot to mention ODD and OSS.
Small gripe with the Mini, (or is it Min-eye?) The 7D clue does not work for Canadian me, because the across clues do not all rhyme.
1
Bald/bold continued... (4th reply)
Here's another one, Wen, et al...
https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2010/07/lie-detection.html
2
Barry, not sure of Mental Floss's authority. Seems a little woolly.
Catpet,
Hence this follow-up post with a link to another site, which includes dictionary citations to back up the assertions. (EWE can't be too careful.)
@Barry Ancona
I'm with you. I have never heard of a lie being referred to as bald-faced. It is either bare-faced or bold-faced. My trusty old Random House unabridged dictionary bears me out, citing bald-faced as a variant of bare-faced.
Sound the PAEAN!
Thank you for this first XWP labor of love, Trent. I found it a bit of a holiday even for a Monday, but I won't hand you your WALKING PAPERS. I hope the other puzzles in the queue will not make you a RUNNING JOKE.
(Hey, it's your theme!)
4
Congratulations, Mr. Evans. This was a fine debut. The puzzle solved smoothly. You used the standard common crossword fodder (ASTA, SOT, RIC, KEA, DAB, LEA, OSS, UKE, URI, etc.), no GROAN from me. Well done.
I couldn't even begin to try at any of the theme entries - too long and too general. Had to get the crossings to get all of them.
25A - that's got to be a late clue change since the movie just came out recently.
1
Wen,
Different strokes. Once I had SITTING DUCK, the other three themers went in without even checking crosses.
And -- saying it here to leave room on the other thread -- nice job as an informative beekeeper.
2
@Barry Ancona
I'm impressed with your theme mastery!
Quite TAME.
Nice debut! My only nit is that I thought it was baldfaced LIEs, not boldfaced ones.
I liked the progressively more active theme answers, from SITTING to RUNNING. Also, AWKWARD AGE was a nice entry (if not a nice time of life).
7
Definitely baldfaced - how did that get through editing?
3
Liz B,
See this re: nit
http://mentalfloss.com/article/57985/it-bald-faced-or-bold-faced-lie
1
@Barry Ancona
The inner pedant refuses to believe!
6
Sorry for leading with an OT comment, but I don’t know where else to make a suggestion for — and ask a question about — the (otherwise excellent) Spelling Bee puzzle.
First, it would be nice if there was a “solve” button for the thing, for those times when the solver doesn’t get all the possible words. Which leads directly into my question: what dictionary is used for that game? I have entered perfectly fine Scrabble words, only to have them rejected. Today, frustrated because I could not achieve that final dot it the progress bar (“Amazing” doesn’t cut it when I want closure), I searched online for words that use various letter combos. I found some good candidates and entered them. I got the head-shake rejection. So what gives?
2
@Passion for Peaches
Oh...there is so much to catch up on...
Dictionary - it's hand curated. Probably starts with a dictionary, then words can be removed because of obscurity. We've gotten some answers from folks at NYT to that effect.
It's quite fun and addictive, but Genius (the last dot) isn't exactly the end. Or maybe I shouldn't tell you this lest it drives you crazy...Genius is only 70% of total possible points. If you click on the dots, it will show you the points to achieve each level (dot). Once you reach Genius, it continues to Queen Bee.
Here are some help/hints for the current Spelling Bee:
https://nyti.ms/2MFGOZw#permid=28464336
Here's a quick explanation of QB:
https://nyti.ms/2MGfeLI#permid=28465552
Enjoy!
2
@Wen, thanks for the links. I rarely read the comments these days, so I missed all that, and I haven’t been doing the Bee for long. I have reached the end of the dots, occasionally, though. So I guess I’m a Queen Bee now and then, but missed the designation? I’d like a fanfare. Or buzzing, or something.
Still would like a button that brings up a list of possible words not found. That’s how people learn.
1
@Passion for Peaches
The end of the dots only indicates you've achieved Genius level. You'll know when you hit QB, Passion. You'll see a quick graphic on the screen of the QB herself...and then it vanishes forever, thus proving that fame is short-lived!
2