# NYT Spelling Bee drives me crazy **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** board-card-word-game\ **Created:** [December 17, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739 "2023-12-17T15:50:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/201 "2024-03-09T22:09:53Z")
Just the other day, I couldn’t remember to use acai. I hate it when I have a four-letter word remaining, since they should be relatively easy to stumble upon. ---
**Author:** ![mtnmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mtnmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtnmatt)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/202 "2024-03-09T22:12:40Z")
Which is also acacia, one of those I never use IRL but have learned for the Bee ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/203 "2024-03-09T22:12:42Z")
That site has some interesting data. The longest word ever played is ‘nationalization.’ Looking at some of the other long words, I see some that I will no doubt miss next time they crop up, for instance: tagliatelle, nonillionth, analyticity, philhellenic and aquacultural. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/204 "2024-03-09T23:05:19Z")
> [@mtnmatt](#): > > My goal is Genius before I get out of bed, no hints, I live in the Pacific Time Zone, so new games come up at midnight for me. I usually get to Genius before I go to bed, also no hints. Now that I think about it, the game was delayed an hour last fall when we went to Standard Time. Tonight is when we go to Daylight Time, it should be up an hour early. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/205 "2024-03-11T11:59:03Z")
Straightforward romp to Queen Bee today, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/206 "2024-03-11T12:00:27Z")
I think I got to Genius in less than four minutes. Maybe I’ll go back and try for Queen Bee… ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/207 "2024-03-11T13:00:47Z")
> [@mtnmatt](#): > > Which is also acacia, one of those I never use IRL I saw a tweet that went something like “My friends say I spend too much time on the Spelling Bee, but I think they’re barking up the wrong baobab.” Another word I only use for SB. Then, there are words that I only even know because of SB, like pampa and canna. At least I had heard of acacia and baobab. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/208 "2024-03-11T13:34:40Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I always look for the pangram first, and every so often it just leaps out at me. Once every ten or twenty games, maybe. Today was one of those days. I saw ADAMANTLY almost immediately. > [@BlankSlate](#): > > Straightforward romp to Queen Bee today, eh? > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I think I got to Genius in less than four minutes. Maybe I’ll go back and try for Queen Bee… We got to genius pretty quickly, but usually don’t try for QB, although I did make it yesterday. Ironically, we didn’t find the pangram (UPFIELD) until after reaching genius, which is where we usually stop. I hadn’t found FIELD either, which led to several other words, and when I realized, thanks to the hints page, that there were only two more words, I naturally went all the way. BTW, when I say “we,” my wife and I play the Spelling Bee cooperatively, each on our respective tablets logged into our NYT account, so that we each see what the other has added. I’m sure that’s cheating in some people’s books, but it’s the way we like it. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/209 "2024-03-11T13:39:25Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > my wife and I play the Spelling Bee cooperatively, each on our respective tablets logged into our NYT account, My cousin and her husband do the same, except they somehow have it set up so that neither one sees the other’s words, until maybe they ‘refresh’ the screen? So it’s a daily competition between them. They compete until they both are stuck (or achieve QB), and then they compare results. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/210 "2024-03-11T13:45:10Z")
I think you’d have to start at the same time, since if the other person has started and you load the page you’ll see what they have done so far. And usually you do have to refresh before you see what the other person has entered. We call out the words we get, so we’re usually in sync without refreshing. We’ve never thought of trying what your cousin does. Maybe I’ll suggest it. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/211 "2024-03-11T13:50:08Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I think you’d have to start at the same time I believe you are correct. Knowing my competitive cousin as I do, I’m guessing that they have a set time each morning to start the competition, probably triggered by an alarm on their smartphones! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/212 "2024-03-11T15:53:56Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Straightforward romp to Queen Bee today, eh? This is one of the relatively rare ones I got without looking at the hints. I got all but two words before bed and the other two just a minute or two ago. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/213 "2024-03-12T03:20:29Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > There are several common words that I consistently miss. Gigolo, for example. I almost always miss gigolo, too. And callaloo. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/214 "2024-03-12T12:35:01Z")
I’m glad they finally added a stats tab. Question: does everyone show around 215 for their number of puzzles? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/215 "2024-03-12T12:42:41Z")
Oh, apparently stats have been there for a long time, I only just now clicked on them. I guess that’s why I got a notification to do that 😅 This tweet is from 2022. > ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/216 "2024-03-12T12:42:50Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > does everyone show around 215 for their number of puzzles? Mine shows 227. Considering that the stats start in August of last year, that would be close to correct. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/217 "2024-03-12T16:31:03Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Mine shows 227. 224 for me. I did miss one day in December but otherwise played every day. Not sure why I’m not 226. When I first played, the stats page was a bit wonky. It didn’t have any long term data, but also couldn’t quite decide which day was the beginning of the week. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2024, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/218 "2024-03-12T17:46:42Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Mine shows 227. > [@dtilque](#): > > 224 for me. Yeah, evidently I’m an overachiever. Excel tells me that today’s date minus 8/1/2023 is 224 days. How SB thinks I’ve worked on 227 puzzles is a mystery. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/219 "2024-03-13T06:08:31Z")
Huh, mine shows 228. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/220 "2024-03-13T07:15:56Z")
My longest word, by the way, is NATIONALIZATION… i’m assume that’s the same for a lot of people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=12)