# 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:** 119
**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:** [November 30, 2025, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2361 "2025-11-30T23:03:05Z")
Accepted for a while, but then discontinued almost the exact same time as DACE! ---
**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:** [November 30, 2025, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2362 "2025-11-30T23:21:37Z")
Thanks! That’s what I was thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2363 "2025-12-02T12:51:16Z")
Today’s was a weird one for me. I was _well_ into Genius territory before I got the panagram. Like, only a couple of words away from Queen Bee. My own personal “rules” for the game are that I don’t look at the hints until I have reached Genius _and_ gotten the panagram, so I was kind of impressed with everything that I did get before using the hints. Turns out, I had only one more word to go to hit QB; I kind of wish I’d gutted it out. Also, I thought there’d be more compound words than there actually were. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2025, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2364 "2025-12-02T13:11:49Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > DACE was allowed 8 times, and then disallowed 7 times. …8. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2025, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2365 "2025-12-02T13:32:15Z")
Also: sure, you’ll take DECADE, but not DECADAL… ---
**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:** [December 2, 2025, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2366 "2025-12-02T13:34:36Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > …8. Haha! Timely. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2367 "2025-12-02T16:50:27Z")
Hasn’t ACKEE often been accepted? ---
**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:** [December 2, 2025, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2368 "2025-12-02T17:03:05Z")
It has not; it has been declined 30 times. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2369 "2025-12-02T17:04:55Z")
Thanks. Maybe I’ve just tried it that many times! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2370 "2025-12-02T20:25:33Z")
> [@carlb](#): > > My own personal “rules” for the game are that I don’t look at the hints until I have reached Genius _and_ gotten the panagram, so I was kind of impressed with everything that I did get before using the hints. Turns out, I had only one more word to go to hit QB; I kind of wish I’d gutted it out. I don’t even look at the rank popup until I get to Genius, and usually only after I get stumped for a while. Today, when I looked, I found I only had 5 more points to go. Which was the same as yesterday. Usually, only 5 points means a single 5 letter word, as it was today. But yesterday, it was 5 4-letter words. Anyway, I got a natural QB both days, which means tomorrow will be a difficult one. Sorry folks, but that’s the way it rolls. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2371 "2025-12-03T07:00:41Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Hasn’t ACKEE often been accepted? I came here to ask the same question! So, Sam doesn’t like Jamaican food ---
**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:** [December 3, 2025, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2372 "2025-12-03T18:24:32Z")
If we’re including obscure Hebrew words like CHUPPAH, then bring MINYAN back. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2025, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2373 "2025-12-07T15:52:37Z")
First QB for me in a while. No hints. I got my last word by trying anything possible with five or six letters TILTH ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2025, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2374 "2025-12-07T15:55:31Z")
Yesterday’s was hard. My wife finally got us to genius with ARROYO. We were surprised this was allowed. I guess it’s regional “English” (southern California?). ---
**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:** [December 7, 2025, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2375 "2025-12-07T16:10:52Z")
I mean, we used it in Texas… ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2025, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2376 "2025-12-07T16:16:11Z")
I see no need to spoiler yesterday’s words. ARROYO has been used before. It’s clearly a Spanish loan word and I don’t think it’s regional English except maybe arroyos are much more common in the Southwest. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2025, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2377 "2025-12-07T16:38:41Z")
Fair enough. (And, personally, I spoiler words from the last three days, since I don’t always complete a puzzle, or even start it, on the publication date. I’m not asking others to do the same, but you might as well, if it’s easy for you). ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2025, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2378 "2025-12-07T16:50:56Z")
Happy to oblige ---
**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:** [December 7, 2025, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2379 "2025-12-07T16:52:39Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I don’t think it’s regional English except maybe arroyos are much more common in the Southwest. Agreed. I remember reading the word as a kid when I read about the Native Americans in Arizona and New Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2025, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2380 "2025-12-07T17:47:40Z")
There’s a town called Arroyo Grande near me and the beach down the street from me is officially called Arroyo Burro but the locals have a different name for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=118) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=120)