# 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:** 123
**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 28, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2441 "2025-12-28T15:34:19Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Happy UNday, Spellers. > > UNGENTLE, of course. UNGENTEEL or UNGALLANT, of course not. Ugh, don’t you hate UNdays? I made it to QB, but only with clues for the UN above and for LUNULAE And I tried GUNNEL and GUNNELL too! ---
**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 28, 2025, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2442 "2025-12-28T15:56:50Z")
Had a perfect day - got to Genius with no 4LW, then finished the remaining words out to Queen Bee. I usually don’t even try QB, but the point count was so low I thought why not. ---
**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 28, 2025, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2443 "2025-12-28T16:02:31Z")
I got a pangram first and then it was an easy ride to QB. ---
**Author:** ![mtnmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mtnmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtnmatt)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2444 "2026-01-02T19:21:08Z")
Today I got QB literally by guessing random combinations before I got what appears to be a phonetic spelling of an acronym (not sure how to blur so not adding) that I had to look up the (very modern) meaning of. I’d have been really pissed to have missed QB by one point for that, but I’d have never got it intentionally. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2026, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2445 "2026-01-02T19:37:21Z")
> [@mtnmatt](#): > > I got what appears to be a phonetic spelling of an acronym I had to look in the clues for that one. And even that didn’t really help, so I was forced to Google, using the clue as my search criteria. Sorry, but I’ve never heard of enby. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2026, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2446 "2026-01-02T19:44:02Z")
I probably learned that word on these boards. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2447 "2026-01-02T20:00:44Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > > [@mtnmatt](#): > > > > I got what appears to be a phonetic spelling of an acronym > > I had to look in the clues for that one. And even that didn’t really help, so I was forced to Google, using the clue as my search criteria. > > Sorry, but I’ve never heard of enby. I only stumbled on that word by trying various combinations of letters. And just the other day (Monday, December 29, 2025), the puzzle didn’t allow for gangbang or ballgag. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2448 "2026-01-02T20:01:24Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Sorry, but I’ve never heard of enby. Maybe boring explanation. I asked a friend who is in the know. Enby means Nonbinary which would be abbreviated as NB. The issue arises that some in the African American community have been using NB as non-Black already so something different was needed. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2026, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2449 "2026-01-02T21:26:15Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Enby means Nonbinary Yep, that’s what the Google search told me. So now I guess I’ve heard of it and don’t have an excuse when it invariably is used again. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2450 "2026-01-04T00:07:07Z")
COULOIR not accepted today, despite being in all the major dictionaries. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2451 "2026-01-04T01:56:45Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > despite being in all the major dictionaries. Not all words that are in all the dictionaries are accepted in SB. Lots of technical terms, for example, are not. Furthermore, it’s not required to be in all dictionaries to be accepted. The recently accepted ENBY is probably not. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2026, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2452 "2026-01-04T16:53:06Z")
Two verbs, both six letters, both beginning RA, both more commonly used in other forms: the noun RAMIFICATION and the adjective RARIFIED. RAMIFY was accepted; RARIFY (much more common in its verb form, IMHO) was not. WTF? ---
**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:** [January 4, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2453 "2026-01-04T17:46:19Z")
FAMILIAL, but not FAMILIALLY. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2026, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2454 "2026-01-04T18:00:26Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Two verbs, both six letters, both beginning RA, both more commonly used in other forms: the noun RAMIFICATION and the adjective RARIFIED. > > RAMIFY was accepted; RARIFY (much more common in its verb form, IMHO) was not. > > WTF? Regarding the second word (rarify), Merriam-Webster says it’s more commonly spelled as rarefy. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2455 "2026-01-04T18:57:02Z")
[Emily Litella] Never mind. [/EL] ---
**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:** [January 4, 2026, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2456 "2026-01-04T20:43:35Z")
I thought that RARIFY was worth trying too and disappointed that it wasn’t accepted. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2457 "2026-01-06T16:03:22Z")
What the hell? It doesn’t accept abattoir? ---
**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:** [January 6, 2026, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2458 "2026-01-06T16:04:04Z")
That annoyed me too ---
**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:** [January 6, 2026, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2459 "2026-01-06T16:47:33Z")
Me, three. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2026, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/2460 "2026-01-06T16:57:46Z")
Nice though the abattoir is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=122) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=124)