# 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:** 2
**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:** [December 18, 2023, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/21 "2023-12-18T11:40:21Z")
Here’s one they didn’t accept today: CANTO 😠 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/22 "2023-12-18T11:52:25Z")
> [@mtnmatt](#): > > both “tepee” and “teepee,” (surprisingly not considered un-PC). What would be the objection to those words? ---
**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 18, 2023, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/23 "2023-12-18T13:19:58Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > CANTO I was surprised by this, too. On the subject of tepee and teepee, it doesn’t accept tipi, which was actually the most popular version from time to time, and is still up there, according to ngrams. > [@needscoffee](#): > > should have been “plaice”. Yeah, considering all the other weird fish it accepts, this is a weird oversight. Also, “betta”. One time, it wouldn’t accept “cope” and, man, did Sam get a lot of crap on Twitter about that. I’m convinced it used to accept “iliad” – did I imagine that? Yesterday, it should have accepted naptime as another pangram. I’ve learned all kinds of obscure sailing words, fish, etc. It is really weird what words it accepts as common and which ones it doesn’t. I guess it’s what words Sam thinks are common. ---
**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 18, 2023, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/24 "2023-12-18T13:58:49Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I’m convinced it used to accept “iliad” – did I imagine that? It did, and I’ve been trying it ever since. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/25 "2023-12-18T16:18:15Z")
Thanks. I’ve never used Spelling Bee Buddy and was thinking of the hints in the Spelling Bee Forum. It lists the number of words for each letter, listed by length from four letters on up and a two-letter list, showing, for instance, the number of AC, AT and AU words. If it indicates today is a bingo, I need to try harder to think of words beginning with one of the letters I’ve neglected so far. And then in the comments, a couple of regulars will have hints on each word. These comments are often the first or second one listed and I have no idea how they get this so quickly. I usually wait until late in the day to resort to reading the comments. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/26 "2023-12-18T17:15:45Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I have no idea how they get this so quickly. Depends on where you live as to when SB rolls over to a new puzzle. For me, it’s 10pm. For folks in California, it would probably be 7pm - so, a good time for a lot of people to put the day’s concerns aside and relax with a puzzle. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2023, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/27 "2023-12-18T17:18:28Z")
I know that the NYT crossword puzzle rolls over at 10pm Eastern/7pm Pacific but I _think_ the Spelling Bee only rolls over later, either midnight or later Eastern. ---
**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 18, 2023, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/28 "2023-12-18T17:28:44Z")
Why isn’t annatto allowed? It a pretty common food ingredient. I agree on the rollover time, being no earlier than midnight East Coast time. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/29 "2023-12-18T18:14:56Z")
It rolls over at 10pm for me. Trust me, I know. (I’m in Hawai’i.) I had my time zones backward - that would be about midnight in California and 3am in NY. So I guess those are real night owls/early risers getting all those hints out so fast, if they are US-based players. But no reason they couldn’t be anywhere in the world. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2023, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/30 "2023-12-18T21:48:09Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > They claim not to use variant spellings of words, but they do it all the time… I just looked at the game instructions, and the instruction about not using variant spellings is no longer there. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2023, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/31 "2023-12-18T21:59:36Z")
Other missing words: bimbo, bubo, catenate, cavy, deckled, dolman, foliar, gannet, halide, hiatal, inline, landau, legatee, lienee, , midden, modded, molal, mullion, otic, paca, papain, pediment, tartaric, turd. It’s possible that he’s added any of these since I started the list - possibly _inline_? ---
**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:** [December 18, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/32 "2023-12-18T22:02:13Z")
Thanks for being more systematic than me about saving unacceptable words. I’ve definitely tried several of those, including bimbo, deckled, inline, modded, and mullion. But I couldn’t have remembered all of them if you had offered me a million dollars. ---
**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 18, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/33 "2023-12-18T22:29:33Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > possibly _inline_ Nope, still not added. 😠 ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/34 "2023-12-18T22:51:43Z")
> [@mtnmatt](#): > > Once I think I got QB when I tried “pfft” needing one more point (or so I surmised - that unstated total is somewhat random, too). There’s a way to calculate the QB score based on the scores to get other levels. I’ll explain if someone wants to know. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > A couple of times recently they’ve had a perfect pangram with the central letter right in the middle. I kind of wonder if they started with the word and used the letters in it. There’s always a pangram. The easiest way to make sure there is one is to start with a word that is composed of exactly 7 different letters and then choose an index letter. I’m sure they have a program that finds all the allowed answers based on those 7 letters. (BTW, they reuse pangram words but with different index letters.) If I wanted to cheat, I could write a grep command to find all the words made of the 7 letters that are in a given computerized word list. I’d then have to winnow the list because there’d be lots of words in the grep result that aren’t valid in Spelling Bee. But there’s no point in cheating on this game. > [@needscoffee](#): > > I have a LONG list of words that should be allowed but aren’t. Ditto. In fact, I’ve largely stopped adding words to my list. It’s just too long. > [@needscoffee](#): > > nacelle, … prion Those two have now been added. Here’s a (no doubt) incomplete list of words that have been added since I’ve been playing: billable canonic donee inalienable indie nacelle nori nuncio prion And these used to be accepted: attaint, telnet. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/35 "2023-12-18T22:57:17Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > There’s a way to calculate the QB score based on the scores to get other levels. I’ll explain if someone wants to know. Why bother to calculate? The hints page states the max number of words and points. > [@dtilque](#): > > inalienable Hmmm. I thought I tried that one within just the last few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/36 "2023-12-18T23:05:58Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Why bother to calculate? The hints page states the max number of words and points. I try to get QB _without_ using the hints. I’m not very successful at that, but occasionally I manage. It sometimes helps to know how close I am when doing so. > [@commasense](#): > > > [@dtilque](#): > > > > inalienable > > Hmmm. I thought I tried that one within just the last few weeks. Some time in the last month or so, it was a possible word, so I tried it even though it had previously not been accepted. This time it took it. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/37 "2023-12-18T23:49:21Z")
I used inalienable recently. ---
**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 19, 2023, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/38 "2023-12-19T00:14:57Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > And these used to be accepted: attaint, telnet. I thought I was losing my mind. Why are they taking away words? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2023, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/39 "2023-12-19T01:20:13Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Why are they taking away words? Maybe people complained they were too obscure. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2023, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/40 "2023-12-19T01:28:59Z")
That would be a silly complaint. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=3)