# 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:** 24
**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:** [June 25, 2024, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/461 "2024-06-25T00:43:03Z")
I was mildly annoyed once again yesterday (?) when it still wouldn’t accept “hipped”. ---
**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:** [June 25, 2024, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/462 "2024-06-25T00:54:08Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The only word I needed the hints for was the capitalized one I complained about upthread. When you say “hints”, do you mean the hints with the grid and the first 2 letters of the words (or the nicer Spelling Bee Buddy) or do you mean the definition hints that community members submit? I’ve seen people use it both ways. I’ve never completed it without using the grid hints/Spelling Bee Buddy. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2024, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/463 "2024-06-25T03:22:00Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > When you say “hints”, do you mean the hints with the grid and the first 2 letters of the words (or the nicer Spelling Bee Buddy) or do you mean the definition hints that community members submit? The first one. I try to get QB without using the grid/first two letters. I only occasionally do, but I always try. I do use the other hints but only as a last resort. Even those don’t work for obscure foodie words. Interestingly, the last time these two were the pangrams, I got it without using the hints at all. This time I just needed that one word, which I’m fairly sure was not allowed the last time. ---
**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:** [June 25, 2024, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/464 "2024-06-25T03:25:49Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The first one. I try to get QB without using the grid/first two letters. I only occasionally do, but I always try. I try, but give up after typically getting only about 1/3. If it’s a good day. ---
**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:** [June 25, 2024, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/465 "2024-06-25T03:48:00Z")
I never use hints, but then I think I’ve only gotten Queen bee half a dozen times. ETA I did manage to go back and get the pangrams though. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/466 "2024-06-26T19:32:37Z")
Looks like they added BOHO to the accepted list. Fine but why don’t they add some words that people actually know. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/467 "2024-06-27T00:54:32Z")
Throwing up my hands in the air and rolling my eyes at the word that only 25% of players found: HABOOB, meaning “Violent dust or sandstorm in Sudan or SW U.S.” Really?! I’d never heard this word before and googled it since I was 1 word away from Queen Bee. At least I’ve heard BOHO before, as in boho style or boho chic. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/468 "2024-06-27T01:00:48Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > Throwing up my hands in the air and rolling my eyes at the word that only 25% of players found: HABOOB, meaning “Violent dust or sandstorm in Sudan or SW U.S.” Really?! I’d never heard this word before I only know it from previous Spelling Bees (I think). > [@gkster](#): > > At least I’ve heard BOHO before, as in boho style or boho chic. Ditto. I think it may be something women are more aware of since it’s fashion/style-related. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/469 "2024-06-27T01:07:08Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > only 25% of players found: HABOOB, meaning “Violent dust or sandstorm in Sudan or SW U.S.” I actually heard this word on the news a couple of years ago when such a storm hit Phoenix. I had to look it up because I wasn’t sure I heard correctly. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/470 "2024-06-27T10:47:52Z")
A new word rears its ugly head: Kroon, the official currency of Estonia before the Euro. A tragic oversight, now remedied. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2024, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/471 "2024-06-27T11:07:41Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Looks like they added BOHO to the accepted list. Boho has been on the list since I’ve been playing. It’s always HOBO then BOHO for me. Chrome thinks that boho is misspelled. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2024, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/472 "2024-06-30T01:26:46Z")
I saw BONOBO last week, so thought that LANGUR would be accepted today, but it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/473 "2024-07-04T08:22:24Z")
Well that was weirdly annoying. Also: no love for GOJI. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2024, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/474 "2024-07-04T10:11:17Z")
Has that ever happened before? I don’t recall an SB like this one ever. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2024, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/475 "2024-07-04T11:20:07Z")
What did I miss? I got past genius pretty quickly, but haven’t bothered with QB. ETA Oh, I think I might know what you mean. No, I don’t recall this ever happening before, assuming the pattern continues to Queen bee. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2024, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/476 "2024-07-04T17:55:31Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Well that was weirdly annoying. Yes, it was a little different today, with it containing only words beginning with JI or JO. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2024, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/477 "2024-07-04T20:05:34Z")
I guess they wanted words that looked like JULY but without using the U, as close to the 4th of July theme as they could get? Was GOJI not accepted because they didn’t want to break the JI and JO pattern? And TIL a word new to me, Jollily, one I’ve never seen used and probably never will again, except for maybe a future Bee. The OED site says “How common is the adverb _jollily_? Fewer than 0.01 occurrences per million words in modern written English.” ---
**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:** [July 4, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/478 "2024-07-04T20:10:35Z")
Some were not words I’d expect; Jollying? Joying? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2024, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/479 "2024-07-04T20:16:04Z")
Jollying I’ve only seen and heard in British usage, where jolly is also a noun. But joying I’ve not seen before. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2024, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/480 "2024-07-04T23:44:29Z")
The first I’ve seen a fair amount; the second, nope. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=23) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=25)