# 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:** 37
**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:** [September 24, 2024, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/721 "2024-09-24T23:10:32Z")
And sometimes that fish becomes fat, aka podgy. Okay, that last one is a Britishism. I did try both though. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/722 "2024-09-24T23:12:03Z")
And today it accepted poop but not poopy. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2024, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/723 "2024-09-25T00:21:40Z")
The word dopy is testament to the weirdness of Mr. Ezersky. The word has been playable five times since the Bee began. It was accepted in 2019 and 2020, then randomly disallowed in 2021, and then back in favor in 2023 and 2024. Consistency is not prized by the constructors. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/724 "2024-09-25T00:35:11Z")
You want weirdness in what words are accepted: neither _piny_ nor _piney_ are accepted, but _pinny_ is. I’m assuming this is an error, since according to M-W, that last word is a shortening of _pinnafore_ but it’s British. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2024, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/725 "2024-09-25T00:41:01Z")
We wore pinnies most days in gym class. USA. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/726 "2024-09-25T00:45:23Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > neither _piny_ nor _piney_ are accepted But of course, this being Sam, piney was accepted the first time it appeared and booted the next. (It’s only been playbable twice.) ---
**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:** [September 25, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/727 "2024-09-25T00:45:52Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > any ideas on why COITION isn’t accepted? The work coition is used less commonly than coital. If a word is accepted, then the game can’t be won unless that word is played. That’s not to say he doesn’t use plenty of words more obscure than that. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2024, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/728 "2024-09-25T00:49:47Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I found FORINT (Hungarian currency) in one of the puzzles last week, which wasn’t accepted. And yet BAHT is fine The population of Thailand is 9.5 times as large as Hungary, and there is a sizeable Thai population living in the US, would be my guess. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/729 "2024-09-25T01:01:11Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > We wore pinnies most days in gym class. USA. Argue with Mr Merriam and Mr Webster: > **[Definition of PINNY](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pinny)** > > pinafore… See the full definition ---
**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:** [September 25, 2024, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/730 "2024-09-25T01:14:01Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Argue with Mr Merriam and Mr Webster: It says “chiefly” British, and then all six examples are from American periodicals. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/731 "2024-09-25T01:25:37Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > It says “chiefly” British, and then all six examples are from American periodicals. Those are recent examples from the internet. The definition is unchanged from my 20-year-old M-W Collegiate, so they weren’t what the definition was based on. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2024, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/732 "2024-09-25T03:53:04Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@gkster](#): > > > > any ideas on why COITION isn’t accepted? > > The work coition is used less commonly than coital. If a word is accepted, then the game can’t be won unless that word is played. That’s not to say he doesn’t use plenty of words more obscure than that. Coition is a noun, coital is an adjective. And, as you say, it’s not as obscure as other words that have been used. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2024, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/733 "2024-09-25T03:59:00Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > Coition is a noun, coital is an adjective. Yeah, I was going to use _coitus_ as being the more common form of the noun, but it contains an S so can’t be included in the Bee, so no doubt someone would quibble over that. Either way, Sam has odd notions of what’s common and what’s uncommon. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2024, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/734 "2024-09-25T12:27:21Z")
No matter where these discussions go, I always have to compare to the fact that Sam accepts RATATAT, a word that even MW hyphenates. [Rat-a-tat Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rat-a-tat) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/735 "2024-09-25T14:37:30Z")
RATATAT comes up possibly more often than any other 7-letter word. If the puzzle has an A, R and T, one of which is the index letter, you can just automatically fill in ATTAR, RATATAT, TART, and TARTAR. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/736 "2024-09-25T19:28:11Z")
Yes, I call that the “axis of RATATAT” for reasons that are unclear to even myself. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2024, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/737 "2024-09-25T21:55:13Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > RATATAT Yeah, that one is truly baffling. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2024, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/738 "2024-09-26T09:43:36Z")
Argh. Once again today LANAI is fine but LIANA is not. Also not: VIAND, DILUVIAN, DILUVIAL (blurred because they’re close enough to other words). And a fun word I’ve only learned because it appears in the Spelling Bee frequently turns up again: LUNULA. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2024, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/739 "2024-09-27T01:45:56Z")
I was coming here to complain about exactly those four words that are lacking. ---
**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:** [September 27, 2024, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/740 "2024-09-27T01:49:34Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > And a fun word I’ve only learned because it appears in the Spelling Bee frequently turns up again: LUNULA. I was proud of myself for remembering that word but then needed a hint to get vandal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=36) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=38)