# 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:** 72
**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:** [April 20, 2025, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1421 "2025-04-20T17:20:38Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Seriously? I just got to Genius, because apparently OXLIKE is a word. I mean, you can add that suffix to almost any word and get something that’s at least sort of a word. That’s kind of similar to yesterday and the ABLE. BINNABLE and BANNABLE make sense to me. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1422 "2025-04-20T17:21:00Z")
And FINEABLE. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2025, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1423 "2025-04-20T17:24:53Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > LOOKBOOK?! Never even occurred to me to try that. Sounds like a second-tier social media site. I didn’t get it today but I recall now that it was used in the last few weeks when I also didn’t get 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:** [April 20, 2025, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1424 "2025-04-20T17:36:24Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > Seriously? I just got to Genius, because apparently OXLIKE is a word. I mean, you can add that suffix to almost any word and get something that’s at least sort of a word. Similarly, boxlike, the pangram, was also a silly add-the-suffix word. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2025, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1425 "2025-04-20T17:47:44Z")
I got it quickly but it was one of those random guesses that worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1426 "2025-04-20T18:00:27Z")
For some reason, I got the pangram quickly and that felt…wordlike to me. I can’t remember ever actually reading or hearing it, but it seems like a word that one might potentially use in real life, as opposed to most such coinages. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2025, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1427 "2025-04-21T09:56:37Z")
Wait a minute, raping isn’t a word?? ---
**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:** [April 21, 2025, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1428 "2025-04-21T11:08:11Z")
I mean, c’mon, you know why that’s excluded, or you should. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2025, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1429 "2025-04-21T11:25:09Z")
Not really. It’s not an offensive word, like nappy (British for diaper) or chink (…in the armor) could be (both of which are also regular words). I’m sure there are other potentially triggering words that are included. Has it been allowed in the past? ---
**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:** [April 21, 2025, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1430 "2025-04-21T11:35:43Z")
It has been disallowed in the past. It’s excluded because it can be traumatic for some people, and so let’s not ask them to type it in. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2025, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1431 "2025-04-21T11:36:40Z")
Fine by me. Thanks for the additional info. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2025, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1432 "2025-04-21T12:50:12Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Wait a minute, raping isn’t a word?? I’m ashamed to admit that that was the first word I tried today. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1433 "2025-04-21T13:35:27Z")
PAGAN was accepted today. IIRC, it wasn’t the last time it was possible. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2025, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1434 "2025-04-21T14:49:06Z")
Looks like it has appeared in 12 previous solutions… ---
**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:** [April 21, 2025, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1435 "2025-04-21T22:00:24Z")
Wow, three pangrams, which I got almost immediately. I’m at 38 words and still can’t hit QB, though. Probably missing something obvious. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2025, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1436 "2025-04-21T23:18:10Z")
Funny, I’m also at 38 words…about 15 points short, I think. Annoying. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2025, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1437 "2025-04-22T12:48:02Z")
Tuesday: still no luck on CATENATE. Most of the set of words that I wouldn’t have got on their own (like TAXA) I remembered from previous puzzles. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2025, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1438 "2025-04-22T13:10:42Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Funny, I’m also at 38 words…about 15 points short, I think. Annoying. Got down to one word, turns out I didn’t know/remember it: RAPINI. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2025, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1439 "2025-04-22T15:18:01Z")
Funnily enough, it was accepted the first time it cropped up in 2018 (same pangram.) I must admit the word is completely unfamiliar to me. Crosswords have taught me that ETNA is a synonym of Bunsen Burner, but no love from Sam, though he must be familiar with it. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2025, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1440 "2025-04-23T06:59:25Z")
I’m more familiar with the noun form CONCATENATION. It just means to link things in a series or chain. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=71) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=73)