# 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:** 97
**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:** [August 12, 2025, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1921 "2025-08-12T15:11:52Z")
It’s aurochs (singular) is why. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2025, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1922 "2025-08-12T15:14:38Z")
Ok, thanks. Didn’t realize that the s was needed even for the singular. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1923 "2025-08-12T15:19:51Z")
Sadly so. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2025, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1924 "2025-08-12T15:22:26Z")
Now I’m wondering whether there are other words for which that’s the case. (Aside from those ending in iness- or similar suffixes.) ---
**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:** [August 12, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1925 "2025-08-12T15:47:18Z")
As previously discussed in this thread. > [@Gyrate](#): > > Yesterday I discovered that you can’t just have one CHILBLAIN. Like DOLDRUMS, the S is required. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2025, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1926 "2025-08-12T16:21:56Z")
That’s different, though. Those are plurals with no singular form. It looks like aurochs is the singular form? ---
**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:** [August 12, 2025, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1927 "2025-08-12T19:47:13Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I’ll note that they RUTHlessly ignored TUATARA and CAOUTCHOUC. And CUCARACHA and more seriously OUTCOACH I finally got to G with one pangram. Today was tough for 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:** [August 12, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1928 "2025-08-12T19:53:15Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I finally got to G with one pangram. Today was tough for me. Agree with all that. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2025, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1929 "2025-08-12T23:28:40Z")
> ## Etymology > > Both “aur” and “ur” are [Germanic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_languages) or [Celtic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_languages) words meaning “wild ox”.[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs#cite_note-3)[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs#cite_note-lewis-4) In [Old High German](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_High_German), this word was [compounded](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compound_(linguistics)) with _ohso_ (‘ox’) to _ūrohso_, which became the early modern _Aurochs_.[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs#cite_note-vVuure05-5) The [Latin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin) word “urus” was used for wild ox from the [Gallic Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallic_Wars) onwards.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs#cite_note-lewis-4)[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs#cite_note-gallicwars-6) > > The use of the plural form _aurochsen_ in English is a direct parallel of the German plural _Ochsen_ and recreates the same distinction by analogy as English singular _ox_ and plural _oxen_, although _aurochs_ may stand for both the singular and the plural term; both are attested.[[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs#cite_note-7)[[8]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs#cite_note-8) ---
**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:** [August 13, 2025, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1930 "2025-08-13T08:33:47Z")
Wednesday: I know it’s somewhat archaic but you’d think an NYC-based puzzler would be fine with CONEY. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2025, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1931 "2025-08-13T12:14:22Z")
Why? It’s pretty obviously a proper name. If you think it’s an alternate spelling of cony, an archaic word for rabbit, 1) that’s pretty obscure, and B) [historians don’t agree that that’s the origin](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coney_Island#Name): > Yet other theories suggest a Dutch etymology: one theory holds that the name had come from Conyn, the surname of a family of Dutch settlers who lived there,[21] and another suggests that it came from the Dutch word for rabbit, konijn, derived from a purported large population of wild rabbits on the island".[21][24][25] > > There is little evidence for each origin theory, and there are conflicts between the pieces of evidence that do exist.[21] The most popular idea is the translation of the Dutch word for “rabbit” into the English word coney, but that has its detractors and counter explanations. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2025, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1932 "2025-08-13T12:32:35Z")
I mean, there’s a whole subset of people who’ve read LOTR who don’t think it’s obscure…Sam Gamgee clearly tells us there’s only one way to eat a brace of coneys. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2025, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1933 "2025-08-13T14:01:01Z")
It’s not that obscure, and the spelling is more common than the earlier “cony”. > **[European rabbit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_rabbit)** > > The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal and Andorra) and southwestern France. It is the only living species in Oryctolagus, a genus of lagomorphs. The average adult European rabbit is smaller than the European hare, though size and weight vary with habitat and diet. Due to the European rabbit's history of domestication, selective breeding, and introduction to non-native habitats, wild and domesticated Europ... > **[Definition of CONEY](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coney)** > > rabbit fur; rabbit; especially : the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus); pika… See the full definition ---
**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:** [August 13, 2025, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1934 "2025-08-13T14:21:47Z")
Regarding yesterday’s puzzle. Has it happened before where the center letter didn’t start any words? ---
**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:** [August 13, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1935 "2025-08-13T14:36:36Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > It’s not that obscure, and the spelling is more common than the earlier “cony”. > **[Google Books Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=coney%2C%2Bcony&year_start=1800&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3&case_insensitive=false)** > > Google Ngrams: coney, cony, 1800-2022 I just went down a Google Ngram rabbit hole (yes I said it) where I learned that “cony-catcher” was a term for a swindler, particularly at cards. The more you know. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1936 "2025-08-13T15:30:13Z")
It happens once in awhile. June 11th was **O** A C K L N U. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2025, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1937 "2025-08-15T12:30:13Z")
TOLUENE, LEPTON. Yes, Discourse, that’s what I meant. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2025, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1938 "2025-08-15T12:55:13Z")
No PUNNET tendered. 😇 Also missing, a pair of fun words including a pangram: NONUPLE / NONUPLET ---
**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:** [August 15, 2025, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1939 "2025-08-15T14:11:57Z")
I tried punnet as well. And why accept untune but not other un- 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:** [August 15, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739/1940 "2025-08-15T14:46:52Z")
As a sort-of musician, it drives me nuts that it accepts untune and not detune, which I think of as the right word. Not valid today, of course, but has been on other days and not accepted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=96) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyt-spelling-bee-drives-me-crazy/994739.md?page=98)