It’s the longest word that’s appeared in the Bee since its inception.
And it wasn’t terribly difficult to come up with. So the assumption that it’s the longest for many solvers is likely right.
I thnk we’ve mentioned this before, but they don’t take TINNING.
Nor do they take ‘bitting’, which is a locksmithing term for the sequence of pin lengths in a tumbler lock, or conversely the sequence of matching cuts to make a key for a specific lock.
Doesn’t take anting either.
I assume this new “Strands” puzzle will occasionally be harder once its out of beta, but it’s fun to have a new puzzle.
Another obscure-to-me word today, MEZE, from Sam’s favorite subject area, cuisine.
And they didn’t take the not-as-obscure-to-me philosophical term, ZETETIC. I think I’ve tried that one before.
Does anyone here try to get to genius without using four-letter words? Or try to land exactly on the number of points needed for genius? I gather some people do those things. I guess it’s an additional challenge, but the former never occurred to me before I saw a reference to it somewhere, and I specifically dislike the latter. I always want to go beyond the bare minimum for genius. Because I’m not your average genius! 
Mentioning the new puzzle Strands. again, as. today it was a little harder, but I also found the theme a little fuzzier.
OK, I just played it for the first time. Took me about 10 minutes. Not at all sure how some of the words related to the theme, but whatever.
Forgot to mention another notable omission today, HIPPED.
That one annoys me because my house has a hipped roof.
I’m sorry, but ‘hipped’ is vaguely related to trades, and hence obscure.
What trade are thin-hipped people in?
Hipped roofs are built by tradespeople. I did say vaguely related.
But that’s clearly not the only use of the word.
For Merriam-Webster, it’s not even the first meaning.
1 : having hips especially of a specified kind —often used in combination
a broad-hipped person
2 : constructed with hips
a hipped roof
I think you might be taking my slightly snarky joke a lot more seriously than I meant it.
Sorry, I didn’t notice the twinkle in your eye. My fault.
Just a note: M-W lists definitions by historical order, not by most common usage.
I play the puzzles in the NY Times puzzle app on my phone, and they don’t have that one there yet. But it seems like Connections and Letter Boxed were the same way, they "beta"ed them on the website for awhile before adding them to the app.
(I’m still disappointed that they removed the “vertex” puzzle from the app awhile back.)
Didn’t know that. Thanks for ruining my argument. J/k.
They didn’t take POLYGYNY today. (Blurred because it hints at the pangram.)