I also tried it and then decided I must have misspelled it. But, no.
Surely that’s been pointed out to Sam by now? It’s not an obscure word.
I continue to be irritated by the omission of irritator. It was accepted the first time it came up, but got the heave ho after that. I also tried obviator a few times, figuring I had spelled it incorrectly.
It’s been complained about in this thread before. I’ve never complained to Sam about any word. I figure if I miss it, others will as well and someone will complain.
And they are. I’ve never read the comments in the spelling bee forum before, but there’s a lot of headscratching over that word today.
I’m sorry, but cheaped, as in cheaped out, should be accepted.
Should not that be cheapen or cheapened?
I think my formulation also works.
I am familiar with Chocolate Man’s formulation.
Weird, because I checked both Merriam-Webster Dictionary and the Cambridge Dictionary and neither listed cheap as a verb although they did list cheapen as a verb.
Oh heck have to spoiler it:
Okay but cheap by itself isn’t listed as a verb.
It shows the past tense form in the examples, but because this is a regular verb it’s not usually going to list it:
The principal parts of a regularly inflected verb are shown when it is desirable to indicate the pronunciation of one of the inflected forms:
learn . . . verb learned; learn·ing
rip·en . . . verb rip·ened; rep·en·ingCutback inflected forms are often used when the verb has three or more syllables, when it is a disyllable that ends in -l and has variant spellings, and when it is a compound whose second element is readily recognized as an irregular verb:
elim·i·nate . . . verb -nat·ed; -nat·ing
3quarrel intransitive verb -reled or relled; rel·ing or -rel·ling
1re·take . . . transitive verb -took . . . ; -tak·en . . . ; -tak·ingThe principal parts of verbs are usually not shown when the base word is unchanged by suffixation or when the verb is a compound whose second element is readily recognizable as a regular free form entered at its own place:
1jump . . . verb
pre·judge . . . transitive verb
Grrr! GUNRUNNING is a word! So why is it not acceptable?
And if gunrunning is going on, surely rumrunning can’t be far behind?
Yeah, tried that one, too.
On cheaped out, if gonna is gonna be allowed, I think it opens the door for cheaped.
A bit of a struggle, but I got to Genius with no 4LWs. Also, is IMMURING too obscure?
They allow MIRIN and NORIbut not ONIGIRI?
Yes, and NIGIRI but not ONIGIRI?
The same letters from Aug 24 2024 are in today’s puzzle, allowing for all 3 of these words, which I was proud of myself for remembering. The index letter is different, then it was C and today it’s P.
According to the Buddy, POINCIANA was found by just 15% of players today. It must not have been a solution in any puzzle from 2025 because it’s not in the list of hardest words for the year linked above, post 2422; the solve range of hardest words is from 18% to 30%.
And it’s yet another entry in one of Sam’s favorite categories, plants, especially unusual ones. Though it’s not uncommon in the places where it grows, in the tropics. For 3 years I lived in a house with 2 beautiful poinciana trees in front; Google maps street view shows that they’re gone, sadly. It’s a favorite tree of mine, with spectacular red blooms.
Well, I learned nothing. Remembered CIOPPINO again, yet struck out on CANOPIC and POINCIANA again.
Play it again, Sam. I dare ya.