Never heard NATRON.
So we’re even!
Yes, I wouldn’t have thought of NATRON, being essential for mummification, as too obscure, and that topic is archaic but well known.
And I noticed TION early yesterday, and was a bit frustrated looking for words with it and not finding them.
For today, I see a word accepted that was rejected in July 2024 according to posts above: FOOTMAN
And I knew they would not be accepted but couldn’t resist trying ANTMAN, FARTMAN
I always thought that OTRANTO was a fictional place. TIL that it’s a real city.
Today’s gave me a lot of trouble for some reason. Big head smacks for not seeing common words.
You’re not alone @Chefguy ! I’m stuck at Amazing and only seeing words that aren’t accepted.
Most days I end up seeing Steve’s clues to finish up. It makes me very happy when I can finish without doing that. On an extremely rare occasion I can make it to QB, unlike @Maserschmidt, who must have memorized the OED.
BTW, regarding people like Steve G and others who post clues to the Spelling Bee Forum, do they get advance access to the puzzle? Because they post immediately after the puzzle is released at 3am Eastern time.
There’s also Lake Natron, so named because it is full of the stuff.
I always assumed they were from earlier puzzles that had the same words. But I don’t read the SB Forum. Don’t even know where it is.
Disappointed MOTORMAN was not accepted today.
Click on “More”, then on “Community”.
Disapointed that ABEAM and EMBIGGEN were not accepted. Sam needs to apply the latter to the list of accepted words.
I was one word away from QB yesterday: 8 letters, starting NO. It turned out to be NOUVELLE, which is French, and IME not particularly commonly used as an English word.
It’s all the more irritating to me because today they (once more) didn’t accept MENAGE, which also originated in French, but is, IMHO, a valid English loan word.
I also got stuck on that same word yesterday. I agree it’s odd which foreign words are accepted and which are rejected. Checking a website that tracks these things, nouvelle was accepted in two puzzles in 2023.
Yeah. Needed a clue to get that one.
Exactly this! And I’d say that today’s French word is more common than yesterday’s. I speak French haltingly, read it fluently, but never would have thought NOUVELLE would be accepted yesterday without a clue
It’s Sam’s love of food terms (nouvelle cuisine).
Today’s pangram is ridiculously obscure in my view.
Well, at least I learned a new word today. I only got it because I was trying a few TRI- combos, randomly.
Spelling Bee fans might get a chuckle from one of the answers in the Sunday Crossword Puzzle. TOMTIT
I know! The one and only time I’ve ever seen that word outside of Spelling Bee.
If you were a birdwatcher you might encounter it more frequently!
