Image is lovely, but it’s not a bee, it’s a hovefly!
Fairing= a smooth structure around a vehicle to improve aerodynamics.
4
@DavidJ Please scroll down some or do a quick ‘find on this page’
1
@DavidJ Thanks for the good definition. Sorry it wasn't in the list today.
2
@WI6 in Seattle
Yay - Third try’s a charm.
2
@Kiki
Nope. I give up.
@Kiki
NYT comments pages don’t accept images.
What are you trying to post?
3
@Eric B
I was trying to temporarily replace my checkered flag logo with a tiny image of one of my RA(6) baskets to demonstrate how the fiber can be used in basketry. I used the edit function when I wrote my comment. Although the image seemed to be present, when I posted, the image reverted back to the checkered flags. Tried several times with no apparent success. However, after about 15 minutes, the image appeared retroactively on my posts, but only when viewed on my iPad; the flags logo still appears when viewed on my iPhone, however, even after rebooting. 🤷♀️
3
Today’s FLY is a fraud for impersonating a BEE. Our BEE. Any BEE.
Was our BEE late for the photo shoot?
9
@AbbyNemo
Did you read Jackie
Frere’s reply to one of your posts in NYT Replies? 😉
Bagels, Donuts, Figs, and FA4s part 1
We knew something was up when GRAN wanted to switch
the family business away from FIG FA7. The fruit was well-received and considered good quality, but the FA4 didn't bring in a ton of money. After she and Pops traveled to FINland on FINNAIR, they came back with new schemes. She went about FI6 the old managers, buying guard dogs with large FA4s, and experimenting with AIR FRyers and organic FA6. She even went to the extent of importing a group of IN6 FR5s who were skilled wine and cheesemakers.
My cousins FRAN and MANNI watched closely, but couldn't accuse her out of thin AIR; they needed to be on terra FI4a. FINAlly, in the middle of the night a few months later, heavy equipment was being trucked in from AF4. Despite her best efforts, FRAN and MANNI FIGured out GRAN's scheme:
FR7! Due to the noise and large machinery the neighbors also reported her. It turns out, she was tied to a MA5 GANG! The official word was they were extracting plant-based "MARGARINA" product, but she couldn't keep up the pretense anymore. Even the FRs could not disguise the fraud.
to be continued-
4
Depending on how you get to the Spelling Bee Comments, not everyone sees these NYT guidelines, “Please read the extended guidelines at the bottom of the forum before commenting. Kindly refrain from posting spoilers, and remember to be considerate in your comments.”
Thanks to those who vote this up each day. If the hive makes this a top Reader Pick (by selecting “recommend,”) then most who come to the Comments should see it right away and we’ll bee on the same page.🐝
19
A spoiler is any word in today’s Spelling Bee. It is also a word containing any word in today’s Spelling Bee. Example: If today’s Bee accepts “BABE” and “BABEL” typing the latter in your comment is a spoiler for both.🐝
Bee convention is to type the first two letters in capitals followed by the total number of letters in the word. BLAB=BL(4)
Words not accepted in today’s Bee are not spoilers unless they contain an accepted word. Eg. “LENT/LENTEN”
Kindly try typing in your word a few times or with alternative spellings before commenting it wasn’t accepted. Thank you! I hope this is helpful!🐝
10
Some comments on disallowed words from today's honeycomb...
Today I was reminded of my father, who for many years was a GA(4)er in Toronto's busy film industry. If you were to ask me what that job entails, I could tell you that electrical wires were involved, and scaffolding and rigging. But mostly (based on my visits to the sets) it seemed to consist of a lot of waiting around.
Playing this game for months, I have discovered that I *don't* want french fried potatoes or red ripe tomatoes (two words I always miss) but I absolutely *do* want the FRIM FRAM sauce!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuMRxcN1yLI
If, like me, you have ever wondered what chafafa might refer to, I believe the camera work in this short film offers some clarification.
And today's letters also reminded me of the great Henri Matisse's 1913 Seated RIFFIAN. It is far from my favourite Matisse, but is the painting that greets you when you walk into the first gallery of the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. Positioned side by side with Picasso's Composition: The Peasants, and directly below the magnificent The Dance, it was Albert Barnes' first declaration that the (then) new art was as worthy of serious consideration as any Old Master painting.
https://collection.barnesfoundation.org/objects/6967/The-Dance/ensemble
With thoughts of art, music, and family in my head, I go to work. Wishing y'all a happy day from Munich!
47
@DBolton
This intrigued me. I have a book called Rebels in the Rif on my shelf and you made me think of it. But I had to have a glance at the painting:
https://rxmuseum.org/reflections/riffian
I can't agree with the author that Matisse painted his subject as particularly barbaric or that it in any way reeks of Orientalism. To the contrary, with the man's bare legs, he looks very much like a cozy armchair, part of the decor.
5
@DBolton I'm still kicking myself for not visiting the Barnes Foundation while in Philly.
2
@DC Thank you for the link!I signed up for their weekly email
1
🕵️♀️🕵️♀️Nice quick and easy Bee
AF
> at a distance (4)
> unfaithful to one's partner (6)
> declare or assert (6/9)
FA
> State carnival (4)
> Vampires have these teeth, as do wolves (4)
> fueling the flames maybe (7)
> a cereal grain (6)
> how you are doing or getting along (6)
> Old McDonald had one (4)
> Old McDonald did this (7)
FI
> Playing this instrument in a military band (6)
> charging a putnive fee e.g. for illegal parking (6)
> dismissing your employees (6)
> How hard you like your mattress (4/7)
FR
> Deliberately kill a fellow soldier (4/8)
> Do this to a picture before you hang it (7)
> A monk (5)
> Adding decorative trim, embellishing (8)
GA
> A fishing spear (4)
IN
> frail, weak (6)
> faltering, unsteady (9)
> Intruding or breaching (10)
MA
> Organized crime group (5)
MI
> Annoy (4/7)
NA
> a novice or inexperienced (4)
RA
> The fiber of a palm used for decorative tying or weaving (6)
RI
> short repeated musical phrase on the guitar e.g. Eddie Van Halen "Eruption" (4/7)
> disreputable people (8)
36
@Stephanie THANK you QB with your help! I can now rest easy
2
@Tina
Glad it helped
So what does it say about me when the first word practically jumps off of the screen at me? MA5, la Cosa Nostra.
Lololol.
4
@Pat C.
Fugeddaboutit.
1
When a word (FI6) shows up - Google-wide - only as a present participle of a word otherwise defined only as a noun - or in Pythagorean and/or Chaldean numerology;
Or when a word (NA4) shows up only as an archaic synonym now thoroughly replace in the argot;
THAT turns the Bee into just a research project.
BLEH!!
7
@Peter
NA4 is still used as an art term. Henri Rousseau le Douanier was an early proponents. The more common NA5 is the feminine form.
As for FI6 I suppose you mean playing the instrument not the others. As a noun it was verbed long ago and also became somewhat obsolete. But it has a nice new life as a euphemism according to Urban Dictionary, so since we can’t have FR8.
Isn’t the Bee supposed to be a research project for word-nerds?
4
4 across from the mini is a good one to start with.
Wordle 429 3/6*
⬜⬜🟧🟦🟦
🟦🟦🟧🟦⬜
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧
Tied the bot.
1
@Stephanie
Wordle 429 4/6
⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨
🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟨⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I did this around 2-something A.M, (EDT) when the bee forum was unavailable, intending to come back later and post, but not this much later.
Anyway, done in four, but it just might've been three if I'd slowed down and thought it over more. The 'bot probably would've beefed that I didn't use my fourth word as a third word entry, which I should have done, (or some useless word instead of my second choice), but I'm done with the bot, so it never had the opportunity.
I congratulate you on your three. I hope it lengthened a nice, long streak for you.
1
In a lot of cases, it’s difficult to identify a bee from one shot. Today’s bee seems to be missing some necessary identification components. I’ve checked many different sites and BeeSpotter.org is the best site I have located, thus far, on bee identification. I hope it helps in the BEE or not to BEE discussions.
4
@AbbyNemo thanks for enlightening me. I’m new to knowing the different types of bees. So is today’s a bee or not to bee? Someone else said it was an imposter fly!
3
@AbbyNemo Today's bee is actually a hover fly, not surprising you couldn't identify it! 😂
1
@TesstheFirst Not to bee... 😊
1
Monition?
It’s 12:45am here. 15 minutes until the next Spelling Bee drops. Silly I guess to stay up late for the next one. But I’m wide awake tonight because I’ve been outside putting away garden hoses. At midnight. Because of this awful heat, I’m having to drip water our young boulevard trees at night. If I water during the day, the water just evaporates. I thought we might get a thunderstorm earlier this evening, but all we got was hot Santa-Ana-like winds, rolling thunder, and dry lightning. A bad combination in the nearby mountains. Thank
4
I hope you don't have any fires. Be safe.
3
@Broncos Girl
Thank you Broncos Girl. Blue sky this morning. No smoke or haze. Just checked the Montana Wildfire and Smoke map. The recent big wildfires seem to be mostly contained. We had a wet spring but everywhere is dry and parched now.
CONGRATULATIONS TO @Pennybeej on her 300th QUEEN BEE
4
Just did Wordle in three! It helps sometimes to switch to another puzzle (Vertex and Tiles are relaxing for me), then seek the 👑🐝 again.
4
GE/180 ABM. Fini, for now! My brain is buzzing. 🐝 i
2
👑🐝 with the grid. And plugging in random letters.
3
Newbie here.
What does “Bingo” mean on the hints page, please?
And what is a perfect vs imperfect pangram?
Thanks in advance!
2
It’s all in the Glossary.
@Elizabeth Vest A "perfect" pangram is one in which each letter appears only once. "Bingo" refers to word list as a whole -- it means that each letter in the hexagon is the starting letter for at least one word.
4
@Elizabeth Vest
The hints page contains many useful links to make your playing And your participation in the Community easier.
One of the links is to the glossary https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/26/crosswords/spelling-bee-forum-introduction.html
4
Fairing is a word!!!
QBABM
Man! I was not expecting that. I thought I was going to settle for Genius but I kept coming back to it and getting more words here and there. Finally I tried out the name of a certain mythical creature and that got me to the Bee!
11
@Night Dreaming
Well done! Perseverance is key even in the face of of one of two oddities in the list. But that’s the way the Bee Buzzes…
2
Fairing is a word
2
@Jay yes it is. Just not included with 20+ others today.
3
After months of playing, I only just noticed that the response to an unaccepted word is “not in word list”.
It’s not “Not a word” , or “Not a word in your dictionary”. It’s just not in the list. So for those of you getting heated up, just accept that the list is the list, nothing more.
16
Uh excuse me- I am the QUEEN BEE 😀
16
The British slang for smoking didn't make the list
6
Bzzzzzz! Today I got my 300th Queen Bee! I'm dancing!
8
@pennybeej IM IMPRESSED! I just got my third and I’m ecstatic
4
@Donna Joy
The first time I could hardly believe it! It took me a long time to really get the hang of it. It does get easier! :-) Congrats on 3!
1
I cannot obtain the fifth word in the FI list.
That stated, some rejected words for this BEE are
AF - 10 letter word for the process of aging cheese
FA - 4 letter word for willing, obliged, or compelled.
FA - 7 letter word for the actions of a Sisyphus - to exhaust
4
@Cert FI-4 plussing
@Cert
With "up," it's what you hope your exercise regimen is doing for your muscle tone
1
@Cert
FI4 is also the title of a book by John Grisham.
GABM today! 🍾First time in a while! 💃🏻 Going to see if I can get WB, even if with help.
3
What's the acronym for "Queen Bee with no hints except for all these comments complaining about IN10"?
8
@WI6
QBWS=QB with spoiler
Just made that up
I think the fly should get credit for looking like such a cute bee 🐝
14
Fun bee today!
8
“Gaffa” is a word (tape used in theaters production). Ask Kate Bush, “Suspended in Gaffa”
2
Gaffer or Gaffers tape
Yes, gaffa is a word but not an accepted word because the editors haven’t included it in today’s SB. The list everyday is select.
2
@KateAmos
Since GA4 is a puzzle word today, you would want to write your sentence like GA4+a or GA4a so as not to reveal a puzzle word.
To my amazement, I saw a sign for CALLALOO at the farmer's market on Sunday. I had learned the word from the Bee and associated it only with a cooked dish (stew).
Now I know better.
12
Thanks @Kline and @SteveG for F6 and I10. I do, however, intend that R8 should be hyphenated! So, many words I grew up hyphenating, or avoiding because they were slang, are now acceptable. I'm trying to catch up.
4
@Janer
yet YOYO keeps getting rejected.
2
And another excluded word.
FA
"an external metal or plastic structure added to increase streamlining and reduce drag, especially on a high-performance car, motorcycle, boat, or aircraft.
"there were lights set into the fairing at the front of the bike."
@Scott there were 20+ excluded words today.
This spelling bee is such a griff sometimes :/ so many words not included.
2
@Katabodabingbong typically the [email protected] list is 1/2 to 2/3 possible. Not just a word or two. Usually 20-50 are. That’s to make it playable and sold or for majority.
Perhaps NYT will consider adding a dark-mode theme to the Bee? It would make my eyes feel so much better.
7
@VB email [email protected]. I bet all the games at NYT would love dark mode.
On iPhone you can manually adjust your screen display light anytime.
Why do you not accept “fairing” which is a well known part of a motorcycle and airplane? Also last week, why don’t you accept “hoyden”?
5
@Sharon Eloranta both were chosen for the infamous valid/exclude list among 20-70 others on a daily basis.
Hear me out, hear me out:
“GIRAFFING”
😂
19
SAME!!!
3
I definitely tried it
2
I finally found an image that I like. Did it work?
1
@Manah Manah Yes ... yes, it did.
3
Fain is a word, both an adjective and an adverb, even if today's Spelling Bee doesn't recognize it.
8
Yes fain is a word but not an accepted word because the editors have not included it in today’s SB. The list everyday is select.
2
Todays photo is a fly, not a bee.
6
Yikes! I sent my first photograph to the Bee this morning. Yesterday, I had written about my disappointment over spotting two bumblebees in my squash blossoms but not getting a camera in time to photograph them. Both were back this morning but only one remained when I got a camera. So, I sent my first bee photo to the Hive today but now worry if others will declare it “not a bumblebee.”
11
@AJS - I wouldn't worry. People will take pride in debating and being right 😁 but they'll still appreciate a beautiful photo.
1
While there are many kinds of bees beyond bumble and honey bees, today's photo isn't a bee... it's a syrphid fly (aka hover fly).
8
🐝 or fly in the Bee pic today?
Check out NYT Replies, and read Jackie Frere’s reply to @AbbyNemo‘s post.
4
I recently read where Sam said he uses Merriam-Webster. So where are gaffing and fairing? And why is IN(9) allowed (I tried it only as a joke, then confirmed it’s not in m-w).
5
@mcx he doesn’t use just Merriam.
And he also doesn’t use every possible word. He picks from a possible list. Otherwise add 20-70 words everyday to what you’re used to solving.
Made my first Queen Bee, so happy with myself.
47
@Lisa J well done
7
@Lisa J
Congrats!🥳
9
@Lisa J BRAVA!!!
7
Are we all just going to go on with the rest of our lives pretending "in(9)" is a word? I hope it's not a spoiler to say when you google it, the response you get is "Did you mean to type "informing?" LOL.
I am old but I inform you concerning
my mind, it remains most discerning,
I've wit left in me,
a rich vocabulary,
but is age Ezersky in(9)?
9
@David Illig
Sorry David, missed your earlier post. I independently I looked "in(9)" up in the NED (first edition OED) and indeed it's there given as rare and obsolete. Google Ngram has it showing up in print in 2019 English at a rate somewhere between 1/100th and 1/1000th of the frequency of 'fain' (in 2019.) But is it a word? I reluctantly concede that it is. My consolation for this research is that in looking it up in the NED I came across -- IMPANTOUFLED...
Now there's a word! It means of course to be shod in pantoufles.
Glorious!
17
@David Illig the internet isn’t that old. I still find many things you can’t substantiate online. I’ve been in research 40 years.
3
@Texan
No the internet is not that old, but Google has been scanning, and adding to the ”Internet corpus” a lot of old books that are out of copyright in their entirety and for those still under copyright their searchable text.
You can actually find some pretty interesting volumes that would be otherwise in libraries that are out of reach. I am not a great fan of Google as a company, but the ability to identify old sources of information has been greatly increased by their constant search for objects that attract ad-viewing eyeballs
The OED uses these Google sources for its frequency band adjudications, together with some common sense editors checking the results…
4
@WI6 in Seattle-
Sorry, unable to insert the image. ☹️
2
Thanks for trying Kiki! Sorry I can't see your baskets but your efforts led me to Google the artform. Lovely!
1
@WI6 in Seattle
Trying again to replace the logo…
In reply to @WI6 in Seattle -
I wish I could take credit for the famous Will Shortz RA(6) caper, but, alas, I was not involved in the prank. I greatly admire the creativity and determination of whoever did it, though! I use RA6 fiber extensively in my sculptural basketry, so am quite familiar with this fiber. I have temporarily replaced my checkered flags logo with a tiny image of one of my baskets so you can see how the fiber can be used in basketry. The image is from the book “500 Baskets, A Celebration of the Basketmaker’s Art”.
6
@Kiki
Will Shortz, the Bee, and RA(6), in here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/crosswords/spellingbee-puzzles.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
@Kiki Was hoping to be able to look at pages inside the book on Amazon (not possible), but could see the cover; I see the reason you'd call a basket sculptural. Color, texture, and shape - a lot of creative directions in doing this, it seems. Very nice; thank you!
2
@MSF
Unfortunately, the book is out of print and hard to find - libraries or used bookstores, mostly.
2
Ok spelling bee I forgive you for the other more tortuous days… either I am getting much more adept or this one just plain fun.
14
@hunybg - Give yourself the credit you deserve! Good work should get pats on the back. Here’s ours: 👏. Carol & Carl S.
I’m pretty sure that is a picture of a fly.
5
Yep two wings so a fly
9
… a pretty photo nonetheless.
11
@Sally are birds flies too? jk i get what you mean, but i was indignant for a split nanosecond. 🙃🐝🪰
Merriam-Webster Collegiate lists FAGIN, which means what you think it does. Superb!
1
@Sandra tried it, but assumed proper noun. just remembered this was coined as a regular (read: lowercase) word from your posting, so thanks.
@Sandra
I guess like scrooge is a miser, a fagin is a contributor to the delinquency of minors. Wonder how many more Dickens character names have made it into the general language as ordinary words...
1
I understand what a WIMP list is from the way it is discussed, but is it an acronym? If so, what does it stand for?
2
@Alice S. Words I Missed Previously.
8
@Susan ..Or perpetually, in some of our cases! (#NotTheRealDefinition) Many of us have those words we just never see (read: always overtook), even if we know the word or even use it constantly. Also seems tyur for some people for common “🐝 words” (i.e. tomtit). But yeah, the list’s to help you learn and commit them to memory.
4
@Susan
I love the meaning of WIMP. Please, more gruel, please with FI6 can't let it go I'm such a newbee, I don't even know how to post yet, However I do attain QBNBM not by myself
3
Fun to play but also just fun to have a favorite word float to mind even if unacceptable... I don't care about the points, just happy to be reminded of words like faffing and yes, Faramir!
14
FAIRING: An auxiliary structure or the external surface of a vehicle, such as an aircraft, that serves to reduce drag.
3
@Hank Charles
yup, definition 2
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fairing
@Hank Charles it’s pretty clear that the curator isn’t into sports. Also missed gaffing today. I recall him missing apexed (racing term) in the past.
So GA4 is both a noun and verb. Using this tool requires the present participle of the verb form. So why would the editor accept the noun and verb form without accepting the present participial form. You just add "ing" to the verb. It's these kinds of idiotic judgements that gets under my skin. What is the rational for such a decision?
8
@Jack
To include GA4 and exclude the commonly known term GA4ing is indeed an unusual editorial decision. Equally baffling is the inclusion of IN9, the obscure verb form of the adjective IN6. 🤔
15
@Jack The only answer is because he is the editor and makes editorial decisions for each Bee. Lots of other words were also not selected today.
5
Not sure if anyone else has already pointed this out, but the photo on today’s hints is of a bee-fly doing its best impression of a bee — not a bee. Gotta love mimicry!
15
Good to see another entomologically savvy person.
10
There are 766 comments as of now. Folks who start later in the day or in a later time zone most likely are not going to scroll through 766 comments to see if someone else submitted their idea. I love the freedom of expression for folks to submit their ideas even if repeats of ones sent in hours earlier.
18
Entomologists among the etymologists?
4
So Sam,
Never ridden on a motorcycle with a big, beautiful FA7 on the front of it? NYC might not be the ideal city for a bike but for a cruise up to Nyack or some such place, you would want one!
8
What a day! For the first time I reached Genius without any hints or looking at the two letter list. I then reached Queen Bee with acceptable aids.
Yesterday, I was one word from Genius when I stopped to watch the incredible Mets-Phillies game. It was so exciting that I never went back to the Bee. This morning when I checked Yesterday’s results, two words that I had found were again not checked. Alas, but mistakes happen.Now time for dinner and a game with the hated Yankees.
12
@Harry Saltzman
Congrats on your GABM: May it be the first of many to come! 👏
Enjoy the baseball game. But “hated Yankees?” I rather liked them when I lived on the East coast. Paul O’Neill and Bernie Williams were my favorite players then. And always Mariano Rivera. You gotta admit, he was stellar! Mesmerizing to watch!
6
Go Mets. Beat the Yankees! Our house roots for the Giants then ABY and ABD.
(Anybody but Yankees and Anybody but Dodgers.)
1
Beautiful bee picture, Sarah Sutton. The detail shown in the wings is impressive. 🐝🌼🐝
3
@KP and Chrysanthemum,
There is actually a very funny story about members of the HiveMind going to extraordinary lengths to have RA6 included in the word list. This included one enterprising 🐝 sending a skein of RA6 to the desk of the bewildered Will Shortz, Crossword Puzzle-meister for NYT.
People went to a lot of effort for RA6 so we rejoice that it’s with us today!
28
@Miss Mary
Yes, true story!😃
5
@Miss Mary
Did you know that the leaves of the RA(6) palm are the largest leaves in the plant kingdom, sometimes growing over 80 feet long and over 9 feet wide?
From Wikipedia:
“They grow up to 16 metres (52 ft) tall and are remarkable for their compound pinnate leaves, the longest in the plant kingdom; leaves of R. regalis up to 25 metres (82 ft) long[3] and 3 metres (9.8 ft) wide are known…
RA(6) fiber is produced from the membrane on the underside of the leaf fronds. The membrane is taken off to create a long thin fiber, which can be rolled together for added strength before they are finally dried. Fibres can be made into twine, rope, garden ties, and used in tree grafting.[4] Fibres are important in the area of textiles, as they can be dyed and woven into products such as decorative mats, baskets, placemats, hats, and shoes.”
https://www.wikipedia.org/
16
@Kiki
Thanks for the info and the link: I had no idea this palm tree is so massive.
Beautiful, too.
4
Ya know what? I don’t even want to know what the stupid palm tree is called. So there.
12
Chrysanthemum 😂
7
@Chrysanthemum
Oh come on! Forget about the tree! It’s a fiber used in arts and crafts: You’ll see cookie boxes tied with it for gift giving; also very popular tied around vases or mason jars with flowers in them.
I bet you’ve used it, too!😉
15
@Chrysanthemum
Palm trees are so tall and so lovely and so everywhere in Los Angeles.
8
One word to go.
4
@McRumi
Sometimes “one word to go”is great, and sometimes it’s plain awful. Just a brick wall.
8
@McRumi
Good luck! You can do it!
3
@Marie exactly!.... either an easy word i'm blanking on or some obscuriity. just 6 letters....gonna keep spinning!
6
ABBACY: Many hive mates had difficulty finding this word in Saturday’s Bee.
I did as well the first time I encountered it here. Afterwards, I made a mini-WIMP list of “religious terms.”
Here’s the list, in random order; use, add to it, or disregard.:))
Abbot, abbacy
Curia, curate, curacy
Pope, papal, papacy
Laity, laical
Chuppah
Tallit
Halal
Imam
Mandala
Rood
10
@KP
What a good idea! You can add FR5 to the list. One of my favorites.
4
@Marie
Yes, of course! I didn’t add it to avoid a possible spoiler.😉
2
@KP
Oh right. Of course you already had it on your list, KP!
2
Isn’t ‘fairing’ a word? To make streamline
1
@Steve Ryland yes - it and 20+ other words were chosen to not be included today. Typically about 1/3 to 1/2 the possible list is reduced to a playable subset list.
3
Today’s photograph of a hoverfly by Sarah Sutton is up-close stunning. It’s my favorite photograph in the 3 weeks I’ve been playing Spelling Bee. The detail on the wings is amazing!
I don’t care that it’s not a bee. A hoverfly is a beneficial insect in the garden. Hoverflies are incidental pollinators but they gobble up aphids!
36
I tried ramifiing, but of course you have to leave the "y" in. Ramify is a neat word, though, and it made me think of an interview with Richard Wilbur I heard some time ago when he discussed his poem "Seed Leaves." So I went and reread it. Funny places playing the Bee takes you.
11
@CharlieA
I like the poem. Ramify in the poem has a hopeful meaning compared to all the synonyms listed in M-W dictionary.
1
@CharlieA I love Richard Wilbur's poetry. You are inspiring me to take it down from my shelf this evening.
3
When did “fain” stop being a word?
1
Pretty sure it’s still a word. Sam didn’t choose it for today but it’s still a word. Just not one chosen.
6
And the words he does choose are sometimes very odd. But just saying that doesn’t satisfy bewilderment.
6
@Metaphysician: “When did “fain” stop being a word?”
Around about 1600 C.E.
3
“Fain” as in “I would fain have gone, too. “ = “I would like to have gone, too.”
4
my kingdom for a "t"!
14
QBABM today—made me very happy!
17
@Jill S.
well done, and many returns of the day, especially if the first.
👏
9
@Retired Librarian Was just thinking you'd be a good person to ask about the word fain (haven't read the posts below this, so forgive me if I ought to have first). Just above, David Illig responds to "when did fain stop being a word" with "around 1600 C.E." That's the answer for the exclusion of lief as well, isn't it? They are both archaic. What I've wondered is why anon is routinely included. Hinters tend to use the abbreviation for anonymous, but anon is anon is anon, no? Just another fluky exception would you say?
2
@Jill Congratulations! I too love the feeling of QBABM. I had given up today - I was one word away and just couldn't get there. After a delicious dinner with friends I came home, tried the Bee again, and finally succeeded.
2
I play Spelling Bee on an IPad. Historically, the iOS dictionary allowed me to look up words, such as those I missed on the previous day, by touching the word. Sometime over the last few months, it appears that an update to the New York Times disabled this functionality. My iOS dictionary still works in other apps. Does anyone know if this was intentional?
9
I’ve complained about this repeatedly on the help link. They (surprisingly!) always reply and apologize, but they never fix it. This is a SB problem, not the Times app or iOS. Because this functionality works elsewhere in the app, including other games. Frustrating - but not sure what the solve is.
5
@Robynn Troian
Yes, this change happened a while ago for reasons unknown to us.
You still have the look-up function if you play on the web, not in an app.
When logged in with my browser— I play in Safari on my iPhone— I can also read all replies posted, not just 3. Another plus is the option of sorting/viewing the replies by Newest/Oldest (when viewing ALL replies)— a time saving function.
Once I started puzzling on the web, I never looked back; it’s a much more friendly user experience.
Give it a try!:)
7
@Robynn Troian: Are you using the NYT app or the web? My wife and I play on any of several iPads, using the web page exclusively (link at the top-right corner of the NYT home page). We have never experienced any of the problems that we have read about in this forum.
4
Anyone else have trouble accepting in(9) as a real word?
15
@jj: Not a word I had heard. Also not a word that I will be adding to my personal lexicon. The OED has only two citations, from 1612 and 1639. That fits my definition of obscure, though the meaning—making weak or ineffective—is clear enough.
5
@David Illig
While i see those two quotations specific to the form here, there are more and some a little more recent, for the verb in the sense of invalidate.
I particularly relished the old one from that firebrand of Scotland though, John Knox:
1558 J. Knox First Blast against Monstruous Regiment Women f. 22 This is a speciall lawe..whose sentence, lest it shulde be violated, IN6ed, or made weake, women are commanded to be in silence.
That will teach us!😀
4
@Kiki Crazy obscure! I stopped after 3 dictionaries tried to autocorrect to "informing" and came up empty. Good for you and @David Illig and @Retired Librarian for hunting it down, though I have no desire to remember it, I must admit.
2
QBABM— again!🥹 Two days in a row! How is that even possible? I’m rather stunned.
(The pangrams popped off the screen one after another, getting me to Genius level in 15 min. At that point, I decided to dig in my heels to see if I could match yesterday’s performance. I was lucky.
I must say, my QB feels a bit “unearned” though, in spite of getting ZERO help; that’s because I found the 4L f-word and then its ING-form accidentally. When I looked it up in Merriam-Webster, I was truly shocked by its meaning. I would have been happier had this word not appeared in the Bee today.)
17
Whoa! Good work! PS - I agree with your reaction to a disturbing word. (But it has a significance.)
5
@SS
I know, I know: I’m not _complaining_ about it being in the puzzle; I would just have been _happier_ not seeing it. 🙃
7
@KP
Completely understand.
3
Insect pictured is a fly not bee.
4
I’d like to make a suggestion that Fain is a word in the Oxford dictionary, but does not work in the spelling bee.
8
@E
Fain is also in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary app. I had it bookmarked. Perhaps we’ll find it in Spelling Bee on another day.
4
I guess Sam hasn't seen "an external metal or plastic structure added to increase streamlining and reduce drag, especially on a high-performance car, motorcycle, boat, or aircraft." Not obscure. In Merriam-Webster, Oxford English, etc.
5
@Arthur
He is a mechanical engineer. Wanna bet he has?
He just did not include it.
10
@Retired Librarian It's much more common that a lot of words he includes.
8
@Arthur
I had never heard of it before. I had seen the objects the word refers to, but was never on a first name basis with them.
“ It’s also important to note that everyone’s specialized knowledge is different. Just because someone does not know the word CAPACITATE doesn’t mean that the person is not an expert in other things. And it’s also important to further note that this player’s words might be left out, too.” [diary spelling bee fanatic August 8 also cf INFRA]
My chemistry words are constantly left out and they are quite common. TARTARIC for example on the days when citric is accepted.
7
QBABM first time after half a year ... yeepee ... 😏 took me the whole day ... gladly my day off
12
@Dagmar
Congratulations!!!! 🥂
What? No fargin? (Asking for a friend. That friend is Roman Troy Moronie.)
3
I see Fagin,
I think of that song to pick a pocket or two
4
@Ciebe
FAGIN is actually in OED , marked Allusive. It has not lost its capitalisation though, unlike the MA5.
1
The photo today is a fly, not a bee.
4
@Vermont prof You can scroll down to see the many comments on this.
2
@Vermont prof
If you think of it as a Bee mimic you will not be so disappointed, see the fuller comment here https://nyti.ms/3R0Uv26#permid=119992886
9
What the FFF? There I was, once again doing a rhumba like wiggle dance way to and way through Genius and beyond. Much to my surprise and delight, I was discovering word after word like a Spanish explorer conquering the new world. Yes this would be the day I achieved Queen Bee by myself.
However two words out, the exalted status was not meant to be. I needed to consult the hinterland where I reconnoitered with the devastating understanding that My dream was deferred by an African palm and a bowl of mush.
Oh well. Thanks to Steve G and Kline, I did hit QB early enough to knock off for the day and enjoy a night at the theater.
Until tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow 🐝🎭🐝
20
@Jay Why
I am where you were. I think I have the issue with the same two words too! It's always good to know you're not alone.
5
@Jay Why
Oh but Jay the palm is actually a craft ting material and part of Bee lore!
A bunch of the stuff is supposed to have been delivered to then editor of the Bee to convince him to include the term.
I think its mentioned in the article on the genius of spelling bee off the hints page.
If it is still consolation i was off QBABM because of the “war words”…
7
@Retired Librarian
…and I only got to QBABM today —again— because I found those “war words” accidentally (read monkey typing.🥹)
4
Is anyone else losing patience with the seemingly arbitrary choice of words included/excluded in SB? Sometimes I have to believe my vocabulary is better than puzzle masters. Disillusioned here but won’t be gaffing anyone over it!
8
@Judith
Some are, some like the chase. Most try not to even imply violence, the presence in the Bee of FR8 notwithstanding.
5
@Judith I accept that in this game the list is curated and not exhaustive, and while sometimes there are words I am surprised are not included, I like seeing how far I can get each day.
8
Curated is a pretty high-falutin’ word in this case.
5
A 'fairing' is a common word.
7
I’ve BEEn waiting for this moment. The insect in today’s picture is in fact a FLY. A hover fly if memory still serves me. See the two wings? Diptera. Head is all wrong for a bee as well. There are many bee mimics out there. Your interns need to Be a little more observant. Brought to you by the monocot guy in FLYover land.
12
@Scott
So what you are saying is that the picture is so good that identification of the Bee mimic is possible (it must be, several other Hive mates have got it ) .
I’d call it a successful photo as well as successful mimicry, wouldn’t you?
6
@Scott
Those pesky flies. Anything to have their moment but I wonder what he did to the real BEE. This fly is a scam artist but not all of us were fooled.
6
During Sam’s ABBACY of Shrewsbury, the position of Brother Cadfael as IN(6)ARIAN was eliminated. Darn, an 11-pointer :-).
5
@Cal @Cal I love those books!
2
@AM
Yes, they are! The TV series with Derek Jacobi was also very good.
3
A hoverfly? Don't tell me you ran out of bee pictures. I have a few crickets, if it helps? ;-)
9
Thank you entomologist
2
Only one pair of wings, that fly.
3
@Cristina
A Bee mimic yes see
https://nyti.ms/3R0Uv26#permid=119992886 For more
3
Where is the title for the person who works in the place where the IN6 people go to get better?* I kept trying it, assuming I was making mistakes, but nope, it ain't there. That is strange to me.
* Rhetorical question. I know how Sam works.
4
HINTS
AF
4) Not anear
6) Tryst to remember
6) Yes-ative
9) Yessing
FA
4) Equitable
4) Eyetooth
7) Dakota or Elle or cooling
6) Crime Story Dennis or cream of wheat
6) How you DOING
4) Agriculture place
7) Doing agriculture
FI
6) Playing a pipe
6) Assessing a penalty
6) Lighting a kiln
4) Hard
7) Hardening
FR
4) Off one's commander with grenade
8) Offing one's commander with grenade
7) Surrounding a picture or setting up a stooge
5) Brother Tuck
8) Trimming with tassels
GA
4) Impale a fish or utter a mistake
GR
7) Family Guy family or eagle-lion chimera
IN
6) Decrepit
9) Causing decrepitude
10) Violating s/o's rights
MA
5) Italian mob
MI
4) Annoy
7) Annoying
NA
4) Innocent (Fr.)
RA
6) Madagascar palm tree rhymes with MA5
RI
4) Guitar refrain e.g. Smoke on the Water
7) Playing guitar refrain, building on a story element
8) Who let the RABBLE in?
👇See Replies for Mores
755
@STEVE G.
They call the Russian mob a MA5 as well, but the word for cosa nostra ("our thing") has an interesting and etymologically uncertain origin. It sounds like "my daughter" in Italian, so there were some legends about it being a call to organize a vigilante group to avenge one, but seems to emanate from a Sicilian word for "swagger".
78
Thanks to Steve G., I got the last three words I needed to keep my QB streak going for another day.
34
@STEVE G. FR5,FR8 come from the fact that grenades explode into sharp flying pieces, but the term has a more peculiar meaning as the "whoopsie" of lobbing a petard in the direction of an unpopular officer, especially during U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
55
I'm really not a fan of "ING" days.
2
I find it remarkable that so many in the hive are familiar
with species of bees and/or flies. The photo is beautiful and the fly is performing the same task. I say it if walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...
7
@SS
Some people just don’t believe in facts.
1
I'm all for info, but this is a game, not a science lesson. I hope to submit a few photos and don't want to be scolded for choosing a fly that looks very similar to a bee since I know very little about insects.
9
Holy Honey Hives! Another spectacular bee photo! Look at those intricately made wings! Thanks!!
5
The photo today is of a bee mimic fly, not a bee. Not sure the Genus. If it had a longer proboscis, I'd say possibly Neorhinchocephalus.
6
Today, there are 3 pangrams, 2 of which are perfect.
The intent of this sentence is AF(9) that Triple Crown winner AF(6)ed 🐴, is a fan of FA(7). Before FR(7) the articles describing his many victories 🏆, he simply lived on a FA(4)🚜 in Florida.
Good morning 🌅, Florida. I hope you have a lovely day!!
6
Pangram 8/21/22: EMPATHY
'"Human morality is unthinkable without EMPATHY." - Frans de Waal
What does the word EMPATHY mean? Is it the antonym of APATHY, which means to be EMPTY of feelings or emotions? Is it a synonym of SYMPATHY, meaning the act or capacity of sharing the feelings of another? I think neither definition perfectly captures the essence of being an EMPATH.
I will ATTEMPT to describe my thought without being to YAPPY. According to Merriam-Webster, EMPATHY is the action of...vicariously experiencing the feelings...of another...without having the feelings...in an objectively explicit manner. Therefore, EMPATHY is to TEEM with the emotions of another person while not YET necessarily having any experience in common with that person (maybe never having MET or needing to MEET THEM).
To me, one can choose to utilize EMPATHY like an EPEE against sadness. THEY can be HAPPY by making another being HAPPY out of compassion, as in the allegory of the long spoons where the compassionate EAT while the selfish starve.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_long_spoons
Another example, when making a charitable donation, the true PAYEE is yourself. TAMP down the PETTY TEMPTation to HYPE being the EMPATHetic TYPE with a PAT on your own back. Doing PHAT deeds in secret without saying a PEEP is a HEAP more fun. The MAP of the PATH of an EMPATH does not always follow a PEPPY THEME, though. MAYHEM is a sharable experience as well which may require a TEAM effort to conquer.
27
Wow! Wonderful, @Manah Manah! Enjoyed this opus tremendously. — Carol S.
3
@Manah Manah Excellent!
3
@Manah Manah
Wow! Beautiful — and wonderful food for thought!! Thank you!
1
Two pangrams in the first minute. That's a first.
136
@Bob Acker
Followed by a third pangram a minute later.
37
@Carrie
Ex-neighbor. I've been out of the country. But that sounds like a lot of fun.
1
@Carrie
So lucky! When we lived in California we saw heaps of great gigs and legendary bands. Home here in Western Australia the great touring bands are few and far between, and tickets are upwards of $150.
6
W O R D L E B E E S
🟩 🟨 ⬛️ 🟨 🟩 🐝 🐝
Monday, August 22. 3:00 AM EDT
https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html
Reply here with your Wordle story, but please, NO SPOILERS OR HINTS (that includes letters & words used) at today’s answer! Let’s keep all the Wordle nerding in a tidy thread here, so we don’t bother the other buzzy bees.
If you use an app on a mobile device or tablet, you may not be able to read all of the comments.
This article about the improved WordleBot is a good read, and has links to other articles about Wordle at the end:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/17/upshot/wordle-wordlebot-new.html
For technical issues: [email protected]
10
@Dez
Like your second guess, mine eliminated all but the solution. NewBot thought that was "nice," but only worth 66 on skill.
StingiBot, indeed!
Wordle 429 3/6
WordleBot
Skill 83/99
Luck 79/99
2
@Eric B
Wordle 429 3/6*
⬛🟩⬛🟨⬛
🟨🟩🟨⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
76 and 73 skill/luck and my first choice was also “distinctive” so Dez we must be !
The final Bot analysis of the >25000 readers shows a much better chance of getting it in 6 than yesterday, for obvious reasons.
But Bot doing it in 2 still strikes me as luck, perhaps it did sneak a peek at those words again!
6
@Eric B
Today even the bot admitted that the absence of luck on my fourth guess was a "bummer". I have abandoned my search for a four leaf clover ☘️.
Wordle 429 5/6*
⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟨🟨
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜
🟨🟩🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
WordleBot
Skill 75/99
Luck 55/99
2
Frag? The blowing up of a senior officer is acceptable but luff is not?
@Jacquie Green
Frag is certainly a lot more widely known than luff.
2
GIRAFFING is obviously a word, because as soon as you see it you say to yourself, "Yeah, I could use it in a sentence."
As in: "Traffic would have proceeded more quickly past the scene on the side of the road, had drivers stopped giraffing and just driven past quickly."
Y'all know I'm right gimme the points.
20
@Asher B.
As in rubbernecking?
2
@SS I don't see the letters for rubbernecking in today's bee, but maybe I'm missing something...
2
@Asher B.
I meant your meaning, not the spelling :)
Personally, while living in NYC for several years
I thought "gapers delays" referred to a place, such as the Narrows, etc. So, I'm fine with your long-necked points.
4
This is a big ♥️shout-out♥️to the musical Bee who posted all the great songs with FA4 in their titles (alas, my reply to you somehow disappeared). Watching Gene Kelly tap dance on roller skates was icing on the cake of my fifth Queen Bee in a month!
8
You missed gaffing (tape) and (motorcycle) fairing.
1
@Harry Grimes did you mean “not chosen”?
1
@Harry Grimes
I believe "gaffing" tape is a misnomer. The tape you are referring to is to best of my knowledge correctly called "gaffer's tape" -- a gaffer is the person on a movie crew in charge of executing the lighting designer's lighting... (the cables for the lights often require quite a bit of taping to keep them orderly and secure.)
1
Today's photo is terrific, but it is a fly, not a bee. The large eyes on front of head and the wing shape are indicators. It is a "Spelling Fly" for a day with and 'F' as the center letter!
12
Just got QB for the first time. Thanks to all of you who take the time to post your detailed clues. Couldn’t have done it without you
10
Mathematical query for Wordle bees
Yesterday I got Wordle in 1. First time this has ever happened, and clearly, a lucky guess. I wondered what the odds were.
My 'system' is - I don't have any rules for my first word, except that each letter must be a different one. It's just the first five letter word floating into my mind when I open Wordle. And yesterday the word coming in had two spellings, so I had 2 words, waste, waist rather than one. SOMETIMES I do think I 'intuit' the word (when I seem to have hit the nail on the head with 2 or 3 correct placements on the first word, but I'm sure I also conveniently forget all the times I dont!
Odds?
15
@Vika
Here’s the second part:
If your list of possible choices is greater than the 1,882 remaining solutions, and all of the 1,882 solutions are included in your list, then your odds of picking the right one from your list is 1/number of words on your list. So if you had in mind say 5,000 possible entries, then uour odds are 1 in 5,000.
5
@Eric B
I believe that Wordle does permit is to guess words that are not on its list. Several times the Wordle Bot has informed me that my chosen word was not on the List. After which, the Bot apologized that it did not write the rools. In any case, I was permitted to enter the word and derived information from that entry.
4
@Simeon
That’s correct. As originally developed The Wordle solution list was ~2,500 words. But the game had a second list, a “dictionary”, of ~12,000 acceptable entries. If a player enters a word that isn’t in the game’s dictionary, the game will inform the player, and clear the entry.
We know that NYT pared the original list of solutions down to 2,309 words., and in a recent update on WordleBot it was stated that the game’s dictionary is “almost 13,000” words. The new Bot is similarly equipped with and uses its own dictionary of ~4,500 words, which is a subset of the game’s larger dictionary. It is that smaller list that the Bot uses in calculating possibilities and probabilities based on its prior experience. So for the Bot there is a 1 in 4,5000 chance that the first guess is the solution.
More on the Bot:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/17/upshot/wordle-wordlebot-new.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuomT1JKd6J17Vw1cRCfTTMQmqxCdw_PIxftm3iWka3DFDm8diPkNGIiH5wDSYrBvY9Z2wDOBSNtMOrgzAfp_0alfI0lpAUGOk6ezpa4kcW8zuJ7hGSQ_xY7MVrQ1tme1MjPpeLwvgeXh4ELDbWfoD7jV0XAlOA9gpZtjJVmojH0Lx7zXUbIggqkI1vklAZx6QDsCdXPK66GuU0MiTY3AOhLM6QA2WPVbUCXTnrOf6rEAcgZUADHWXS81oDZ8uJ4HZoRhbOuoJAUgecH-nbwaFmdrSY-rDJYwTIXe_K54fqo-3bn9wqsy7-JgKpJ5jQ&smid=url-share
1
MY THOUGHT OF THE DAY
I truly enjoy this global BEE community. I learn not only from my compatriots but also from our worldwide SB members.
Hopefully, no more “this is a US game by a US paper” in response to a member who didn’t understand an included BEE word. Some come for the puzzle, some come for the poems, and some come to strengthen their knowledge of our language. Please BEE kind to everyone.
HAPPY BEE-ING TO ALL
89
@AbbyNemo Absolutely! Besides the humor and the camaraderie with other word-nerds, I love learning about how Bees from other English-speaking countries see things and, also, seeing non-English speaking countries represented where people may be learning or perfecting their English.
9
@Jennene
Instead of preaching I prefer teaching. Makes for a better world.
Glad you are enjoying this forum. I was considering not coming here except for hints but decided against that because I would be depriving myself of all the knowledge I can gain from the SB community.
5
@AbbyNemo I am a relative newbee and cannot come up with anything dealing with fingering? Thanks to all for the wonderous hints.
1
L E T T E R B O X E D Mon 22 Aug
@12:00amPDT/03:00amEDT
https://www.nytimes.com/puzzles/letter-boxed
Please post hints for the current puzzle in reply to this thread and please recommend this anchor post.
**It's been noted that some letters of the alphabet, separated by a hyphen, may trigger a review of the comment. Typing B to S (8), for example, may bypass trouble getting a comment published.**
**If you use an app on a mobile device or tablet, you may not be able to read all of the comments with hints. If you use a web browser for the NYT games page, the full thread will be viewable.**
For technical issues: [email protected]
Wordplay's Deb Amlen did a Beyond the Crossword column on Letter Boxed. I'd like to encourage everyone to go there and read it, leave a comment, recommend comments and replies. Here's the link to it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/19/crosswords/letter-boxed-tips-and-tricks.html
Thank you to all who made an effort in the campaign for our own little spot. I'll continue to post an anchor comment when the Bee and the Box reset each day, and it SHOULD remain near the top when you sort ALL comments by Oldest.
56
@Kim
See that! That is a spoiler. I haven't done that in months. My apologies. Mine, however, was inadvertent.
4
@Cindy
Stuff happens! NP! :)
2
@Cindy That was a spoiler, in my opinion
1
Nice easy QB with 2LLs, grid, and some hints.
3
@TimWinnipeg
I would NOT have reached QB were it not for the IN in the 2LL + the grid, telling myself nooo way before typing in. Ggeezzzzz Is that a word??
1
@TimWinnipeg
I would NOT have reached QB were it not for the IN in the 2LL and the grid, telling myself no way before typing it in. Is that a word?
1
Infragram - another word for subtext ;)
3
Is there a BEE-ologist in the HIVE?
2
@AbbyNemo
If I'm not mistaken the photo is of a Hoverfly.
1
Oh, I see that was mentioned already...
@Beverly
Yes, exactly my point.
I posted that because too many believe it’s a BEE.
FLY-OLOGIST better? LOL
1
Gaffing?
2
That's not a bee in today's photo. It's a hoverfly.
3
@AbbyNemo Indeed, I might've noticed that at least 20 other detail-oriented people also identified that as a hover fly.
Thanks!
4
@Bill Z.
Yet others are insisting it’s a BEE. Go figure!
Firring is a word not acknowledged here.
@Jim Hoitsma
Maybe furring?
Finning... as to fishing practice.
1
what does it mean to have a perfect pangram vs some other kind?
1
A perfect pangram use all the letters only once.
5
@liz
To answer your question, the SB in particular uses only 7 letters for its pangram. When you use each letter only once it’s called perfect.
On other occasions, in order to find the day’s pangram, you will have to use a letter more than once.
Have fun playing.
1
Fairing.... aero cover
1
Framing...
Try it again…
4
Got to genius! - liked the new tricky switching of styles in the puzzle!
2
gaffing is no there
2
infra is not in the list
1
@Miss Marple
Correct, along with at least 24 other “valid dictionary words”.
https://nytbee.com/#not_official
1
Missed words today are: FAIN & INFRA
Nonetheless, fun BEE and made QB anyway.
All good!
2
landing a large fish, using a GA4
2
Beautiful weather in my locale today, a breezy 81 degrees. Life is Grand. Thanks for hints 🐝
3
cutting off fins
1
@Bruce Jordan
Hopefully since the word isn’t listed in the Bee today, that vile practice will stop.
3
@Bruce Jordan
Using fins, as fish do to propel themselves.
1
Love all the bee photos, but today’s is a nice photo of a Syrphid Fly, not an actual bee.
8
Two words I use every day. Where in this FR4 is the FR8 salsa?
2
Pleased or willing
2
Good afternoon all. Hope everyone is well.
GN4L @18/143.
Bee back later.
LGM!!
2
I am tickled that the margin of today’s puzzle is MARGIN.
18
C'mon,, "fairing" is a common word. Cars, boats, motorcycles all have fairings.
I realize not as common as ancient French poetry form using.... or genetic mutations on single dna strand...
16
Not sure if this has been commented on, but is the I9 actually a word? I threw it in kind of as a joke and was shocked when it was accepted. I can't find it in the usual dictionaries.
8
@Nicky
Haha, I put it in thinking “no way” but WOW… I didn’t bother to look it up but will do so later.
3
@Nicky good point, though I only looked in two
4
@Nicky, I'm baffled by it. Even Google can't use it in a sentence, LOL.
5
Another beautiful bee photo. You can see the symmetry of the bee
sitting on the organic shape of the yellow flower.
Thank you, Sarah Sutton
2
Fagging is a legit non-offensive word. Let’s go, NYT!
2
Back at it- close to Genius. I suggest a listen to this wonderful song- appropriate for today’s letters. Enjoy!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b_VcSbpEiRg
1
YES! Wonderful song, too little-known, and one of my favorites to swing dance to. Thanks for posting! It makes getting to QBWG even sweeter today. ♥️
@Saad
You can write out the letters if they aren't words in the bee.
I know you don't recognize "fain" (as I have tried it before). It's a good word that I think, in the future, you should consider. It means "gladly" or "happily" and helps poets maintain meter. Shakespeare used it as have others. You would be in good company.
:)
10
One more proof that constructor needs time on a boat: GAFF and GAFFING.
I guess INFRA is a prefix not standalone but GRRR anyway.
3
@RozzieGrandma If you would check your typing you’d see that one of your words is in the Bee. Please consider double checking before posting a word.
3
Who else focused on the photo that isn't a bee? It's a species of hoverfly.
15
Me! And when I win I wish to be declared Lord of the Flies!
7
@cmd well, lots of people who commented below/before you, as you might see if you scroll some. or do you mean focus on to the exclusion of actually completing the 🐝? lol 🙃
@cmd yes! And don’t worry not everyone has time to read through all the comments, you 🐝 you and stay🪰 ;)
9
🌸🌸🌸 Same letter list, with mnemonics
8/21/22
epee, peep
The expert swordswoman speared an Easter PEEP on her EPEE.
papaya, pappy, yappy
PAPPY passed a piece of PAPAYA to the YAPPY puppy.
pate, peat, tape
With a bit of rolled-up TAPE the clown stuck a bit of PEAT in the middle of his shiny PATE.
path, phat
It’s a long time since I was on the right PATH to hear the word PHAT.
petty, type
You can’t let the PETTY TYPE get to you.
teepee, tepee
I don’t get it. This TEPEE looks exactly like that TEEPEE.
temp, tempt
I learned the hard way never to TEMPT a TEMP worker.
Thank you @Martin for starting these lists and thanks to everyone who eggs me on. Good Bees 🐝🐝🐝to all!
11
Thank you, Sarah Sutton, for the wonderful photo of a flower fly on yellow flowers in the aster family! You can see clearly the large eyes and short antennae that distinguish flies from bees.
🌷🐝 🌸🐛🌻🦋🌼
Also known as hover flies for the way they dart and hover around flowers, flower flies play a role in both pollination of pest control. Many of them are predators as larvae, feeding on aphids. Some of them even migrate. The Marmalade hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus, flies to and from the UK in such numbers they can be tracked on radar.
More here:
https://www.nri.org/latest/news/2019/hero-hoverflies-tiny-travellers-with-big-potential
25
Thanks also to @rasnick22 for identifying this hover fly as a Thistle Field Syrphid fly, Eupeodes bucculatus. I'm not finding much information about it, so here's some more pictures.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/albums/72157629423396462/
4
🍄🍄🍄
This Extreme Wordle game is from this past weekend’s NYT magazine. Each item is a failed attempt. The letters in parentheses are correct letters BUT in the wrong position, whereas the letters with an asterisk are correct letters AND also in the right position. The remaining letters are incorrect letters. Each single word by itself is sufficient to clue one and only one very common word. No answers are plurals or verbs formed by adding -s.
If you’d prefer, you can click on this link for the original color-coded version:
https://www.nytimes.com/svc/crosswords/v2/puzzle/print/Aug2122.2.pdf
*If you’d like to play, please don’t spell out the answers. If you feel like it, you can clue whatever answers you’d like. Or, when you’re finished, simply leave a note to let me know. Many thanks!
1. A U (G) (H) *T
2. H A (P) (P) (Y)
3. *C A (W) E *D
4. (C) (O) (A) (T) S
5. (T) A (X) (E) (D)
6. (Q) (U) I T S
7. W (A) L (T) *Z
8. N (Y) M P *H
9. (H) (A) V *O C
10. (W) H I F *F
11. (W) E *F T S
12. (E) (R) (R) (O) R
13. D (I) (G) (I) T
14. G (R) O *U *P
15. (J) I F F (Y)
16. (K) N (A) (V) E
17. (G) E (A) *R S
18. (P) E T *R (I)
19. B *U (Y) (E) (R)
20. (H) E L (I) (X)
21. F *J O R D
22. (W) O (U) L *D
23. S *H O C (K)
24. O *Z O N *E
25. O (M) E *G A
2
@Martin
Answers to Friday’s game (8/19/2022):
1. Marjoram 2. Took root 3. Revolver 4. Foolproof 5. Time limit 6. Metric system 7. Drawing board 8. Street smarts 9. Lackadaisical 10. Noise pollution 11. Smoke-filled rooms 12. Recruitment officer
2
@Martin Thanks for sharing!
2
@Martin
To think that I was expecting Monday anagrams!
Thank you!
Some clues for anyone who might need a nudge:
1. Apparition
2. Cyst
3. Horde
4. Thespian
5. Cleanse
6. Even
7. Hitchcock thriller
8. Childhood
9. Loathe
10. Diminutive
11. Nasty
12. Vintage
13. Frosting
14. Vermont output
15. Savor
16. Screwdriver ingredient
17. Mad
18. Peep
19. Question
20. Avenue of the Americas
21. Expel
22. Unmarried
23. Tan cloth
24. Blue sky
25. Humid
2
Many motorcycles have fairings. Spelling Bee does not.
4
Lord Randall, a ballad in the public domain
Oh where ha'e ye been, Lord Randall my son?
O where ha'e ye been, my handsome young man?
I ha'e been to the wild wood. Mother, make my bed soon,
For I’m weary wi' hunting, and FAIN wald lie down.
7
@Beeatrice Yes, very popular in the 17th century.
2
FAIN we’d have been for the inclusion of same!
4
GABM and made QB with Kline’s helpful hints. Had to shake my head again at some of the obvious words I missed. Got all three pangrams right away but some others just didn’t fall. And that’s why I’m thankful for all the hint providers who help me get to QB. Not that I’m obsessed or anything. ❤️🐝
8
The hints are wonderful. We just got back from a family vacay and I had such fun playing with our 9 year old granddaughter who caught right on to the hints and played very well with all your help - Kline, Steve G and all the other clever, generous hint givers! I would get nowhere by myself!
Sue Carrington
11
@Sue C wow, great! how fun :)
2
Great picture but that’s not an actual bee, it’s a bee-mimicking fly :)
7
So ….I’m new at this this.
Last Monday was my first attempt. Results hit amazing pretty quickly, then I was out of pocket most of the day.. Not bad..but as a self acclaimed status seeker and easily addicted to things I deem worthy…achieved Genius next day. That worked nicely to soothe my egotistical soul for two days. Now I have 4 days of genius and 3 days of Queenbee added to that first AMAZING game day.
What I’ve learned:
-Figure out which letter is hardly used and ignore it.
- Get OK with the fact the game does not include all possible words. If it did this would be less challenging and most could find enough letter scrambles to make the numbers.
-The game is to get good figuring out what IS included!
-BEE OK with some very awkward…but legal/fair game permutations of vocabulary!
I read a lot..but there have been some very wonky words outside my reading and writing wheelhouse…and I LOVE it.
- Sometimes I also need to check my spelling..I know there’s a word in there…and although I read a lot..don’t always spell so good. Which is why I need Spelling BEE!
Thanks..! It’s a game. It’s BEEn fun….and happily I’m here in the hive to stay. Maybe my spelling will get better.
46
@Cardshark
Welcome, sounds like a good strategy.
3
@Cardshark - Welcome to the Hive! 🐝
4
@Cardshark
Did you plagiarize my strategy?? LOL
Gr8 comment and welcome.
If you ever need help, simply post a request and BEEs will be here to help.
3
Fairing is a legit word -- an external metal or plastic structure added to increase streamlining and reduce drag, especially on a high-performance car, motorcycle, boat, or aircraft.
5
Not sure if this has been posted already, but the lovely photo at the top of the page is a hoverfly, not a bee ♥
9
Bee 🐝 or firefly or whatever it is a georgeous photo. Three cheers for the photog!
9
@Chris C
The NYT’s agrees👆
"Infirmarian" seems a perfectly common word to me - or have I read too many Brother Cadfael mysteries?
6
@Joyce
The word is certainly legitimate, but I would say far from common.
6
Legitimate question: do players know that a daily puzzle word list is a SUBSET - and not all possible words? And it’s not 1-2 or a few words chosen to not be included - it’s usually anywhere from 20-70 I’ve observed.
8
I don’t think so
3
@Texan
Some do, many don’t.
4
@Eric B one day it would be interesting to not exclude any words. I’d enjoy the challenge, along with extra hive buzzing.
🌏🌍🌎
Today’s bonus pangram-only game:
(If you’d like to play, please don’t spell out the answers. Please reply with hints or clues. Many thanks!)
D, I, N, O, S, U, V (1 pangrams)
6
@Martin
Answers to yesterday’s pangram game (8/21):
A, D, E, G, I, M, N ----> amending, demanding, demeaning, imagined, maddening
3
@Martin
Oops! Today has only 1 pangram, no -s. (I copied from yesterday's template and forgot to delete the extra -s.) 😉
1
@Martin
I’d respond, but that’d put me in such a terrible position…
(P.S. My first thought on seeing the letter set: Did Fred Flintstone upgrade his car?)
6
What does QBABM mean?
1
Queen Bee All By Myself-no hints
4
Grid can be used, however
2
Ty!
fairing is a word, as on a motorcycle
7
Should take fairing. A structure added to reduce drag
3
FAIN is a word meaning hopeful tho I suspect is obsolete. But what about Infra? I use that one (along with Supra) to refer to text below (or above) us a written document.
3
@Steve O.
You are correct on FAIN, a lovely Shakespearean word which like LIEF is not included in the lists.
INFRA is a combining form but also an adverb, used in directions such as vide infra (see below) or cf infra (compare below) , perhaps a little rarefied in that there is a ready English word to take its place?
Incidentally non of the words in OED, in which infra- is a combining form is common, but in Italian INFRADITO are just flip flops.
However this must be ( again per OED) from using Medieval Latin in which INFRA meant also WITHIN.
What an INFRA DIG use of INFRA…
1
@Retired Librarian
And I mean common as in common is as common does…
2
GABM, QB-1, the last word deprived me of the right
to say QBABM. Oof! So close and yet no cigar!
6
So..."Gaffing" isn't a word?
1
@Ginny it is. It was on todays exclusion list. There were 25 not included today. The puzzle never includes all possible. Only a subset of it.
9
@Texan
Is the exclusion list accessible to everyone? If so, where?
@Texan… not all people realize this
Tried finishing with firring and wound up against a wall.
7
@Bucky “furring” is what you meant?
1
No FAIRING? The composer must not ride a motorcycle. :-)
10
iffing - analyzing several alternative scenarios.
18
Two of today's words struck a heavy chord, and I fear I can not complete QB right now.......FR(4) is slang for "FR(4)ment" and FR(8) implies a glee in destruction. It's the anniversary of a loss, so just seems to echo. Off to the woods for a renewal
:S
6
@J. Glover
Completely agree! Since I was young and in Italy at the time of the South East Asia war I had not come across these words before and they rather shocked me.
If I had to choose between FR8, a fairly mild interjection, and FR8 as in the Bee I know which I would choose, cussing or not.
2
ANOTHER stunning photo, this time from Sarah Sutton. Thank you!!! 🌸🌞🐝💝
5
@KAN
Yes! Those wings!
3
@KAN It’s a fly!
3
The photo by Sarah Sutton is nice, I agree, but it is a fly, not a bee.
5
The Spelling Fly?
21
Quick FYI, the picture on the community page is not a bee, but a bee mimic: it's a syrphid fly!
20
How come FAIRING is not a word??
2
Because it’s not spelled that way.
I'm pretty sure it is: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/fairing
4
@Ondra It is spelled that eay, not often used in USA English. it's a fair word, not part of today's Sp. Bee.
5
💐💐💐💐💐
Please Bee 🐝 kind. Bee tolerant. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Don't call people names or imply they have problems. Empathy was a great word this weekend. BEE 🐝an Empath!
44
Poetry August 22, 2022
Cinquain (liz)
Singing all night with my peeps – on the path!
Happy
heaps of singers –
twenty-four hours of
of continuous song -- empathy
and soul.
Bee words: peeps, path, happy, heap, empathy
Got back from Berkeley on the Coast Starlight train at 6:30 PM tonight. Solved the Bee with a lot of help from Steve and Kline so I could write this poem.
I want to give you my favorite image from the week. At one point in the afternoon of the 24-hour circle-sing, the singers and dancers had sort of gotten into a rhythm jam and they were stuck there. The two leaders were trying to slow it down, but the pace kept picking up again. Bobby wandered in, watched for a minute, walked slowly over to the corner of the stage, picked up a mike and began to sing flute and bird sounds. The jam stopped and the dancers and singers sat down on the floor at his feet. He sang on, giving them parts, for about half an hour. I thought -- “The Pied Piper of Hamlin must have loved those children.”
88
@Liz Kohlenberg it's so lovely to have you back Liz, trailing clouds of joy. Your vivid account of the Pied Piper moment caused tears to spring as I FELT it, that hush descend as all of you were released from the stuck rhythm spell. Wonderful!!!! Thank you
19
@Liz Kohlenberg
glad you're back
2
@Liz Kohlenberg So glad you had a good time! The feel of it comes through strongly in your post today.
3
August 22, 2022
(marylu)
Compassion/Connection
(for Paddy)
Empty the cache of apathy
Take the path of empathy
Tempt not the petty hype
That your happy is all there is
Tape your teepee if it rains and leaks
Stay dry and warm and snug
Invite some others in to feast
On tapas, papaya, tempeh, and pâté
And don’t forget the challah!
Heal your friends with song and art
Sharing the phat beats is a great start
And call your papa; he misses you so
The sound of your voice is love from your heart
And your blah will disappear
Find you will that each ache of your own
Will fade somewhat when you’re able to share
Telling your story and hearing others too
Helps allay your worries and theirs as well
From pampas to beaches and mountains and plains
Being human together is all that remains
A poem with words from the previous two days
🐝 words August 20:
cache challah heal call blah each ache able allay pampa beach
🐝 words August 21:
empty apathy path empathy tempt petty hype happy tape teepee tapa papaya tempeh pâté phat papa
Recommended reading:
Atlas of the Heart
By Brené Brown
Or watch if available to you her docuseries on HBO Max (same title)
47
@Cate - What a healing and compassionate poem you’ve wrought here. Thank you so much. I look forward to your work. — Carol S.
7
@Cate Lovely, lovely LOVELY! I shall have a search for the book you mention. Alluring title, and I assume, subject matter
2
@Cate You just made a sale for Brene Brown Cate! Looked it up on evil Amazon (sorry) The wood book doesn't seem to exist here, but the Kindle look inside gave me good goosebumps and its now downloaded. I liked her writing style, as well as what-its-about
So thanks for the double pleasure of poem and book
3
GABM but could not get QB for the life of me.
If only I could do the “Time Warp” again, maybe then I’d find RI8…😏
6
Mr. Gaffigan. Because it's there!
2
The photo is a picture of a fly that mimics bees. It is not a bee!
12
What a wonderful world!🐝🪰 😳Thank you for this information. Now reading about hover flies.
7
Nope, been scrolling through a couple of porridge sites but can't solve fa6 - hot porridge.
Is this a nickname or something?
Or am I missing something blatantly obvious?
2
@Sue J
think cream of wheat
6
@Sue J
It means flour in Italian.
5
@Sue J
No, not a nickname. It could be someone’s breakfast.
4
QB, with Hive Help. Thanks, bees, for allowing me the fruits of your clueing efforts! It's interesting to see how we intersect with words and context in sometimes triangular ways.
6
Why not GAFFING? As in “gaffing hook”
9
@Andrew
Uh oh….you have just GA4+ed
I tried GA4+ing, too. Then I went on to the next challenge.
2
Using a GA4 is called GA4ing. Can’t have one without the other…
10
I would fain you allow this old word
5
@Paul Alan Levy
Are you feigning faining? :)
3
@David Illig Rats. I guess that means we won't see "lerne," "himselve," or "knowe" accepted...
3
@mdbeck: Ic woot you are correct.
3
I believe todays bee picture might be a hoverfly or a dronefly.
8
Today's Bee is a hoverfly. Still cute, though.
7
Seems the fly in today's photo has been mistaken for a bee.
I'm sure the fly would be very happy to know that it's mimicry has been so effective! 😊
23
The middle path
If apathy is too little feeling,
hype is exaggeration of the same.
Too often we swing from one to the other
and miss the center, where empathy reigns.
If I feel empty, I don’t need heaps
of pineapple, pears, and papaya to fill me.
The full fruit bowl may tempt
but will not thrill me when I’m through;
a slice or two will likely do.
I’ll attempt to follow a middle path:
feeling happy without being annoyingly peppy,
talking freely without sounding yappy,
caring about small things without being petty.
Some excess may seep in on occasion.
If ‘moderation in all things’ is a virtue,
surely that includes moderation...
Aug. 21 Bee words used: apathy, hype, empathy, empty, heap, papaya, tempt, attempt, path, happy, peppy, yappy, petty.
39
@mdbeck I love this - and especially the smile and wink in that playful last line
4
@mdbeck I always enjoy your poems. The last line in this one is clever.
3
@mdbeck I love the idea that empathy is the center between apathy and hype. You are quite right.
And I love the idea of a slice or two being enough -- also the middle ground!
thoughtful poem!
3
Thanks, Sam, for the salute to FA7.
A Cornhusker
4
Hello from a fellow Nebraskan Blue Dot. So nice to see you here.
2
@Blue Dot 2 👍🏻 Keep the faith!!
1
I would fain expect more from this game, but I would be disappointed.
5
Seems Mr. Ezersky is aero-challenged. Nacelle and now fairing.
6
@Aero1
Well, he’s a mechanical engineer. So I suspect he knows them well, but has decided to exclude both from the Bee today.
7
@Aero1 Maybe not a motorcycle rider?
1
@Aero1 do you also wish to include the other 24 words omitted by choice today? Don’t leave those out…
2
Quite a number of years ago I started practicing catch and release with all my fishing. My GA4 was retired as I was no longer GA4ing any fish. Thus I am torn as to whether it is a GA4 or not for Sam to reject GA4ing as word for today's list.
What do you all think?
9
@emgred
First of all, it's there. Second, omitting it might, to some, have been a GA4E.
@GreaterMetropolitanArea
I was referring to the word GA4ING, which Sam chose not to include. You did indeed catch my GA4e; thus AF9 my that I was a bit hasty.
it appears the photo for today is not a bee, but a hover fly... specifically Eupeodes bucculatus
9
@rasnick22 One wonders if it is advantageous for the survival of this fly to have markings that resemble a bee's? A predator of flies that is scared of bees?
5
"smart" fly, dresses like a bee so predators will think it stings. Evolution is endlessly inventive.
7
@Moonshine Exactly so. It's called Batesian mimicry. Many, many hoverflies practice it.
@rasnick22 Thanks for the id!
1
I once asked a publicist what she did for a living and she told me she’s in the faming business.
20
@Jay Orchard When she gets angry at a client, I wonder if she ever considers switching into the defaming business.
19
Any Pinky and The Brain fans here?
NARF ...
7
@Darcy
I know it will never ever be in the list, but I have such silly fun trying it anyway. What'll we do tonight, Brain??
1
I was hoping to have a nice tasty GRAFFA with my coffee this morning…
@Bill Planey
Dont you have to go to Naples for that? In the rest of Italy we call donuts other words, and Graffa mean a bracket as in maths, or a staple, as you use in a stapler.
I suppose there is that sense of encircling in all of the meanings?
2
@Retired Librarian When I lived in Dallas, it was near a coffee shop that made such pastries. Owned by an Italian.
1
@Bill Planey
He/she must have been from Naples. My part of Italy we call them bomboloni.
miniFA4 - rooftop vegetable garden, e.g.
8
Good game today! I liked the absence of nonsense words. For your consideration, two words I’d have thought should work, especially the second:
- fain
- naff
1
@Jesse S.
No FAFFING about with old and /or mostly British words, alas and alack.
.
You missed a word: “an external metal or plastic structure added to increase streamlining and reduce drag, especially on a high-performance car, motorcycle, boat, or aircraft.
"there were lights set into the fairing at the front of the bike"
2
@Richard McKnight: “You missed a word…”
As always, there are no “missed” words. Only chosen words and not-chosen words.
5
@Richard McKnight You missed asking about the other 24 words also not chosen today. They weren’t missed.
A daily puzzle is usually a subset of 1/2 to 2/3 the overall possible.
3
Got my GABM this morning. Now to work on QB.
1
I guess fram got filtered out of today’s acceptable word list.
14
@Jay Orchard Sam "could include it now, or include it later."
2
@Jay Orchard I do not know this word.
M-W says something about regions and Dictionary.com, OED (online), Collins, and Lexico don’t list it at all.
Some [online] dictionaries correct it to framb(o)esia, so is that what it’s short for? Or is it short for framboise (raspberry lambic beer), or is this a joke I don’t get, a made-up word, a different meaning word I don’t know, or a typo?
I know I’m overthinking and I also realize now I actually don’t really care, except I *have* already typed this, so perhaps I am too invested to stop my investigation now. 🙃 lol smh
2
@playmin 🤣
No disrespect to Sarah Sutton , but todays bee photo is actually not a bee , it’s a fly that is mimicking a bee.
7
good catch. those are clearly fly wings.
4
FR8 is on the edge of acceptability.
11
How about "infra"?
4
@DD: Infra what? It’s a combining form, not a word. Infrared, infrasound, infrastructure…
1
@David Illig
It is a word, borrowed Latin, typically used as an adverb, but pretty limited in it’s use to “books, articles, and legal cases to refer the reader to later pages, sections, or footnotes of the text”. The antonym is supra. You’ll find both in M-W and in Lexico’s US Dictionary, with examples.
4
No “gaffing” like he wa gaffing the Mahi mahi as the other man reeled him in?
3
@Libby That's a DORADO!!!
2
The picture is a bee not a fly. Look at the eyes and wings.
3
@Kate Definitely a fly, not a bee... Is that what you meant?
1
Yes, that is certainly a hover fly, not a bee, but a nice example of mimicry
8
The lack of a fairing creates drag on this puzzle.
12
I was going to try giraffing but I didn't want to stick my neck out.
222
@Jay Orchard lol!
4
@Jay Orchard I was going to say something like this (about giraffing), but your comment is much better than mine would have been, I suspect. :)
4
@Jay Orchard I'm actually tempted. Nibbling leaves high up in the breeze seems kind of appealing.
11
Watch your syntax and such today:
A GRIM GRAMMARIAN is lurking in the doughnut.
16
@Ari
And it’s lurking on the MARGIN
6
@PS
And perhaps silently thinking,
I AM AN ANAGRAM.
6
I don't see any grounds for leaving out FI4a
4
Nearly half the words today were gerunds. So why can’t we have “S” ever as a letter? Surely adding “s” to everything is less annoying than adding “ing” or “Ed” to every word!
16
@Meredith Maclay I don’t find the suffixes annoying. And it’s not all the words.
@STEVE G. First Queen Bee ever! Thanks for your help!
10
GI (R6)--the study of long necked beasts.🤪
15
Or pretending to be a GI(7)
4
Shark finning has been the subject of numerous articles in the NYT over the years.
4
@Paul K
And plain old finning - the movement of fishes through the water, propelled by their fins or surfacing with such - has been around a lot longer than that.
8
I guess I’m one of the few bug people here at the hive but today’s picture is not a bumble but better known as a harmless pollinator called a bee fly.
77
@Peter Loewer I proudly consider myself a bug and spider lady. 😂
4
Many commenters here are calling it a hover fly, but I agree with your call; in comparing photos of the two, it looks like a bee fly to me. Yay bug people like you! I love when I learn something I didn’t expect to learn.
8
@Peter Loewer
There are numerous differing opinions of what the photo is but an alarming number of members believe it to be a BEE. It’s not a bee for sure.
4
That’s a fly! You’ve all been had by the oldest trick in the book!
9
Is Diary of a Spelling Bee Fanatic on hiatus or over for good? Last date I see was in mid- July. I so enjoyed this.
2
@Tracy
Not at all. It has been a weekly constant:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/20/crosswords/diary-of-a-spelling-bee-fanatic.html?searchResultPosition=3
4
@Tracy
The “ Diary…” shows up weekly in the Gameplay section, linked below. Once there sort by Newest for the fastest path to the most recent.
https://www.nytimes.com/search?dropmab=true&query=Gameplay&sort=newest
2
QB - ABM, after having an epiphany over a bowl of Cream of Wheat...
6
Empathy
In the attempt to craft this poem
Sensing the rhythms, shapes and sounds,
Weaving words to tempt a meaning
I find a tender image nestling
A bower bird in hopeful building
Makes careful choice of twig and stone and leaf.
This feathered artist works a true seduction
To find a mating and create a birth
That artist takes six years to learn his craft
Six years of twining, waiting, hoping
And still perhaps the never finding
Love’s arrow launched into the other’s heart.
I am humbled by this bird’s persistence
Dedication to his life’s pursuit.
Patience and hope, this little teacher
Lays down sparklings which touch my heart
Bee words 21.8.22 Empathy, attempt, tempt
I didn’t expect to find an authentic direction for yesterday’s words, but a comment made by Sue J, on a poem I posted on 21.8, inspired by the extraordinary photo of the bee on a petal by Robin Gwen Agarwal on 20.8, sent me to watch videos of the Bower Birds. One of which was narrated by David Attenborough, magician of the natural world. Two bees, a bower bird and Sir David made this!
23
@Vika oh Vika, I love this tender poem. And in addition to its beauty, you have shown me something i did not know about bower birds -- the length of time in the building!
2
@Vika
Bee-utiful!
1
@Vika
Just lovely, Vika. One of my favourites, I daresay. Thank you!
Great game!
In the stats, should the week start on Sunday, like it does on calendars?
1
it goes by the number of players which peaks on the weekend.
1
@susan are you saying it’s variable?
Missing words today:
Fain
Fairing
Fagging
Faff/faffing
Naff (vulgar)
Niff (unpleasant smell)
Perhaps Sam needs to read more books, or go back to school.
(I looked for the specific thread someone started to keep all these missing words in one place but couldn’t locate it)
4
Dude, it’s just a game.
20
@Dain: There are no “missing words” today or any day. The Bee contains exactly the words that the editor chose and exactly the number required to reach Queen Bee.
38
@Dain
Well you’ve been had. But you are more than welcome to send an email.
Please don’t insult our esteemed editor, Sam.
9
Somewhat on the subject: I'm living in Berlin, but my NYT subscription is in California. The e-edition turns at midnight, but Spelling Bee doesn't until 9 am Berlin time. Crosswords also move on at midnight. My computer setting is on Berlin time. Any thoughts?
1
@deb
The Bee issues at 3:00 AM ET every day.
2
@Eric B Odd, but the timing fits. Thank you.
1
@deb
Eric B. Is correct. The Spelling Bee is restarted every morning at 3:00 EST. This is why you and I see the new game at 9:00 am CET.
2
Fain is a word. I cite the hymn - “Beneath the cross of Jesus, I fain would take my stand.”
5
@Elizabeth Miller: It was a great Old English word. Today “I fain” is rendered as “I would willingly.”
4
Firring, as in firring strips, made from fir trees, used in building
6
@Carol Horton
U, not I - furring (strip). Not necessarily from a fir tree.
7
@Carol Horton that’s a common misspelling. The strips can be made of many things, including even metal. The base term “fur” refers to the building technique “to cover” and not a tree type.
4
As noted by others, at least two mundane words can be formed by adding ING to words on the list, yet they aren't accepted. They are simply too common to be considered "technical."
2
@pberning they and 23 other words were not chosen today. The list is never all possible. It’s a subset of that.
2
Not only are fairings on motor bikes but can also mean a prize won at the fair
1
@Wendy
In the UK.
3
@Eric B: In the case of a a fairing as an aerodynamic cover for part of a vehicle, also in the USA.
2
@David Illig
Indeed. I was responding to the “can also mean …”.
2
🎶 🎶 🎶
Today’s Playlist contains ONE SPOILER:
#1. Simon & Garfunkel perform ‘Scarborough F-4’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jj4s9I-53g
#2. Julie Andrews and the men’s chorus from the original Broadway cast album of “My F-4 Lady” perform ‘Wouldn’t It Be Loverly’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaB9yXaqmXQ
#3. Louanne Hogan performs ‘It Might As Well Be Spring’ from the original movie version of Rogers & Hammerstein’s “State F-4”:
#4. Stevie Wonder performs ‘All In Love Is F-4’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF5sbWheuN0
#5. Sir Charles Mackerras leads the Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera in “Brigg F-4” by Frederick Delius:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeSZ7Rzeb54
#6: Gene Kelly sings ‘I Like Myself’ and then tap dances on roller skates in the 1955 movie musical “It’s Always F-4 Weather”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th1PfgT09-g
22
@RAH,
And a photo inspired ballad, sing along with hal:
https://youtu.be/E7WQ1tdxSqI
@RAH What a varied collection. I love yhst NKCole song ... early music video.
@RAH,
Negating one of my tries due to spelling, (fanfair,) your lists merit one regardless; from Pops:
https://youtu.be/PrkP4KRLaxo
……..along with a recco; t-y.
Fain is a good word but unacceptable in today’s puzzle.
3
Fair and square but me thinks that Sam’s no easy rider. FA is a windshield/bug 🐝 repellent and woulda/coulda/shoulda made the team today.
4
Gaffing. Two plain English meanings. Not arcane. And yet somehow missing.
NYT seems to have a prejudice against certain words. Have you noticed that anything with an accent—in English (!)—is never accepted? Words with è or é or ö… that are in every English language dictionary.
NYT never responds to direct emails or solicits on the subject. Hence my conclusion.
3
@Anthony Fieldman, another notable absentee today is FAFF (and FAFFING).
3
All apologies for the inadvertent spoiler; I could use a cyber-eraser techno app, yes?
2
@Anthony Fieldman: “Have you noticed that anything with an accent—in English (!)—is never accepted? Words with è or é or ö… that are in every English language dictionary.”
The English language is enriched by many words borrowed from foreign languages. They often bring their diacritics with them. No English word has such diacritics. Only when foreign words have lost their diacritics in English— épée becoming epee, for example—are they permitted in the Bee.
3
HINTS IN SENTENCES PART 1
AF
🐝 He adored her from AF4, too afraid of rejection to ask her out.
🐝 Royal weddings are always a grand AF6. Unfortunately, after the honeymoon ends, the royals have also been known to have AF6s of a different sort.
🐝 It was necessary for the reporter to AF6 the information she'd received before publishing the story.
🐝 His alibi checked out, AF9 his innocence. (pangram)
FA
🐝 Life isn't always FA4.
🐝The king cobra injects venom with its large FA4s.
🐝 The people took to FA7 themselves with paper when the air conditioning went out.
🐝 Cream of wheat is a type of FA6.
🐝 They worried because their investments were not FA6 well.
🐝 "Old MacDonald had a FA4, e, i, e, i, o."
🐝 FA7 is a difficult but essential occupation. (pangram)
FI
🐝 FI6 simply means to play the FI4 (an instrument popular around the time of the American Revolution.)
🐝 The policeman wrote a ticket, FI6 the motorist for speeding.
🐝 Last year South Carolina passed a law reviving the FI6 Squad as a method of capital punishment due to the difficulty of procuring drugs for lethal injections.
🐝 Feeling overworked and underappreciated, the attorney decided to leave his current employment and open his own FI4.
🐝 She joined a fitness club to focus on FI7 and toning her body.
FR
🐝 FR4 is military slang for a hand grenade.
🐝It comes from the term "FA8" which means to kill a senior officer with a hand grenade.
CONTINUED IN REPLIES
207
HINTS IN SENTENCES PART 2
FR (continued)
🐝 Though the pay wasn't great she enjoyed her job FR7 pictures at the hobby store.
🐝 FR8 Tuck was one of Robin Hood's Merry Men.
🐝 Her grandmother knitted a shawl with FR8 around the edges for her.
GA
🐝 GA4 is British slang for a residence. "Come by my GA4 when you get done at work."
GR
🐝 A GR7 is a mythical character with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.
IN
🐝 The elderly gentleman was IN6 and unable to get out much.
🐝 His recent illness, coupled with his age had an IN9 effect on him.
🐝 Nike sued the company for IN10 on its copyright.
MA
🐝 Al Capone was a famous member of the MA5.
MI
🐝She was MI4ed when she found out that her friend had a party and didn't invite her.
🐝 It really shouldn't have been such a surprise, since the girl had a habit of MI7 people.
NA
🐝 The aspiring actress was something of a NA4 when she first came to Los Angeles.
RA
🐝 They used RA6 in all manner of decorations for the shabby chic-themed wedding.
RI
🐝 His guitar RI4 was amazing and left the crowd wanting more.
🐝 The jazz musician was well known for his ad-lib RI7.
🐝 "I don't want you hanging out with RI8 like that," the mother told her daughter.
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
162
@Sheilla D. - Your “FA”8 in the FR clues, should be “FR”8, of course. Just a typo, I expect!
Your IN clues saved me today!
Thank you! — Carol S.
7
Sheila D. - and because I did NOT want to be up to see the sun rise, I relied on you to help me find the missing Mob word and the sweet young thing arriving in Hollywood — and you did!! Many thanx. — Carol S.
6
I can’t think of R8 without thinking of Rocky Horror
Thank you Richard O’Brien !
5
I was really hoping to see farang. Foreign slang I know, but every bit as common as gringo.
@jp
Except that gringo appears in both M-W and Lexico, and farang does not.
2
@jp Meaning? Or at least language? I will probably Google when I have the chance if I still care but I’m also asking you.
2
@Eric B I’d like to add to your statement and say that most Americans recognize that word and know what a gringo is, as opposed to whatever farang is.
3
Couldn’t find fra8 in merriam webster, could’ve been excluded…
@Heiko
It’s in the online edition. Scroll down to the appropriate form, and it’s there. It is easily found by searching the word as accepted.
1
@Heiko M-W online lists the root and then also shows words deriving from (as ‘other words from’ the word). I do agree it could’ve been excluded though, since it seems like not a common word or necessarily common knowledge.
1
if you fish, you can GA4, but you can't say you are GA4 ing. At least not here.
2
The bee photos just get better and better.
8
It’s a fly
5
@Lizz
See the Cummunity Manager’s response 👆
I did a quick CTRL+F but didn't find anything.
Should this be in the word list?
IN(6)arian
Merriam-Webster:
a person having charge of an IN(6)ary
Collins
a person in charge of an IN(6)ary, esp in a monastery
Dictionary.com
(in a religious house) a person who nurses the sick.
3
In the ballad of Lord Randal, the phrase "I'm wearied with hunting and FAIN would lie down" is repeated. But that's archaic and not surprisingly in the heap of words on yon editor's cutting room floor.
18
Exactly, @Dave! I have that line seared in my memory... and tried it. Just because I love the word.
Thanks for binging it forward
— Carol S.
3
@Dave Fain is a glorious word, and I yearned for it too
3
You allow GA4 but not its participle?
5
@John GA4 has two completely different meanings as well. It is also a relatively common shorthand term for GA4er tape used by stagehands/electricians in theatre or film (GA4ers) who adjust/install lighting. The tape works because it adheres well but doesn't leave a residue when removed (unlike duct tape). Almost always matte black so it doesn't reflect light.
2
Don't want to grumble on a monday morning, but I must say I was disappointed that finning was not an accepted word. And what disappoints me is that it isn't considered common knowledge maybe? Finning is a horrible act where sharks are fished, have their fins cut off, and then are thrown back into the water to drown. The fins are used for shark fin soup.
I'm posting a petition you can sign to stop this cruelty on such beautiful and majestic creatures. I hope that next time finning will not be acceprted because it simply does not exist anymore.
Keep busy, keep solving, and most of all, bee good.
https://www.change.org/p/andy-casagrande-stop-shark-finning
38
Finning also just means, less grimly, kicking with fins on.
7
@Ethan Friedman
As a scuba diver, the only kind of finning I like! ❤️
9
@Vivien
The practice is gut wrenching. I did see a video a while back and couldn’t believe the cruelty displayed.
Unless it’s a new one, I have signed it already and thank you so much for bringing it to the attention of a global community here at SB. The more signatures the better. The organization’s emails go straight to my inbox.
3
The 'bee' photo today, although lovely, is a fly. Probably a hover fly. Common mistake!
34
@Kathryn uh oh
Sarah Sutton, lovely photo.
6
Still can’t believe ‘faff’ isn’t a word! I use it at least once a day!
4
@Keegan
It’s my life !
@Keegan Britishism; not commonly used in the US.
1
How is fairing not a word?
2
@Todd
No nacelle, no fairing. We spit on aerodynamics.
7
@Todd
That one bugged me too. We mustn’t allow Sam to tell the hive that term must ‘bug off.’
1
Today's inspiration from Otis Redding Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song) (1966) 🎼
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAOsRlfhvLc
6
@Thinker
I’ve been waiting for this.
Got the 3 pangrams and the 2 f4 words they contain within a minute and than I was stuck on a solid stat for a very long time…
@Heiko,
What, there are 3; I am shy one.
@Heiko Well, you got the hardest and/or most important ones (to some, anyway) first :) I’ve been stuck on my last word for a long time now…
1
Start of the week, Beehivers, but what’s with no Fain, Faff, Faffing?
Some hints, anyway and have a wonderful week.
AF6 An AF6 to remember
AF4 Way away
AF6 Yes
AF9 Yes-ing
FA6 How you are going
FA4 Benevolent
FA4 Dogs and wolves have them
FA6 Blowing air/spreading out
FA6 By-product of wheat but gooey
FA4 Crop
FA7 Harvesting above
FI6 Playing the flute
FI6 What a traffic cop does
FI4 Stiff
FI7 Toughening
FR4 Add prefix DE to get a computer term, or, abbreviated detritus of warfare
FR7 Doing the above
FR7 Describing a story
FR5 Abbott or monk
FR8 Edging
GA5 Mistake
GR7 Mythical beast composed of two apex predators
IN6 Unwell
IN9 Making unwell
IN10 Breaking a parking law
MA5 Goon gang
MI4 Upset
MI6 Upsetting
NA4 Daggy, nerdy etc
NA4 Unschooled, unpolished
RA6 Straw, also, sounds a bit like tennis legend Nadal’s first name
RI4 Musical interlude
RI6 What a musician does with that interlude
66
@Sandra Sorry left off RI8 off; RI8 No hopers
2
Why isn't the "Pangram" exclamation accompanying my finding two perfect pangrams?
1
@JB I often miss the message in the time it pops up and disappears. This is probably what happened to you. Unless it was a technical glitch, you must’ve looked away in the half a second it was hovering.
@playmin Hello Playmin, whoever you are. That seems unlikely to have happened twice, but there's no way to replay and check. And apparently the "Pangram!" exclamation happens only when the word is first submitted.
Uncharacteristically, I found both rather early in the process, so I wondered if they hadn't been identified as pangrams yet. But of course I join three hours after you start in New York. So, blah blah— enough of this.
Thanks for this very fun and amusing addiction.
Aside from those missing words already identified (like Faff, Naff, Fairing), I was surprised that "finning" isn't in the list. Perfrectly ordinary gerund of a verb...
3
@jpjh I tried all of those immediately @
3
[email protected]/139; QB + Hints
Found the first pangram within seconds
1
AF
AF 4 - from a distance
AF 6 - liaison
AF 6 - validate
AF 9 - validating
FA
FA 4 - love and war commonality
FA 4 - one of the clans in Disney’s Raya
FA 7 - coaxing, as a flame
FA 6 - grain meal, or actor Dennis …
FA 6 - getting along
FA 4 - what subdivisions often once were
FA 7 - cultivating
FI
FI 6 - Peter Piper piping
FI 6 - giving a citation
FI 6 - giving the ax
FI 4 - fortified
FI 7 - fortifying
FR
FR 4 - type of grenade
FR 8 - grenading/killing
FR 7 - rough carpentry / story shaping
FR 5 - monk, lit. “brother”
FR 8 - bordering
GA
GA 4 - hook
GR
GR 7 - mythical eagle/lion creature
IN
IN 6 - sickly
IN 9 - being sick
IN 10 - breaking a boundary/rule
MA
MA 5 - Cosa Nostre
MI
MI 4 - anger
MI 7 - angering
NA
NA 4 - simple person
RA
RA 6 - type of palm, rhymes with MA 5
RI 4 - jazz noodle
RI 7 - jazz noodling
RI 8 - thugs
99
@Becca Hello. I also live in Indiana but see few viewers from here.
How are you FA6 today? I found a FR4ment (FR8 too) along the way that I didn't even know was a word ...and that mythical animal (with a common last name) GR7, had me quite MI4ed! When I skimmed/RI4ed through my initial entries I did at least realize I could add a few questionable characters/some RI8 to that group.
I'll just remember in future that any blunders on my part can be spelled without an E too--GA4. At least according to the dictionary.
Edging on I noticed that without an E I could also spell out the borderline word FR8...which immediately led to the neighbor IN10 on my property rights. Also had me MI4ed until I looked at the entries and realized the company/FI4 (FI7) could be ?feeble- lized? Tried it and got IN9! My mood definitely improved then and I forgave my neighbor.
The hot cereal, FA6, reminds me of breakfast. Afterwards I'll get to the FR7 I need to do of that painting of a FA7 couple tending their grain fields. It's a quite AF9 tribute to the simple life...I think I'll hang it in the kitchen.
61
@Mona You got me to QB with your hint for GR7. Thank you!
1
Is finning (as in shark finning) too obscure ?
1
@Tonyo
Very common, as is ga-4ing, using a hook with a handle (ga-4) to strike a fish.
4
Sam’s never been to Eton or ilk! Fagging.
3
@Helen
I went to a school in England where we had fagging (which works in spellcheck). I’ve also been to Canberra where fanging is the local sport. Am I just faffing around?
16
@John well done but Sam’s the man
@Helen Not the same meaning here (stateside). Too close to (well, it actually includes) a homophobic slur. I don’t think the gerund is actually a word in American English, but I suppose it could or has be used in a similar sense sluricly (yes I say this is now word 🙃) as in a man off f7ing about with other men. Idk. Either way, in American English, it does not mean smoking or whatever and has a derogatory history.
1
No Faffing? I spend most of my time faffing around 😝
31
@Nicky Not in the US..
@Nicky - Well, here in the US we do spend plenty of time faffing around 😁 but that's not one of the words we use for it.
1
You forgot fairing
2
@Jane Larson not *forgotten* per se
Another photographic stunner. Thank you Sarah Sutton. I love the serendipity synchronicity of the angle of wings and angle of the 2 petals beneath!
18
Why isn’t FAIN in the list?
4
Indeed sirrah I would fain know
2
Brilliant guitar RI4! haha
AF
*from a distance (4)
*illicit relationship (5)
*declare (5)
*the act of declaring (9)
FA
*all is equal (4)
*long tooth in animal (4)
*Ladies in church are doing this in the heat (7)
*flour or meal made of cereal grains (6)
*performing in a specified way (6) *doing well
*Old McDonald had a.. (4)
*What Old McDonald was doing (8)
FI
*playing the flute w/marching band (6)
*charging a fee (6)
*discharging (6)
*solid (4)
*solidifying (7)
FR
*hand grenade (4)
*throwing a hand grenade (8)
*placing a picture in a construct (7)
*FR5 Tuck
*forming a border around the edge of something (8)
GA
*a spear for fish (4)
GR
*mythical creature combo of eagle & lion (7)
IN
*elderly (6)
*IN plus FR8
MA
*Italian criminal organization (5)
MI
*annoy (4)
*annoying (7)
NA
*naive (4) *rhymes w/WA** street urchin
RA
*fiber used for making hats & baskets (6)
RI
*brilliant guitar RI4 (4)
*jazz guitarist was RI4ing
*Hooray for the RI(8) Great band from Nola
268
@Lisa thank you for that IN10 clue! I had a brain lapse with that one.
8
@Marlene You're welome! :)
1
@Lisa Thank you for FA6! The definition brought me home!
3
Is that a bee, or a hoverfly?
1
HINTS
AF
• At a distance(4)
• Event(6)
• Assert(6)
• Asserting(9)
FA
• Equitable(4)
• Sharp tooth(4)
• Creating current of air(7)
• Hot porridge(6)
• Managing(6)
• Land to grow crops(4)
• Growing crops(7)
FI
• Playing shrill flute(6)
• Applying a penalty charge(6)
• Dismissing from work(6)
• Hard(4)
• Tightening skin(7)
FR
• Hand grenade(4)
• Killing with hand grenade(8)
• Mounting pictures behind glass for display(7)
• Monk(5)
• Decorating with border(8)
GA
• Harpoon-like(4)
GR
• Mythical creature of eagle and lion(7)
IN
• Feeble(6)
• Being feeble(9)
• Violating a rule(10)
MA
• Organized crime(5)
MI
• Annoy(4)
• Annoying(7)
NA
• Ingenuous(4)
RA
• African palm tree(6)
RI
• Short repeated music phrase(4)
• Playing short repeated music phrase(7)
• Undesirable people(8)
1024
@Kline Thank you! RI(8) had eluded me.
13
@Kline
I'll be darned. I didn't know that a certain word has a second meaning. I guess I was a NA4, but not NA4.
Thanks, Kline.
3
@Kline
One does their very best but can only get so far sometimes, despite “easy letters” today in the Bee Hive - then we turn to you for a bit of help to see what was before our very eyes; thank you once more, Kline. Made QB in no time flat today, thanks to your brilliant hints.
Have a good week 🌻🐝😎🐝🌻
Anne
16
That’s a hover fly, not a bee! It’s misleading to use a photo of a hover fly here when everyone will think it’s a bee. Still cute!
10
It's nice to learn about bees and bee-like creatures, all doing their pollinating thang, though. Great picture of the hoverfly. 20 times a second, those wings beat.
31
@Gabriella Since they pollinate and do not sting or bite, I dub Hover flies honorary Bees. [I know, there is no power vested in me to do that, but I love Sarah Sutton's picture.] Here is more info: Hover flies are true flies, but they look like small bees or wasps. They are the helicopters of the insect world, often seen hovering in the air, darting a short distance, and then hovering again. These beneficial insects are valuable tools in the fight against aphids, thrips, scale insects, and caterpillars. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/beneficial/hover-flies-in-gardens.htm
20
Gno4ABM. Lovely.
1
@Bob Acker
QB. This was a good, fair puzzle. No French poetics, for one thing.
1
@Bob Acker
I think some of us would fain as welcomed some Arthurian inclusions.
1
“I would *fain* die a dry death,” said one of the sailors in The Tempest
50
Fain is a word.
“… I am fain to face
The vast sweet mysteries of space
To the edge of the wood I am drawn…”
The Marshes of Glynn
Sidney Lanier
35
@Issassi It *is* a [good] word, but that doesn’t distinctively mean it must, will, or shall ever be on the list.
1
@Issassi I wanted it too. My position is that if it's in Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the King James Bible or W. S. Gilbert, it needs inclusion. Otherwise English is a hollowed-out shell.
3
@playmin
But we all know that there is a distinct vocabulary that is used by poets, for the sound of the phrase, or the rhythm of the phrase, and the creator of this puzzle and his minions are not, I suspect, readers of poetry. Almost no English slang words make the cut, so I also assume this group ignores the English spoken by the majority of English-speaking people, if you include India. That’s fine, but it means this group doesn’t travel much and reads American books only.
1
Pretty naff that naff isn’t allowed, or is that too British a colloquialism?
16
@Chelsea HM Yup, too British 🤓
7
John Lennon would go arfing round the bend with this one.
4
The dog across the street kept me up half the night with his stupid ARFING. How is that not accepted now?
26
@Bob Acker
Was it a cartoon dog by any chance?
11
@Bob Acker
Arf arf arf…and arf 😂
It seems like every noun these days is subject to transitioning to verb with -ing. I'm all for it as long as the meaning is plain.
Viva linguistics and the elasticity of a living language!
2
Thank you Sarah Sutton, for another fabulous bee. Gorgeous! I so admire the talents of our bee photographers. I tried a few shots of the big fat bumbles buzzing my hyssop plant and got blurry messes. My creative talents lie with honey cake.
148
And the staff :)
3
@AbbyNemo It got us today! Still a beautiful photo regardless ;)
15
@Jackie Frere Flower flies are beautiful little pollinators and benefical insects. I am glad to see one here today!
4
No Fairing?
an external metal or plastic structure added to increase streamlining and reduce drag, especially on a high-performance car, motorcycle, boat, or aircraft."there were lights set into the fairing at the front of the bike"
69
@Lawrence a fairing is also a small object bought at a fair. There’s a whole subset of Staffordshire pottery known as “fairings” - small figures cheaply and quickly made in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for sale at fairs
38
@Amanda Also sweets/biscuits bought at a fair such as Cornish fairings
11
@Lawrence @Amanda @Viv
Wow, never heard of any of these definitions before, I don’t think. Thanks for sharing.
Perhaps it’s a little too obscure and slightly archaic (and British) a word for the 🐝?
2
I’m making a faff about the absence of faff
59
Stop faffing around!
12
@Andrew Norris I know. It’s naff to make such a faff
12
@Amanda it's a great Australian public service tradition!
3
Sadly there’s no room today for the Sex Pistols classic “Fr*gging in the Rigging”.
59
@Amanda A great disappointment to me too!
5
@Amanda I tried it, too.
3
@Amanda samesies.
2
No frig but f4??? Uncool.
1