Hello from Day 49 of the current California COVID constant curfew.  This day hasn’t ended any better than it started.

I tried for Queen Bee today, but I missed… somewhere.  I’ll soon find out what I didn’t get.

Yesterday I missed WEIGH, WHEE, WHEELIE, WHET, WHEW, WILE, WILL, and WITH.

Meatier Misses

TWEE: British Excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental.  When you have to go to British slang, something’s wrong.
TWILIT: Dimly illuminated by or as if by twilight.  Ugh.

Today’s summary

Final score: 40 words for 221 points.
Genius minimum: 169 points.
First word: COCOON.
Pangrams: POOCHING, CHOPPING.
Tweets:

I found the whistleblower of the massive election fraud! #nytsb #nytspellingbee #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/9ej9P83LL3

— Matt Raab (@theraab) January 7, 2021

Nailed it, @thegridkid! This is still America! #ByeDon #nytsb #ImpeachTrumpAgainNOW pic.twitter.com/o3mApUn2c7

— Matt Raab (@theraab) January 8, 2021

Hello from Day 48 of the current California COVID constant curfew. And holy crap what a day it’s been. Truly terrifying. This is not the America I know. I was taken by surprise that the Capitol was breached. Until this evening, I hadn’t watched Trump’s stream-of-consciousness incitement to violence. I feel like puking.

Yesterday I missed CIRRI, CLINIC, CYNIC, LION, LOIN, and NOIR.

Meatier Misses

COIN: Only to point out that there is a coin shortage.
CRYONIC: Relating to the practice or technique of deep-freezing the bodies of people who have just died, in the hope that scientific advances may allow them to be revived in the future. I don’t blame them for wanting to be woken up when all this is over.
NONILLION: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
RILL: A small stream.

ROILLY: (chiefly of water) muddy; turbulent.

Today’s summary

Final score: 17 words for 81 points.
Genius minimum: 74 points.
First word: WHITTLE.
Pangram: LIGHTWEIGHT.

Tweets:

WHO'S READY TO PARTY!!!!!!!!!! #nytsb #nytspellingbee #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/PRm8ebIWLu

— Matt Raab (@theraab) January 6, 2021

Hello from Day 47 of the current California COVID constant curfew. What a day this has been! We’ll find out later what the results are from the Georgia elections, but that it’s even this close is amazing.

Yesterday I missed ACACIA, ACAI, CHAI, and CHIC.

Meatier Misses

ACACIA: A tree or shrub of warm climates that bears spikes or clusters of yellow or white flowers and is frequently thorny. I know I’ve missed this one before. Oh, yeah. The Lion King tree. One of these days I’ll get it.

CANID: A mammal of the dog family (Canidae).
CANNA: A tropical American plant with bright flowers and ornamental broad, flat leaves. OK so there’s calla lily and canna lily? All right. Noted.
DACHA: A country house or cottage in Russia, typically used as a second or vacation home. Chances Mitch McConnell has one of these? Some.
INDICA: A subspecies of the cannabis plant, Cannabis sativa indica, having a short stem and broad leaves and grown mainly for use in drugs. Good to know that weed variants are captured here but still no HORCHATA and no TORTA. That’s just rude not to have snacks.
INDICIA: formal Signs, indications, or distinguishing marks.

Update! NYT and WSJ have said that Warnock has sent Loeffler packing.

Today’s summary

Final score: 26 words for 109 points.
Genius minimum: 106 points.
First word: ICILY.
Pangram: CORNILY.
Tweets:

Shoot for the stars! Because even if you miss, it's probably because it didn't make it to the word list #nytsb #nytspellingbee #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/NxBlAYGLCE

— Matt Raab (@theraab) January 5, 2021

Eager for this not to be the Senate Majority Leader's default font face. #nytsb #nytspellingbee #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/s1RzjDlX21

— Matt Raab (@theraab) January 5, 2021

A little bit of Enya's flow is a good way to fall asleep tonight. So I'll do that. Sleep well, all! #nytsb #Nytspellingbee #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/qAAS9YaJ0i

— Matt Raab (@theraab) January 5, 2021

OK I saw this and just had to before I passed out. #nytsb #nytspellingbee #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/vK2Ef82Ex0

— Matt Raab (@theraab) January 5, 2021

Hello from Day 46 of the current California COVID constant curfew. It’s only Monday, but it feels like this week is going by so quickly. If at least 40 people explain that to me by Wednesday, January 6, 2021, one of you will be selected to win a #raabidfun T-shirt. Winner will get a one-time-use code to use on my Etsy store. Drawing open only to entrants who are both in the USA and over the age of 18.

Yesterday I missed OOMPH, POEM, and POOH as easier ones.

Meatier Misses

OHMAGE: Electrical resistance as expressed in ohms. Oh! It’s not an alternate spelling of HOMAGE. It’s a word pronounced OHWM-idge.
OOMPAH: Used to refer to the rhythmical sound of deep-toned brass instruments in a band.
OPAH: A large deep-bodied fish with a deep blue back, silvery belly, and crimson fins, living in deep oceanic waters.

POME: A fruit consisting of a fleshy enlarged receptacle and a tough central core containing the seeds, e.g., an apple or pear.

Today’s summary

Final score: 22 words for 95 points.
Genius minimum: 92 points.
First word: CHAIN
Pangram: HANDICAP
Tweets:

It's 2021, and there's still a bike shortage #nytsb #nytspellingbee #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/G72NpOGVaQ

— Matt Raab (@theraab) January 4, 2021

pit crews around the world breathe a sigh of relief #nytsb #nytspellingbee #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/WeQXfPe3Ae

— Matt Raab (@theraab) January 4, 2021

Looking for islands in all the wrong places #nytsb #nytspellingbee #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/7FNLVvdDpd

— Matt Raab (@theraab) January 4, 2021

Hello from Day 45 of the current California COVID constant curfew.

It feels like it’s going to rain really soon because I’m all kinds of antsy.

This spelling bee was really short in general and especially compared to yesterday’s. I hope Monday’s is a little longer than this. Maybe in the low hundreds.

Yesterday I missed a bunch, which is fine because there were like a million words. CODED, CYCLE, CYCLED, DECO, DOLLED, EDDY, EMCEE, EMCEED, MODEM, and OLEO were the easy words I missed.

Meatier misses

MOLLYCODDLE: Treat (someone) in an indulgent or overprotective way.
MOLLYCODDLED: The past tense of the above.

My brother in law apparently got these right away. Go, him!

Today’s summary

Final score: 20 words for 61 points.
Genius minimum: 57 points.
First word: HOPE.
Pangram: HOMEPAGE.

Tweets:

basketball is officially canceled for 2021 #nytsb #nytspellingbee #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/8iKHhYbQ4Q

— Matt Raab (@theraab) January 3, 2021

More signs that #JoeBiden actually won #nytsb #nytspellingbee #TrumpTreason pic.twitter.com/WeTQqdfEfa

— Matt Raab (@theraab) January 3, 2021

When the current secretary of state looks at Biden's cabinet roster #nytsb #nytspellingbee #TrumpTapes pic.twitter.com/LmoIAnnF6G

— Matt Raab (@theraab) January 3, 2021

Hello from Day 44 of the current California COVID constant curfew.

For two puzzles in a row, I’ve not found a single pangram. Great way to start off 2021! Yesterday I missed three words. One of them was TORN.

Meatier misses

PROMONTORY: A point of high land that juts out into a large body of water; a headland.

From etymonline:

“high point of land or rock projecting into the sea beyond the line of a coast,” 1540s, from French promontoire (15c.) and directly from Medieval Latin promontorium, altered (by influence of Latin mons “mount, hill”) from Latin promunturium “mountain ridge, headland,” which is probably related to prominere “jut out” (see prominent). Related: Promontorial; promontorious.

TOPONYMY: The study of place names. I got toponym, but that’s where that word ended.

Today’s summary

Final score: 61 words for 253 points.
Genius minimum: 232 points.
Frist word: COOLED
Pangram: ?????????????
Tweet:

…between prematurely wearing out your spacebar and smashing the tab key. #nytsb #spellingbee #Nytspellingbee pic.twitter.com/BBaPCx3CVT

— Matt Raab (@theraab) January 3, 2021

Hello from Day 43 of the current California COVID constant curfew, and HAPPY NEW YEAR again! It’s in the high 40s at night here in LA, and it feels like there’s not enough flannel in the world for this punishment.

Yesterday’s long puzzle meant a lot of misses. HEINIE, LENIENT, LIEN, and TINT were pretty simple. Then there were the nine-based ones that I miss much too frequently: NINETEEN, NINETEENTH, NINETIETH, NINTH. More nines to come.

Meatier misses

EOLITH: A roughly chipped flint found in Tertiary strata, originally thought to be an early artifact but probably of natural origin.
HELLION: A rowdy, mischievous, or troublemaking person, especially a child.
LEONINE: Of or resembling a lion or lions.
NONILLION: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
NONILIONTH: The 10³⁰th in a series.
TILTH: Cultivation of land; tillage.

Today’s summary

Final score: 19 words for 66 points.
Genius minimum: 64 points.
First word: MORON
Pangram: ?????????????????????
No tweets today, but I really tried for the pangram and failed. Lauren got it immediately. I got to genius level without it, so I’m quitting here.

Hello from Day 42 of the current California COVID constant curfew, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! By the time you’re reading this, it’ll likely be 2021. Yaaaaay!

This was an awful puzzle to end the year on, but it was classic 2020. It took way too long to complete, and at its end, it was just relief and nothing more.

But to both of those things, we did make it to the end, and that’s something to celebrate.

Both yesterday and today I did not go for Queen Bee.

Yesterday I missed the easier EXACT, NEATEN, NUANCE, TACET, TAUTEN, UNEATEN, UNTUNE. I also missed ACETATE.

Meatier misses

CETACEAN: A marine mammal of the order Cetacea; a whale, dolphin, or porpoise.

EXACTA: A bet in which the first two places in a race must be predicted in the correct order.
EXEUNT: Used as a stage direction in a printed play to indicate that a group of characters leave the stage. As the 366-day cast of 2020 is doing right now. Step lively, zozo!

Today’s summary

Final score: 51 words for 221 points.
Genius minimum: 219 points.
First word: LENTIL.
Pangrams: TELETHON and NEOLITH.
Tweets:

The hospitality industry really took a hit in 2020 #nytsb #nytspellingbee #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/2Si72IRERF

— Matt Raab (@theraab) December 31, 2020

Even @thegridkid knows I'll never actually get my free cup of coffee. But happy new year! #nytsb #nytspellingbee #spellingbee #CPAexam pic.twitter.com/rAxr9LHzgD

— Matt Raab (@theraab) January 1, 2021

Hello from Day 42 of the current California COVID constant curfew. We’re about to close out 2020, and we’ll still be fighting COVID-19 in 2021. Good times for sure. In other news, I found out tonight, my weekly Corner Gas night ever since we finished Twin Peaks, that Amazon’s watch party no longer covers IMDb TV, which is where Corner Gas is. So after trying a British documentary series called Paranormal Pornstars, which is both NSFW and something you wouldn’t want to watch with your parents but only because it’s so deathly boring, we started watching The Prisoner. Way better to watch Patrick McGoohan than random porn stars stuck in some deserted building where there for certain are no ghosts. There is no nudity.

Yesterday I was so close to Queen Bee, and today was too long for me to go for it.

All the misses

RAPT: Completely fascinated by what one is seeing or hearing.
TARTAR: A hard calcified deposit that forms on the teeth and contributes to their decay.

Today’s summary

Final score: 35 words for 161 points.
Genius minimum: 160 points.
First word: TENET
Pangram: EXECUTANT
Tweets:

Oh, the pleasures of in-person high school! #nytsb #nytspellingbee #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/PG0rSkxaNz

— Matt Raab (@theraab) December 30, 2020

Get it together, @thegridkid! #nytsb #nytspellingbee #spellingbee @Notaspellingbe1 pic.twitter.com/Q9qUhWzSu8

— Matt Raab (@theraab) December 30, 2020

Hello from Day 41 of the current California COVID constant curfew. It was announced today that the stay-at-home orders will be continuing… indefinitely. I was right to count yesterday as Day 40. I mean of course it has to continue because otherwise there would be NYE parties within the law, and that’s not happening.

All three missed words

ENCAGE: to put in a cage.
GANACHE: A whipped filling of chocolate and cream, used in desserts such as cakes and truffles.
GELEE: That gelatin dessert.

So close to Queen Bee! Probably today, too.

Today’s summary

Final score: 28 words for 106 points.
Genius minimum: 79 points.
First word: PART
Pangram: TRACKPAD <- This took a lot to figure out.
Tweets:

Looking for Professor Snape's class in all the wrong places #nytsb #Nytspellingbee #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/lbrVeEy67I

— Matt Raab (@theraab) December 29, 2020

Classic @thegridkid move not stuffing as much as possible into the word list #nytsb #Nytspellingbee #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/PdV3z65qcm

— Matt Raab (@theraab) December 29, 2020