I recently wrote that <a href="{app}/view_article.php?id=3964">Kath and I have a one-year streak going</a> in the NYT Crossword Puzzle. While that is still ongoing, we've also recently discovered a little gem called <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/puzzles/spelling-bee" source="New York Times">Spelling Bee</a>. The concept is elegant and simple: <ul> You get seven letters arranged in a honeycomb. You have to combine these letters to come up with as many words with four letters or more as you can. The middle letter is required. You can repeat letters as much as you like. Answers can overlap one another. (E.g. "glad" and "gladly" are two separate answers). The longer the word, the more points you get. You can an extra bonus for pangrams (words that use all of the letters at least once)<fn> The puzzle rates your performance with "good", "nice", "great", "awesome", and, finally, "genius"<fn> (You can click your progress indicator to see how many points are required for each level.) There is <i>always</i> a pangram (a word that uses all of the letters) </ul> You can check your word list against the master word list only on the next day, which is kind of nice and zen. <h>Spelling Bee Solver</h> <hl>Update: January 2021</hl> You can get some hints about the kinds of answers in the puzzle from the <a href="https://www.shunn.net/bee/latest">Spelling Bee Solver</a>. It shows how many words there are that start with each letter, tells you how many pangrams there are, and how many total words and points. There's even a matrix with starting letters in the rows and number of letters in the columns. This is super-helpful and makes it a bit more fun when you're just spinning your wheels and not seeing any words anymore. A lot of times, it just helps to know that there are two more four-letter words starting with "C"---and then they just <i>pop out</i> when you'd just spent ten minutes, scouring the puzzle and not seeing anything at all. <h>Queen Bee</h> There is a level beyond genius called "Queen Bee"---and we finally got one. <img attachment="adjourn_queenbee.png" align="none" caption="Pangram = Adjourn"> We've since gotten Queen Bee quite a few times---a handful of times with no help whatsoever, but a lot more when consulting the matrix in the solver mentioned above. <h>Samples</h> Here are a couple of games that we've completed, just to show off. <div style="display: grid; grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, 200px); grid-gap: 10px"><div> <img attachment="balcony.png" caption="Balcony"> </div><div> <img attachment="forthwith.png" caption="Forthwith"> </div><div> <img attachment="glandular.png" caption="Glandular"> </div><div> <img attachment="illegibility.png" caption="Illegibility"> </div><div> <img attachment="lavatory.png" caption="Lavatory"> </div><div> <img attachment="unnaturally.png" caption="Unnaturally"> </div></div> <h>Interesting or special puzzles</h> <info><b>Update 12.03.2022:</b> Today was a very interesting day. Kath and I got to Queen Bee without even <i>looking</i> at the Spelling Bee Solver. We also got the pangram "Immunized" as the third-last word ("Immune" and "Immunize" were the final two words). However, not only did we power right through to Queen Bee very quickly, we also picked up <i>six</i> pretty common words that the puzzle did not accept. That is a record for one day. The words were "Midden", "Mummed", "Undimmed", "Unmended", "Unminded", and "Unmined". <img src="{att_link}immunized_pangram.png" href="{att_link}immunized_pangram.png" align="none" scale="35%"></info> <info><b>Update 20.01.2024:</b> We recently had a couple of puzzles that had very few words and points. One of them was <b>rhythmic</b>, with 20 words for 85 points. The other was <b>Homepage</b>, with 27 words for only 76 points. More words, but fewer points because the words were shorter, on average. <b>Update 13.10.2024:</b> We just had <b>folktale</b>, with 24 words for only <i>69 points</i>. Genius was at 48 points. <b>Update 19.11.2024:</b> We just had <b>heavily</b>, with 20 words for only <i>66 points</i>. Genius was at 46 points. <b>Update 27.11.2024:</b> We just had <b>chlorophyll</b>, with 25 words for <i>86 points</i>. Genius was at 60 points. It's not as low as the others but it also used the word <i>phyllo</i>, which I'd never seen as a variant of <i>filo</i>. <b>Update 03.04.2025:</b> We just had <b>whiningly</b>, with 21 words for <i>133 points</i>. Genius was at 93 points. This is notably high for so few words and also all of the words started with <i>W</i>. <b>Update 15.04.2025:</b> We just had <b>pageboy</b>, with 23 words for <i>82 points</i>. Genius was at 57 points. <b>Update 23.06.2025:</b> We just had <b>hickory</b>, with 24 words for <i>81 points</i>. Genius was at 57 points. <b>Update 07.07.2025:</b> We just had <b>updraft</b>, with 29 words (many short ones) for <i>81 points</i>. Genius was at 57 points. <b>Update 29.12.2025:</b> We just had <b>chlorophyll</b> (again), with 20 words (many short ones) for <i>72 points</i>. Genius was at 50 points. <b>Update 30.01.2026:</b> We just had <b>hourlong</b>, with 20 words (many short ones) for <i>66 points</i>. Genius was at 46 points. <b>Update 18.05.2026:</b> We just had <b>chutzpah</b>, with 16 words for <i>60 points</i>. Genius was at 42 points. They didn't accept <i>chutzpa</i> but did require <i>chuppah</i>, which is like a big, high tent raised over the couple of honor at a Jewish wedding ceremony. I guess Sam Ezersky is trying to show Israel that he is still 100% on-board. <macro convert="-punctuation"><pre>| Date | Pangram | # Words | Genius | Total | | ---------- | ----------- | :-----: | :----: | :---: | | 20.01.2024 | rhythmic | 20 | ?? | 85 | | Unknown | homepage | 27 | ?? | 76 | | 13.10.2024 | folktale | 24 | 48 | 69 | | 19.11.2024 | heavily | 20 | 46 | 66 | | 27.11.2024 | chlorophyll | 25 | 60 | 86 | | 03.04.2025 | whiningly | 21 | 93 | 133 | | 15.04.2025 | pageboy | 23 | 57 | 82 | | 23.06.2025 | hickory | 24 | 57 | 81 | | 07.07.2025 | updraft | 29 | 57 | 81 | | 29.12.2025 | chlorophyll | 20 | 50 | 72 | | 30.01.2026 | hourlong | 20 | 46 | 66 | | 18.05.2026 | chutzpah | 16 | 42 | 60 | <macro convert="+punctuation"></pre> <div style="display: grid; grid-template-columns: 35ex 35ex; gap: 15px"><img style="width: 100%; object-fit: contain" src="{att_link}rhythmic_-_20_words_for_85_points.png" align="none"><img style="width: 100%; object-fit: contain" src="{att_link}homepage_-_27_words_for_76_points.png" align="none"><img style="width: 100%; object-fit: contain" src="{att_link}folktale.png" align="none"><img style="width: 100%; object-fit: contain" src="{att_link}heavily.png" align="none"><img style="width: 100%; object-fit: contain" src="{att_link}chlorophyll.png" align="none"><img style="width: 100%; object-fit: contain" src="{att_link}whiningly.png" align="none"><img style="width: 100%; object-fit: contain" src="{att_link}pageboy.png" align="none"><img style="width: 100%; object-fit: contain" src="{att_link}hickory.png" align="none"><img style="width: 100%; object-fit: contain" src="{att_link}updraft.png" align="none"><img style="width: 100%; object-fit: contain" src="{att_link}chlorophyll.png" align="none"><img style="width: 100%; object-fit: contain" src="{att_link}hourlong.webp" align="none"><img style="width: 100%; object-fit: contain" src="{att_link}chutzpah.png" align="none"></div></info> <info><b>Update 20.05.2025:</b> We just had a spelling bee with six pangrams---<b>Atonality</b>, <b>Nationality</b>, <b>Nationally</b>, <b>Notionality</b>, <b>Notionally</b>, and <b>Tonality</b>---for a total of <b>289</b> points on only <b>45</b> words. <img src="{att_link}six_pangrams.png" href="{att_link}six_pangrams.png" align="none" caption="Six pangrams: Tonality" scale="25%"></info> <h>Now, the bad news</h> Would I be reporting on this fun little game if it was all sunshine and roses? No, no, I probably wouldn't. You see, there are some words I've learned over the years, for which I've borne more than my share of ridicule for knowing, that the puzzle refused to acknowledge as being "in its word list". I was shocked and disappointed<fn> to see that certain words that I've kept in my back pocket, as it were, for just such a rainy day as this, were not recognized. Proof? Of course I have proof. The following are definitions from the <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/">Free Dictionary</a>. While not exactly <i>common</i>, these are all non-archaic words that are not proper nouns. Those that are <i>chiefly British</i> (e.g. <i>demobbed</i>) might be understandable as "too rare" were the puzzle not to regularly include incredibly obscure references to fish and fruit species. There isn't really much consistency on what is considered a proper noun or what is considered "rare". <h id="hall-of-shame">Hall of Shame</h> <info><b>Update 15.05.2021:</b> After over a year of playing this puzzle, the patterns are pretty clear. Proper words are allowed if it's a fruit, fish, plant, flower, type of cheese, or songbird. Or if it has something to do with Judaism and Jewish tradition. <i>Minyan</i> was in the puzzle yesterday, which is a word simply <i>everyone</i> knows and uses every day. What is glaringly obvious is the anti-science, anti-math bent to this whole puzzle. Building blocks of reality, like <i>pion</i>, <i>muon</i>, and <i>lepton</i> aren't recognized, but obscure cacti are, as well as all manner of lilies, like <i>canna</i> and <i>calla</i>.</info> <div style="display: grid; grid-gap: 10px; grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, 240px);"><div> <img attachment="abattoir.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/abattoir">abattoir</a>: Slaughterhouse. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="adiabatic.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/adiabatic">adiabatic</a>: A type of thermodynamic process that occurs without transferring heat between the thermodynamic system and its environment. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="adit.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/adit">adit</a>: An almost horizontal entrance to a mine. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="affine.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/affine">affine</a>: assigning finite values to finite quantities. Of or pertaining to a transformation that maps parallel lines to parallel lines and finite points to finite points. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="alee.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/alee">alee</a>: Away from the wind </div> </div><div> <img attachment="alembic.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/alembic">alembic</a>: An apparatus consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, formerly used for distilling liquids. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="amah.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/amah">amah</a>: A housemaid or children's nurse, especially in East Asia and Southeast Asia. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="ammoniac.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/ammoniac">ammoniac</a>: Of, containing, or similar to ammonia. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="anil.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/anil">anil</a>: An indigo plant or the blue dye obtained from it. (<hl>As of February 2025, this word is now accepted.</hl>) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="antagonization.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/antagonization">antagonization</a>: The act of antagonizing someone. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="antetype.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/antetype">antetype</a>: An earlier form; prototype. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="appel.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/appel">appel</a>: A quick stamp of the foot used in fencing as a feint to produce an opening. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="aright.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/aright">aright</a>: In a proper manner; correctly. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="arity.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/arity">arity</a>: The number of arguments or operands taken by a function or operator </div> </div><div> <img attachment="atopic.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/atopic">atopic</a>: Of or relating to hereditary hypersensitivity to certain allergens (e.g. hay fever) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="auric.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/auric">auric</a>: Relating to or containing gold </div> </div><div> <img attachment="backcheck.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/backcheck">backcheck</a>: a valve system in hydraulic doors that controls the door's opening; to block (an attacking player from the opposite team) while skating towards one's own goal </div> </div><div> <img attachment="backheel.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/backheel">backheel</a>: A throw in wrestling; a passing method in soccer </div> </div><div> <img attachment="backtick.jpg"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/backtick">backtick</a>: This symbol: <c>`</c> </div> </div><div> <img attachment="badonkadonk.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/badonkadonk">badonkadonk</a>: buttocks; booty; an extremely curvaceous female behind </div> </div><div> <img attachment="becalm.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/becalm">becalm</a>: To render motionless for lack of wind; to make calm or still; soothe </div> </div><div> <img attachment="bedamn.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/bedamn">bedamn</a>: To curse thoroughly </div> </div><div> <img attachment="bended.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/bended">bended</a>: Bent. From the expression "on bended knee". </div> </div><div> <img attachment="betel.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/betel">betel</a>: A vine or nut (<hl>As of May 2021, this word is now accepted.</hl>) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="betime.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/betime">betime</a>: To befall; to happen; in good time. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="betitle.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/betitle">betitle</a>: To bestow a name upon something </div> </div><div> <img attachment="biddy.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/biddy">biddy</a>: A hen; A fowl; A woman, especially an older one who is extremely talkative. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="bimbo.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/bimbo">bimbo</a>: A person, esp a foolish one </div> </div><div> <img attachment="bint.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/bint">bint</a>: A derogatory term for girl, woman </div> </div><div> <img attachment="bokeh.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/bokeh">bokeh</a>: The effect of blurriness in the areas of an image that fall outside a photograph's depth of field </div> </div><div> <img attachment="bole.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/bole">bole</a>: Tree trunk </div> </div><div> <img attachment="bomblet.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/bomblet">bomblet</a>: One of a number of small bombs usually contained in a cluster bomb and released in midair. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="boolean.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/boolean">boolean</a>: Of or relating to a logical combinatorial system treating variables, such as propositions and computer logic elements, through the operators AND, OR, NOT, and XOR </div> </div><div> <img attachment="bullhead.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/bullhead">bullhead</a>: Any of several stocky North American freshwater catfishes. <i>bullheaded</i>? Check. Literally every other fish in the world but this one? Check. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="bytecode.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/bytecode">bytecode</a>: A form of instruction set designed for efficient execution by a software interpreter </div> </div><div> <img attachment="cahoot.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cahoot">cahoot</a>: A business partnership. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="calcite.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/calcite">calcite</a>: A common crystalline form of natural calcium carbonate, CaCO3, that is the basic constituent of limestone, marble, and chalk. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="calif.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/calif">calif</a>: A leader of an Islamic polity, regarded as a successor of Muhammad and by tradition always male. (Also: <i>califf</i> or <i>caliph</i>) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="camelia.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/camelia">camelia</a>: Any of several shrubs or small evergreen trees having solitary white or pink or reddish flowers </div> </div><div> <img attachment="capacitative.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/capacitative">capacitative</a>: Pertaining to electrical capacitance, or the property of being able to collect and hold a charge of electricity. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="capacitive.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/capacitive">capacitive</a>: Pertaining to electrical capacitance, or the property of being able to collect and hold a charge of electricity. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="caron.jpg"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/caron">caron</a>: A diacritical mark (ˇ) that is used over certain letters, such as č, to indicate quality of pronunciation. Also called haček. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="cartoony.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cartoony">cartoony</a>: Depicted like a cartoon. Alternate to <i>cartoonish</i>. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="caryatid.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/caryatid">caryatid</a>: A sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="catamite.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/catamite">catamite</a>: A boy who has a sexual relationship with a man. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="cavitate.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cavitate">cavitate</a>: To form holes or cavities within an agitated liquid; react upon the water with *cavitation (which see): said of a screw propeller. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="celtic.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/celtic">celtic</a>: Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Celts or the Celtic languages </div> </div><div> <img attachment="chinaman.jpg"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/chinaman">chinaman</a>: An old-timey epithet or moniker for a person from China </div> </div><div> <img attachment="chink.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/chink">chink</a>: A narrow opening, such as a crack or fissure. (presumably not recognized because the snowflakes think it could only be a slur for Chinese person.) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="clonal.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/clonal">clonal</a>: Havin the properties of a clone; e.g. <i>clonal RNA</i> </div> </div><div> <img attachment="cloacal.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cloacal">cloacal</a>: Related to the common cavity that serves as the opening for the intestinal, genital, and urinary tracts in many vertebrates, including amphibians, reptiles, birds, monotremes, and some fishes </div> </div><div> <img attachment="codec.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/codec">codec</a>: A device or program capable of performing transformations on a data stream or signal. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="coeval.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/coeval">coeval</a>: Originating or existing during the same period; lasting through the same era. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="collator.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/collator">collator</a>: A person or machine that collates texts or manuscripts. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="colloidal.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/colloidal">colloidal</a>: Of, relating to, containing, or having the nature of a colloid. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="complot.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/complot">complot</a>: A plot or scheme </div> </div><div> <img attachment="concomitant.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/concomitant">concomitant</a>: Occurring or existing concurrently </div> </div><div> <img attachment="cope.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cope">cope</a>: To contend with difficulties and act to overcome them </div> </div><div> <img attachment="couloir.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/couloir">couloir</a>: A steep mountainside gully, especially one forming a break in a cliff face. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="craic.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/craic">craic</a>: Irish vernacular for "fun", e.g. "when I'm at the pub with the lads, we always have a good craic." </div> </div><div> <img attachment="cunt.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cunt">cunt</a>: Used as a disparaging term for a person one dislikes or finds extremely disagreeable. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="curia.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/curia">curia</a>: A medieval assembly or council. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="dace.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/dace">dace</a>: Any of various small freshwater fishes of the family Cyprinidae, especially Leuciscus leuciscus of Eurasia. It's a <i>fish</i>, Sam. You love fish. What's your problem with dace? </div> </div><div> <img attachment="dado.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/dado">dado</a>: A rectangular groove cut into a board so that a like piece may be fitted into it. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="dadoed.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/dadoed">dadoed</a>: To have cut a <i>dado</i> groove into a board. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="dandle.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/dandle">dandle</a>: To lightly bounce a child on one’s knee or in one’s arms; pamper; pet </div> </div><div> <img attachment="decede.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/decede">decede</a>: To withdraw. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="decile.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/decile">decile</a>: Any of the groups that result when a frequency distribution is divided into ten groups of equal size. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="demobbed.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/demobbed">demobbed</a>: Demobilization of armed forces </div> </div><div> <img attachment="demonym.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/demonym">demonym</a>: A name, such as <i>Swede</i> or <i>New Yorker</i>, that denotes an inhabitant or native of a given place. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="dentate.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/dentate">dentate</a>: Edged with toothlike projections; toothed </div> </div><div> <img attachment="dickie.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/dickie">dickie</a>: A woman's blouse front worn under a suit jacket or low-necked garment or a man's detachable shirt front. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="diluvian.jpg"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/diluvian">diluvian</a>: Of or connected with a deluge </div> </div><div> <img attachment="dioxin.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/dioxin">dioxin</a>: a general name for a family of chlorinated hydrocarbons (esp. as a byproduct of some pesticides). </div> </div><div> <img attachment="ditalini.png"> <div> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ditalini">ditalini</a>: is a type of pasta that is shaped like small tubes. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="dogpiling.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/dogpiling">dogpiling</a>: To create a heap or cluster of people pressed closely together or piled on top of each other, as in celebration or assault. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="donator.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/donator">donator</a>: A person who gives to a charity or cause </div> </div><div> <img attachment="donator.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/donator">donator</a>: A person who gives to a charity or cause </div> </div><div> <img attachment="drily.jpg"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/drily">drily</a>: In a dry manner </div> </div><div> <img attachment="drudging.jpg"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/drudging">drudging</a>: To do tedious, unpleasant, or menial work. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="echolocate.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/echolocate">echolocate</a>: To navigate by emitting high-pitched sounds and interpreting their echoes to determine the direction and distance of objects. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="ecocline.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/ecocline">ecocline</a>: A genetic gradient of adaptability to an environmental gradient. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="edaphic.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/edaphic">edaphic</a>: Of or relating to soil, especially as it affects living organisms. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="edgily.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/edgily">edgily</a>: In a nervous, irritable, daring, provocative, trend-setting way. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="effable.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/effable">effable</a>: Capable of being expressed in words. Compare to <i>ineffable</i>. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="egyptology.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/egyptology">egyptology</a>: The study of the culture and artifacts of the ancient Egyptian civilization. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="enceinte.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/enceinte">enceinte</a>: Pregnant. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="endian.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/endian">endian</a>: The order of bytes in a multi-byte numeric representation in computer memory. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="enqueue.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/enqueue">enqueue</a>: To add to a queue </div> </div><div> <img attachment="enzian.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/enzian">enzian</a>: A plant from the gentian family </div> </div><div> <img attachment="faff.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/faff">faff</a>: A thing that is awkward or time-consuming to do; to dither or fuss (also, <i>faffing about</i> </div> </div><div> <img attachment="fain.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/fain">fain</a>: ready; willing; happy </div> </div><div> <img attachment="fairing.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/fairing">fairing</a>: An auxiliary structure or the external surface of a vehicle, such as an aircraft, that serves to reduce drag. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="fatted.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/fatted">fatted</a>: To have been made fat. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="flatulate.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/flatulate">flatulate</a>: To expel intestinal gasses through the anus; to fart </div> </div><div> <img attachment="foetid.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/foetid">foetid</a>: having an offensive odor; stinking; noisome. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="gaffing.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/gaff">gaff</a>: A metal hook fastened to a pole; to cheat; fleece; harsh treatment or criticism (also, <i>gaffing</i>) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="galena.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/galena">galena</a>: A gray mineral, essentially PbS, the principal ore of lead. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="gapping.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/gapping">gapping</a>: To make or adjust a space between (objects or points) or in (a device): <i>gap boards on a deck; gap a spark plug.</i> No surprise at all that the NYT doesn't recognize words related to manual labor; Trump's wins in a microcosm right there. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="geegaw.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/geegaw">geegaw</a>: a showy trifle : bauble, trinket. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="genteelly.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/genteelly">genteelly</a>: in a genteel manner. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="gibbet.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/gibbet">gibbet</a>: A device used for hanging a person until dead; a gallows. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="gigged.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/gigged">gigged</a>: to have done a job, esp a single booking for a musician </div> </div><div> <img attachment="gilet.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/gilet">gilet</a>: A vest or bodice </div> </div><div> <img attachment="gluon.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/gluon">gluon</a>: A massless, neutral vector boson that mediates strong interactions between quarks, binding them together within hadrons. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="gnomic.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/gnomic">gnomic</a>: Marked by aphorisms; aphoristic </div> </div><div> <img attachment="gnomon.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/gnomon">gnomon</a>: The piece jutting from the center of a sundial </div> </div><div> <img attachment="golliwog.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/golliwog">golliwog</a>: A doll fashioned in grotesque caricature of a black male. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="gonif.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/gonif">gonif</a>: A thief, scoundrel, or rascal. (also <i>ganef</i>) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="goniff.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/goniff">goniff</a>: A thief, scoundrel, or rascal. (also <i>gonif</i>) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="gorily.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/gorily">gorily</a>: In a gory manner </div> </div><div> <img attachment="gunnel.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/gunnel">gunnel</a>: Any of various small, elongated fishes of the family Pholidae, common in the tidal pools and coastal waters of northern seas. <i>Every other damned fish but this one.</i> </div> </div><div> <img attachment="gypped.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/gypped">gypped</a>: Defrauded or swindled </div> </div><div> <img attachment="headball.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/headball">headball</a>: Have you ever watched a soccer match? For the love of God. I guess the NYT has decided that they cause CTE, so we don't talk about them so that kids will never discover them. Problem solved. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="heliophile.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/heliophile">heliophile</a>: Any organism that is attracted to large amounts of sunlight. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="hemophage.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/hemophage">hemophage</a>: A cell that destroys red blood cells by phagocytosis. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="huck.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/huck">huck</a>: To throw or toss. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="ichor.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/ichor">ichor</a>: The blood of the Gods (<hl>As of February 2021, this word is now accepted.</hl>) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="immanent.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/immanent">immanent</a>: innate, inborn, intrinsic </div> </div><div> <img attachment="inline.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/inline">inline</a>: Incorporated into a body of text rather than placed as a separate section </div> </div><div> <img attachment="inquiet.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/inquiet">inquiet</a>: To disquiet. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="italian.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/italian">italian</a>: Of or relating to Italy or its people, language, or culture. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="knout.jpg"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/knout">knout</a>: A leather scourge used for flogging. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="ladyboy.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/ladyboy">ladyboy</a>: The Indo-European language of the ancient Latins and Romans and the most important cultural language of western Europe until the end of the 17th century. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="lamplit.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/lamplit">lamplit</a>: Lit by a lamp. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="latin.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/latin">latin</a>: The Indo-European language of the ancient Latins and Romans and the most important cultural language of western Europe until the end of the 17th century. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="latina.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/latina">latina</a>: A woman or girl who is a member of one of the Spanish-speaking peoples of the Americas. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="lede.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/lede">lede</a>: The introductory portion of a news story, especially the first sentence. (<hl>As of July 2021, this word is now accepted.</hl>) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="leftenant.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/leftenant">leftenant</a>: Alternate spelling of <i> lieutenant</i>. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="lexeme.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/lexeme">lexeme</a>: The fundamental unit of the lexicon of a language. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="liana.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/liana">liana</a>: Any of various climbing, woody, usually tropical vines. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="lidar.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/liana">lidar</a>: An optical sensing technology used to determine the position, velocity, or other characteristics of distant objects by analysis of pulsed laser light reflected from their surfaces. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="ludic.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/ludic">ludic</a>: Of or relating to play or playfulness. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="luff.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/luff">luff</a>: To flap while losing wind. Used of a sail. (<hl>As of March 2025, this word is now accepted.</hl>) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="lungful.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/lungful">lungful</a>: Enough to fill the lungs, esp. of smoke </div> </div><div> <img attachment="machinima.jpg"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/machinima">machinima</a>: The use of real-time 3-D graphics to generate computer animation </div> </div><div> <img attachment="manioc.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/manioc">manioc</a>: Another name for cassava </div> </div><div> <img attachment="melamine.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/melamine">melamine</a>: A colourless crystalline compound used in making synthetic resins. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="menage.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/menage">menage</a>: People living together as a unit; a household. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="midden.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/midden">midden</a>: A dunghill or refuse heap </div> </div><div> <img attachment="minge.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/minge">minge</a>: British vulgar slang for the vulva. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="molal.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/molal">molal</a>: Of or designating a solution that contains one mole of solute in 1 kilogram of solvent. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="monadic.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/monadic">monadic</a>: An indivisible, impenetrable unit of substance viewed as the basic constituent element of physical reality in the metaphysics of Leibniz. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="monofin.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/monofin">monofin</a>: Consists of a single or linked surfaces attached to both of the diver's feet. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="monoid.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/monoid">monoid</a>: A set equipped with an associative binary operation and an identity element. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="monotonic.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/monotonic">monotonic</a>: A succession of sounds or words uttered in a single tone of voice. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="moonlet.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/moonlet">moonlet</a>: A small natural or artificial satellite. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="multitool.jpg"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/multitool">multitool</a>: a device that contains various tools attached to a single handle. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="mummed.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/mummed">mummed</a>: not verbalizing; silent; or to act or play in a pantomime. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="mumming.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/mumming">mumming</a>: not verbalizing; silent; or to act or play in a pantomime. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="nacelle.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/nacelle">nacelle</a>: A streamlined housing or tank for something on the outside of an aircraft or motor vehicle. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="naptha.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/naptha">naptha</a>: Any of several highly volatile, flammable liquid mixtures of hydrocarbons distilled from petroleum, coal tar, and natural gas and used as fuel, as solvents, and in making various chemicals. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="naphthalene.jpg"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/naphthalene">naphthalene</a>: A white crystalline aromatic compound, C10H8, derived from coal tar or petroleum and used in manufacturing dyes, moth repellents, and explosives and as a solvent. Also called tar camphor. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="naphthene.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/naphthene">naphthene</a>: any of a class of cycloalkanes, mainly derivatives of cyclopentane, found in petroleum </div> </div><div> <img attachment="naphthenate.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/naphthenate">naphthenate</a>: Any salt or ester of naphthenic acid </div> </div><div> <img attachment="nappy.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/nappy">nappy</a>: Having a nap; fuzzy: a nappy carpet. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="nibling.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/nibling">nibling</a>: Combination of nieces and nephews </div> </div><div> <img attachment="nictitate.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/nictitate">nictitate</a>: To wink or blink. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="nictitating.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/nictitating">nictitating</a>: Winking. Usually used with <i>nictitating membrane</i> to describe the transparent third eyelid that some animals have. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="nictitation.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/nictitation">nictitation</a>: The process of winking or blinking rapidly, </div> </div><div> <img attachment="niggly.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/niggly">niggly</a>: 1) Criticizing in a peevish way; carping. 2) Inconsequential. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="nonplanar.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/nonplanar">nonplanar</a>: not lying or able to be confined within a single plane : having a three-dimensional quality. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="nuncle.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/nonplanar">nuncle</a>: an uncle. It's in Shakespeare, dude. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="octaroon.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/octaroon">octaroon</a>: A person having white ancestors except for one black great-grandparent. Used especially as a classification under certain European colonial legal systems and <b>now considered offensive.</b> (The latter explains why the NYT has memory-holed the word.) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="octoroon.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/octoroon">octoroon</a>: A person having white ancestors except for one black great-grandparent. Used especially as a classification under certain European colonial legal systems and <b>now considered offensive.</b> (The latter explains why the NYT has memory-holed the word.) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="olla.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/olla">olla</a>: A rounded earthenware pot or jar, used especially for cooking or for carrying water </div> </div><div> <img attachment="opah.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/opah">opah</a>: A large, oval-shaped fish (<i>Lampris guttatus</i>) having a silvery iridescent body with red fins and edible red flesh. Also called <i>moonfish</i>. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="panamanian.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/panamanian">panamanian</a>: A native or inhabitant of Panama (which was accepted as a word, although it's a proper noun) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="phaeton.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/phaeton">phaeton</a>: A light, four-wheeled open carriage, usually drawn by a pair of horses. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="piadina.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/piadina">piadina</a>: A thin Italian flatbread. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="pineal.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/pineal">pineal</a>: (1) Having the form of a pine cone. (2) Of or relating to the pineal gland. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="pinnie.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/pinnie">pinnie</a>: One of a set of uniformly colored, usually sleeveless shirts worn as a temporary team uniform, as when scrimmaging. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="pion.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/pion">pion</a>: Any of the three least massive mesons, having a positive, neutral, or negative electric charge </div> </div><div> <img attachment="placable.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/placable">placable</a>: Easily calmed or pacified; tolerant </div> </div><div> <img attachment="placeable.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/placeable">placeable</a>: capable of being placed </div> </div><div> <img attachment="podgy.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/podgy">podgy</a>: short and fat; chubby </div> </div><div> <img attachment="pollee.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/pollee">pollee</a>: A person who is questioned in a poll </div> </div><div> <img attachment="polygyny.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/polygyny">polygyny</a>: The condition or practice of having more than one wife at one time. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="pood.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/pood">pood</a>: A Russian unit of weight equivalent to about 16.4 kilograms (36.1 pounds) avoirdupois. (Used for kettle bells.) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="prion.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/prion">prion</a>: A protein particle that is the agent of infection in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, including bovine spongiform encephalopathy, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and scrapie. (<hl>As of November 2022, this word is now accepted.</hl>) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="puttee.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/puttee">puttee</a>: A strip of cloth wound spirally around the leg from ankle to knee. A gaiter covering the lower leg. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="racily.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/racily">racily</a>: In a risqué or ribald manner (adverb form of <i>racy</i>) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="raping.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/raping">raping</a>: Using force or threat of force to compel (another person) to submit to sexual intercourse or other sexual penetration. Plundering; pillaging. It is ridiculous that this is not considered a word. The <i>Free Dictionary</i> definition includes a warning banner, <iq>This page may contain content that is offensive or inappropriate for some readers.</iq> </div> </div><div> <img attachment="rarify.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/rarify">rarify</a>: To make thin or less dense, as air. (Alternate spelling) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="ronin.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/ronin">ronin</a>: A samurai who is not in the service of a feudal lord. Also written <i>rōnin</i>. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="telic.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/telic">telic</a>: Directed or tending toward a goal or purpose; purposeful. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="tenue.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/tenue">tenue</a>: A way of carrying oneself. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="tetched.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/tetched">tetched</a>: Somewhat unbalanced mentally; touched.. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="thew.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/thew">thew</a>: Muscular power or strength. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="thole.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/thole">thole</a>: A wooden pin or one of a pair, set upright in the gunwales of a rowing boat to serve as a fulcrum in rowing </div> </div><div> <img attachment="tontine.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/tontine">tontine</a>: An investment plan in which participants buy shares in a common fund and receive an annuity that increases every time a participant dies, with the entire fund going to the final survivor or to those who survive after a specified time. I learned this word from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raging_Abe_Simpson_and_His_Grumbling_Grandson_in_%27The_Curse_of_the_Flying_Hellfish%27" author="" source="Wikipedia">Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in 'The Curse of the Flying Hellfish'</a>. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="topolect.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/topolect">topolect</a>: A dialect unique to a region </div> </div><div> <img attachment="totted.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/totted">totted</a>: Summed; totaled </div> </div><div> <img attachment="triadic.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/triadic">triadic</a>: A chord of three tones, especially one built on a given root tone plus a major or minor third and a perfect fifth. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="tufa.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/tuple">tufa</a>: A soft, friable, and porous sedimentary rock consisting of calcium carbonate and formed by the evaporation of water, especially at the mouth of a hot spring or on a drying lakebed. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="tuple.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/tuple">tuple</a>: A generalization of ordered elements in any dimension. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="turd.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/turd">turd</a>: A piece of excrement; a contemptible person. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="tympany.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/tympany">tympany</a>: Inflated manner or style; bombast; excessive pride or arrogance </div> </div><div> <img attachment="unary.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/unary">unary</a>: Consisting of, or affecting, a single element or component; monadic </div> </div><div> <img attachment="undaunted.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/undaunted">undaunted</a>: Not discouraged or disheartened; resolutely courageous. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="undimmed.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/undimmed">undimmed</a>: Not diminished or lessened. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="ungag.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/ungag">ungag</a>: to restore freedom of speech to. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="ungagging.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/ungagging">ungagging</a>: the act of restoring freedom of speech to. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="ungrudging.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/ungrudging">ungrudging</a>: liberal; unstinted; willing </div> </div><div> <img attachment="unintuitive.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/unintuitive">unintuitive</a>: Not easy to use or learn, especially without any special training or practice </div> </div><div> <img attachment="unmended.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/unmended">unmended</a>: Not healed or improved. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="unminded.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/unminded">unminded</a>: Disregarded. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="unmined.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/unmined">unmined</a>: Not mined; untapped. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="unring.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/unring">unring</a>: From the expression "you can't unring a bell." </div> </div><div> <img attachment="vair.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/vair">vair</a>: A fur, probably squirrel, much used in medieval times to line and trim robes. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="villi.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/villi">villi</a>: A minute projection arising from a mucous membrane, especially one of the numerous vascular projections of the small intestine. (singular, <i>villus</i>) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="wadi.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/wadi">wadi</a>: A valley, gully, or streambed in northern Africa and southwest Asia that remains dry except during the rainy season; an oasis </div> </div><div> <img attachment="wain.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/wain">wain</a>: The Big Dipper; A large open farm wagon </div> </div><div> <img attachment="welch.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/welch">welch</a>: To fail to fulfill an obligation (alternate spelling of <i>welsh</i>) </div> </div><div> <img attachment="withe.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/withe">withe</a>: A tough supple twig, especially of willow, used for binding things together </div> </div><div> <img attachment="woodlark.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/woodlark">woodlark</a>: A songbird (Lullula arborea) of Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East, having brownish plumage and a short tail and noted for its melodious song. </div> </div><div> <img attachment="zoonotic.png"> <div> <a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/zoonotic">zoonotic</a>: Of or relating to a disease of animals that can be transmitted to humans.<fn> </div> </div> </div> <hr> <ft>I made up a thing called a "natural pangram", which uses each of the letters <i>exactly</i> once (e.g. laundry), in order to prove to Kath that my pangram was better than hers.</ft> <ft>At which point we usually stop, although we've never gotten every last one of the possible words.<fn> Being called "genius" once a day by our soon-to-be robot masters is rewarding enough.</ft> <ft>The German word <i>bodigt</i>, as in "defeated to the ground", seems to do the feeling the bare minimum of justice.</ft> <ft>Omitting <i>zoonotic</i> as "obscure" is just unconscionable and unsupportable when the word must have appeared a million times in the news over the last year, when describing the primary reason we're all sitting at home all the time doing the frickin' Spelling Bee.</ft> <ft>In the meantime, we've "cheated" with two open windows to be able to find out that there is, indeed, a final status for having found all of the words: "Queen Bee". <img src="{att_link}queen_bee.png" href="{att_link}queen_bee.png" align="none" scale="25%"> We haven't managed it for real---sometimes because we miss a word or two that should have known, but sometimes because there's a word we didn't know was a word, e.g. "footwall"---but we've gotten within one word one time. We had "knick". We had "knack". We forgot "knickknack".</ft>