The New York Times Spelling Bee
{{Short description|Word game}}
{{Italic title|string=The New York Times}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox video game
| italic title = no
| title = The New York Times {{noitalic|Spelling Bee}}
| image = The New York Times Spelling Bee logo.svg
| developer = Frank Longo, The New York Times Company
| publisher = The New York Times Games
| platform = Browser, Mobile app
| released = 2014 (print); May 9, 2018 (browser)
| genre = Word game
| modes = Single-player
}}
The New York Times Spelling Bee, or simply the Spelling Bee, is a word game distributed in print and electronic format by The New York Times as part of The New York Times Games. Created by Frank Longo, the game debuted in a weekly print format in 2014. A digital daily version with an altered scoring system launched on May 9, 2018.
Gameplay
File:Spelling Bee Screenshot.jpg of this puzzle was "inflect".]]
The game presents players with a hexagonal grid of 7 letters arrayed in a honeycomb structure. The player scores points by using the letters to form words consisting of four or more letters. However, any words proposed by the player must include the letter at the center of the honeycomb. Each letter can be used more than once. You get one point for each letter in the word, except four letter words only score 1 point. Scoring points leads to progressively higher praise for the player's effort, such as "Solid", "Amazing", and "Genius". Each puzzle is guaranteed to have at least one pangram, a word containing at least one of each of the seven letters. Pangrams award 7 extra points (e.g. a seven-letter pangram scores 14 points).{{Cite web |last=Lippman |first=Laura |date=February 19, 2020 |title=The NYT Spelling Bee Gives Me L-I-F-E |url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2020/02/spelling-bee-new-york-times-praise.html |access-date=August 8, 2021 |website=Slate Magazine |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Spelling Bee: Why I'm Completely Obsessed With The Best Puzzle On The Internet |url=https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/in-the-news/new-york-times-spelling-bee/ |access-date=August 9, 2021 |website=Grazia|date=July 25, 2020 }} If the player finds all of the possible words in a given puzzle, they achieve the title of "Queen Bee".{{Cite news |last=Myers |first=Pat |date=February 18, 2021 |title=Style Invitational Week 1424: We Bee back — a neologism contest |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/style-invitational-week-1424-we-bee-back--a-neologism-contest/2021/02/18/ed04fe48-6fe2-11eb-b8a9-b9467510f0fe_story.html |access-date=August 8, 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}
In 2021, the editor Sam Ezersky stated his intention to never include the letter S in a puzzle. He said this inclusion would make the game too simple to win by adding plurals. An exception was made on March 12, 2025, when the letter S was included to celebrate the 2,500th edition of the Spelling Bee.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytco.com/press/celebrating-the-2500th-spelling-bee-puzzle/|title=To Celebrate the 2,500th Spelling Bee Puzzle, NYT Games Thanks Its Most Scrupulous Spellers with a Special Solve|date=March 12, 2025|work=The New York Times Company}}
Creation
Spelling Bee was created by Frank Longo following a proposal from Will Shortz, who was inspired by the puzzle game Polygon from The Times.{{Cite news |last=Amlen |first=Deb |date=October 16, 2020 |title=The Genius of Spelling Bee |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/crosswords/spellingbee-puzzles.html |access-date=August 8, 2021 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The game launched in its print format in 2014 as a weekly feature in The New York Times Magazine. The game's digital version debuted on May 9, 2018. The cartoon bee mascot, Beeatrice, was designed by Robert Vinluan for the digital version. As of August 2021, the game is maintained by Sam Ezersky, who is responsible for constructing the daily puzzle, which goes live at 3 A.M. Eastern Time every day.
Reception
Since its online debut in 2018, Spelling Bee's popularity has grown and the game has received praise from other game makers in the media industry. Pat Myers of The Washington Post wrote that, despite being a lifelong promoter of The Washington Post, she found herself in "the thrall of the New York Times Spelling Bee game". Nilanjana Roy of the Financial Times praised the game as one of the best ways to pass the time and connect with friends during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.{{Cite web |last=Roy |first=Nilanjana |date=April 17, 2020 |title=What are the best wordplay games for lockdown? |url=https://www.ft.com/content/008e9e18-7e64-11ea-b0fb-13524ae1056b |access-date=August 8, 2021 |website=Financial Times}} Jim Memmot of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle similarly praised the game as a pleasant pastime during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web |last=Memmott |first=Jim |title=The New York Times Spelling Bee game makes sense during these scrambled times |url=https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/columnists/memmott/2020/08/24/the-new-york-times-spelling-bee-game-makes-sense-during-these-scrambled-times/113474864/ |access-date=August 9, 2021 |website=Democrat and Chronicle |language=en-US}}
In addition to its reception among critics, the game has also spawned a significant following on social media, with players posting their scores and discussing each day's word selections on Twitter.{{Cite news |last=Amlen |first=Deb |date=December 27, 2019 |title=The Decade in New York Times Crosswords and Games |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/27/crosswords/decade-crossword-puzzles.html |access-date=August 8, 2021 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last=Pfeffer |first=Nancy |date=June 25, 2021 |title=Flight of the Spelling Bee Player |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/25/crosswords/spellingbee-puzzles-essay.html |access-date=August 9, 2021 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Several online tools have been created to provide daily hints and analysis of the puzzle, among them one by science fiction author William Shunn.{{Cite news |last1=Amlen |first1=Deb |last2=Frere |first2=Jackie |date=December 9, 2021 |title=How the Hivemind Conquers Spelling Bee |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/crosswords/spellingbee-tips.html |access-date=June 8, 2022 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
Influence
The same concept was adapted to the Catalan language by a non-profit in November 2021. The website, called {{interlanguage link|Paraulògic|ca}}, went viral in Catalonia a month after its launch.{{Cite news |last=Avià i Nóvoa |first=Blai |title=Què és el Paraulògic, el joc lingüístic que ha revolucionat Twitter? |url=https://www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/paraulogic-joc-linguistic-revoluciona-twitter/ |access-date=December 18, 2021 |work=VilaWeb |language=ca}}{{Cite news |title=Paraulògic, el joc lingüístic online que s'ha fet viral |url=https://www.ara.cat/estils/paraulogic-joc-linguistic-online-s-fet-viral_1_4211947.html |access-date=December 18, 2021 |work=Diari Ara |language=ca}}{{Cite news |title=El Paraulògic no vol salvar-te |url=https://www.nuvol.com/pantalles/cultura-digital/el-paraulogic-no-vol-salvar-te-224229 |access-date=December 18, 2021 |work=Núvol |language=ca}}
Similarly, an anonymous user behind a popular Albanian linguistics account has adapted the Spelling Bee game to Albanian.{{Cite web |date=6 May 2024 |title=x.com |url=https://twitter.com/orientalizmat/status/1787385025974952254 |access-date=7 May 2024 |website=x.com}} This variant of the game is hosted on a website called Germëzhimë, a portmanteau of germë (letter) and gumëzhimë (the buzzing of a bee).{{Cite web |date=6 May 2024 |title=Germëzhimë |url=https://germezhime.com/ |access-date=7 May 2024 |website=Germëzhimë}}
See also
- {{annotated link|The New York Times Games}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.nytimes.com/puzzles/spelling-bee Spelling Bee]
- [https://www.sbsolver.com/ Spelling Bee Solver]
{{NY Times}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:New York Times Spelling Bee, The}}