A Slippery Slope: The NYT Spelling Bee Game

Wordle? Great. Connections? No problem. Of all the New York Times’ daily puzzles, it’s the Spelling Bee game that threatens to ruin my life.

For years, I’d played it half-heartedly, making a few words of four or more letters from the small hive presented each day. Then … life would call. I’d put the puzzle away and move on to the day’s obligations.

But for some reason lately, the Bee won’t let me be.

Not until I’ve found every last word.

There are usually dozens of them. Today, for example, 29 words lurk in the puzzle. And that’s a relatively small batch. Some days, there are 50 or more possible words buzzing around in that hive.

If you find all of them, the Times crowns you Queen for the day. What self-respecting, certified, road-tested and approved 21st-century gay male could resist that?

It’s something to go positively apiary about. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

I was Queen one day last week.

My figurative tiara gleamed for a while. But I knew I’d reached a turning point.

You see, the puzzle had consumed most of my day.

Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t sitting at my desk for hours on end. But throughout the day, I played the game in my head.

Periodically, I’d open my phone to enter the new word that had come to me.

Multimillion.

Inalienable.

Hairpin.

Harping.

Napping.

Gripping.

Pariah and ping and pang.

Worse, I’d check the Spelling Bee Buddy, shown below. It provides clues and hints to help you over any speedbumps on your way to Queendom.

Then there is the list of two-letter combinations and the number of words that begin with them.

I’ve been known to print the list and track the number of words I’ve found (and those that remain) for each combination.

I like Wordle and Connections because they’re quick. I’d estimate that 10 minutes is the most time I’ve spent on either of those games each day. I even wrote an ode to the wonders of Wordle in a 2022 blog, before the game was acquired by the Times.

But Spelling Bee isn’t like that.

It’s not a quick in and out. Maybe it calls to me because it’s a deep and wide distraction from the news of the day. From watching another diamond-cross-bedecked Karoline Leavitt news conference on an Instagram Reel.

And because the answers aren’t revealed until 3:00 the following morning, one has hours on end to get it exactly right. The Bee does offer a greater sense of accomplishment than do the faster games available.

Also, while my husband, Ted, is a whizz at Wordle and crackerjack at Connections, the Bee doesn’t interest him.

The challenge is mine and mine alone.

Still, I’m trying to control my urges, remembering that it’s often the things that are bad for us that are the hardest to give up.

But a Spelling Bee game is good for us, right? Brain calisthenics and all that.

Yes. But only in moderation.

Today, for example, the pangram (the word that uses all the letters in the hive) was the 16th word I found. Spoiler alert: It’s megabyte!

So I stopped there. Enough of a Bee-complishment for one day.

But will I stay away?

Hmmm … it’s only 2:00 in the afternoon.

Thirteen words left to find.

And more than 12 hours to find them.

Be still my heart! The tiara might once again be mine!

Are you hooked on Spelling Bee?

Or any of the other games in the Times collection? I’d love to hear about your experience.

And, perhaps, how you recovered.

Meanwhile, have a honey of a day, dear reader!