The one that really defeated me was SAM/RIT/BDI. I saw SMART BID but that‘s only 8 letters. There‘s another I. Gave up and clicked “show answer”. The #nineletterword is TRIBADISM. If you don’t know, Google it.
I've recently been directing my #wordnerd brain cells to #nineletterwords. They're popularly presented in the form of the Target puzzle, as a 3x3 array of lettered squares from which as many words as possible of four letters or more are to be extracted.
Today I learned (via a word puzzle): a dido (not to be confused with a dado, a dildo or a diode) is a prank or act of mischief. Possibly connected somehow with the legendary queen of Carthage - but possibly not.
Nice @nytimes.com Connections puzzle (purple and blue sets) today. Meta-question: when is an -ing word (part of an English verb) a gerund and when is it a present participle?
Any set of five things, particularly where one is different from the other four, as. eg 4 old men & a donkey (Joyce) or 4 Teletubbies & a vacuum cleaner.
Hope it’s not a #spoiler for anyone, but worth noting 4 of the 5 letters in today’s Wordle are also included among the 7 letters of today’s NYTimes #SpellingBee. Wonder how often that happens.
One unrecognised word in that #SpellingBee is CLEW, a ball of twine, as you might use to find your way through a maze. Also one of the cords holding a hammock. I knew there had to be a name for those. Not accepted by NYT, though. Nor is CLODDED #itsinthedictionary.
The #Pangram for the Nyt spelling bee a day or three ago is apparently FINABLY, a word the OED labels “archaic” and “obsolete”. I don’t see how you would use the word in a sentence, but it’s the only word I can mark with those letters.
This is my ‘talking to everyone' space (as opposed to links with a specific person or group). I should keep it up to date more often. The word occupying my mind this week is “quincunx”.
Looking to bestwordlist.com for a hint re today’s NYT #SpellingBee, I find “oracular” and “ultra cool”. Maybe we saw those things like that when they first appeared on the market :)
