NYT Spelling Bee: Retired

It was a fun while it lasted (two weeks).  I might still put up a recap once in a while, but probably not.  I wasn't really feeling the daily Spelling Bee recaps.  I tried it; it didn't stick; so on to the next thing.  And that next thing is a "healthier" lifestyle that includes a large-scale reduction in screen time.  To that end...

NYT Spelling Bee: HAYNECK

Grid:

My Genius list:

Real pangram: HACKNEY

Fake pangram: HAYNECK

A cross between a hayseed and a redneck.

Difficulty: Challenging

HACKNEY went in straightaway, but I got stuck on the level before Genius for much longer than usual.  Finally, I saw ENHANCE which pushed me over the edge.  I couldn't find many long words (only three above five letters).  I'm not sure if others don't exist or if I just missed them. 

Olio: HACKNEY, qua adjective, is one of those words that means the same thing if you add -ED to its end.  My four-year-old is big on these.  He says things like The door is opened instead of The door is open.

NYT Spelling Bee: GUARDVAN

Grid:

My Genius list:

Real pangram: VANGUARD

Fake pangram: GUARDVAN

A usually unmarked van on patrol.

(This is a cop-out fake pangram, but I couldn't come with anything better.  That V does not go well with these letters.  In fact, I didn't find a single valid word other than VANGUARD that uses the V.  I wonder if there even is one.)

Difficulty: Easy

VANGUARD fell instantly, and then I steadily filled in the rest, until the two variants of GRANDDAD pushed me to Genius level.  I was a little slowly than usual, but that's mainly because I was wrestling my youngest son while I was playing.  He's little enough so that I can keep him at bay with one arm, and play Spelling Bee with the other -- multitasking.

Olio: A tweet from puzzle editor Sam Ezersky:

DURAG has become a topic of discussion concerning inclusivity in word games, because it has yet to appear in the NYT crossword puzzle, even though it seems to be the favored spelling among people who might actually wear a DURAG... and most everybody else.  (It gets almost five times as many Google hits as its counterpart DORAG, which has appeared in nearly two dozen NYT crossword puzzles.)

I didn't even see DURAG in this puzzle.  However, I've added it to my personal word list.  I'm still debating whether or not I should delete DORAG or keep it.  I'll probably delete it.  I typically eschew the usage of less-common variants in my grid.

For what it's worth, Blogger puts a squiggly red line under both DURAG and DORAG, but I think it's anti-inclusivity -- literally.  It also does this for inclusivity.

NYT Spelling Bee: DAMPFUL

Grid:

My Genius list:

Real pangram: MUDFLAP

Fake pangram: DAMPFUL

An longer way to say damp.

Difficulty: Very easy

I flew through this one, reaching Genius level in no more than five minutes.  I feel like I've seen this pangram in previous puzzle, which probably helped.

Olio: I realized I didn't know how to spell APPALL.  I tried APPAUL, APALL, and APPAL, before I finally hit on the correct spelling.  That's weird, considering it's a normal six-letter word.  If you gave me a test on those, I bet I'd get close to 100%.

NY Spelling Bee: LARKDAMN

Grid:

My Genius list:

Real pangram: LANDMARK

Fake pangram: LARKDAMN

Any of several plants having heads with ray flowers, so named because they often act as an allergen for Old World songbirds.

Difficulty: Medium

I did most of this on paper again (trying to not stare at a screen so much when my kids are around), so my timing was off a bit, but I think this was mostly medium.  I got halfway to Genius level very quickly on the the strength of the pangram and a bunch of four-letterers.  After a brief breather, I then powered home hitting a bunch of cool longer words (ARMADA, MADMAN, RAMADA).  This one was fun.

Olio: MAMA but no DADA?