GamePlay: Solv-ING Tips
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Some Bee solvers dislike the “suffix” Bees that use -ING or -ED, perhaps thinking they make the puzzle too easy, or not interesting enough. It’s true that either of these suffixes can help a solver to generate words quickly when one can just stick the suffix on to a verb, without any need to alter the root (such as PLAY and PLAYING).
But these suffixes can also present some unique solving challenges. This is especially true when -ING is in the letter set, because puzzles with -ING require a solver to think “outside” the Bee, for two reasons.
But these suffixes can also present some unique solving challenges. This is especially true when -ING is in the letter set, because puzzles with -ING require a solver to think “outside” the Bee, for two reasons.
First, when the letter set includes ING but no letter E, a player must think of root verbs that end with an E that would be dropped before adding -ING, even if there is no E in the letter set. That is, a player must imagine words that can’t be in that particular Bee (no E!) which would serve as the roots of words that must be found in order to solve the Bee.
Second, the solution set may include words formed by adding the -ING suffix to 2- or 3-letter root verbs, but of course, none of those 2- and 3-letter root words can appear in a puzzle that requires all words to be at least four letters long. In an -ING puzzle, solvers must remember to think of shorter verbs that can’t be in the Bee that can be extended with -ING to form words that must be found in order to solve the Bee.
The Spelling Bee of April 19, 2024, with a letter set of W G I K N O R, is a good example to illustrate both of these conditions. Of the 38 words in that puzzle's solution set, 20 end with the -ING suffix. Of those 20, only 11 (about half) are of the simple “slap the -ING on the end of the root” variety. The other nine (that is, the other half) were of the more complex types described above.
The solution set included three words formed from root verbs end in E, but none of the root verbs was in the word list, because the puzzle did not include the letter E.
OWING (owe) WINING (wine) WIRING (wire)
The solution set also included seven words formed from 3-letter roots that could not have been in the word list due to their length; that's nearly one fifth of the entire solution set.
OWING (owe) OWNING (own) ROWING (row) WIGGING (wig) WINNING (win) WOOING (woo) WOWING (wow)
So, while the -ING suffix can help to generate some words quickly, its presence requires some extra thought and care to avoid missing words that might not be so obvious. Many players enjoy this extra challenge.
Here is the solution set (all 38 words) from the Spelling Bee of April 19, 2023. Those in BOLD are the more complex types described above.
GOWN GOWNING GROW GROWING GROWN INGROWN IRONWORK IRONWORKING KIWI KNOW KNOWING KNOWN NONWORKING OWING OWNING ROWING WIGGING WIKI WING WINGING WINING WINK WINKING WINNING WINNOW WINNOWING WINO WIRING WONK WOOING WORK WORKING WORN WOWING WRING WRINGING WRONG WRONGING
Second, the solution set may include words formed by adding the -ING suffix to 2- or 3-letter root verbs, but of course, none of those 2- and 3-letter root words can appear in a puzzle that requires all words to be at least four letters long. In an -ING puzzle, solvers must remember to think of shorter verbs that can’t be in the Bee that can be extended with -ING to form words that must be found in order to solve the Bee.
The Spelling Bee of April 19, 2024, with a letter set of W G I K N O R, is a good example to illustrate both of these conditions. Of the 38 words in that puzzle's solution set, 20 end with the -ING suffix. Of those 20, only 11 (about half) are of the simple “slap the -ING on the end of the root” variety. The other nine (that is, the other half) were of the more complex types described above.
The solution set included three words formed from root verbs end in E, but none of the root verbs was in the word list, because the puzzle did not include the letter E.
OWING (owe) WINING (wine) WIRING (wire)
The solution set also included seven words formed from 3-letter roots that could not have been in the word list due to their length; that's nearly one fifth of the entire solution set.
OWING (owe) OWNING (own) ROWING (row) WIGGING (wig) WINNING (win) WOOING (woo) WOWING (wow)
So, while the -ING suffix can help to generate some words quickly, its presence requires some extra thought and care to avoid missing words that might not be so obvious. Many players enjoy this extra challenge.
Here is the solution set (all 38 words) from the Spelling Bee of April 19, 2023. Those in BOLD are the more complex types described above.
GOWN GOWNING GROW GROWING GROWN INGROWN IRONWORK IRONWORKING KIWI KNOW KNOWING KNOWN NONWORKING OWING OWNING ROWING WIGGING WIKI WING WINGING WINING WINK WINKING WINNING WINNOW WINNOWING WINO WIRING WONK WOOING WORK WORKING WORN WOWING WRING WRINGING WRONG WRONGING