Goofs & Gaffes: When All Was Not As Expected
Once in a great while, information or graphics in the Spelling Bee, Official Hints page, or Forum page don't appear as would be expected.
There are occasional minor goofs, when words are unintentionally included in, or excluded from the Bee, in ways that do not compromise the grid or 2LL or affect players’ streaks or statistics. In some of these cases, members of the New York Times games team brave the tempests in the Spelling Bee forum to let us know what happened. These minor goofs are listed below.
Sometimes, though, the minor goofs end up as major gaffes, when accidental inclusions or exclusions cause errors in the grid and two-letter list, the player-penned hints, and the Spelling Bee Buddy. Foofaraws ensue: streaks are broken, badges lost, and everyone gets cranky. Those major gaffes are described in detail below. And then there was RAFFIAGATE, an incident so astonishing that it remains a highlight (of sorts) in Spelling Bee history.
LexiConnexxions dutifully records all these interesting incidents, in the way that stamp collectors collect postage stamps with misprints. Here is our little collection of goofs and gaffes; if you know of others, let us know! Provide links if you have them. And don’t spare any of the juicy details.
Sometimes, though, the minor goofs end up as major gaffes, when accidental inclusions or exclusions cause errors in the grid and two-letter list, the player-penned hints, and the Spelling Bee Buddy. Foofaraws ensue: streaks are broken, badges lost, and everyone gets cranky. Those major gaffes are described in detail below. And then there was RAFFIAGATE, an incident so astonishing that it remains a highlight (of sorts) in Spelling Bee history.
LexiConnexxions dutifully records all these interesting incidents, in the way that stamp collectors collect postage stamps with misprints. Here is our little collection of goofs and gaffes; if you know of others, let us know! Provide links if you have them. And don’t spare any of the juicy details.
MINOR GOOFS: UNINTENTIONAL INCLUSIONS
2025-02-04: The word ALFA was included, probably unintentionally, as it had been disallowed 63 times prior to that date (and as recently as 2025-01-21). There was no comment from the NYT on this unexpected inclusion. The next time the letter set was used (2025-03-12), ALFA was disallowed again, and remains unused.
2023-09-11: The word CROG was included unintentionally, as Bee editor Sam E explained later that day: “Hand up: There’s definitely a word in today’s puzzle that falls well outside my normal editing thresholds. Simply an oversight that it made its way into today’s word list. Apologies to the #hivemind, especially those who chase 👑🐝 status daily!” The next time the latter set was used (2024-04-22), CROG was disallowed again, and remains unused.
2023-09-11: The word CROG was included unintentionally, as Bee editor Sam E explained later that day: “Hand up: There’s definitely a word in today’s puzzle that falls well outside my normal editing thresholds. Simply an oversight that it made its way into today’s word list. Apologies to the #hivemind, especially those who chase 👑🐝 status daily!” The next time the latter set was used (2024-04-22), CROG was disallowed again, and remains unused.
MINOR GOOFS: UNINTENTIONAL EXCLUSIONS
2018-06-23: The word ATTAR was excluded, probably by accident, after having been used in two earlier Bees. The next time the letter set was used (2018-07-01), ATTAR was restored, and went on to become one of the most-frequently used Bee words.
2020-09-03: The word COPE was excluded by accident, after having been used in ten earlier Bees. Bee editor Sam E explained: “Thanks to all for tipping me off about COPE not being accepted in today’s Bee. Oof! I’m equally baffled; would not have removed such a word on purpose. Chalk this one up as an honest mistake, and rest assured it will be allowed in future puzzles!” The next time the letter set was used (2021-02-07), COPE was restored.
2021-10-14: The word UNDAUNTED was excluded by accident. There was angst and anger in the Spelling Bee forum that day. In social media, Bee editor Sam Ezersky commented: “The #HiveMind is, uh, *not scared* to call me out for omissions … and today I'm in complete agreement!! Note to Sam: de-glaze (🙃) your eyes and sextuple-check all those bogus UN- words you pruned out, as you might've axed a goodie by mistake! Hap🐝 solving otherwise ♥️🙏” And as he later explained in an interview, “It turns out to have been a mistake. The computer generates a lot of ‘un’ words that aren't ever used, and [I] must have accidentally lopped ‘undaunted’ off along with the others.” As of this writing, that particular letter set has not been used again, so UNDAUNTED has not yet had an opportunity to make its début.
2022-07-13: The pangram PEDIMENT was excluded by accident. A NYT staffer offered an acknowledgement in the forum that day: “Hi busy bees! We see you! We hear you! “Pediment” is missing! And I can assure you, Sam is aware. Thanks for letting us know.” The next time the letter set was used (2025-10-24), PEDIMENT made its début.
2023-04-21: The word ALLUVIAL was excluded by accident. Sam E ‘fessed up the next day: “Omission of ALLUVIAL, yesterday: Sorry 😔” The next time the letter set was used (2024-09-26), ALLUVIAL made its début.
2024-07-22: The word DEMONYM was excluded by accident, as acknowledged in the Spelling Bee forum by a member of the NYT games team, who passed on this message from Bee editor Sam E: “So I know the Spelling Bee word list is up for debate, but sometimes there are genuine oversights … … like today, with DEMONYM! Baffling, as that should def be included. Forgive the hiccup, #hivemind, and enjoy the puz otherwise! Thanks as always for playing! 🐝🐝 xoxo, _am.”
2025-05-14: The pangram HEADPIN was excluded by accident, as a NYT staffer explained: “Hi Solvers, while today's puzzle was intended to have three pangrams, only two made it into the live version. We've identified the issue, but a fix would erase your hard-earned progress, so we're opting to leave the puzzle and grid as-is.” The next time the letter set was used (2026-06-04), HEADPIN was restored.
2020-09-03: The word COPE was excluded by accident, after having been used in ten earlier Bees. Bee editor Sam E explained: “Thanks to all for tipping me off about COPE not being accepted in today’s Bee. Oof! I’m equally baffled; would not have removed such a word on purpose. Chalk this one up as an honest mistake, and rest assured it will be allowed in future puzzles!” The next time the letter set was used (2021-02-07), COPE was restored.
2021-10-14: The word UNDAUNTED was excluded by accident. There was angst and anger in the Spelling Bee forum that day. In social media, Bee editor Sam Ezersky commented: “The #HiveMind is, uh, *not scared* to call me out for omissions … and today I'm in complete agreement!! Note to Sam: de-glaze (🙃) your eyes and sextuple-check all those bogus UN- words you pruned out, as you might've axed a goodie by mistake! Hap🐝 solving otherwise ♥️🙏” And as he later explained in an interview, “It turns out to have been a mistake. The computer generates a lot of ‘un’ words that aren't ever used, and [I] must have accidentally lopped ‘undaunted’ off along with the others.” As of this writing, that particular letter set has not been used again, so UNDAUNTED has not yet had an opportunity to make its début.
2022-07-13: The pangram PEDIMENT was excluded by accident. A NYT staffer offered an acknowledgement in the forum that day: “Hi busy bees! We see you! We hear you! “Pediment” is missing! And I can assure you, Sam is aware. Thanks for letting us know.” The next time the letter set was used (2025-10-24), PEDIMENT made its début.
2023-04-21: The word ALLUVIAL was excluded by accident. Sam E ‘fessed up the next day: “Omission of ALLUVIAL, yesterday: Sorry 😔” The next time the letter set was used (2024-09-26), ALLUVIAL made its début.
2024-07-22: The word DEMONYM was excluded by accident, as acknowledged in the Spelling Bee forum by a member of the NYT games team, who passed on this message from Bee editor Sam E: “So I know the Spelling Bee word list is up for debate, but sometimes there are genuine oversights … … like today, with DEMONYM! Baffling, as that should def be included. Forgive the hiccup, #hivemind, and enjoy the puz otherwise! Thanks as always for playing! 🐝🐝 xoxo, _am.”
2025-05-14: The pangram HEADPIN was excluded by accident, as a NYT staffer explained: “Hi Solvers, while today's puzzle was intended to have three pangrams, only two made it into the live version. We've identified the issue, but a fix would erase your hard-earned progress, so we're opting to leave the puzzle and grid as-is.” The next time the letter set was used (2026-06-04), HEADPIN was restored.
If you cite information from any LexiConnexxions report, please give credit and a link to the relevant page. These reports and analyses are compiled and prepared by a person, not a machine. Thank you.
RAFFIAGATE
Spelling Bee editor Sam Ezersky recalls a special moment in Bee history.
"I learned my first real Spelling Bee word list lesson when I made the grave mistake of omitting RAFFIA from a word list [2019-04-29]. There was the normal cacophony of feedback, but much to my surprise [when] I showed up to Will [Shortz]'s house in Pleasantville, Will I don't even know if you remember this, and you had received a package that was forwarded to you from The Times, and it contained -- and it contained -- I still have the receipt right here in my favorites -- it was a package from Amazon that contained 218 yards of raffia paper kraft ribbon packing paper twine1/4 inch x 218 yards. [laughter] The note reads -- and I think this was my favorite part, [because] it wasn't even addressed to me, it was yelling at you, Will: It said, 'Dear Mr Shortz, This is raffia. Spelling Bee on the New York Times puzzle page says it does not believe that raffia is a word. Amazon doesn't sell ortolans or caracals, or I might have sent one of those, too. Please improve Spelling Bee's word list.' I will also add really briefly, too, that I just last year received a note that somebody has donated to the World Wildlife Foundation in my name to protect a caracal. So I have a caracal that has been adopted in my name. This is why I say 'impassioned fans' and it makes the game better, it makes the world better, apparently."
Hello Puzzlers Podcast: Special Guest Sam EzerskyApr 12 2026https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMrHaTEppvg(Transcript by LexiConnexxions; edited for length)
MAJOR GAFFES
Spelling Bee of 2025-10-02: Grid and 2LL Did Not Match the Puzzle
On Thursday, October 2, 2025, the Spelling Bee puzzle that dropped at 3AM ET was based on the letter set T A G I L N Z, but the official puzzle data (stats, two-letter list, and grid) on the official Hints page, were based on a different letter set, N C D I M O U.
Apparently, the information in the Spelling Bee Buddy was correct from the beginning, and user hints for T A G I L N Z were added at the usual time.
The information at sbsolver.com for this puzzle was also correct from the beginning at https://www.sbsolver.com/v/Tagilnz/2704.
At approximately 8:34AM ET, the game data, grid, and 2LL for N C D I M O U were removed from the official Hints page, and were replaced by the correction information for T A G I L N Z. It took some time for the change to roll out across all devices and platforms.
At approximately 8:34AM ET, the game data, grid, and 2LL for N C D I M O U were removed from the official Hints page, and were replaced by the correction information for T A G I L N Z. It took some time for the change to roll out across all devices and platforms.
The incorrect grid information for N C D I M O U was accompanied by a photo of a bee on an orange Mexican Sunflower. When that incorrect data was replaced by the correct data for the T A G I L N Z puzzle, the photo was also changed to that of a bee on a white rose.
A quick online search reveals both photos (as shown in the image at right), with the Mexican Sunflower clearly labeled for "Oct. 3," suggesting that both the puzzle data and the photo were in the pipeline for release on the next day, Friday October 3, 2025.
Spelling Bee of 2025-06-18: Grid and 2LL Did Not Match the Puzzle
The Spelling Bee puzzle for June 18, 2025, included 42 words.
However, in both the grid and the two-letter list (2LL), the NYT's official Hints page indicated that the puzzle included 41 words, as shown below left.
Missing from this data set was HIPLINE, which should have been included to bring the total of words beginning with “H” to four and the total word count to 42, and to add “HI-1” to the two-letter list. As shown in the three right-hand images below, the Spelling Bee Buddy showed the correct data in both grid and two-letter list, and provided a reader-supplied clue in the correct place.
However, in both the grid and the two-letter list (2LL), the NYT's official Hints page indicated that the puzzle included 41 words, as shown below left.
Missing from this data set was HIPLINE, which should have been included to bring the total of words beginning with “H” to four and the total word count to 42, and to add “HI-1” to the two-letter list. As shown in the three right-hand images below, the Spelling Bee Buddy showed the correct data in both grid and two-letter list, and provided a reader-supplied clue in the correct place.
The data for this puzzle at sbsolver.com were correct.
At 10:33AM ET, a NYT staff member posted this message to the forum: "Hi solvers, today's forum [sic] has been updated to reflect a word that was initially missing." The corrected grid and 2LL are shown at right.
Regarding the word HIPLINE: Before the Bee of 2025-06-18, the word HIPLINE had been excluded from every previous Bee in which it might have been possible. It seems likely that the word was supposed to have been excluded from this Bee, as well, and that the grid and 2LL were designed to reflect that exclusion, but the word was included anyway, in error. It will be interesting to see if HIPLINE is included the next time it is possible.
At 10:33AM ET, a NYT staff member posted this message to the forum: "Hi solvers, today's forum [sic] has been updated to reflect a word that was initially missing." The corrected grid and 2LL are shown at right.
Regarding the word HIPLINE: Before the Bee of 2025-06-18, the word HIPLINE had been excluded from every previous Bee in which it might have been possible. It seems likely that the word was supposed to have been excluded from this Bee, as well, and that the grid and 2LL were designed to reflect that exclusion, but the word was included anyway, in error. It will be interesting to see if HIPLINE is included the next time it is possible.
Spelling Bees of 2025-06-03: Two Spelling Bees
On Tuesday, June 3, 2025, the Spelling Bee puzzle that dropped at 3AM ET was based on the letter set C A E H I M N, but the official puzzle data (stats, two-letter list, and grid) on the official Hints page, and the Spelling Bee Buddy, were based on a different letter set, U A G I L M N.
The community’s volunteer hint-writers provided clues for the C A E H I M N puzzle, and, as usual, posted them to the Spelling Bee forum; it’s likely that they relied on the correct information that had been posted to sbsolver.com at 3AM ET.
Confusion ensued in the Spelling Bee forum for the next several hours, and increased when the problem was exacerbated when player-supplied clues for the C A E H I M N puzzle were selected to populate the hint portion of the Spelling Bee Buddy.
At 830AM ET, as the situation continued and as the Spelling Bee forum ballooned to several hundred comments, a NYT staffer posted this message to the forum: "Hello solvers, our team is aware of a technical issue with today's puzzle and is working on a fix."
At 857AM ET, the same staffer posted: “Good morning solvers. The technical issue has been resolved by our engineering team. Thank you for your patience.”
The “resolution” was that the C A E H I M N puzzle was removed and was replaced with the U A G I L M N puzzle, so that the U A G I L M N puzzle now matched the U A G I L M N info on the official Hints page.
sbsolver.com immediately posted an updated data page at https://www.sbsolver.com/2583. They later added this caption: “Please note: On the morning of June 3, 2025, the New York Times published hints in its Spelling Bee forum that did not match the actual puzzle that players were seeing. Later that morning, rather than issuing a simple correction, the Times instead published this replacement puzzle to match the hints in its forum, much to the consternation of players worldwide.”
sbsolver.com also archived the original C A E H I M N puzzle at https://www.sbsolver.com/20844; a note indicates that it is (was) an “Extra Spelling Bee for June 3, 2025.” They later added this caption: “Please note: On the morning of June 3, 2025, the New York Times published hints in its Spelling Bee forum that did not match the actual puzzle that players were seeing. The hints below are for that original puzzle. Later that morning, rather than correct their hints, the Times instead published a new puzzle to match the hints, much to the consternation of players worldwide.”
sbsolver.com also accommodated the archived C A E H I M N puzzle on its monthly Archive calendar:https://www.sbsolver.com/archive/2025/06
Back at the NYT site: While the U A G I L M N puzzle now matched the U A G I L M N info on the official Hints page, the Spelling Bee Buddy was for a short while still aligned with the C A E H I M N puzzle, causing further confusion amongst players.
A short time later, the NYT removed the original player-supplied clues for the C A E H I M N puzzle from the Spelling Bee buddy, and in place of the usual caption indicating that clues would be selected after 8am, a new caption read: “Join the discussion about this puzzle, or contribute clues, at Spelling Bee Forum.” This implied that they would select new hints for the U A G I L M N puzzle if any players posted some to the Spelling Bee forum. A few players did so, and a few hours later, a selection of those hints did appear in the Spelling Bee Buddy.
The Spelling Bee forum surged past 2.4K comments by 2PM ET, as players around the world – both those who had completed the Bee hours earlier and those who were just logging on – tried without success to understand what had happened. Players were reporting that the new U A G I L M N puzzle had caught them completely by surprise. When it was posted, many (probably tens of thousands) players were in the process of solving, or had already completed, the C A E H I M N puzzle (to Genius or Queen Bee). Their work was obliterated, along with their stats for that puzzle, and perhaps other stats as well; there have been a few sporadic reports of players’ having lost more than one Genius or QB score from their permanent stats. As far as LexiConnexxions has been able to determine, this discrepancy was never addressed or adjusted.
The community’s volunteer hint-writers provided clues for the C A E H I M N puzzle, and, as usual, posted them to the Spelling Bee forum; it’s likely that they relied on the correct information that had been posted to sbsolver.com at 3AM ET.
Confusion ensued in the Spelling Bee forum for the next several hours, and increased when the problem was exacerbated when player-supplied clues for the C A E H I M N puzzle were selected to populate the hint portion of the Spelling Bee Buddy.
At 830AM ET, as the situation continued and as the Spelling Bee forum ballooned to several hundred comments, a NYT staffer posted this message to the forum: "Hello solvers, our team is aware of a technical issue with today's puzzle and is working on a fix."
At 857AM ET, the same staffer posted: “Good morning solvers. The technical issue has been resolved by our engineering team. Thank you for your patience.”
The “resolution” was that the C A E H I M N puzzle was removed and was replaced with the U A G I L M N puzzle, so that the U A G I L M N puzzle now matched the U A G I L M N info on the official Hints page.
sbsolver.com immediately posted an updated data page at https://www.sbsolver.com/2583. They later added this caption: “Please note: On the morning of June 3, 2025, the New York Times published hints in its Spelling Bee forum that did not match the actual puzzle that players were seeing. Later that morning, rather than issuing a simple correction, the Times instead published this replacement puzzle to match the hints in its forum, much to the consternation of players worldwide.”
sbsolver.com also archived the original C A E H I M N puzzle at https://www.sbsolver.com/20844; a note indicates that it is (was) an “Extra Spelling Bee for June 3, 2025.” They later added this caption: “Please note: On the morning of June 3, 2025, the New York Times published hints in its Spelling Bee forum that did not match the actual puzzle that players were seeing. The hints below are for that original puzzle. Later that morning, rather than correct their hints, the Times instead published a new puzzle to match the hints, much to the consternation of players worldwide.”
sbsolver.com also accommodated the archived C A E H I M N puzzle on its monthly Archive calendar:https://www.sbsolver.com/archive/2025/06
Back at the NYT site: While the U A G I L M N puzzle now matched the U A G I L M N info on the official Hints page, the Spelling Bee Buddy was for a short while still aligned with the C A E H I M N puzzle, causing further confusion amongst players.
A short time later, the NYT removed the original player-supplied clues for the C A E H I M N puzzle from the Spelling Bee buddy, and in place of the usual caption indicating that clues would be selected after 8am, a new caption read: “Join the discussion about this puzzle, or contribute clues, at Spelling Bee Forum.” This implied that they would select new hints for the U A G I L M N puzzle if any players posted some to the Spelling Bee forum. A few players did so, and a few hours later, a selection of those hints did appear in the Spelling Bee Buddy.
The Spelling Bee forum surged past 2.4K comments by 2PM ET, as players around the world – both those who had completed the Bee hours earlier and those who were just logging on – tried without success to understand what had happened. Players were reporting that the new U A G I L M N puzzle had caught them completely by surprise. When it was posted, many (probably tens of thousands) players were in the process of solving, or had already completed, the C A E H I M N puzzle (to Genius or Queen Bee). Their work was obliterated, along with their stats for that puzzle, and perhaps other stats as well; there have been a few sporadic reports of players’ having lost more than one Genius or QB score from their permanent stats. As far as LexiConnexxions has been able to determine, this discrepancy was never addressed or adjusted.
Spelling Bee of 2025-05-14: Grid and 2LL Did Not Match the Puzzle
The Spelling Bee puzzle for May 14, 2025, included 40 words and two pangrams.
However, the NYT's official Hints page indicated that the puzzle included 41 words and three pangrams.
The cause of the discrepancy was that the NYT had inadvertently left the pangram HEADPIN out of the puzzle, but did not adjust the puzzle data accordingly, a fact that came to light after several hours of confusion in the Spelling Bee forum and other discussion sites, when a games staffer posted this message to the Spelling Bee forum: “Hi Solvers, while today's puzzle was intended to have three pangrams, only two made it into the live version. We've identified the issue, but a fix would erase your hard-earned progress, so we're opting to leave the puzzle and grid as-is.”
The puzzle data remains inaccurate at the official site:https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/crosswords/spelling-bee-forum.html
sbsolver’s data for that day’s puzzle remains correct, but does not mention the discrepancy:https://www.sbsolver.com/s/2563
UPDATE: The Spelling Bee of 2026-06-14 recycled the letter set from 2025-05-14, and the pangram HEADPIN was used, thus returning it to the active Bee lexicon.
However, the NYT's official Hints page indicated that the puzzle included 41 words and three pangrams.
The cause of the discrepancy was that the NYT had inadvertently left the pangram HEADPIN out of the puzzle, but did not adjust the puzzle data accordingly, a fact that came to light after several hours of confusion in the Spelling Bee forum and other discussion sites, when a games staffer posted this message to the Spelling Bee forum: “Hi Solvers, while today's puzzle was intended to have three pangrams, only two made it into the live version. We've identified the issue, but a fix would erase your hard-earned progress, so we're opting to leave the puzzle and grid as-is.”
The puzzle data remains inaccurate at the official site:https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/crosswords/spelling-bee-forum.html
sbsolver’s data for that day’s puzzle remains correct, but does not mention the discrepancy:https://www.sbsolver.com/s/2563
UPDATE: The Spelling Bee of 2026-06-14 recycled the letter set from 2025-05-14, and the pangram HEADPIN was used, thus returning it to the active Bee lexicon.
Spelling Bees of 2024-08-20 and 2024-08-25: Cross-pollination
On August 20, 2024, the Spelling Bee puzzle page showed a puzzle for letter set P E H I N O X, but the official Hints page showed data, grid, and 2LL for a puzzle with letters F E I L M O T. During the ensuing conversation in the Spelling Bee forum, one player commented that her “browser indicates the SB Hints are for August 25, 2024.” (That comment was deleted, for reasons that would become apparent.)
Later that morning, the grid and 2LL on the Hints page were corrected to align with the day’s puzzle (P E H I N O X), and the photo that had been on the page up to that point (a red flower) seemed to have been replaced with a new photo (of a pink flower). While the situation now appeared to have been corrected, in fact both the original (erroneous) Hints page and the replacement (correct) Hints page remained in place; clicking on either led to the Spelling Bee forum for August 20, 2024. (As of June 23, 2026, those dual listings -- one correct, and one incorrect -- remain in place.)
On August 25, 2024, the Bee puzzle was F E I L M O T, with the correct data and hints in place on the Hints page, having been carried over from the erroneous page of August 20, 2024.
Later that morning, the grid and 2LL on the Hints page were corrected to align with the day’s puzzle (P E H I N O X), and the photo that had been on the page up to that point (a red flower) seemed to have been replaced with a new photo (of a pink flower). While the situation now appeared to have been corrected, in fact both the original (erroneous) Hints page and the replacement (correct) Hints page remained in place; clicking on either led to the Spelling Bee forum for August 20, 2024. (As of June 23, 2026, those dual listings -- one correct, and one incorrect -- remain in place.)
On August 25, 2024, the Bee puzzle was F E I L M O T, with the correct data and hints in place on the Hints page, having been carried over from the erroneous page of August 20, 2024.
Spelling Bee of 2023-12-02: Grid and 2LL Did Not Match the Puzzle
On very rare occasions, there’s a mistake in the puzzle data – the game stats, two-letter list, and grid – that are published on the official daily Hints page (the daily Spelling Bee article).
On Saturday, December 2, 2023, the puzzle data indicated that the Bee that day had 43 words and 249 points, as shown in the image at right. The grid and two-letter list (2LL) hinted that there was one word that began with the letters HA. In fact, the Bee that had been published (as usual) at 3AM ET had 42 words and 242 points, and there was no word that began with H. Players were able to solve to Queen Bee with 42 words, but many noticed the inconsistency, and there was a great deal of speculation in the Spelling Bee forum, beginning immediately after the puzzle dropped.
Around 1:40 PM ET, a notice appeared on the Hints page as follows: “NOTE: An earlier version of this forum stated [that] today’s Spelling Bee can be solved with 249 points and an HA word. It is possible to solve today’s Spelling Bee with 242 points and without the HA word due to a bug in our puzzle publishing tool.” But the puzzle data was not updated, and many players were still confused, especially as the Spelling Bee Buddy had not been adjusted to accommodate the change.
On Saturday, December 2, 2023, the puzzle data indicated that the Bee that day had 43 words and 249 points, as shown in the image at right. The grid and two-letter list (2LL) hinted that there was one word that began with the letters HA. In fact, the Bee that had been published (as usual) at 3AM ET had 42 words and 242 points, and there was no word that began with H. Players were able to solve to Queen Bee with 42 words, but many noticed the inconsistency, and there was a great deal of speculation in the Spelling Bee forum, beginning immediately after the puzzle dropped.
Around 1:40 PM ET, a notice appeared on the Hints page as follows: “NOTE: An earlier version of this forum stated [that] today’s Spelling Bee can be solved with 249 points and an HA word. It is possible to solve today’s Spelling Bee with 242 points and without the HA word due to a bug in our puzzle publishing tool.” But the puzzle data was not updated, and many players were still confused, especially as the Spelling Bee Buddy had not been adjusted to accommodate the change.
At 2:07 PM ET, the notice was replaced by this one: “NOTE: The previous bug that omitted the HA word from today’s Spelling Bee has been resolved. Today’s Spelling Bee can be solved with 249 points and an HA word.” This indicated that the puzzle had been edited to add the 43rd word, the one that began with HA-.
The grid was updated, but as shown at right, the update disturbed the formatting so significantly as to render the grid pretty much unusable.
Another unfortunate consequence of the mid-day addition of that HA- word was that any player who had already solved the first version of the puzzle with 42 words was demoted from Queen Bee back to Genius. No notification was given about this, and while some players discovered the situation and immediately reported it to the forum, many others did not discover the fact until the next day, and winning streaks were broken for untold numbers of players. Players who learned of it soon enough were able to return to the puzzle, add the 43rd word, and reach Queen Bee.
LexiConnexxions alerted sbsolver.com to the situation early in the day, and they made necessary revisions to their page for this puzzle.
Another unfortunate consequence of the mid-day addition of that HA- word was that any player who had already solved the first version of the puzzle with 42 words was demoted from Queen Bee back to Genius. No notification was given about this, and while some players discovered the situation and immediately reported it to the forum, many others did not discover the fact until the next day, and winning streaks were broken for untold numbers of players. Players who learned of it soon enough were able to return to the puzzle, add the 43rd word, and reach Queen Bee.
LexiConnexxions alerted sbsolver.com to the situation early in the day, and they made necessary revisions to their page for this puzzle.
Spelling Bee of 2022-04-11: Puzzle Released with Answers Filled In
The Spelling Bee of April 11, 2022 (T A L O R V Y), was released with many, and in some cases all, of the answers already filled in. The glitch may have been related to the fact that the puzzle was a duplicate of the Bee of July 12, 2020 (also T A L O R V Y).
Later that morning, the Times released a replacement puzzle (O B D R U W Z).
The Spelling Bee Forum of April 11, 2022 records much of the conversation and chronology, including messages from the puzzle team.
Spelling Bees of 2021-03-24: Two Spelling Bees in One Day
NOTE: It’s a challenge to reconstruct events so far in the past, working only from comments that refer to and imply problems but do not describe them, so while this report captures the major contours of the event, it may not be correct in every detail, particularly as to sequence and timing. Thanks to sbsolver.com for additional data.
On 2021-03-24, a technical problem prevented the scheduled Spelling Bee (I C F N O T O) from being released at 3AM ET.
While the NYT games team worked to untangle it, they released a temporary substitute puzzle (R F L M N O U), but apparently did not communicate that it was a temporary puzzle or that it was a duplicate of the Bee that had appeared on May 14, 2018.
On 2021-03-24, a technical problem prevented the scheduled Spelling Bee (I C F N O T O) from being released at 3AM ET.
While the NYT games team worked to untangle it, they released a temporary substitute puzzle (R F L M N O U), but apparently did not communicate that it was a temporary puzzle or that it was a duplicate of the Bee that had appeared on May 14, 2018.
Bee players knew that the Bee had been delayed, and when a puzzle finally appeared, they could not know that the puzzle they were seeing (R F L M N O U) was not the “official” puzzle for the day. They got to work solving, and of course many players completed the puzzle.
Later in the day, the games team was able to release the scheduled puzzle (I C F N O T O), but doing so created new problems. For a while, both versions were live, something that came to light as in the forum, as confused players tried to compare notes and share data and clues via grid and 2LL, etc. Players reported a variety of issues, including:
• Seeing the interim puzzle on mobile devices, and the official puzzle on browser devices, at the same time• Seeing the official puzzle on mobile devices, and the interim puzzle on browser devices, at the same time• Being forced out of the interim puzzle on the app, and losing all progress when the official puzzle was released to the app
One player summed it up thus: “First no Bee, then FLMNORU, and now CFINOTU.”
The best player comment, in our opinion? “What do you call two Bees in one day? In this case a BUMBLEBee.”
Later in the day, the games team was able to release the scheduled puzzle (I C F N O T O), but doing so created new problems. For a while, both versions were live, something that came to light as in the forum, as confused players tried to compare notes and share data and clues via grid and 2LL, etc. Players reported a variety of issues, including:
• Seeing the interim puzzle on mobile devices, and the official puzzle on browser devices, at the same time• Seeing the official puzzle on mobile devices, and the interim puzzle on browser devices, at the same time• Being forced out of the interim puzzle on the app, and losing all progress when the official puzzle was released to the app
One player summed it up thus: “First no Bee, then FLMNORU, and now CFINOTU.”
The best player comment, in our opinion? “What do you call two Bees in one day? In this case a BUMBLEBee.”