History: Themed Spelling Bees
While many word puzzles (especially crosswords) have themes, very few Spelling Bees do so. LexiConnexxions has identified a handful of Bees that seem to have themes related to the calendar (e.g., Hallowe'en) or to milestones in Bee history. Some of these flex the concept of "theme," but here they are anyway, with the puzzle date, PANGRAM(s), and notes (some of them speculative).
The Spelling Bee mascot Beeatrice often dons a festive cap in honor of special days; enjoy her lookbook (Bee word!) HERE.
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2018-12-31 HALCYON [?] Halcyon days are the quiet days of midwinter
2019-05-04 FURLONG Kentucky Derby Day (Sam said it was just coincidence; see note 1)
2019-05-29 GROWNUP [?] Sam’s 24th birthday
2019-07-04 CHARGRILL Fourth of July
2019-12-31 EVENTFUL, UNEVENTFUL [?] reflection on the year past, and the year to come?
2022-02-14 VALENTINE and forum photo was a red rose
2022-04-01 HOODWINK April Fool’s Day
2022-05-09 Bee’s 4th birthday: Sam E “included the letters BDAY as a quiet nod to the game’s special day” (see note 2)
2022-05-30 ENTOMBED [?] Memorial Day
2022-06-16 LEXICON Bee #1500
2022-10-31 PHANTOM Hallowe’en
2025-01-04 CONFETTI [?] Fourth of July
2025-04-01 April Fool’s Day: Sam’s little prank (see note 3)
2024-05-09 DAZZLING Bee’s 7th birthday
2025-03-12 FABULOUS Bee #2500 [first S Bee]
2025-05-09 WORDILY Bee’s 8th birthday
2025-09-02 SCHOOLBOOK SCHOOLBOOKS school starts
2025-10-31 TWITCHING WITCHING Hallowe’en
2026-05-09 MEGAHIT Bee’s 9th birthday
2026-09-22 EQUINOX on the date of the autumnal equinox
Note 1 “Mr. Ezersky said the puzzles don’t generally have themes — but he will break one out for special occasions. ‘It’s cool to run themed puzzles, like when the pangram was VALENTINE on Feb. 14 [2022].’ he said, but there are also coincidences. ‘The pangram was FURLONG on the day of the Kentucky Derby, and that was totally by accident,’ he noted.”https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/11/crosswords/getting-to-genius-part-1.html
Note 2 “Sam, he mentions that May 9 [2022] is the digital Spelling Bee’s fourth birthday. He has included the letters BDAY as a quiet nod to the game’s special day.https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/14/crosswords/spelling-bee-diary-0509.html
Note 3 Sam's subtle 2025 April Fool's Day prank:Mar 30 pangram: ECHOINGMar 31 pangram: COMEBACK [hint of what's to come]Apr 01 pangram: ECHOING [hah!]
Note 1 “Mr. Ezersky said the puzzles don’t generally have themes — but he will break one out for special occasions. ‘It’s cool to run themed puzzles, like when the pangram was VALENTINE on Feb. 14 [2022].’ he said, but there are also coincidences. ‘The pangram was FURLONG on the day of the Kentucky Derby, and that was totally by accident,’ he noted.”https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/11/crosswords/getting-to-genius-part-1.html
Note 2 “Sam, he mentions that May 9 [2022] is the digital Spelling Bee’s fourth birthday. He has included the letters BDAY as a quiet nod to the game’s special day.https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/14/crosswords/spelling-bee-diary-0509.html
Note 3 Sam's subtle 2025 April Fool's Day prank:Mar 30 pangram: ECHOINGMar 31 pangram: COMEBACK [hint of what's to come]Apr 01 pangram: ECHOING [hah!]