Do you have ANY IDEA how many hours you can waste on Spelling Bee???? 538 needs to take a poll.
I was recently told that the New York Times Spelling Bee is the most popular feature they offer. I believe it. It certainly beats their news coverage lately, Anyway, I’m hooked on Spelling Bee. In fact, and this is another good reason for my blog to be anonymous, I’m addicted - and superstitious. I get up early and after my shower, I make a cup of tea and sit down to Spelling Bee. Sometimes, I start it in bed, pre-shower but those are decadent days. If I get to Genius, I immediately text the results to several friends who have already beaten me to Genius and texted me at their results at some early, ungodly hour.
So far, so good, but here is where the game gets weird. I am distressed if I get stuck in Nice (I'm going to start a list of banned words and NICE will be at the head of the list). I would feel better if the NYT would just be honest and have categories of Inadequate, Where Did You Go to Grammar School, and Caffeinated... I like Amazing and Genius.
Although I am unhappy when I get stuck at Nice, I am convinced that, if I do well in the Spelling Bee, reaching Amazing or Genius categories of word-making, I will have a really good day. Nothing has ever happened to reinforce that superstition (I never had anything especially good occur when I was successful or any life trauma when I've been word-deficient), but every morning, I harbor the same thought.
I’ve begun to realize that it isn’t about my day at all. As I get older, I look for signs of change in my mind. How quick am I? How fast do I retrieve words? How sharp do I feel? If I do well, I reassure myself that I'm still sharp. If I do badly, I come back to it all day, fearing that it means I'm losing my edge. Spelling Bee has become my mini mental status exam, my private test of aging.
When I'm ready - don't rush me - I'll tell you what a worse nut I am about Wordle.
In March, 2025, Not The Trip We Planned will be published by Koehler. For better or worse, I am featured in the novel. At least I get to tell my own story in this blog and not have some two-bit authors speak for me.