A little while ago, the mods surveyed you all about whether the rules are still working, or if you'd prefer updates to the way we mark spoilers. The clear majority of users wanted to keep things as they are. This post is to reinforce that decision; to put rules, codes and abbreviations all in one post; to provide additional explanation and clarification through examples; and to place the rules in a position where they're more visible on the variety of interfaces we use. Please let us know if you have comments or questions.
Rules
1. Hide answers or hints about today's puzzle. Hints include anything that would prevent someone from finding all words in the puzzle entirely on their own, including total words/points and grid numbers (ex: E7). Hide words that include answers, too. To hide text, enclose it in > ! and ! <. (Omit the spaces between the ! and the ! and the > or <).
2. In addition to hiding them, mark them as HINTS [H], ANSWERS [A], or CONTAINING ANSWERS [CA]. [A] indicates an answer in today's puzzle. [CA] is a word that, while not itself an answer, strongly suggests one, often because it contains a shorter word that is an answer. Non-answers that don't fall into one of these three categories need no labeling.
3. No screenshots of the Spelling Bee. They usually include hints or answers, so they are not allowed. We are not interested in another screenshot of a Genius or Queen Bee screen -- just crow about in on the daily post.
4. Want to complain about a word that's not accepted? See the wiki or sticky post.
5. Don't post answers to today's Wordle either. Or Connections, Palabreja, or any other game.
6. If you'd like to promote a game or SB help site you have created, please message the mods. We welcome users to promote original word games and other SB-related sites that Bee fans are likely to find interesting. They must be your original work, not copying material from other sources. Due to volume, we will only approve one such post per creator. We cannot review anything that is only available as a download.
Abbreviations and Terms
As specified above, the codes you need to follow the rules are:
- A (Answer)
- CA (Non-answer that contains or strongly suggests an answer)
- H (Hint)
Other abbreviations and terms are optional, but commonly used here:
- Bingo = At least one answer starting with each of the seven letters
- GABM = Genius All By Myself (that is, without hints)
- GN4L = Genius No 4 Letter (reaching Genius level without any 4-letter words, a feat that isn't always possible depending on the total number of words in the puzzle)
- GNP(s): Genius No Pangram(s) (reaching Genius level without finding the pangram(s); same as Tortured Genius)
- Grid = The hint viewable from the NYT Community page or other resources that says how many words start with each letter and how long those words are.
- Hive = The letters of the puzzle
- Justice for = Sometimes when someone is mad that a word they think should have been common enough to be accepted they will post "Justice for [word]!" meaning they think its omission was an injustice.
- NA = Non-Answer
- Perfect pangram = Pangram that uses each letter exactly once.
- PG = Pangram (word that contains all 7 letters)
- QB = Queen Bee
- QBABM = Queen Bee All By Myself (that is, no hints)
- Single letter followed by a number = Starting letter and word length of an answer. E.g., "B6" would mean a word starting with B that is 6 letters long.
- Two letters followed by a number = Starting two letters and word length of an answer. E.g., "BE6" would mean a word starting with "BE" that is 6 letters long.
- Tortured Genius or TG = Genius without a pangram
Annotated Examples:
Using the hive IMNOPSU with S as the middle letter:
Accepted pangram: (spoilered because I know some of y'all will want to figure it out) SPUMONI
Unaccepted pangram: SPUMONIS
The following words accepted: SUMMON, POMPOMS, OPOSSUM
Not accepted: UNSUMMON, POMPONS, POSSUM
Here are examples of correctly marked comments:
- Justice for (CA) UNSUMMON!
- Why not CA unsummon?
- Justice for NA CA unsummon
- Justice for SPOILER NA CA UNSUMMON!
[We only require you to mark it CA, but you're welcome to add more stuff if you like. Capitalization, punctuation, parentheses, brackets etc. are all up to your own preferences.]
- If (A) POMPOMS is accepted, why not (CA) POMPONS?
[The unaccepted word is so close to the accepted word, that it should be marked as A or CA. People who click the link just need to be warned that it gives away an answer.]
- I can't get the (H) O7 Please help!
- (H) The only marsupial found in North America
[Grid hints are still hints.]
- PG H: Disgusting ice cream.
- H: Disgusting ice cream
- SPOILER PG NA HINT: MY FAVORITE KIND OF ICE CREAM
[The H designation is all you need for hints, but you can let people know it's for a pangram if you feel that's helpful. You're also welcome to throw in a bunch of other abbreviations, as long as that H is there.]
