Top 10 Hardest and Easiest Spelling Bee Words, Sept. 2-8

Here are the meanings of the 10 hardest words that have also been used in Times articles.

1. tortoni — an ice cream made with heavy cream, maraschino cherries, almonds and more:

Those who like a little something sweet will fall for the precise, unapologetically Italian desserts (tortoni! affogato! cioccolata densa!). — A Piece of Italy for Everyone (Oct. 10, 2013)

2. mammon — wealth that has a corrupting influence:

In so doing, it effects a partial reconciliation between America’s Christian heritage, with its deep skepticism about the possibility of serving God and Mammon, and America’s boundless opportunities for getting rich.— How ‘The Great Gatsby’ Explains America (June 20, 2023)

3. unroof — to take the roof or covering off:

So exasperated were the citizens over the long delay that they began to unroof the building, and Gregory X was elected. From 1261 to 1281 the Popes stayed in Viterbo, preferring it to Rome, which had become too hectic for them. — Monsters and Other Marvels (Jan. 8, 1984)

4. venule — a very small vein:

Raynaud’s affects parts of the body that have a characteristic circulatory pattern: a high density of direct connections between arterioles — small vessels that branch out from arteries — and venules, or small veins. — Cold Hands May Signal Raynaud’s Phenomenon (Dec. 5, 2016)

5. ennead — a group of nine, sometimes referring to a set of nine Egyptian deities:

Mr. Polshek retired from his firm, by then called Polshek Partnership, in 2005. In 2010 the firm reconstituted itself and changed its name to Ennead, which is Greek for “the nine,” a reference to the number of its remaining partners. — James Stewart Polshek, Quiet Giant of Modern Architecture, Dies at 92 (Sept. 10, 2022)

6. bilabial — Articulated with both lips:

P and b are both bilabial plosives, meaning that your mouth does the same thing when you make the sound of both letters. The difference is that “b” is voiced, which for some people, makes it sound funny or strange coming at the end of a word. — IHOP Promotes Burgers by ‘Changing’ Name to IHOb, Gets Reaction (June 11, 2018)

7. papillae and 8. papilla — tiny, protruding cell(s):

To match their backgrounds, cuttlefish use an array of pigment-filled skin cells called chromatophores and raised structures called papillae.— What’s Really Happening When a Cuttlefish Seems to Vanish (June 28, 2023)

9. labile — Liable to change; unstable:

In its particulars, that work prefigured much that was to come: public, politically labile, made with sparse means and leaving no object behind. — Lawrence Weiner, Artist Whose Medium Was Language, Dies at 79 (Dec. 4, 2021)

10. hamate — A small, wedge-shaped bone in the wrist (if you’re holding a baseball bat, the bone is roughly where the knob of the bat meets your palm — and is therefore a common source of baseball injuries):

Several joined the I.L. in the past two weeks (Chapman, with an infected wound stemming from a tattoo; Benintendi, with a broken hamate bone in his right wrist; Rizzo, with headaches related to an epidural injection for his balky back). — Yankees Injury Woes Continue as D.J. LeMahieu Is Shelved (Sept. 8, 2022)

And a bonus: 11. impalpable — not easy to comprehend:

On that spring day, white Tulsans entered and destroyed Greenwood, burning buildings and murdering Black citizens on a large scale. They were supported by some police officers. Afterward, as in Vienna, property relations were forever altered, which had an impalpable but unmistakable effect on attitudes. — The War on History Is a War on Democracy (June 29, 2021)

The list of the week’s easiest words: