Top 10 Hardest and Easiest Spelling Bee Words, April 15-21

Here are the meanings of last week’s least-found words, and how they were used in recent Times articles:

1. lenity — clemency, leniency or kindness:

I also believe, as I wrote in a previous piece, that the rule of lenity should apply to all criminal defendants, including Trump. — Opinion: The Potential Trump Indictment Is Unwise (March 26, 2023)

2. hiragana — Japanese phonetic alphabet:

I spent much of the 1980s and 1990s as a New York Times correspondent in East Asia, and children there (including mine) learned to read through phonics and phonetic alphabets: hiragana in Japan, bopomofo in Taiwan, pinyin in China and hangul in South Korea. — Opinion: Two-Thirds of Kids Struggle to Read, and We Know How to Fix It (Feb. 11, 2023)

3. pompano — a prized fish with a forked tail:

Fans from all over have been descending on this remote river city for a last chance at enjoying Lusco’s signature dishes: spicy shrimp, beef steaks, broiled whole pompano and fried chicken. — A Mississippi Restaurant Has Been Beloved for Decades. But There’s Another Story to Tell. (Aug. 16, 2021)

4. tutti — performed by everyone, together:

But the climaxes, satisfying and riotous as they may be, are not the final destination; even after the climactic-seeming tutti riffs in “The Shedding of Landscapes” comes a restive percussive section. — Review: Contemporary Music Champions Celebrate With the Hits (April 16, 2023)

5. rattail — a narrow, hairless tail, or something that looks like one:

He started with a deep side part, brushing industrial strength gel outward from the roots, then pinching the hair with his fingers to create S-curves, teasing them in alternating directions with a rattail comb. — Put a Crimp in It (April 18, 2023)

6. tallit — a Jewish prayer shawl:

But some shoppers are fed up: “There’s a Santa on Wayfair wearing a tallit,” Ms. Herman said. — It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Hanukkah (Nov. 26, 2021)

7. tali — plural of talus, an ankle bone:

T.I.L. (Today I Learned) that tali is another word for “anklebones.” — Long Story Short (Jan. 3, 2022)

8. linnet — a small finch:

Blending poetry, criticism and science, 24 humorous essays defend the life of beings from platypuses and linnets to photosynthetic bacteria. — Newly Published, From ‘Shaun of the Dead’ to Patricia Highsmith (Nov. 24, 2021)

9. tubule — a small tube:

And each nephron contains a glomerulus, a tuft of tiny vessels that filters the blood as it passes through, and a tubule that sends cleansed blood and essential nutrients back into circulation. — Are Too Many Older Adults Told They Have Kidney Disease? (Nov. 1, 2021)

10. tinily — in a very small or minute way:

Among stamp collectors, it is not unusual for the owners of great rarities to put their initials or a symbol on backs of the stamps. Purists cringe, but many philatelists say that doing so — carefully, and tinily — does not damage a stamp or detract from its value. — He Owns World Famous Stamps and a Prized Coin. Now He’s Selling. (March 10, 2021)

And the easiest words of the past week: