Can't beam with unusual groupings

I'm trying to beam across unusual sixteenth and eighth or dotted eighths groupings in 4/4 time, but the Beam Palettes in 3.5.2 doesn't let me do it most of the time.
I click on the beam placement that I want and that doesn't work or drag and drop the desired value but it just displays a red circle.

Here is what the handbook says:
Drag and drop a beam symbol from the Beam Properties palette onto a note in the score.
Select one or more notes in the score and click the desired symbol in the Beam Properties palette (double-click in versions prior to 3.4).