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11 Make It to Spelling Bee Finals

Week began with record 293 spellers

By the Associated Press

Posted May 28, 2009 1:39 PM CDT

(AP) – Eleven youngsters have advanced to tonight's finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee after surviving today's three semifinal rounds, which began with 41 candidates. Only five were eliminated in the first round, then 20 exited in an extremely difficult second round that knocked out some... Read full story »

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National Spelling Bee Opens With 'Witticism'

278 participants will be whittled down to 50

(AP) - The 85th National Spelling Bee is under way. Thirteen-year-old Kevin Lazenby of Opelika, Ala., stepped to the microphone this morning at a convention center outside Washington and correctly spelled "witticism." The 278 participants won local and regional spelling bees to make the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Each gets the opportunity to spell two words during today's preliminary rounds. More»

Girl, 6, Is Youngest Ever in National Spelling Bee

Lori Anne Madison competing in Scripps National this week

(AP) - Lori Anne Madison is blonde and adorable and talks at 100mph. In the last few weeks, she has won major awards in both swimming and math, but one accomplishment above all has made her an overnight national celebrity: This week, the precocious girl from Lake Ridge, Va., will be onstage with youngsters more than twice her age and twice her size as one of 278 spellers who have qualified for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. She's the youngest person ever to qualify in the national bee's 87-year-old history. More»

Spelling Bee's Winning Word: Cymotrichous

8th-grader Sukanya Roy takes the top prize

(NEWSER) - Long after the time allotted by ESPN had passed, the Scripps National Spelling Bee was still going strong last night. The five remaining competitors were on a streak—21 correct words in a row—and one started to wonder "if they could declare five-way co-champions." But when the streak finally ended, 14-year-old Sukanya Roy of Pennsylvania was left as the champion, taking home more than $40,000 in cash and prizes—and the trophy, of course. More»

Spelling Bees R Obsolete

Why show off a skill rendered useless by machines?: Alexandra Petri

(NEWSER) - It’s time again for the Scripps National Spelling Bee—but these days, it’s more “hilarious” than educational, writes Alexandra Petri in the Washington Post . “What better way to announce to the world at large that you have a totally useless and unmarketable skill—besides, I guess, framing your sociology degree?” Champion spellers should “savor it now,” she adds, because their "services will never be required again" in this age of Microsoft Word and iPhones. More»

The Toughest Words at Scripps Spelling Bee

Linguist explains which ones are the trickiest

(NEWSER) - The 84th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee is under way, and before a winner is crowned on national television tomorrow night, thousands of really obscure words will be tackled by 275 kids ages 8 to 15. Twelve-year-old Kevin Lazenby of Opelika, Ala., kicked off round two today, notes the AP , correctly spelling " dolorifuge ." If that seems like a tough one, brace yourself: NPR talks to linguist Ben Zimmer, who explains which words are really the tough ones. More»

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11 Make It to Spelling Bee Finals

Week began with record 293 spellers

children • competition • spelling bee • Scripps National Spelling Bee

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More Newser Stories

National Spelling Bee Opens With 'Witticism'

278 participants will be whittled down to 50

Girl, 6, Is Youngest Ever in National Spelling Bee

Lori Anne Madison competing in Scripps National this week

Spelling Bee's Winning Word: Cymotrichous

8th-grader Sukanya Roy takes the top prize

Spelling Bees R Obsolete

Why show off a skill rendered useless by machines?: Alexandra Petri

The Toughest Words at Scripps Spelling Bee

Linguist explains which ones are the trickiest

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