Scripps National Spelling Bee

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'Ingluvies' Foils 6-Year-Old's Spelling Bee Run

Lori Anne Madison eliminated from Scripps National Spelling Bee

(Newser) - Lori Anne Madison, at six years old the youngest Scripps National Spelling Bee contestant ever, got her first word correct yesterday: "dirigible." But in the next round, she stumbled on "ingluvies," starting the word with an "e" rather than an "i." (What does...

National Spelling Bee Opens With 'Witticism'

278 participants will be whittled down to 50

(Newser) - 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...

Girl, 6, Is Youngest Ever in National Spelling Bee

Lori Anne Madison competing in Scripps National this week

(Newser) - 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...

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...

Scripps National Spelling Bee Is Obsolete: Alexandra Petri

 Spelling Bees 
 R Obsolete 
OPINION
Jun 2, 2011 4:33 PM CDT

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,...

'Ibuprofen' a Real Headache at National Spelling Bee

Painkiller more familiar to adults eliminates an 11-year-old contestant

(Newser) - With words like "ineluctable" and "usufructuary," most adults wouldn't make it too far at the 84th Scripps National Spelling Bee ... unless they happened to be dealt a word familiar to those suffering the pains of old age. "Ibuprofen" knocked out a sixth grader from Idaho...

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...

Ohio Teen Wins Bee Amid D-R-A-M-A

14-year-old Anamika Veeramani's winning word? 'Stromuhr'

(Newser) - Who says Cleveland can't win a championship? The long-suffering sports city captured one in a DC ballroom last night when 14-year-old Anamika Veeramani took first prize at the 83rd Scripps National Spelling Bee, keeping a poker face as she spelled "stromuhr," and not cracking a smile until the...

Protesters Target 'Illogical Spelling' at Bee

'Enuf is enuf,' say spelling reform advocates

(Newser) - A small group of protesters, some of them dressed in bee costumes, gathered outside the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington DC yesterday to make their case for spelling reform. The protesters, representing the American Literacy Council, say the illogical spelling of the English language is holding back much of...

Kansas Girl Wins Spelling Bee With 'Laodicean'

Shivashankar becomes national spelling champ after getting 'laodicean' right

(Newser) - Cool and collected, Kavya Shivashankar wrote out every word on her palm and always ended with a smile. The 13-year-old Kansas girl saved the biggest smile for last, when she rattled off the letters to "Laodicean" to become the nation's spelling champion. The budding neurosurgeon outlasted 11 finalists tonight...

11 Make It to Spelling Bee Finals

Week began with record 293 spellers

(Newser) - 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 returning favorites. Among the words...

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