Lucas Tardif, Speller 366 and a New York eighth grader, asked Dr. Bailly to spell "coriaceous" for him. Luckily, Lucas figured out how to spell it himself. It means, like leather in appearance, texture or quality : tough.
Hanna Closs, Speller 370 and a North Carolina eighth grader, complimented Dr. Bailly's tie (it has bees on it) before spelling "morpheme" correctly. It's a meaningful linguistic unit that contains no smaller meaningful parts.
Srivatsav Nemmani, Speller 375, asked for the definition of his word, "refugium."
But it's a long one, and the Tennessee eighth grader tried to cut it off before Dr. Bailly finished it: "an area of relatively unaltered climate that is inhabited by plants and animals during a period of continental climatic change (as a glaciation) and remains as a center of relic forms from which a new dispersion and speciation may take place after climatic readjustment."
Dale Winand, Speller 380, and a Pennsylvania eighth grader, got his word right -- "loculus," a small chamber or cavity -- and a happy birthday wish from Head Judge Mary Brooks.
And Benjamin Zobian, Speller 389 and a Pennsylvania seventh grader, said, "What's up, Doc?" as he came to the mic.
His word was "cabretta," a leather tanned from hair sheepskins and used for gloves, garments and shoe uppers. He misspelled it and is out.