We've had a lot of spellers get through so far, but there are a few who didn't make it.
There was a lot of applause for Alan Shi (Speller 21), a California eighth grader, who was the first one to leave the competition. He incorrectly spelled cynosure, a center of attraction or interest.
The next speller, Zerin Wetzel (Speller 22) also spelled her word incorrectly, and was eliminated. She misspelled commissar, a Communist party official who assures party loyalty.
She also received a round of applause.
Qingyi Wang (Speller 27), an eighth grader here from China, misspelled graupel, granular snow pellets. The crowd clapped for him, too.