Spelling resumes at 1:15 p.m. We'll see you then!

Katharine Wang, speller 284, is at her fourth bee. When she correctly spelled "synopsis" and speller 285, Sravanth Malla, correctly spelled "miso," we finished the second half of the round with no misspellings.

"Come on," Aahil Nishad, speller 281, whispered to the mic as he pulled it to his level.

"It doesn't want to cooperate," Dr. Bailly said.

Aahil got it down. He spelled "mahal" correctly and will continue in the bee.

Andrew Gould, speller 273, almost sang his letters as he spelled. "E-N-D-E-M-I-C" kept him in the competition.

"Good morning, Dr. Bailly, or is it good afternoon by now?" asked Kyoko Leaman, speller 265.

I don't know," he said, before deciding that yes, it was still before 12 p.m.

Kyoko spelled "temporal" -- of or relating to time as opposed to eternity -- correctly to stay in the bee.

Tejas Muthusamy, speller 264 and a finalist who tied for 8th place last year, is back at the bee. He correctly spelled "credenza" to stay in the competition this year.

Ankita Vadiala, speller 261, greeted Dr. Bailly with a "Howdy."

"Any chance you could just give me the spelling and make my life easier?" she asked.

"I wish," he said. "You can do it."

Ankita, who last year tied for 13th, did -- she spelled "geta" correctly, and is still in the bee.

Samuel Pereles, speller 255, was a finalist last year. He correctly spelled "gardenia" to stay in the competition this year.

Kasey Torres, speller 244, is back for his second bee. He yanked the microphone down to his level, wrote on the back of his placard and correctly spelled "antipasto" to stay in the bee. He walked away pumping his fists.

Grant Taylor, speller 240, had a big grin on his face as he approached the mic. He skipped back to his seat after correctly spelling "wanton" to stay in the bee.