Aashi Parikh, Speller 354, had the word "entomologist," one specializing in a branch of biology concerned with insects.
Her sentence: "In the lesser known third stanza, Little Miss Muffet calls in an entomologist who refuses to help because, quote, 'Spiders aren’t insects and, oh by the way, your tuffet is infested with bedbugs.'"
The audience, at last, was amused. Aashi, an Ohio eighth grader, misspelled, though.
Linh Le, Speller 367, and another Ohio eighth grader, misspelled "leggieramente," in a light, delicate and brisk style — used as a direction in music.
Her sentence also got chuckles:
"The violinist played the usually slow wedding march leggieramente because she wanted to get home in time to see The Bachelorette finale."
Kendal Win, Speller 376 and a North Carolina eighth grader, laughed at her sentence for "deficiency," along with the audience:
"While in the cookie aisle, Simone patiently explained to her mother that, throughout history, countless diseases had actually been the result of an Oreo deficiency."
Kendal spelled it correctly, and is still in the competition.
