The Bee Blog

Spellers are getting demanding

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 17:29

First, speller 245, Jashun Paluru, said he hoped Dr. Bailly didn't mean it literally when he said he'd jump in if he heard any issues with his pronunciation. He didn't. Jashum spelled sculptur...

Booyah!

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 17:21

"How are you, Will?" Dr, Bailly asked Will Rooke, speller 241. "Spicy," Will replied. Then he got his word, conceptism, and he was even better. "Wait, that's my word? Sweet," Will s...

What was the word?

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 17:18

Brent Earl Ebarle, speller 237, had trouble pronouncing his word, flagitate. He kept getting caught up in the middle. Dr. Bailly had him repeat it again and again, to make sure it sounded...

What are the odds?

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 17:00

Christopher Serrao, speller 231, spelled napoleon correctly. It's a rich pastry consisting of several oblong layers of puff paste with a filling of cream, custard or jelly. It also h...

Instigate

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 16:30

"Can I have all of the relevant information? Just, like, all of it?" asked Anna-Livia Regan, speller 196. She tried to get Dr, Bailly to enunciate her word, instigate, more specifically t...

That's lamentable

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 16:25

Folau Holi, speller 177, wasn't particularly confident when she stepped up to the mic. "I’m sorry, but I think I felt my heart just explode in my chest," she said. Her sentiment dovetaile...

You just have to spell it

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 16:20

Ben Lenger, speller 165, got caught up when he tried to say his word - feudalism - after he spelled it. But that's OK. He got all the letters out without making a mistake. He's still in the competi...

Give it a shot

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 16:14

“I’m back, but probably not for long," said Rebekah Zeigler, speller 168. Then she heard her word, paramountcy. "OK," she said. "I'll give it a shot." Unfortunately, she go...

Three down

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 16:04

We've dropped three in a row. Speller 159, Jaden Zhang, misspelled inopportune, which means not fit, suitable or convenient for a particular occurrence. Speller 160, Andrew Elia...

An Oscar moment

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 15:57

Here's the Bee's take on the Best Picture Oscars faux pas: "The movie producer's effusiveness quickly transformed into taciturnity as the correct "Best Picture" card began making its roun...

Starting up again

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 15:48

"Howdy. How are you Cal?" Dr. Bailly asked. "Nervous" said Calvin Alexander, Jr., speller 146. "Let's see if we can fix that," Dr. Bailly said, giving him the word rectify. He got it right....

A quick break

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 15:45

It's halftime for Round 3. There are 90 spellers who spelled their words correctly, and 37 who misspelled and are out of the competition. The competition will resume momentarily. &nb...

Can you sing it?

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 15:40

"Could you please sing it in a song?" Sylvia Nguyen, speller 145, asked Dr. Bailly. "You don't want to hear that," Dr. Bailly responded. Sylvia heard a bell, though, when she misspelled rep...

Time limits

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 15:31

Spellers have two minutes to spell the words onstage. Normally, there is a traffic light that changes colors as the spellers progress. There are technical difficulties with the system, so a Bee ...

Dr. Bailly's judging your lunch

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 15:12

"The toxicologist concluded that the cause of the illness of the patient who'd eaten old sushi he'd found in his gym locker was being dumb enough to eat old sushi he'd found in his gym locke...

Hi there, Shonda

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 15:05

Shonda Rhimes - the mastermind behind Grey's Anatomy and Scandal - is a noted fan of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The sentence for speller 111, Sahil Langote, is a reference to a show on whic...

Starting over

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 14:56

Thomas Kaufman, speller 105, stopped partway through his spelling of rehabilitant. "R-E-H-A-B-I-L-A - it's A - wait, it's A - I don't know," Thomas said. He asked the judges if he could sta...

Yeah, bae

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 14:43

Never let anyone tell you the Bee isn't hip. In addition to words like reprise, rehearsal and gluttony - as well as plenty of others that aren't used quite as commonly - spellers are also getting w...

Let's do this

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 14:40

"Let's do this, shall we?" asked Will Lourcey, speller 82. His word was fallacy. "So it's a bad argument?" he asked. Essentially. Will, a Texas eighth grader, gave a double fist ...

How about some dad jokes?

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - 14:20

The funny sentences the spellers get are sometimes uproarious. Other times, they just cause you to shake your head. That's what speller 62, Joel Miles, did when he word the sentence for bloviator: ...