The Bee Blog

Funny ha-ha

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 12:38

Colette Giezentanner, speller 304, burst into laughter when she heard the sentence for her word, "oxyrhynch." It's a crab having a pointed rostrum (the prolongation on the front central...

Slow down

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 12:24

"I don't want to put you off your game, but can you try to spell a little bit slower?" Dr. Bailly asked. Melodie Loya, speller 274, slowed down a tiny bit as she spelled "madrague," a large ne...

Gooood morning

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 12:20

"Gooood morning," Darian Douglas, speller 169, said to Dr. Bailly. It was 12:20 p.m. The seventh grader from Jamaica was clear about his word, though. He knocked out "Kneippism," treatm...

Returnees are gone

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 12:13

Two former finalists have been eliminated. Amith Vasantha, speller 80, tied for 19th place last year. Amith, a California eighth grader, misspelled "mouton," a processed sheepskin that has been she...

Tessellar

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 12:03

Sahil Langote, speller 79, spelled "tessellar" correctly. It's formed of or resembling small pieces (as of marble, glass or tile) cut usually with a square or rectangular face and used in mosaic ...

The bell once more

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 12:01

Nidhi Vadlamudi, speller 73, misspelled "kula," a Melanesian interisland system of exchange in which prestige items (as necklaces) are ceremoniously exchanged with a concomitant trade in useful g...

Lauren Guo is out

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 11:56

Lauren Guo, speller 52, high-fived her fellow spellers as she walked off stage. The Colorado eighth grader tied for 17th place last year. This year, she misspelled "lychnoscope," a window in medi...

Breaking it down

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 11:48

Vayun Krishna, speller 14, is a California sixth grader in his first Bee. He spelled "pyrheliometer" correctly, an instrument for measuring the sun's total radiant energy as received at...

At the end of the round

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 11:32

Maya Jadhav, speller 484, is a fifth grader who made the finals for the second time Maya, who is from Wisconsin, tied for 42nd place last year. This year, she misspelled "praseodymium," a yellowish...

Friendship at the Bee

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 11:18

Phoebe Smith, speller 375, hugged her friend Melodie Loya, speller 274, when both found out they were finalists. Phoebe, a Pennsylvania eighth grader and Melodie, who lives in New York, have become go...

Two down

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 11:10

Brendan Pawlicki, speller 310, is out. He misspelled "nuchal," of, relating to or lying in the region of the back part of the neck. The Michigan seventh grader was a top speller for three y...

Thank YOU

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 11:05

"Ichthyophagi," Dr. Bailly said to Colette Giezentanner, speller 304. "Thank you," the Missouri sixth grader replied. She correctly spelled the word, which means a people (as in...

Another one down

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 10:54

Jack Lado, speller 285, is out. The Michigan eighth grader misspelled "doraphobia," a dread of touching the skin or fur of an animal. Jack tied for 42nd place last year. ...

Idaho is out

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 10:46

Joseph Moran, speller 199, is out. The Idaho seventh grader misspelled "cyclamen," a plant or flower of a genus of widely cultivated Eurasian plants having centrally depressed rounded t...

Atman is out

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 10:41

This is the second time speller 175, Atman Balakrishnan, has been to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. But the Illinois seventh grader has a spelling legacy. His father, Balu Natarajan,...

The first bell

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 10:32

Anson Cook, speller 158, is the first to misspell. The Maryland eighth grader misspelled "ergodic," of or relating to a process in which every sequence or sizable sample is the same sta...

Formerly first

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 10:11

Erin Howard, speller 93 and an Alabama eighth grader, used to be the first speller at the Bee. Now, the numbers are more randomized, but spellers used to go by state. Last year, Erin fi...

More than fine

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 10:05

"Eh, I'm fine," said Lauren Guo, speller 52 and a Colorado eighth grader. She's more than fine now. eShe correctly spelled "trunnion," a pin or pivot usually mounted on beari...

And we're off

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 09:38

"I don't know what I expected," Rishik Gandhasri, speller 5 said, when he learned his word -- "Yiddishkeit" -- came from Yiddish. The California seventh grader, who tied for 25th last y...

Choose the Bee mascots' names!

Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 09:17

Good morning, everyone! Spelling starts at 10 a.m. today, but before it begins, we want to tell you a little bit about our new mascots -- King Bee and Queen Bee. They don't have real names...