The spelling is coming fast and furious, but there are always some chances for levity.
Zekey Huang, Speller 233, asked Dr. Bailly how he was doing as he came to the mic.
"I'm doing fine. Ready to do what we're here for?" Dr. Bailly asked.
"Maybe," Zekey responded, to chuckles. Then the New York seventh grader spelled "horotelic" correctly, writing on his hand. The word means of or relating to biological evolution at rates within the range or rate distribution usual for a given group of plants or animals.
Lauren Holsapple, Speller 235, from Missouri, seemed to conduct her word, letter by letter, as she spelled "tikka," an Indian dish of marinated meat cooked on a skewer.
And Charles Millard -- speller 277, who played "Ron Burgunbee" in a Spelling Bee newscast -- gestured with his hands as he spelled "germon," a large pelagic tuna having long pectoral fins and noted for its fine flesh which is the source of most canned tuna : albacore. He put them out, in a stop gesture, and moved them at his sides.
Charles misspelled, though, and the Maryland seventh grader is out.
Ranjana Ramesh, Speller 297, asked Dr. Bailly how he was. When he reciprocated, she said, "As long as I get my word right, I'll be fine."
Luckily, the Massachusetts seventh grader spelled "Herzegovina" correctly.
And Luke Suko, Speller 299, just wanted to get going.
"What's my word?" he asked Dr. Bailly as he got to the mic. The Maryland seventh grader spelled "derailleur" correctly.
"I suppose you want your word, too?" Dr. Bailly asked the next speller, Noah Clark.
"Yes, please," replied Noah, Speller 300, a New York seventh grader. He speller "pantheon" correctly.