Sohum Sukhatankar, Speller 506 and a Texas sixth grader, misspelled "ligniperdous," meaning destructive to wood.
Sohum tied for 23rd place last year.
Also out is Pranathi Jammula, Speller 516 and a Texas seventh grader. Pranathi misspelled "muscicolous," meaning growing on decaying mosses or liverworts.
And Amith Vasantha, Speller 14 and a California seventh grader, is out on "niaouli," a small irregular evergreen tree of the southwestern Pacific islands.