Craig Storm, speller 111, approached the mic.
"I have no jokes related to greetings, so you're going to have to accommodate me and laugh hysterically now," he said.
The audience complied. "Understood," Dr. Bailly said.
Other spellers have greeted him in French or German, or with a howdy or an aloha.
Still, Craig misspelled "pappardelle" and was eliminated from competition.