It turns out there were co-champions this year! Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe went back and forth, spelling words like “nocifensor”, “paixtle”, “sdrucciola” and “gemeinschaft.” They exhausted all of the 25 words in the championship rounds. In Round 22, Sriram spelled “stichomythia” and Ansun correctly spelled “feuilleton” and were declared co-champions. This has not happened since 1962, so it came as a big surprise. It was very fun to watch and I can’t wait to watch again next year!
Day: May 29, 2014
2014 National Spelling Bee Semifinals
The National Spelling Bee Stage before all of the spellers enter.
The National Spelling Bee Semifinals were amazing! All of the spellers at the Bee are encouraging and supportive of one another. When Syamantak Payra, an 8th grader from Texas, missed the word “circumforaneous” and was eliminated, the other spellers and the audience gave him a standing ovation because he was a finalist last year and could have won this year.
There were so many great words, but I found the following to be the most interesting:
1. gehenna – a place or state of misery.
2. urceiform – shaped like an ancient Roman jug or pitcher with one handle.
3. tachytely – evolution at a fast rate resulting in speedy differentiation of new types.
4. ananke – a personification of compelling necessity or ultimate fate to which even the gods must yield.
5. concinnate – put together with neat propriety.
6. laulau – meat and fish wrapped in leaves and baked or steamed.
7. ormolu – a brass used to imitate gold and is used for decoration.
8. cadelle – the larva or adult of a small black beetle destructive to stored grain and sometimes preying on other insects.
9. retrorse – bent backward or downward.
10. serictery – the silk-producing gland of a caterpillar.
I am off to go and watch the finals right now!
the word explorer 