Sean Hickey of Grass Lake, Mass. reacts as he misspells his word during round two of the preliminaries at the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee at National Harbor, Md. on May 28, 2014.Gary Cameron—Reuters
The Scripps National Spelling Bee kicked off Wednesday with a live Twitter feed of the battle for spelling supremacy.
The fate of each speller is sealed with a tweet that records the word, its definition and whether the young spellers, ranging in age from 8 to 15, spelled it “correctly,” “incorrectly,” or in one unfortunate competitor’s case, “incorrectly” then “correctly” (he was still eliminated).
Logophiles (lovers of words) can get a sampling of a few stumpers, below. Some are actually not all that tricky.
But most are sprawling, Latinate nightmares.
#speller238 Shobha Dasari spelled the word ‘liliaceous’ (relating to upright perennial leafy-stemmed bulbous herbs) correctly #spellingbee — NationalSpellingBee (@ScrippsBee) May 28, 2014
#speller230 Dwight Moore Jr. (TN) spelled the word ‘uliginous’ (growing in wet or swampy ground) incorrectly #spellingbee — NationalSpellingBee (@ScrippsBee) May 28, 2014
#speller218 Hussain Godhrawala (SC) spelled the word ‘unguiculate’ (having nails or claws) correctly #spellingbee — NationalSpellingBee (@ScrippsBee) May 28, 2014
And what happens after the young spellers are summarily booted out of the competition for a mistake? The organizers tweeted one picture that showed the competition may be tough, but it isn’t heartless.
The Most Emotional Moments in National Spelling Bee History
Andrew Lay of Stanley, N.C. reacts after he correctly spelled the word "negus" during the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 31, 2007 in Washington.Alex Wong—Getty ImagesLance Letson Hungar of McLean, Va. waits for his turn during the semi-final round of the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 30, 2008 in Washington.Molly Riley—ReutersLucas Liner, 14, of Luckey, Ohio struggles to spell "bobadil" in the third round of the National Spelling Bee on June 3, 2010 in Washington.Astrid Riecken—MCT/Getty ImagesSamir Patel of Colleyville, Texas struggles to spell the word "eremacausis" during round 7 of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on June 1, 2006 in Washington.Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty ImagesGrifton Wright, of Jamaica, grimaces after misspelling "ericeticolous" during the final rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 31, 2012 in in National Harbor, Md.Chuck Myers—MCT/Getty ImagesSidharth Chand, of Pontiac, Mich. reacts after misspelling "apodyterium" during the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 28, 2009 in Washington.Robert Giroux—MCT/Getty ImagesVeronica Penny of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, covers up her face as she tries to spell the word "clary" during round four of the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition on May 28, 2009 in Washington.Alex Wong—Getty ImagesSammy Totino, 14, of Chesterland, Ohio, reacts after misspelling the word "ocarina" during the 74th annual National Spelling Bee on May 31, 2001 in Washington.Ann Heisenfelt—APJustin Carroll concentrates on the word "synchretized", which he spelled in the final round of the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee on June 1, 1995 in Washington.Jamal A. Wilson—AFP/Getty ImagesDavid Tidmarsh, 14, of South Bend, Indi. peers over his placard after spelling the word "gaminerie" correctly to advance to round 15 during the National Spelling Bee on June 3, 2004 in Washington.Matthew Cavanaugh—Getty ImagesKennyi Aouad, 11, of Terre Haute, Ind., bursts into laughter when asked to spell the word, "sardoodledom," in round three of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Wednesday, May 30, 2007 in Washington. Jacquelyn Martin—APRebecca A. Sealfon, a 13-year-old eighth grade student from Brooklyn, N.Y. celebrates her win in the 70th Annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee on May 29, 1997 in Washington. Stephen Jaffe—AFP/Getty ImagesNupur Lala, 14, from Tampa, Fla., reacts to winning the 72nd annual National Spelling Bee after correctly spelling "logorrhea" on June 3, 1999 in Washington.Ron Edmonds—APMichael Reiner of Wellsville, Ohio flashes a big grin after correctly spelling "fete" at the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 30, 2012 in National Harbor, Md. Chuck Myers—MCT/Getty ImagesFrom left, Dylan O'Connor of Alexandria Bay, N.Y., Tajaun Gibbison of Mandeville, Jamaica, Téa Freedman-Susskind of Redmond, Wash., and Ankita Vadiala of Manassas, Va., celebrate after they qualified for the semifinal round of the National Spelling Bee on May 28, 2014 in Oxon Hill, Md.Evan Vucci—APSpeller Jacob Williamson, of Cape Coral, Fla., competes in the finals of the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md. on May 29, 2014. Chuck Myers—MCT /LandovFamily members come on stage with spellers Ansun Sujoe, of Fort Worth, left, and Sriram Hathwar, of Painted Post, N.Y., as they celebrate as co-winners of the the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md. on May 29, 2014. Chuck Myers—MCT/Landov
