Two Missouri spelling bee contestants left judges spellbound over the weekend, powering through 66 rounds before organizers called a tie because they ran out of words, the Kansas City-Star reports.
While the pool started with 25 students, Sophia Hoffman, a fifth-grader at Highland Park Elementary School, and Kush Sharma, a seventh-grader at Frontier School of Innovation, were the last two standing after 19 rounds at the Jackson County Spelling Bee at the Kansas City Public Library’s Plaza Branch.
When they correctly spelled all of the words on the national bee’s list, twenty additional words were chosen from Merriam-Webster’s 11th Edition. The duo managed to make it through all of those words, too.
By contrast, the 2013 bee ended after 21 rounds.
The competition will resume Mar. 8, and the winner will go on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Cybersecurity Experts Are Sounding the Alarm on DOGE
- Meet the 2025 Women of the Year
- The Harsh Truth About Disability Inclusion
- Why Do More Young Adults Have Cancer?
- Colman Domingo Leads With Radical Love
- How to Get Better at Doing Things Alone
- Michelle Zauner Stares Down the Darkness
Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com