The Scripps National Spelling Bee proves every year that word knowledge is personal and idiosyncratic.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee proves every year that word knowledge is personal and idiosyncratic. Words that baffle most of the audience are considered easy by elite spellers. And spellers get tripped up by words that many older people come across frequently. Here are some memorable words from Thursday’s final rounds of the bee.
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MARRAM: A Scandinavian-derived word for a beach grass. Rohan Rajeev misspelled it as “marem, ” opening the door for Ananya Vinay’s victory.
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WAYZGOOSE: A word of unknown origin, meaning a printer’s annual outing or entertainment. Ananya Vinay spelled it correctly during her duel for the title with Rohan Rajeev.
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STRULDBRUG: Coined by Jonathan Swift in his novel “Gulliver’s Travels, ” it means one of a class of imaginary persons who can never die but are declared dead in law at the age of 80 and live on wretchedly at state expense. Shourav Dasari spelled it wrong and was eliminated in fourth place.
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BUMICKY: A mixture of cement and powdered stone used for filling crevices. Tejas Muthusamy spelled this word, which has an unknown origin, correctly.
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CORRIEDALE: A large, hornless sheep from New Zealand. This word led to the surprising elimination of Siyona Mishra, the reigning South Asian Spelling Bee champion. She went with “coreydale.”
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AUTEUR: Rutvik Gandharsi knew how to spell this word, but he didn’t know what it meant — a film director who believes he or she is the sole author of a movie — and that was his downfall. He went with the similar-sounding “hauteur.”
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CHRYSELEPHANTINE: Composed of or adorned with gold or ivory. Tejas Muthusamy impressed the audience with his knowledge of roots by asking if it contained the Greek root “chrys, ” meaning gold.
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WHIRLICOTE: A heavy and luxurious carriage or coach. Maggie Sheridan struggled just to pronounce the word correctly and then gave her best guess, getting it right just before her 2-minute allotted time expired. “One second to spare, ” pronouncer Jacques Bailly said. “Don’t do that again.”
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SBRINZ: A hard cheese suitable for grating. Erin Howard spelled it correctly.
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APPARENTEMENT: An alliance of French political parties formed during an election. “You really have to give me a word I know, ” Erin Howard said to pronouncer Jacques Bailly. Upon hearing the word, she asked, “Did you misunderstand my request?” She spelled it right anyway.
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SKEUOMORPH: An ornament or design representing a utensil or implement. Shourav Dasari spelled it correctly.
