Contest Rules of the
78th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee
in Washington, D.C.

Recent modifications other than those associated with dates are indicated in red.
 

 

1. Students participating in the 78th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., must qualify under ten requirements:

(1) they must not have passed beyond the eighth grade on or before February 1, 2005;
(2) they must not have reached their 16th birthday on or before the date of the national finals, June 1, 2005;
(3) they, their parents, educators, relatives, or acquaintances must not have obtained a copy of the 2005 School Pronouncer Guide for use in studying;
(4) they must not have spelled in their final local spelling bee any words that appear in the 2005 School Pronouncer Guide;
(5) they must not have won their final local spelling bee before February 1, 2005;
(6) they must not have been disqualified at any level of any sponsor's spelling bee program between June 2004 and April 2005;
(7) they must not have eschewed normal school activity in favor of preparation for spelling bees;
(8) they must not have been declared the champion of any previous Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.;
(9) they must be the individual champion (last one standing) of a sponsor's final spelling bee; and
(10) they must not have declared to another entity an academic classification higher than eighth grade.

With regard to requirement (7), normal school activity shall be defined as adherence to the full school schedule and varied academic course load maintained by a majority of the speller's age-mates and grade-mates.

2. The official source for all words given in competition shall be Webster's Third New International Dictionary and its Addenda Section, copyright 2002, Merriam-Webster. Webster's Third is the only comprehensive study resource for all rounds except Round Two. In addition to appearing in Webster's Third, words given in Round Two may be found in either the 2005 edition of Paideia or the Additional Words section of Books I and II of the 2005 Sponsor Bee Guides.

3. The national finals shall be conducted in rounds. The competition shall be oral in all rounds except Round One, which shall be a 25-word written test.

4. There shall be no eliminations in Round One. Eliminations announced immediately after Round Two, an oral round, shall be determined in accordance with Rule 5. Eliminations in Rounds Three and higher are discussed in Rule 13.

5. Eliminations before the start of Round Three shall occur in accordance with a "threshold of 90" standard that is applied to a score that reflects performance in both Round One and Round Two. One point shall be given for each word spelled correctly on the 25-word written test in Round One. Three points shall be given for a correct spelling in the oral Round Two. Scores may range from 0 to 28: The score for all words spelled correctly in Rounds One and Two shall be 28. Spellers' scores shall be plotted on a chart. Beginning at 28 on the chart, the judges shall begin adding spellers at each consecutive descending scoring level until a sum of at least 90 spellers has been attained. This point shall be called the "threshold of 90," and all spellers with scores at levels beyond the "threshold of 90" shall be eliminated immediately after the conclusion of Round Two.

6. With the exception of Round One, each speller remaining in the competition at the start of any round shall spell one word in a round.

7. Words shall be pronounced according to the diacritical markings in Webster's Third New International Dictionary and its Addenda Section, copyright 2002, Merriam-Webster, from which the pronouncer shall select the definition or definitions that he provides.

8. In oral competition (all rounds except Round One), after the pronouncer gives the speller a word, the speller shall be encouraged to pronounce the word before spelling it and after spelling it. However, no speller shall be eliminated for failing to pronounce a word.

9. In oral competition (all rounds except Round One), the speller may ask the pronouncer to pronounce the word again, define it, use it in a sentence, or provide the language origin. In addition, if the speller wishes to ask if the dictionary lists a specific root word as the root of the word to be spelled, the speller must specify a pronunciation of the root (not a spelling), its language, and its definition. The pronouncer shall grant all such requests as long as they are in accordance with the time constraints outlined in Rule 11.

10. Having started to spell a word in oral competition (all rounds except Round One), a speller may stop and start over, retracing the spelling from the beginning; in retracing, however, there can be no change of letters or their sequence from those first pronounced. If letters or their sequence is changed in the respelling, the speller shall be eliminated.

11. A speller is expected to spell familiar words without delay and to refrain from routines that employ unnecessary or repetitive questioning. Consequently, the speller's time at the microphone shall be subject to the prescripts associated with four time phases: Regular Time, Abbreviated Regular Time, Finish Time, and Bonus Time except as provided in Rule 16.

Regular Time is a two-minute time period that begins when the pronouncer first pronounces the word. If the speller has not begun to spell the word when a tone sounds to indicate the end of Regular Time, the judges shall orally notify the speller of the imminent start of Finish Time. This notification shall occur regardless of the nature of discourse occurring between the speller and officials prior to the conclusion of Regular Time. If the speller has begun to spell the word when a tone sounds to indicate the end of Regular Time, the judges shall permit the speller to complete the spelling-provided that the spelling proceeds at an even, reasonable pace. If the speller has begun to spell the word when a tone sounds to indicate the end of Regular Time and the spelling is marked by an unreasonable pace, a question, or retracing of letters, the judges shall orally inform the speller of the imminent start of Finish Time. Spellers shall not be able to view the time clock during Regular Time.

Abbreviated Regular Time is identical to Regular Time in all respects except that the time period shall be 90 seconds. A speller shall be subject to Abbreviated Regular Time for the remainder of the competition after exhausting Regular Time twice except as provided in Rule 16.

Finish Time is a 30-second time period that shall begin immediately after the judges provide oral notification of its imminent start. The judges and pronouncer shall not communicate with the speller during Finish Time. The judges shall disqualify any speller who does not provide a complete spelling during Finish Time. During Finish Time the speller shall have the benefit of viewing a clock count down from 30 seconds.

Bonus Time is a one-minute continuation of Regular Time or Abbreviated Regular Time that a speller may claim only once during competition after Round Two. To claim Bonus Time, the speller must orally notify the judges before Finish Time commences. Any unused portion of Bonus Time may not be carried over to a subsequent experience at the microphone.

12. Spellers onstage may not use devices to time themselves or other spellers.

13. Upon misspelling a word in Round Three or higher, a speller immediately drops out of the competition, except as provided in Rules 14, 16, and 17. The next word on the pronouncer's list is given to the next speller.

14. If none of the contestants remaining in the competition at the start of a round spells a word correctly during the round, all shall remain in the competition.

15. All spellers eliminated in the same round shall be tied for the same place.

16. At the beginning of any round in which either two or three spellers remain, the pronouncer shall move to the Championship Words section of the word list. The Championship Words section contains 25 words. If a champion does not emerge in the course of administering these final 25 words, the remaining spellers shall be declared co-champions. In the event that a round beginning with more than either two or three spellers ends with only one speller to begin the next and perhaps final round, the pronouncer shall not move to the Championship Words section at that point in the competition. Any speller remaining in the competition at the time the Championship Words are administered shall be subject to all aspects of Rule 11 except Abbreviated Regular Time, even if the speller was subject to Abbreviated Regular Time at an earlier point in the competition.

17. If only one of the spellers remaining in the competition at the start of a round spells a word correctly during that round, a new round shall begin and the speller shall be given an opportunity to spell the next word on the list. If the speller succeeds in correctly spelling the new word, the speller shall be declared the champion. Otherwise (that is, if the speller does not succeed in correctly spelling the new word), all the spellers remaining in the competition at the start of the previous round shall remain in the competition. A new round shall begin, with these spellers spelling in the original order.

18. Webster's Third New International Dictionary and its Addenda Section, copyright 2002, Merriam-Webster, shall serve as the final authority for the spelling of words. If more than one spelling is listed for a word that the pronouncer has provided for the speller to spell, any of these spellings shall be accepted as correct if all of the following three criteria are met: (1) The pronunciations of the words are identical, (2) the definitions of the words are identical, and (3) the words are clearly identified as being standard variants of each other. Spellings at other locations having temporal labels (such as archaic, obsolete), stylistic labels (such as substand, nonstand), or regional labels (such as North, Midland, Irish) which differ from main entry spellings not having these status labels shall not be accepted as correct.

19. If a word has one or more homonyms, the pronouncer shall indicate which word is to be spelled. If the listed word is not properly identified, either by defining it or distinguishing the homonyms, any correct spelling of any homonym shall be accepted.

20. The speller shall not be disqualified for failing to note that a word is capitalized (noted as "cap," "usu cap," "often cap," or "sometimes cap" in Webster's Third New International Dictionary and its Addenda Section, copyright 2002, Merriam-Webster).

21. An official escort may appeal the judges' decision regarding the elimination of his/her speller by filing an Appeal Form with the director or word list manager. The deadline for filing an appeal is before the speller affected would have received his/her next word had he/she stayed in the competition. No appeal shall be entertained after that word has been given to another speller. When only five spellers remain, an oral appeal must be made immediately, that is, before the speller affected would have received his/her next word had he/she stayed in the competition.

22. The Scripps National Spelling Bee provides accommodation for spellers who have physical challenges. All requests for Bee officials to accommodate special needs involving sight, hearing, speech, or movement must be directed to the national office no later than April 30, 2005. The judges have discretionary power to amend the time limit rule and oral/written spelling requirements on a case-by-case basis for spellers with diagnosed medical conditions involving sight, hearing, speech, or movement.

23. The judges are in complete control of the competition. Their decision shall be final on all questions.

 
Copyright 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee. All Rights Reserved.