Wednesday, May 30, 2001

Day Four: Prelude to a championship

By Eric Enders / Bee Staff

Photos by Mark Bowen / Bee Photographer

Ari Goldstein, 14, of Uniondale, N.Y., awaits the judges' decision after spelling his first-round word on Wednesday.

The crowning of a national champion came one step closer on Wednesday, as more than half the contestants in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee were eliminated in a marathon day of spelling that lasted more than seven hours.

Spellers were divided into morning and afternoon groups Wednesday so they wouldn’t have to sit on stage the entire day, and after the completion of the second and third rounds, only 87 of the day’s 178 contestants had survived. The final rounds, culminating in the crowning of the champion, will be televised live on ESPN at 10 a.m. EDT Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Bee’s second round featured an eclectic mix of words, including “eclectic” itself, which was spelled correctly by Leann Joseph, 13, of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Several spellers said the second round was easier than they expected because it was composed largely of words common in everyday use, such as “stenographer,” “pentathlon,” and “condiment.”

But Round Three was a bit more difficult, featuring obscurities like “bodkin,” “sonobuoy,” and “plunderbund.” In addition, the words appeared to get harder near the end of the third round. During the morning session, 18 of the round’s first 21 contestants spelled correctly, while 10 of the final 22 misspelled. In the afternoon session the disparity was even more evident, as 18 of the first 22 spelled correctly while 15 of the final 23 were eliminated.

One veteran speller says the key to success in the Bee is total concentration at the microphone. “I just imagine that there’s nobody out there,” said Anisha Kshetrapal of Fort Myers, Fla., who has appeared in two previous Bees. “It’s just me talking to (pronouncer Alex) Cameron and the judges. That’s it. Nobody else is there. There are no cameras, no people, no lights, just us talking. It makes me less nervous, because otherwise I’d be overwhelmed by all of the people out there looking.”

During grueling spelling sessions that can take up to four hours, Anisha said she passes the time between her words by pretending to spell the words other spellers receive. “I do it with almost every single word,” she said, “and I get most of them right.”

Many words on Wednesday’s list seemed tailor-made for the spellers who got them. After waiting anxiously for more than an hour for her third round word, Ashley Yu of Hershey, Pa., got “bruxism,” the habit of nervously grinding one’s teeth. (She missed it, though.) Also in the third round, Marisa Choy of Huntington Beach, Calif., who counts among her pets two cats, a parakeet, and four fish, correctly spelled “zoophilist,” a person who loves animals. And Courtney Eshleman of Quarryville, Pa., received two flowery words in a row: “hibiscus” and “mimosa,” both of which are blossom-bearing plants.

One of the favorites entering the Bee was Sean Conley of Anoka, Minn., last year’s runner-up. Sean breezed through the first three rounds, spelling “auriferous,” “eradicate,” and “impecuniously” correctly. Sean said Round Three was the one he was most worried about. “I got a pretty easy word in Round One,” he said. “All those words come from a list they give you to study, so it’s not too hard. But after that it’s harder because I haven’t necessarily studied them before. I almost got out in Round Three last year.”

In 2000, Sean almost tripped up on “floppety” before getting it right and eventually finishing second to George Thampy. This year George’s sister Mallika inherited his St. Louis spelling crown, but she missed “caries” and was eliminated in Round Three. In the Comfort Room (a private room, stocked with punch, cookies, and a dictionary, where spellers are taken after being eliminated) her brother George consoled her, telling jokes until Mallika’s tears turned into laughs.

More notable words from the second day of the Bee:

-         polydactyly: The condition of having more than five toes or fingers, spelled correctly in Round Three by Kate McCurdy of Newburgh, N.Y.

-         misopedist: A person who hates children, misspelled in Round Three by Samantha Mascia of Matamoras, Pa.

-         hoyden: A girl of loud, carefree, or boisterous behavior, misspelled in Round Three by Steven Nalley of Starkville, Miss.

-         golgotha: A synonym for cemetery, deriving from the name of the hill on which Christ was crucified, spelled correctly by Anna Hansen of Greenville, Mich.

-         androgynous: having both male and female characteristics, misspelled in Alberto Gómez of Ventnor City, N.J.

-         pernoctate: To stay up or out all night, spelled correctly in Round Three by Joshua Hanssen of Ocean Springs, Miss.

Courtney May Eshleman, 13, of Quarryville, Pa., looked on as six consecutive spellers misspelled before her. (She broke the streak by getting "mimosa" right.)

Julie Palmer, Anthony Guzman, and Danielle McMullen look on as another speller misses in Round Three.

Three-time Bee participant Kelsey Swaim of Berkeley Springs, W. Va., looks on as the judges ring the bell signifying that she misspelled "spadiceous."

Bill Briggs, 14, of Grand Rapids, Mich., is interviewed after spelling out on "spondean" in Round Three.

Brendan Chan, Morgan Diefenbach, Nathan Calixto, and Bethany Young look on as they await their turn to spell.

Mallika Thampy, 12, of St. Louis concentrates as she thinks about how to spell "caries." She missed the word in Round Three and was eliminated from the competition.