The Scripps National Spelling Bee came to a close Thursday night in National Harbor, Maryland. The champion? Rishik Gandhasri from California. Oh, I forgot to mention Rohan Raja, Sohum Sukhatankar, and Abhijay Kodali (all from Texas). But that’s only half--Erin Howard from Alabama, Christopher Serrao and Shruthika Padhy from New Jersey, and Saketh Sundar from Maryland? All champions as well!
    In the 17th round of the bee, shortly before midnight, Dr. Bailly had an announcement to make. “We are now entering uncharted territory,” he said, before going on to announce that after three more rounds, the Bee would be out of challenging words and that anyone who could make it through the next three rounds would be declared a co-champion. Naturally, all eight remaining spellers made it through and won. They dubbed themselves “octochamps.” The atmosphere in the ballroom was so full of excitement--the audience of over 1000 was breathlessly euphoric as not one, not two, but EIGHT champions were crowned. The Scripps rules provide for up to three co-champions, so eight seems unthinkable, and yet, this octet of talented spellers managed to make it happen. Scripps had no other choice. Everyone knew that they were witnessing history in the making. It was a wonderful surprise to see eight kids win the bee this year, but what does this mean for the future?
          Many agree that Scripps could have used harder words. With the advent of SpellPundit, which includes just about every word someone might need to know for a spelling bee, some believe that the bee might be permanently broken--the argument here is that too many kids know every possible word, and nothing can be done to “fix” the bee. While I do believe that the word list could have been improved, I do not think the bee is “dead” or irretrievable in any way. Each year, Scripps changes the rules based on what they think is best based on previous bees, and this year’s bee will just be another event to consider. Will we see some serious rule changes? Probably. Is the bee gone forever? Absolutely not.
          So what can be done? Some have suggested shortening the time limit or not allowing spellers to ask for information. That, however, seems to take away what is at the core of the bee--celebration of deep understanding of words and etymology and language. The words, though, could have been more difficult. While Scripps threw some incredibly difficult words at the spellers and they each absolutely deserved their championship, the dictionary has not been exhausted. Difficult as it is to believe, there are words hiding deep in the shadows of Merriam-Webster Unabridged that are even more esoteric, even more mind-boggling, and even more intimidating than the incredibly challenging words conquered by the Octochamps. The word difficulty also seemed to progress inconsistently, and it would probably be in Scripps’ best interest to standardize that, although I understand fully that it is easier said than done.
    In any case, each of the Octochamps worked unbelievably hard for what they have accomplished, and they deserve nothing but kudos for their efforts and achievements. I’d like to offer a hearty Octongratulations (sorry, it had to be done) to all eight of them!

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      Do you know what purpuroxanthin means? If you've read the title, you probably know it has something to do with colors--namely the complementary colors purple and yellow. Purpuroxanthin is a reddish yellow crystalline compound obtained from the reduction of purpurin, which is another chemical compound. Xanthos is the Greek word for yellow, which has a clear connection to the word--a reddish yellow crystalline compound. The connection to purpura, the Latin word for purple, however, is a bit more vague. Purpurin itself is not a purple compound--according to Merriam-Webster, it's actually orange or red. It's somewhat unclear as to why purpurin was named for the color purple, but it was, and purpura came to be a significant part of purpuroxanthin. 
       This post, of course, wouldn't be complete without mentioning a second important root used for the color yellow. The Greek word chrysos is technically the word for gold, but it is often used for the color yellow as well. Picture, for example, a chrysanthemum--although they're not always yellow, they frequently are, and they were named for this characteristic. Most frequently, though, it is used to mean gold, which is reflected in the word "chrysalis"--chrysalides were originally named for the chrysalis of the common crow butterfly, which is known for its brilliant gold-colored chrysalis.
        Let me know what colors and roots you'd like to see me discuss next!

  If you ever find yourself competing at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, or even placing high at your regional spelling bee, there's a good chance you're going to be interviewed. For many kids, it's their first experience being interviewed--that was certainly the case. My first interview was the day I won my first regional spelling bee in March 2015. It was for an article that would later be published in the Denver Post, but since then, I've had dozens of bee-related interviews of all kinds. I'm still far from being a perfect interviewee, but as I have a lot of experience being interviewed about the bee, I hope that some of this advice is helpful to those who are competing at very high levels and are wondering what being interviewed about the bee is like. 
          There are certain questions you'll be asked multiple times. Be prepared for them. What's your favorite word? What's the hardest word you've ever had to spell? How do you prepare? How do you feel about the word you missed? How do you feel about moving onto the finals? How do you feel about winning this bee? These are questions that nearly every interview asks. If you anticipate being interviewed, have an answer down cold for each of these questions. It's tremendously helpful, as interviews can be stressful--it's best to know what kinds of things you want to say ahead of time.
           Be careful about the length of your answers. Don't make your answer too long--keep it concise and say what you need to say, and don't ramble. Dragging out the interview isn't beneficial for anyone. That being said, you want to be interesting--don't give one word answers either. Work on finding a good middle ground between long and short answers.
          Think carefully about the impression your answers are giving off. One question I was asked in 2016 was "how do you feel about coming back to the bee for a second time?" I didn't know what to say immediately, and I ended up focusing my entire answer on seeing old friends again. While this was a great part of that week, I worried afterwards that I had given an answer that made me sound like I wasn't very serious about spelling, and only in it for the social aspect, which wasn't true at all. Decide ahead of time what kind of impression you want to make, and tailor your answers to fit that impression.
           You don't have to answer questions you're uncomfortable with. I've had my share of questions I didn't want to answer--there were a variety of bee-related situations that I wasn't comfortable commenting on publicly. If you get a question like this, know that it's completely okay to decline to answer the question. Make sure you're polite about it, though--and if you're in a live TV situation, it might be better to give a vague answer than to decline entirely. If you're having a profile filmed by ESPN to be shown on TV during the bee, and they ask you to say something or do something that you aren't comfortable doing, I would give you the same advice--you don't have to do it. Politely declining is always a valid option.
          Above all, be yourself. The most important advice to follow in any interview situation is to be comfortable with yourself. Don't try too hard to seem like somebody you're not--audiences will love genuineness and honesty more than a persona that feels fake. This advice is quite generic, but it's really important--just go with what you feel is right for you to say and do, and you'll be(e) great!

If you're pronouncing for a school or local bee this year and you've never done it before, you might be unsure of what to do. The first part of this post addressed how a pronouncer should prepare for a bee. This installment, the second and final of this series, will address what's important for a pronouncer (especially a new one) to remember once they're at the bee. So, without further ado, part two!
Remember that pronouncers are not judges. You do not have the authority to be a part of settling any kind of dispute. There should be an odd number of judges so that any dispute will ultimately end with a majority opinion, but you do not get to be a part of that decision, because the pronouncer is not a judge.
Don't be afraid to tell kids to talk louder. This is something I've struggled with personally as a pronouncer. It's not uncommon for a student to spell rather quietly or not speak directly enough into the microphone. Instead of straining to hear what the student is saying, ask all participants politely to enunciate clearly and speak directly into the microphone. It will save you and the judges a lot of trouble. If you can, ask the judges to hold a practice round before the actual bee to ensure that everyone is talking clearly enough.
Be prepared for criticism. At every single bee I've attended, there's been at least one appeal where the primary grounds used to argue the appeal was some flaw in the pronunciation of the word. Be open to the fact that you may have made a mistake. However, it is also important to keep in mind that many people are very invested in these bees and are, therefore, highly emotional about them. If someone is being very aggressive or emotional about an appeal concerning your pronunciation, stay calm. Wait for the judges to address their concerns, and have good sportsmanship regardless of the outcome (yes, sportsmanship is important for officials too, not just spellers).
Do you have any other questions about how to be the best you can be as a spelling bee pronouncer? Let me know and I'd be happy to address them!

This, as many things are, is best introduced with a story.
    For my sixth-grade area bee, where the top two spellers were sent to the regional bee, I learned every word on the School Spelling Bee Study List, as I knew that it contained the words that were going to be used for much of the bee. I knew every word on that list backward and forwards, and could drill through all 450 words with my dad in a matter of minutes. The bee did, in fact, use those words, but despite my mastery of the list, it was a word from that list that almost brought my demise. The word verdure was my word in a round where there were three spellers left, but instead of the correct \vərjər\ pronunciation, I was given the pronunciation  \ver-¦zher\--as if the word was bergere, except it began with the letter V. I didn’t connect this at all with verdure because the pronunciation was so different from the one listed in Merriam-Webster that I had learned. The closest word I could think of that was on the study list was bourgeois. Needless to say, I was wrong. I would have been eliminated if I had not appealed on the grounds of mispronunciation, and although I was reinstated, it would have saved me (and several others in the same bee who found themselves in similar situations) a lot of trouble and stress.     
    Almost five years later, I’ve pronounced for a dozen or so local bees, and since I have experience both as a speller and as a pronouncer, I wanted to offer some of my advice to those who are going to be pronouncing a school or local bee for the first time this season. A competent pronouncer is the most important part of any bee--the bee simply cannot be well-run without one.
    Let’s start with the pronouncer’s role, as outlined by the Scripps National Spelling Bee itself: The pronouncer strives to pronounce words according to the diacritical markings in Scripps National Spelling Bee word lists. This is your primary duty, and it is absolutely essential to the smooth running of the bee. However, it might be harder than it looks. It’s definitely not a good idea to go into the bee without having prepared yourself for pronouncing words correctly ahead of time. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Don’t assume that you know how to pronounce all of the words. While some of the words used in local bees are fairly common, not all of them are. Furthermore, even if it’s a word you’ve seen before, the way you would typically pronounce it might be different from the diacritics listed in the Scripps-provided word list (which should match the diacritics in Merriam-Webster). Even if you use a word every single day, don’t assume that your pronunciation is the correct pronunciation to give the speller--they might have learned a different pronunciation. Problems with this are avoided by simply following the diacritics given to you in the list, and not pronouncing it another way just because it seems “more correct” to you.
2. Learn how to read diacritics. The diacritics in the Scripps lists follow the same system used by Merriam-Webster. The symbols aren’t necessarily intuitive--it’s important to study and understand them ahead of time so that you can pronounce words correctly according to the diacritics you are given. There’s a useful pronunciation guide from Merriam-Webster that you can use to make learning diacritics a lot easier.
3. Practice ahead of time. Once you know how to read diacritics, practice. Make sure that you can access the pronouncer’s guide ahead of time, and once you have it, review every word in the packet. Say the words out loud according to their diacritics, and make sure you understand the pronunciations of all of the words. It will make you much more efficient the day of the bee--you won’t have to take the time while a student is waiting for their word to figure out what the diacritics are saying.

If you do all of these things, you should be sufficiently prepared to be an effective pronouncer the day of the bee. A second part of this post is coming soon, addressing how to handle being a pronouncer once you’re actually at the bee. Happy pronouncing!

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