Washington: After two straight years of ties, the Scripps National Spelling Bee is adding more sting: The championship rounds will last longer, and the words will be harder.
The bee, now televised in prime time, has exploded in popularity over the past two decades. And the spellers have gotten increasingly savvy. So instead of sticking to a list of 25 "championship words" selected weeks earlier, the final rounds could have as many as 75 words. And the organizers can choose harder words on the fly if the spellers don't appear to be struggling.
"As difficult as those words offered those co-champions were, we had a more difficult section in our word list, but we couldn't go to them because our rules bound us to stick to that 25-word championship word section," Paige Kimble, the bee's executive director, told The Associated Press.
"The 25 words on the championship word list just tend to be a little bit easier than the other words they've used right before that," Sylvie said. "I don't really know why."
"We did not want the specter of the championship being determined by the endurance level of a young child," she said. This year's spellers range from 6 to 14 years old.
Another change welcomed by spellers: The bee will no longer have a second written spelling and vocabulary test that was used to help determine the finalists. The test was unpopular partly because spellers could be eliminated without getting a word wrong onstage.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The bee, now televised in prime time, has exploded in popularity over the past two decades. And the spellers have gotten increasingly savvy. So instead of sticking to a list of 25 "championship words" selected weeks earlier, the final rounds could have as many as 75 words. And the organizers can choose harder words on the fly if the spellers don't appear to be struggling.
"As difficult as those words offered those co-champions were, we had a more difficult section in our word list, but we couldn't go to them because our rules bound us to stick to that 25-word championship word section," Paige Kimble, the bee's executive director, told The Associated Press.
"The 25 words on the championship word list just tend to be a little bit easier than the other words they've used right before that," Sylvie said. "I don't really know why."
Advertisement
"We did not want the specter of the championship being determined by the endurance level of a young child," she said. This year's spellers range from 6 to 14 years old.
Advertisement
Another change welcomed by spellers: The bee will no longer have a second written spelling and vocabulary test that was used to help determine the finalists. The test was unpopular partly because spellers could be eliminated without getting a word wrong onstage.
Advertisement
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Watch: Indian-American Winner Of Spelling Bee Recites Shloka From Gita US Spelling Bee: Indian-Origin Boy Wins After Spelling This 11-Letter Word "National Day Of Mourning": Hari Kondabolu's ROFL Reaction After Indian-Americans' Spelling Bee Streak Ends Travel Influencer Aanvi Kamdar Dies After Falling Off A Waterfall Near Mumbai Amid Huge Row, Karnataka Pauses Bill For Reservation In Private Sector Firms BJP Subtly Asking Ajit Pawar To Quit "Mahayuti": Sharad Pawar's NCP Biden Says Could Drop Election Bid If "Medical Condition" Emerged Russia Says It's Ready To Work With Any US Leader 3 People Die After Drowning In Lake In Telangana: Cops Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.