Oxon Hill, Maryland (AP) — Rudveep Randhawa’s three children competed in eight consecutive Scripps National Spelling Bees from 2016 to 2024. However, when Avi’s Spell Journey was over in last year’s semi-finals, Randhawa, a pediatric endocrinologist who was passing through “Dr. Happy,” was clearly in a gross mood.
His dissatisfaction? At an unexpected and important moment, the spelling bee turns into a geographical bee.
Scripps began to rely on vague geographical terms to winnow the speller field in later rounds. Words are included in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary, but often do not follow familiar roots or linguistic patterns, and denies the skilled speller of the tools used to grasp the letters that form the sounds of words you have never seen before.
Along with SAT style, Multiple Choice Vocabulary Questionsgeographical terminology, Speller changed the way bees were prepared, Starts on Tuesday and ends on Thursday At a convention center outside Washington. To master them, you need to memorize skills outside of fashion: memorization.
Avinav Prem Anand, 14, of Columbus, Ohio, will compete in the first spare round of Scripps National Spelling Bee on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
“Geographical words can sometimes be very difficult, as they have no roots to break them down or don’t get the language of origin. It is said to be “unknown origin.” “It’s basically the only thing you can do.”
Avinav prepared for use in Tuesday’s spare round as he ran through the upper row, the capital of Hokkaido Island in northern Japan. Others weren’t that lucky: 12-year-old Eli Schlosser Fergus Falls, Minnesota, was new to Tele Auto, a city in western Indiana, so he heard a horrifying bell. He went with “Terra Hort.”
Last year, the Landawa family in Corona, California saw their 10-year spelling journey end when Abi mistakenly got Abitibi, the name of a shallow lake in northeastern Ontario and western Quebec.
“Even Canada’s top 50-sized lakes, a small Canadian lake that even friends have never heard of, is beyond the pale white of what everyone considers to be a rational geographical term, the small Canadian lake,” Rudveep Randhawa said. “It’s just weird. For years, in geographical terms, we’ve seen some important words. They could be the capitals of a small country, or they could be some port cities with the importance of their nature.”
Participants are standing up and standing up on Tuesday, May 27, 2025 at Oxon Hill, Maryland (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) as they compete in the first spare round of Scripps National Spelling Bee at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.
But for those who might find geographical terminology unfair, Scripps has a message.
“According to the rules of the contest, all words listed online on Merriam-Webster are fair, except those labeled “Archaic” or “Obsolete,” said Molly Becker, editor-in-chief of Cincinnati-based Scripps and a member of the panel for selecting competitive words.
Scripps considers encouraging intellectual curiosity as part of the bee’s mission. If kids with designs in trophies need to learn more geography in preparation, that’s definitely a good thing.
“You never know what words stand out in a spell, and you will induce lifelong interest or introduce new concepts,” Becker said.
Natalie Mailin Singhcom, 13, of St. Joseph, Missouri, gestures while spelling words as she competes at Oxon Hill, Oxon Hill, Maryland in the first spare round of Scripps National Spelling Bee at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center (AP Photo/Josele Is Majana)
The longtime coach of Grace Walters, a graduate student in linguistics at the University of Kentucky, was caught up in Abitibi’s memory.
“Geo is definitely something that Speller fears,” Walters said.
“But if GEO is unfair because they don’t have a pattern, that means other categories such as trademarks and personal eponyms and unknown words in the original will also become unfair,” she said.
Some Spellers accept the challenge. Faizan Zaki, Last year’s runner-up Those who are competing again this year were excited to hear the Dutch towns Abitibi and Hoofdorp, as he had seen those words before in 2024.
Blanche Yang Lee, 14, of Boulder, Colorado, fishes her friends after correctly spelling her words out in the first spare round of Scripps National Spelling Bee at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.
“In fact, there’s a section in Merriam Webster dedicated solely to geographical words, so when I’m tired of studying regular words, I take a break and browse the list of geographical words they have,” said Faizan, from Allen, Texas.
You heard it correctly: When Faizan gets tired of studying, he studies more and “takes a break.”
“It’s almost my life,” he said. “But yeah, it’s definitely fun. I don’t hate that or anything.”
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Ben Nuccols has been covering Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2012. Follow his work here.
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