A Viewer’s Guide to the Opening Rounds

Wed, May 28, 2008 - 9:37 PM

Tomorrow will bring the first day of action in Washington D.C. Round two will begin at 8:00 a.m, and while the bee won't be televised, results will be posted live at http://www.spellingbee.com. You can view the quarterfinals beginning at 2:00 p.m. at http://www.espn360.com.

Remember that the spellers have already been given a 50-word test on the internet. This, along with Round 2 spellings, will determine if they advance to Round 3. The top 80 competitors will move on to the broadcast rounds of the bee.

Many of the Round 3 words will be words you've seen before. Words from last year included prospectus, tyrannical, and mausoleum. Some words will be seemingly easier than others, but the Bee officials take into account the availability of the word in everyday life and its phonetic difficulty.

Round four typically brings the "Scripps bloodbath." While only 11 spellers were eliminated in round three last year, 35 were dropped in round four. Round four words tend to separate the contenders from the rest of the field. Last year brought words such as epicondylic, zwieback, and oubliette among others.

While these words may seem unfamiliar to you, remember that spellers have a wealth of resources provided to them by Scripps. The consolidated word list, a compilation of all words given in previous years, contains over 80% of the words in any given year's list. However, the bee gods occasionally throw in a word never seen in competition before, and this will throw even many veteran spellers for a loop in round four.


Tomorrow I will explain more parts of the Bee, including the time limit placed on spellers and the important questions many ask before spelling a word. Hopefully, I'll also have a chance to post interesting behind-the-scenes information and profile a few more favorites this year along with real-time blogging on current happenings.

Enjoy the bee, and I'll be with you early in the morning as we follow this year's quest for a champion.

-Josh Dawsey