NATIONAL SPELLING BEE 2006: THE WINNER! As you might recall from the previous post, after Round 7 there were thirteen finalists including eighth grader Michael Christie of Syracuse. During tonight's final rounds, Michael nailed epityphlitis and coryphaeus but crumbled in Round 10 when confronted with appenzell.

By the end of Round 12, New Jersey's Katharine Close, an eighth grader in the finals for the fifth straight year, had stayed in the competition by adding synusia, towhee, Shedu, hukilau, and clinamen to the exotic word-feathers in her cap.

But she still had to contend with that toughest of opponents--a Canadian! Eighth grader Finola Mei Hwa Hackett (see below) hadn't let Judaism-related words interfere with her charge to Round 13 via omnilegent, volemic, usurious, cachinnate, kaddish, bdelloid, knaidel, formenkreis, guilloche, douane, and dasyphyllous.























So Katharine and Finola went head to head for the championship. Finola spelled machicotage. Katharine spelled recrementitious. Finola spelled esquisse. Katharine spelled psittacism. Finola spelled maieutic. Katharine spelled aubade. Finola spelled poiesis. Katharine spelled kanone. Finola spelled tutoyer. Katharine spelled izzat. Finola spelled koine. Katharine spelled tmesis.

And then came weltschmerz, which Finola spelled v-e-l-t-s-c-h-m-e-r-z. Ach du lieber!

Perhaps feeling a smidgen of schadenfreude, Katharine seized the opportunity and spelled kundalini and Ursprache to capture the spelling crown!

Congratulations, Katharine--Jersey rocks tonight!























Here's the AP/CNN story.

Top photo: Mark Bowen/Scripps National Spelling Bee