NATIONAL SPELLING BEE: ROUND 9

Evan O'Dorney nailed laquear. I could have nailed soffit, which was in the definition.

Nate Gartke totally rocked rougnon--fastest spell in the finals so far.

But Joseph Henares just couldn't see his way through aniseikonia.

And Prateek Kohli stumbled on oberek--so much for New York this year.

And Isabel Jacobson took a dive on cyanophycean.

And now there are two.

NATIONAL SPELLING BEE 2007: ROUND 8

Evan O'Dorney danced his way through schuhplattler.

Nate Gurke executed a very graceful abseil.

Joseph Henares reaped a place in Round 9 with triticale--an extremely easy one for a gluten-free trekker. (And it would probably have also been very easy for Canadian Gurke, regardless of his gf status or sf taste.)

Connor Spencer made the same mistake I made on cachalot.

Matthew Evans impaled himself on fauchard.

Prateek Kohli survived randkluft.

Isabel Jacobson proudly presided over epaulement.

It doesn't take a mathlete to see that it's down to five. A very strong handful of spellers.

NATIONAL SPELLING BEE 2007: ROUND 7

This is when it gets absolutely brutal. We're talking tears as well as cheers.

Heavily favored Andrew Horton cheesed out--painfully--on girolle.

Tia Thomas got weeded out with zacate

Newbie Cody Wang of Calgary found apozem to be bad medicine.

Anqi Dong of Saskatchewan blew it on bouleuterion.

Claire Zhang--who came all the way from Jupiter--took her urgrund with a fatal T.

Kansan Kavya Shivashankar lost her shirt with cilice.

Michigan newbie Nithya Vijayakumar lost her way with pelorus.

And Dallas speller Amy Chyao lost her battled with grognard.


However, Evan O'Dorney swam into Round 8 with rascacio.

Newbie Nate Gartke of Alberta--a student musician--scored with partitur.

Newbie and New Havenite Joseph Henares--perhaps the funniest finalist--exterminated punaise by pulling it apart bit-by-bit.

Missouri's Connor Spencer got lucky and gobbled up helzel--a relatively easy word that even I guessed correctly.

Four-time vet (at 12) Matthew Evans of Albuquerque found success in genizah

Long Island's Prateek Kohli sparkled with rigaree.

Heavily braceletted Wisconsin cheesehead Isabel Jacobson didn't get stuck on helodes--becoming the lone girl to proceed to the next round.

NATIONAL SPELLING BEE: TOP FINISHERS

This afternoon the Bee Keepers posted bios of the top finishers scheduled to compete tonight. They're all impressive, but I found a few items of especial interest.

Long Island's Prateek Kohli is a tuba-playing member of the Low Brass Union (LBU)!


























New Haven's Joseph Henares is a winner of "Back to School Week" Jeopardy!



























California's Evan O'Dorney crashed The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee!


























Kansan Kavya Shivashankar is the youngest in the bunch. And she was the youngest finalist last year, too. An 11-year-old sixth grader, she watches the documentary Spellbound regularly!


























Many are classical musicians. Three are from Canada. And each and every one of them is a tough and talented competitor!

Read more at A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago.

NATIONAL SPELLING BEE: ROUND SIX

New York's Prateek Kohli continued to gobble up the competition with saimin.

Connecticut's Joseph Henares (pictured) stayed sharp with schiavone.

California's Evan O'Dorney leapt ahead with corinne.

And Samir Patel? His appeal failed, so he is O-U-T. But still fighting for Texas is Amy Chyao, who so far has reckoned with Kentuckian, mollycoddle, élan, drepanocytosis, and pschent.

Who will win out of the current field of 15? The thrilling conclusion will be broadcast live tonight from 8-10 pm on--fittingly--ABC!

NATIONAL SPELLING BEE 2007: ROUND FOUR

Paul Lindseth got the O. He got the U. He got the B and the L. And he got the I. But he didn't get the first E in oubliette--and, after that, there was no turning back for The Big Apple's best hope in this year's tournament.

And Asbury Park's Robert Hale (pictured)? Something tells me he'll never start erinaceous with an A again.

But oh, that Prateek Kohli! Representing Long Island Jewish World, he dispatched diocesan to earn himself a spot in tomorrow's rounds.

And you can be sure Samir Patel will be there, too--sunglo took care of that.

So who else is still in the competition? One of the remaining spellers is Maithreyi Gopalakrishnan, representing the Daily Camera of Boulder, Colorado. So far she's spelled gesture, tyrannical, and salinelle. Here the eighth grader qualifies for the National Spelling Bee--for the fourth consecutive year.



Source (6:47)

NATIONAL SPELLING BEE 2007: THE THIRD ROUND

Local champ Paul Linseth (pictured) remains in the running with expurgate. So do Robert Hale of Asbury Park and Prateek Kohli of Rockville Center with thrombocyte and convivial, respectively.

But there's Samir Patel of Fort Worth, fending off trumpery as if it were so much gossamer frippery.

For liveblogging coverage, try A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago.

VOICELESS: KRISTEN LOMBARDI

I learned from Gawker that journalist Kristen Lombardi was "let go" from The Village Voice last Friday. As I noted in January, Lombardi was active in covering health issues of Ground Zero workers. I wish her well in whatever she does next.

BONUS FOR GOOD SPELLING In other Gawker news, the snarksite's Alex Balk points out that a recent New York Observer letter mispells Joe Conason's name. I could devote an entire item to Balk's mispelling of Lombardi's first name as K-r-i-s-t-i-n, but why bother with such petty matters when there's a National Spelling Bee to cover?

So far New Yorkers Adrian Acevedo and Paul Lindseth are still in the running, having spelled condemn and dutifully, respectively. [DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS DEPARTMENT: Adrian is actually out, felled by the written portion.] Also in the game: Long Island returnee Prateek Kohli (Martian) and the Lone Star State's veteran competitor Samir Patel (décor).

Last year's coverage can be found via this post.