Congratulations to fourteen-year-old Snigdha Nandipati, of San Diego, who won the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Her winning word was GUETAPENS*, a word meaning "an ambush or trap." Do not fall into the trap of trying to play it in Scrabble, since it is not a part of the TWL word list. However, Snigdha did spell several Scrabble-acceptable words along the way, including RINGENT, LAHAR, STOCHASTICALLY, COMPAS, RHONCHUS, PSAMMON, and ARRONDISSEMENT.
Truth be told, for me, the more exciting story is who finished second: fourteen-year-old Stuti Mishra, of West Melbourne, who was the central Florida representative, sponsored by the local Orlando Sentinel newspaper. I was one of the word judges who watched her win the local bee earlier this year. She won that contest in a marathon spell-off with another tough competitor, and I knew then that she could be a serious contender in the National Bee. And, indeed, she was. She did extremely well, finishing in second place (out of 278 competitors) after missing SCHWARMEREI, a Scrabble-acceptable word meaning "extravagant or excessive enthusiasm." Other Scrabble-acceptable words she conquered included ECHT, ENDERGONIC, FJELD, CHATOYANT, and PROLEGOMENON. All in all, she finished higher than any other central Florida representative ever has, and she's an incredibly nice, polite, and sweet kid, too. Congrats, Stuti!
For more Bee coverage, see the official website: http://www.spellingbee.com/
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