The National Spelling Bee returns to its usual venue for the first time in 3 years
Spellers were greeted with a new preliminary-round format that gave them no time to get comfortable. They had to get through three words in one turn at the microphone to continue in the bee.
One speller ran off the stage in the middle of her time at the microphone, saying she needed to pee. Another tried to walk back to her seat after spelling her first word correctly, only to be reminded she had a vocabulary word next. During one particularly brutal stretch, 10 consecutive spellers heard the bell that signals elimination.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee used to begin with a handshake. Now it starts with a slap to the face.
Leaner and meaner in
