Faces of the National Spelling Bee: Snigdha Nandipati spells “guetapens” FTW

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FINAL UPDATE: 14-year-old Snigdha Nandipati from San Diego, California correctly spells the french word “guetapens” to win the 85th Scripps National Spelling Bee Championship.
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For most of us growing up, our dreams of spelling glory are dashed right in the classroom, never making it out to regional competitions and state-wide spelling bees. And no matter how many games of Words with Friends some of us play, we’ll still never be spelling gurus like the 278 kids from around the country who are invited each year to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Once again, with excitement and curiosity, we look forward to watching this year’s crop of young spellers battle it out. Wednesday’s preliminaries are sure to not disappoint with a mix of newbies, three of last year’s finalists — Nabeel Rahman, Arvind Mahankali and Samuel Estep, and the youngest speller to ever compete, Lori Anne Madison, who is only 6-years-old. Only 50 competitors will go on to tomorrow’s semifinals.

In preparation of Thursday night’s finals, let’s take a look at the thoughts, yawns and reactions on the bright faces from today’s preliminaries, along with those of previous national contestants. We’ve also included the winning words and their definitions from 2000-2011.

‌– Stokely Baksh and Liz Pillow contributed to this post.

According to the Scripps National Spelling Bee site:

  • The spellers range in age from 6 to 15 years old, but 84% are between the ages of 12 and 14 years old.
  • Parents and family members serve as coaches for 238 spellers.
  • This year’s group of competitors is 48.9% boys and 51.1% girls.
  • Math is named as a favorite subject by 110 of this year’s spellers. Science is the next most popular subject.
  • Twenty spellers have at least one relative who has competed in previous national finals.
  • The spellers’ favorite words this year: include cwm, serendipity and humuhumunukunukuapuaa.

Previous winning words from SpellingBee.com’s “Champions and Their Winning Words.” (Definitions from Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster.com)

  • 2012 guetapens: (noun) ambush, snare, trap.
  • 2011 cymotrichous: (adjective) having wavy hair.
  • 2010 stromuhr: (noun) An instrument for measuring the quantity of blood that flows per unit of time through a blood vessel.
  • 2009 Laodicean: 1. (adjective) lukewarm or indifferent, especially in religion, as were the early Christians of Laodicea. 2. (noun)a person who is lukewarm or indifferent, especially in religion.
  • 2008 guerdon: 1. (noun) a reward, recompense, or requital. 2. (verb, used with object) to give a guerdon to; reward.
  • 2007 serrefine: (noun) A small spring forceps used for approximating the edges of a wound, or for temporarily closing an artery during surgery.
  • 2006 Ursprache: (noun) a hypothetically reconstructed parent language, as Proto-Germanic, the ancestor of the Germanic languages.
  • 2005 appoggiatura: (noun) a note of embellishment preceding another note and taking a portion of its time.
  • 2004 autochthonous: (adjective) pertaining to autochthons; aboriginal; indigenous ( opposed to heterochthonous).
  • 2003 pococurante: 1. (noun) a careless or indifferent person. 2. (adjective) caring little; indifferent; nonchalant.
  • 2002 prospicience: (noun) [L. prospicientia, fr. prospiciens, p. pr. of prospicere. See Prospect.] The act of looking forward.
  • 2001 succedaneum: (noun, plural) a substitute.
  • 2000 demarche: (noun, plural) 1. an action or gesture by a diplomat, especially a formal appeal, protest, or the like. 2. a statement, protest, or the like presented to public officials by private citizens, interest groups, etc. 3. a procedure or step; move; maneuver.
  • 1999 logorrhea
  • 1998 chiaroscurist
  • 1997 euonym
  • 1996 vivisepulture
  • 1995 xanthosis
  • 1994 antediluvian
  • 1993 kamikaze
  • 1992 lyceum
  • 1991 antipyretic
  • 1990 fibranne
  • 1989 spoliator
  • 1988 elegiacal
  • 1987 staphylococci
  • 1986 odontalgia
  • 1985 milieu
  • 1984 luge
  • 1983 Purim
  • 1982 psoriasis
  • 1981 sarcophagus
  • 1980 elucubrate
  • 1979 maculature
  • 1978 deification
  • 1977 cambist
  • 1976 narcolepsy
  • 1975 incisor
  • 1974 hydrophyte
  • 1973 vouchsafe
  • 1972 macerate
  • 1971 shalloon
  • 1970 croissant
  • 1969 interlocutory
  • 1968 abalone
  • 1967 Chihuahua
  • 1966 ratoon
  • 1965 eczema
  • 1964 sycophant
  • 1963 equipage
  • 1962 esquamulose
  • 1961 smaragdine
  • 1960 eudaemonic
  • 1959 catamaran
  • 1958 syllepsis
  • 1957 schappe
  • 1956 condominium
  • 1955 crustaceology
  • 1954 transept
  • 1953 soubrette
  • 1952 vignette
  • 1951 insouciant
  • 1950 meticulosity
  • 1949 dulcimer
  • 1948 psychiatry
  • 1947 chlorophyll
  • 1946 semaphore
  • 1942 sacrilegious
  • 1941 initials
  • 1940 therapy
  • 1939 canonical
  • 1938 sanitarium
  • 1937 promiscuous
  • 1936 interning
  • 1935 intelligible
  • 1934 deteriorating
  • 1933 torsion
  • 1932 knack
  • 1931 foulard
  • 1930 fracas
  • 1929 asceticism
  • 1928 albumen
  • 1927 luxuriance
  • 1926 cerise
  • 1925 gladiolus