OXON HILL, Md. (AP) 鈥 When Achyut Ethiraj's final appearance in the Scripps 好色tv Spelling Bee ended far earlier than he anticipated, the 14-year-old grimaced at the microphone, walked off the stage quietly and exited the ballroom with his mother's arm draped around his back.
Achyut had plenty of company among the 140 spellers eliminated on Wednesday, spelling's saddest day.
鈥淚 didn't expect to get out, but I did, and I guess I have to accept the truth now,鈥 said Achyut, an eighth-grader from Fort Wayne, Indiana. 鈥淚'm happy to do high school and do other things, but I'm kind of confused what to do now that I'm done with spelling."
鈥淚t's my last year, and I expected to do better, but I guess it is what it is," he said. "And I have to move on.鈥
The structure of the spelling bee has undergone plenty of changes over time, but over the past three years under executive director Corrie Loeffler, the competition has gotten very hard, very fast for spellers who make it past the preliminary rounds.
The morning began with 148 spellers. By the end of the first quarterfinal round, there were 59 left, and 46 of those got through a vocabulary round to reach the semifinals. By the end of the day, eight finalists remained. They will return Thursday night, when the winner will receive a trophy and more than $50,000 in cash and prizes.
The champion won't be Shradha Rachamreddy, who finished third last year and was a consensus favorite to go all the way. She was eliminated on exactly the sort of she said she concentrated on studying after misspelling 鈥渙rle鈥 last year. This year it was 鈥渧aran,鈥 a type of lizard. She added an extra 鈥渞,鈥 and former spellers in the audience gasped at her mistake.
鈥淚 am in shock and despair,鈥 said Dev Shah, the 2023 champion.
鈥淲e all thought she was going to win,鈥 added Charlotte Walsh, last year's runner-up.
Starting in the quarterfinals, can use any of the more than half a million words in Webster's Unabridged dictionary, plus some geographical names that aren't even listed in that volume. While the panel tries to maintain a consistent level of difficulty in each round, it can vary from word to word.
That's when luck comes into play.
Achyut was asked to spell the word 鈥渟istine.鈥 Derived from the Sistine Chapel, it's an adjective meaning 鈥渁 light blue color.鈥 He went with 鈥渃istine,鈥 and his coach, Grace Walters, was second-guessing herself.
鈥淚'm sure when I was making my lists, I just assumed, 鈥極h, everybody knows the Sistine Chapel.鈥 But the reality is these kids are like 10 to 14. They might not have the ... cultural knowledge that us older people have,鈥 said the 22-year-old Walters, a former speller. 鈥淪o that's definitely something I feel like I overlooked in helping him prepare.鈥
Two years ago, Achyut finished in a tie for 14th place, and last year he tied for 23rd. This year, he tied for 60th place alongside the 88 others eliminated in the round.
鈥淢y rank has been going lower. But the reality is my preparation has been increasing a lot,鈥 Achyut said. 鈥淎nd I don't know how that matches up, but I know that I know the words and I deserve a good break.鈥
He has plenty of company. Rare is a speller like Vanya Shivashankar, who came in with enormous buzz in 2015 after years of strong finishes and . Even Shivashankar when a written spelling and vocabulary test kept her out of the finals.
Naysa Modi, , didn't make the finals the following year. Ishika Varipilli, who hoped to make a run at the trophy this year in her third and final attempt, bowed out in a tie for 47th after missing a vocabulary word, 鈥渟wanky," and said afterward she was 鈥渢rying to keep it together.鈥
In the semifinals, Shradha was followed to the exit by two more top-ten finishers from 2023: Aryan Khedkar and Sarah Fernandes. Aryan got a long hug from fellow competitor Faizan Zaki before leaving the stage.
鈥淭hese kids put a lot of pressure on themselves. I think they get nervous. They get worried. They get more focused on, 鈥榃hat if I don鈥檛 make it? What if this happens? What if that happens?'鈥 Walters said. 鈥淭he kids feel it around them that, you know, they're being looked up to as previous finalists, previous semifinalists, and they internalize that people expect something from them.鈥
Aliyah Alpert, who finished ninth in 2022, missed the bee entirely last year because she flubbed the word 鈥渞ecoup鈥 in the Yavapai County spelling bee in her home state of Arizona.
鈥淚t was on-list, I totally knew the word, but I blanked. Choked,鈥 said 13-year-old Aliyah, who returned this year and was ousted in the semifinals.
Matthew Bader came in knowing he might not improve upon his finish last year, a tie for 57th.
鈥淭he farther you make it in the competition one year, that's the more chance you'll do worse next year,鈥 said Matthew, a 14-year-old from Peachtree City, Georgia. 鈥淎ctually, I didn鈥檛 really mind getting out. Win or lose, to be here, it鈥檚 a pretty big accomplishment.鈥
Ananth Chepuri of Bradenton, Florida, thought his daughter, 11-year-old Amara, was eliminated by one of the most difficult words ("ephectic") of what he called an inconsistent round.
鈥淚t's been brutal,鈥 Chepuri said. 鈥淭he first kid, I felt so sorry for him. This was a bloodbath!鈥
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Ben Nuckols has covered the Scripps 好色tv Spelling Bee since 2012. Follow him at
