New U.S. spelling bee rules aim to
prevent T-I-E-S
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[April 05, 2017]
By Ian Simpson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scripps National
Spelling Bee winners aced "gesellschaft" and "feldenkrais" to be named
co-champions of last year's competition, but it was the word "tie" that
gave organizers a headache.
On Tuesday, the contest revealed new rules aimed at preventing ties
after the annual competition ended in a dead heat three years in a row,
with joint winners both getting $40,000 cash prizes in 2016.
Organizers said they would prefer to see a clear-cut champion, rather
than a shared title.
The 290 young spelling whizzes from across the United States and six
foreign countries in this year's Bee will face a new written tie-breaker
when they square off from May 30 to June 1 in a Washington suburb,
organizers said.
The written test introduces a fresh hurdle for participants spelling
ever-tougher words in the Bee, a national institution since its launch
in 1925.
"During our history, students have expanded their spelling abilities and
increased their vocabulary to push our program to be even more
challenging,” Paige Kimble, the Bee's executive director, said in a
statement.
Ahead of this year's title round, the finalists will be tested on 12
words, which they will hand write, and 12 multiple-choice vocabulary
questions.
If it is mathematically impossible for one champion to emerge through 25
rounds, Bee officials will declare the speller with the highest
tie-breaker score the winner. If there is a tie on the test, judges will
declare co-champions.
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![](../images/040517pics/news_k23.jpg)
Co-champions Nihar Saireddy Janga and Jairam Jagadeesh Hathwar (R)
hold their trophy upon completion of the final round of Scripps
National Spelling Bee at National Harbor in Maryland, U.S. May 26,
2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
![](../images/ads/current/richardson_lda_090916.png)
This year's Bee will draw contestants ages 5 to 15 culled from more
than 11 million in the spelling program. The winner - or winners -
each will receive the cash prize of $40,000.
Last year, Nihar Janga, a fifth-grader from Austin, Texas, and
Jairam Hathwar, a seventh-grader from Painted Post, New York, were
named co-champions after battling 25 rounds head to head.
To gain the title, Nihar spelled "gesellschaft," a type of social
relationship, and Jairam aced "feldenkrais," a method of education.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Andrew
Hay)
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