Scripps National Spelling Bee guide: How to watch, who the notable spellers are, rules and prizes

OXON HILL Md The best young spellers in the English language are competing at the Scripps National Spelling Bee which celebrates its th anniversary this year The first bee was held in when the Louisville Courier-Journal invited other newspapers to host spelling bees and send their champions to Washington The bee is now held just outside the nation s capital at a convention center on the banks of the Potomac River It starts Tuesday and concludes Thursday night This is the th bee it was canceled from to because of World War II and again in because of the COVID- pandemic This year s champion will be the th because the bee ended in a two-way tie several times and an eight-way tie in How can I watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee The bee is broadcast and streamed on channels and platforms owned by Scripps a Cincinnati-based media company Tuesday May Preliminary rounds streamed on Bounce XL Grit Xtra Laff More and spellingbee com from a m to p m EDT Wednesday May Quarterfinals streamed on Bounce XL Grit Xtra Laff More and spellingbee com from a m to p m Semifinals streamed on Bounce XL Grit Xtra Laff More and spellingbee com from to p m Semifinals broadcast on ION on tape-delay from - p m Thursday May Finals broadcast on ION from - p m Who is competing at the Scripps National Spelling Bee The bee features spellers with at least one from each of the states and the District of Columbia as well as spellers from U S territories Puerto Rico the U S Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands and from Canada the Bahamas Germany Ghana Kuwait and Nigeria Participants stand up as they compete during the first preliminary round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee at the Gaylord National Resort Convention Center Tuesday May in Oxon Hill Md AP Photo Jose Luis Magana Faizan Zaki last year s runner-up is back after losing to Bruhat Soma in a lightning-round tiebreaker known as a spell-off He s a -year-old seventh-grader from Allen Texas If he falls short again he would have one more year of eligibility He has won several online bees that top spellers compete in as preparation including the Words of Wisdom Spelling Bee and the South Asian Spelling Bee Other manageable contenders Aishwarya Kallakuri a -year-old eighth-grader from Concord North Carolina and winner of the SpellPundit National Spelling Bee Avinav Prem Anand a -year-old eighth-grader from Columbus Ohio who finished second to Faizan in the Words of Wisdom bee Vedanth Raju a -year-old seventh-grader from Aurora Colorado and the younger brother of runner-up Vikram Raju Harini Murali a -year-old eighth-grader from Edison New Jersey a finalist last year and the younger sister of Navneeth Murali who would have been a top contender in the bee had it not been canceled because of COVID- Tarini Nandakumar a -year-old eighth-grader from Round Rock Texas a previous finalist who is competing for the fifth time What are the rules of the Scripps National Spelling Bee Spellers qualify by advancing through regional bees hosted by sponsors around the country In order to compete spellers must not have advanced beyond the eighth grade or be older than Related Articles Escape of ex-police chief known as Devil in the Ozarks has Arkansas residents on edge Nets and high-tech hijackings Anti-drone systems offer new approaches to counter rising threats A former aide says Sean Diddy Combs kidnapped her in a plot to kill Kid Cudi Vessel s implosion can be heard on new video from expedition to Titanic wreckage Mary Lou Retton US gymnastics icon who survived medical scare arrested on suspicion of DUI Spellers must get through two preliminary rounds quizzing them on words from a list provided in advance one spelling round and one multiple-choice vocabulary round Those who make it through the preliminaries sit for a written spelling and vocabulary test with the top or so finishers advancing to the quarterfinals The words for the test and for all subsequent rounds are taken from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged dictionary Throughout the quarterfinals and semifinals spellers are eliminated at the microphone through oral spelling or vocabulary questions About a dozen spellers advance to the finals When only two spellers remain Scripps has the option to use a lightning-round tiebreaker known as a spell-off to determine the champion However Scripps has taken away the requirement that the spell-off begin at a specific time giving bee judges more discretion to let the competition play out What are the prizes for the Scripps National Spelling Bee champion The winner receives a custom trophy and more than in cash and prizes Here are the prize payouts First place in cash reference works from Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster and a contribution to a school of the champion s choice Second place Third place Fourth place Fifth place Sixth place All other finalists Ben Nuckols has covered the Scripps National Spelling Bee since Follow his work here