national senior spelling bee and 2006

So, the morning consisted of our spelling 100 words at the dictation of Babs Klein. She holds the distinction of being the only person who never missed a word in the Bee--having gotten 100% on both written and oral rounds in one of the Bees several years ago. The words were relatively straightforward this year, though most of us got "ringgit" wrong, and a good number also messed up on words such as "epiphenomenal" or "zwieback." Three participants only missed one word: Hal Prince ("asymmetry"); Darrell Noe ("languor"--he told me he considered his spelling of it--"langor"--to be a stupid mistake); and Polly Stewart ("ringgit"). Polly, from Salt Lake City, a retired teacher with multiple languages at her command, was a newcomer and she, too, went down with four others in a big final round. I, who placed third, didn't do that well in the written test (I missed five). I tend to do better in the oral competition, partly because of the theatricality of it.

The top sixteen of us were randomly seated for the final rounds. We are allowed to miss two words; i.e., you are eliminated on the third miss. I think this part of the bee ought to be preserved; anyone can get a word they don't know and can't figure out, but the best speller will not get three of these. Indeed, if I thought I would be eliminated with one slip, I might hesitate spending hundreds of dollars and coming 1200 miles...

Oral Rounds

And so we entered the oral rounds. David Lerner gave us each a "gimme" warmup word so that we would feel comfortable with the mike and hearing him pronounce the words. Then, we began. I had the distinction (as in previous bees) of being one of the first to miss a word, missing onychophoran in the second round. I was a little mad at myself because I had studied the word, but I think I wasn't yet prepared for this level of word so early in the orals. In any case, we took our first break after 4 words, with two people being eliminated. The 14 of us continued. I got my share of difficult words ("xebec"; "phthisis" [pronounced "tisik"]), but managed to get them right. Then, I got another difficult word, which I promptly missed ("thiouracil"). After this round we took another break, and it looked very, very bleak for me. Of the 14 still in the competition, six had missed 0 words, six had missed 1 and 2 of us had missed 2. I was almost ready to hang it up.

Then, for some reason, I got my second wind. The words were very difficult, but I managed to get some easy ones ("politburo," for example). Hal Prince got some ribbing because he got a series of "lighthearted" words, though some were complex ("flibbertigibbet"). To make a long story short, at the next break, there were only 10 of us left, with 6 having missed 2, 3 missed one and only Hal Prince with a perfect score. On we went, and then came the big round, where the other five who had missed 2 all went out in the same round, though I spelled my word correctly. That left five of us (four men and a woman). The specific words that felled us will be posted soon on the Bee's web site, I am sure.

A Word on Hal Prince

I considered Hal the favorite going into the competition. The reason? Because the people who think of themselves as great spellers have contacted me in the past two years (probably because of my blog). David Riddle contacted me after the 2004 bee just to talk about what it was like, and he ended up winning the 2005 Bee handily. Hal got in touch in the Winter and shared what he was about. I knew he would be very good, but I didn't know just how good he would be. We concluded over a dinner shared with each other on Saturday night, that the only words he might have slipped up on were very short words, probably derived from other languages. I would like to reflect briefly on Hal's spelling style and his study method.

Hal was unique of us in wanting to stand up to spell his words. And he would use his hands with mesmerizing effectiveness. David would give him a word, and Hal, who knew the word, would use his hands to, as it were, measure out each syllable as he spelled it. I think Hal is so skilled at his profession--computer programming--that he looked at spelling as sort of another computer language--and each "command" is essential in writing a program that "works." Hal was the first person I ever met who actually seemed to "measure" his words as he spelled them. And, he hit a home run with every word.

Over dinner that night I asked him about his study method. I only will share one thing here, lest if I gave the whole method then ANYONE would be able to come to Cheyenne and beat me! Hal said he spent a good deal of time reading some of my words essays, and figured out from my essays how to beat me. I knew I was vulnerable beause I tend not to study words so much as a speller but as a wordsmith (studying history and use of terms, rather than simply building "lists"); Hal picked this vulnerability up, too. But he said that he spend the first six months of the year (Sep. - March) reading through the dictionary very closely, making lists of difficult words which he read into tapes, which he then listened to on the way to work or when traveling. But then he wrote up a computer program that would take difficult syllables, such as "fen" v. "phen," or "et v. ette" or "coel" v. "cele" v. "coele", and cull out all the words that were spelled one way or the other. Then, he would learn words in categories by spelling feature. This is the mind of a true speller.

But Hal isn't just a speller. He is a Yale graduate ('73) in music, who went on to get a master's in musicology at Harvard and then, while pursuing his Ph. D. decided to take one computer class because his scheduled allowed him time for it. He found, however, that this one class "hooked" him on computers, and the rest is, as they say, history. Thus, he has a very precise mind, a wonderful work ethic and an instinct for putting words in categories that make them easy to remember. He is a remarkable speller.

Conclusion--Changes

I am running out of space here, but let these four things be my suggestions. (1) Keep the three miss rule. If you think the Bee is too slow, give some harder words nearer the beginning. (2) Up the prize money. Get the national office of AARP to budget $2,000 for prize money ($1000, $750, $250); this would have the effect of drawing a much larger crowd, I believe. (3) Start thinking of moving "up" to the Unabridged dictionary. The "team" is running out of words. I could tell this, because I got some words that I got last year. But also the Unabridged would make studying much more interesting and challenging. (4) In the future, call back some winners, such as Jeff Kirsch, David Riddle, Hal Prince and, I hope someday, me, and let them perhaps have a one -day competition based on the Unabridged--maybe this would inaugurate the use of it. Pay their expenses and publicize it widely. Maybe, in the future, one could even cross-pollinate the bee with someone from the kids bee. But, in any case, we are just beginning, and the Bee is off to a great beginning of its second decade.

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