OXON HILL, Md. — The 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee ended the old-fashioned way.
No spell-off required.
Dev Shah, an eighth-grader from Largo, Florida, spelled “psammophile” correctly to win the 95th national Bee and the $50,000 prize on Thursday. Charlotte Walsh, an eighth-grader from Arlington, Virginia, nearly pulled off the hometown victory, but could not nail “daviely” in the preceding round.
“It’s surreal,” Shah said onstage after confetti fell on his head and he lifted the trophy high above. “I don’t know if it’s settled in. My legs are still shaking.”
The finals began with 11 spellers left. Two finalists bowed out in the first round of finals, with another exiting in the word-meaning round that followed. The third round featured short words, several containing homonyms, with one more speller bounced. Eliminations picked up in the fourth round of the day, with three more spellers exiting stage left.
Shradha Rachamreddy and Surya Kapu could not make it through the fifth round of the evening and finished tied for third. It was a heartbreaking outcome for Kapu, who finished tied for fifth last year. He was the lone repeat finalist from the previous year and received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Due to time constraints and the eight-way tie for the title in 2019, Scripps two years ago invented a “spell-off” — a 90-second window for competitors to spell as many words as they can — that debuted in last year’s championship.
What the winning word – psammophile – means?
According to Merriam-Webster, a psammophile is “an organism that prefers or thrives in sandy soils or areas.”
Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.
