The kids were just too good.
The finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee turned into a slog on Thursday, with bee organizers unable to scour Webster's Unabridged dictionary for words challenging enough to narrow the field efficiently.
It started routinely enough, with 10 of the 50 spellers exiting the stage in the first round. Then the kids started schooling Scripps.
In the next round, only six spellers were eliminated. The following round saw five more depart. Four left in the round after that, and at that point, spellers had been on stage for 4 hours, 45 minutes.
Scripps and broadcast partner ESPN prefer to bring about a dozen spellers into the prime-time finals, so the bee continued as the prospect of a lunchbreak became an afterthought.
Finally, in the fifth round of the session, some spellers withered. Eight of the first 16 were eliminated, and the tension in the room diminished a bit as the break drew near. After nearly 5½ hours onstage, 16 spellers advanced to prime time, including seven who did it last year and two — 14-year-old Erin Howard of Huntsville, Alabama, and 13-year-old Shruthika Padhy of Cherry Hill, New Jersey — who made it for the third consecutive year.
A champion will be crowned Thursday night, taking home more than $50,000 in cash and prizes.
No matter what languages of origin were called upon — Yiddish, Afrikaans, Russian, the dreaded "unknown" — spellers were up to the task.
Among the words that might sound impossible to the TV audience but are considered by elite spellers to be near-layups: "maxixe," ''oeillade," ''Gebrauchsmusik," ''Seychellois."
Simone Kaplan, a 13-year-old from Davie, Florida, had a mike-drop moment, showing off the depth of her knowledge of roots. Given the word "varsovienne," she asked: "Is this most likely from the Latin place name 'Varsovia,' meaning Warsaw?"
Why, yes. Yes it is.
Parents shook their heads, amazed by their kids' depth of knowledge. Former spellers griped on social media that the words were too easy.
Perhaps one reason for the spellers' performance: the burgeoning industry of spelling coaches and study guides that promise to crack the code of the bee. Thirteen of the 16 prime-time finalists and 38 of the 50 overall used study materials from SpellPundit, a business started by teenage ex-spellers Shobha Dasari and her younger brother, Shourav. The Dasaris offer a money-back guarantee if Scripps uses a word that's not included in their guides.
"It's all the spellers' hard work," 18-year-old Shobha said. "We just give them the words."
The key personality trait onstage was businesslike efficiency. Veteran spellers strode to the microphone confidently and never appeared rattled by the words they were given. Thirteen-year-old Rohan Raja of Irving, Texas, celebrated with fist pumps as he lumbered back to his seat.
Another machine-like speller: 13-year-old Sohum Sukhatankar of Dallas, sporting a black leather jacket, who advanced to the prime-time finals for the first time but is considered a favorite, with previous victories at the North South Foundation spelling bee and the South Asian Spelling Bee.
"I knew all the words I got. When I got them, I knew I was going to get them right," Sohum said. "I took my time. If you spell too quickly, you could miss the word."
Melodie Loya didn't take that advice.
The 14-year-old from Bainbridge, New York, spelled her first word with such speed that when she returned to the microphone, pronouncer Jacques Bailly implored her to pace herself.
"I don't want to put you off your game," Bailly said, "but can you try and slow down maybe a little bit on your spelling?"
Spelling deliberately has obvious advantages: It prevents a speller's mouth from moving faster than her brain. And, as Bailly, pointed out, it ensures the judges can understand what the speller is saying.
Melodie couldn't help herself.
She started quickly and only got faster as she plowed through "madrague," raising her hands in apparent surprise when she was told she got the word correct.
Every time at the microphone was a mini-drama for Melodie, whose facial expressions conveyed her exasperation, concentration and abject panic. She closed her eyes. She looked at the ceiling. She buried her face in her hands.
And when she spelled, she acted as if she couldn't wait for it all to be over — until it wasn't.
Melodie was eventually bounced by the word "theileriasis," which just had too many vowel sounds she couldn't figure out.
For many of her fellow spellers, referred to on their Scripps-issued T-shirts this year as "word detectives," the clues were obvious and the suspects might as well have turned themselves in.
Follow Ben Nuckols at https://twitter.com/APBenNuckols
PHOENIX (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jake Cronenworth hit back-to-back homers, Dylan Cease pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and the San Diego Padres won their third game in a row, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-1 on Friday night.
Manny Machado hit a two-run homer. Cronenworth finished with three extra-base hits, adding two doubles.
The Padres had a big offensive game on the same night they learned they might be adding another good hitter. San Diego is close to acquiring two-time batting champion Luis Arráez in a deal with the Marlins.
“I think it's great — you're always looking for more offense and a left-handed bat to balance out the lineup,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “But listen, nothing's official. We'll leave it at that.”
The Diamondbacks have lost 10 straight series openers after beating the Colorado Rockies on opening day.
D-backs pitcher Slade Cecconi (1-2) retired the first nine batters he faced, but ran into trouble in the fourth. Jurickson Profar walked to start the inning and Tatis launched a shot to left-center — his seventh homer of the season.
Cronenworth followed with another homer to make it 3-0 and rookie Jackson Merrill broke an 0-for-20 stretch at the plate with a one-out RBI double for a 4-0 lead.
Cronenworth had a down 2023 season, but has looked much more like the hitter who was an All-Star in 2021 and 2022 through the first month of this season. He's batting .279 with six homers and 25 RBIs.
It was Cronenworth’s second straight game with a homer. He hit a grand slam in the team’s 6-2 victory over the Reds on Wednesday.
“It's the right approach with the right swing,” Shildt said. “He's married both. He's driving the ball to all different parts of the field and not trying to do to much.”
Cecconi didn't make it out of the fifth, giving up six runs over 4 1/3 innings.
The Padres' three-homer outburst provided plenty of support for Cease (4-2), the hard-throwing right-hander who gave up just one run on three hits while striking out eight. He didn't allow a walk.
“I think my fastball command was a lot better, which is really a lot of the battle,” Cease said. “When I'm getting my fastball where it needs to go, it opens up a lot of stuff.”
Machado made it 7-0 in the fifth with a two-run homer to left center off reliever Matt Bowman. The scorched line drive came off Machado's bat at 111.7 mph.
The sliding D-backs — defending National League champions — have lost 10 of their past 15 games and fell to 14-19 for the season.
“We got beat tonight,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "We got out-managed, we got out-pitched, we got out-hit, we got out-coached. We've got to find a way to get the job done and play our type of baseball. That's the bottom line.
“We're grinding away. We're trying.”
Arizona finished with just three hits. Eugenio Suárez had an RBI single in the fifth.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Diamondbacks: Lovullo told reporters that closer Paul Sewald (oblique) and OF Alex Thomas (hamstring) could return to the active roster as soon as Tuesday against the Reds.
UP NEXT
The D-backs will throw RHP Brandon Pfaadt (1-1, 4.63 ERA) while the Padres will counter with RHP Michael King (2-3, 5.00 ERA) on Saturday night.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte, left, celebrates his double as San Diego Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, front right, of South Korea, and umpire Phil Cuzzi (10) look for the baseball during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt watches the action on the field during the second inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Diego Padres' Manny Machado (13) rounds the bases after hitting a two run home run as Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker, left, pauses at first base during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Matt Bowman, center, rubs up a new baseball after giving up a two-run home run to San Diego Padres' Manny Machado, left, during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Diego Padres' Manny Machado points to the sky as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte, right, slides safely into second base with a double as San Diego Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, of South Korea, applies a late tag during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr., right, celebrates his two-run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks with Padres' Manny Machado (13) during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
