WASHINGTON (AP) — The Scripps National Spelling Bee won't be so quick to force spellers into a lightning-round tiebreaker to decide a champion this year, a shift that follows criticism of the abrupt ending to last year's competition.
Scripps has eliminated its requirement that the tiebreaker known as a “spell-off” be used when the bee finals are nearing the end of their two-hour broadcast window and a champion has not been decided. Instead, judges will have more discretion to let the bee play out, even if it runs into overtime.
“We don't have those constraints in place that will force us into a spell-off situation based on time. It takes a lot of pressure off of that moment,” Corrie Loeffler, the bee's executive director, told The Associated Press. “We can keep going with regular competition, rather than saying, ‘It’s 9:50, we're going to a spell-off.'”
Last year, the top two spellers were tossed into the spell-off without even competing head-to-head in the traditional spelling bee format, a move that rankled former champions and other bee aficionados. Bruhat Soma, who said afterward that he practiced the tiebreaker every day for six months, easily defeated Faizan Zaki.
Faizan returns for another crack at the title in this year's bee, which begins May 27.
“Once you reach a certain point in the finals, the drama is really in watching the spellers take on the dictionary word by word,” said Scott Remer, a prolific spelling coach who works with Faizan. “Traditionally, the idea behind the spelling bee has been that you use the information you’re given, you gather the clues, you process the information, you think about the word, and then you take all of that synthesis of information and you provide a spelling. The spell-off obviously tests a different set of skills.”
The spell-off was first used in 2022. Harini Logan beat Vikram Raju during that contest, but only after the pair had a traditional, lengthy duel in which each misspelled four words. Dev Shah didn't need a spell-off to win two years ago, and he was outspoken about the 2024 edition, saying, “I don't think it was a good bee.”
There was no tiebreaker throughout most of the 2010s, and the bee had co-champions in three straight years from 2014-16. Then came the infamous 2019 bee, which ended in an eight-way tie when Scripps ran out of words difficult enough to challenge an unusually strong group of competitors.
The 2020 bee was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it returned the next year under new leaders who made it clear they wanted a sole champion.
Another rule change has already proven popular among the spelling community: the return of a written test during the preliminary rounds.
Spellers who spell one word correctly and get one multiple-choice vocabulary question right on stage will then sit for a 40-question written test at the end of the first day. Results of that test will be used to pare the field to about 100 quarterfinalists — and Scripps will also use the test scores to gauge the strength of the remaining spellers and inform the difficulty of words used in subsequent rounds.
Current and former spellers say the written test is a fairer way to move the competition along than doing everything at the microphone during lengthy rounds with wild variations in word difficulty.
“I think having a written test as well as oral rounds allows for a better snapshot of a speller's holistic skills,” Shah said.
During the 2010s, a written test reduced the field to about 50 spellers, making it even higher-stakes. Scripps editorial director Molly Becker believes this version, with a “gentler cut,” strikes the right balance.
“We've heard from spellers that we like the fairness of the test because they're all being examined on the same exact words,” Becker said. “Also, the primary driver for bringing back the test is that the program can continue to grow with the number of spellers.”
Ben Nuckols has covered the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2012. Follow his work here.
FILE - Bruhat Soma, of Tampa, Fla., and Faizan Zaki, of Allen, Texas, compete in the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, in Oxon Hill, Md., May 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, file)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
