Anurag Kashyap Wins National Spelling Bee

FOXNews/AP ^ | June 02, 2005

[nuconvert]

Anurag Kashyap Wins National Spelling Bee

Thursday, June 02, 2005

WASHINGTON — Bursting into tears, eighth-grader Anurag Kashyap (search) of California became the U.S. spelling champ Thursday, beating out 272 other spellers in a tough two days of competition. He said he felt "just pure happiness."

Anurag, 13, of Poway, clinched "appoggiatura," a melodic tone, to take home some $30,000 in prizes. He won in the 19th round of the 78th Annual National Scripps Spelling Bee.

Also among 27 spellers remaining at the end of the sixth round Thursday afternoon were a half dozen home-schoolers. Home-schooled students have won twice, in 1997 and 2000.

Eighth-grader Hannah Smith, home-schooled in Prior Lake, Minn., laughed and shook her head as though she couldn't believe she'd done it after correctly spelling "nemathelminth," a kind of worm.

Others still on stage included a spelling whiz from Canada and one from Jamaica, the only two foreign students remaining.

Finola Hackett, a seventh-grader in Tofield, Alberta, mastered "whiffet," a small or unimportant person.

Jamaican eighth-grader Stacey-Ann Pearson advanced by spelling "mycetophagous," which means feeding on fungi.

Fellow Jamaican Jody-Anne Maxwell in 1998 became the only foreign student to ever win the competition since it was opened internationally some two decades ago.

Thursday was the second and final day of the 78th annual National Scripps Spelling Bee. On Wednesday, 222 spellers were eliminated from an original field of 273.

"I'll just do the best I can," Louisville, Ky., seventh-grader John Tamplin said Wednesday night after making it through the fourth round by spelling "flamborough." It's an old English sword dance.

Most of the contestants at the bee's start were from the United States and its territories, but 14 were foreign students. There were 11 from Canada and one each from the Bahamas, Jamaica and New Zealand.

[moog]

With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person which almost went unnoticed last week. Larry La Prise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey," died peacefully at age 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in. And then the trouble started.

Wonder what happened at the guy's funeral who wrote "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes."

[moog]

George W has moved up north, but maybe you better get Laura. Imagine the last word being nuclear.

[Tax-chick]

LOL!

[moog]

I think that we should have suthun, New Yak or New Joisy, New England, and so on regional spelling bees in colloquial terms or use and then have a national spelling bee that way.

Contestant 1, spell bird. Bird--b--o-i-d. That is correct
Contestant 2, spell park. Park--p-a-k. That is correct.
Contestant 3, spell you. You--y-'-a-l-l. That is correct.
Contestant 4 (from France), spell gumption. I'm sorry, I don't know what that is. Contstant 4, you are disqualified.

[RightWhale]

Half the music majors couldn't spell that one every time, but if this kid can spell his own name he has definitely got the stuff.

[moog]

How about: "The dress was out of sequins."

I'm out of puns.