Scripps National Spelling Bee kicks off in Oxon Hill

Scripps National Spelling Bee kicks off in Oxon Hill

The best young spellers in the English language are set to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.

OXON HILL, Md. - The best young spellers in the English language are set to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.

The backstory:

The first bee was held in 1925, when the Louisville Courier-Journal invited other newspapers to host spelling bees and send their champions to Washington. The bee is now held just outside the nation’s capital, at a convention center on the banks of the Potomac River in Oxon Hill, Maryland. It starts Tuesday and concludes Thursday night.

This will be the 97th bee; it was canceled from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II and again in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s champion will be the 110th, because the bee ended in a two-way tie several times and an eight-way tie in 2019.

Timeline:

Tuesday kicks off with preliminary rounds starting at 8 a.m. and lasting until 4:40 p.m. 

Wednesday brings the quarterfinals in the morning followed by the semifinals in the afternoon. 

The finals on Thursday are from 8 p.m. until 10 p.m.

By the numbers:

The bee features 243 spellers, with at least one from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia; as well as spellers from U.S. territories Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands; and from Canada, the Bahamas, Germany, Ghana, Kuwait and Nigeria.

The winner receives a custom trophy and more than $50,000 in cash and prizes. Here are the prize payouts:

— First place: $52,500 in cash, reference works from Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster, and a $1,000 contribution to a school of the champion’s choice.

— Second place: $25,000.

— Third place: $15,000.

— Fourth place: $10,000.

— Fifth place: $5,000.

— Sixth place: $2,500.

— All other finalists: $2,000.