A 14-year-old boy from Lagos Florida is the new champion of The Scripps National Spelling Bee. Shah beat his final opponent, also a 14-year-old eighth grader, Charlotte Walsh from Arlington, Virginia by spelling “psammophile” correctly.
psam·mo·phile
plural-s
: an organism that prefers or thrives in sandy soils or areas
psammophilous ~adjective
UnBEElievable! #Speller36 Dev Shah representing the SNSB Region One Bee in Largo, Florida is the Champion of the 95th Scripps National Spelling Bee. His winning word? Psammophile. 🐝 #spellingbee pic.twitter.com/ebM8jUU6xZ
— Scripps National Spelling Bee (@ScrippsBee) June 2, 2023
In the grueling competition that saw a staggering 11 million students compete against each other, only eleven talented students made it through to the finals. The contest, which began back in 1925, captivated viewer’s attention as spellers from all corners of the United States showcased their linguistic abilities.
Among the finalists, Shah stood out as a shining star, claiming the trophy with a wave of emotions. “It’s surreal… my legs are still shaking,” Dev said, as he accepted the award on stage, surrounded by his family.
Shah participated in the competition in 2019 and 2021, where he secured tied 51st and tied 76th positions. But those were grounds for practice as he demonstrated remarkable growth this year.
During the spelling finale
During the finals, two competitors were eliminated in the first round after misspelling their words, a third was taken down in the second round, in which spellers are prompted with a multiple-choice question about the definition of the word.
Six more students were eliminated in the third, fourth, and fifth rounds. Then it was down to Shah versus Walsh
Shah confidently spelled complex words like bathypitotmeter, schistorrhachis, and rommack. He also showed his comprehensive knowledge by answering a question, saying that magicians primarily practice legerdemain.
His opponent who is another remarkable speller proved her spelling skills by tackling words such as akuammine, sorge, and collembolous during the final showdown.
This year’s competition did not require a “spell-off” to determine the champion as with last year’s historic eight-way tie. However, if the one-hour and 55-minute mark of the bee had passed without a champion being declared, the spell-off would have been implemented. In the spell-off, each contestant would have been given 90 seconds to spell a series of words.
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