95th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 95th Scripps National Spelling Bee was a spelling bee competition that was held at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

95th Scripps National Spelling Bee
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DateMay 30–June 1, 2023
LocationGaylord National Resort & Convention Center (National Harbor, Maryland)
WinnerDev Shah
Age14
ResidenceLargo, Florida
SponsorSNSB Region One Bee
Sponsor locationLargo, Florida
Winning wordpsammophile
No. of contestants231
PronouncerJacques Bailly and Brian Sietsema
Preceded by94th Scripps National Spelling Bee
Followed by96th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 2023 bee welcomed 231 spellers from the United States and its territories, Canada, Ghana, and The Bahamas. After competing in quarterfinal and semi-final rounds[1] on May 30 and May 31, 2023, the field of competition narrowed to 11 finalists who competed on the night of June 1, 2023.[2]

Dev Shah of Largo, Florida, won the competition[3] upon correctly spelling the word psammophile after Charlotte Walsh (placed second[4]) spelled daviely incorrectly.

Shradha Rachamreddy, and two-time finalist[5] Surya Kapu, tied for third place after surviving until round 13 of the competition.[6]

Field

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Scripps National Spelling Bee's field of competition begins with 11 million students, in grades 8 and younger, who compete in local and regional spelling bee competitions to qualify for the Scripps Bee.[7]

The 11 finalist spellers, and their respective sponsors, were the following students:

Dhruv Subramanian, 12, a 7th grader representing the San Ramon Valley Rotary Club of San Ramon, California.[8]

Vikrant Chintanaboina, 14, an 8th grader representing the San Ramon Valley Rotary Club of San Ramon, California.[8]

Shradha Rachamreddy, 13, a 7th grader representing the San Ramon Valley Rotary Club of San Ramon, California.[8]

Arth Dalsania, 14, an 8th grader representing SAGE Publishing of Thousand Oaks, California.[9]

Dev Shah, 14, an 8th grader representing SNSB Region One Bee of Largo, Florida.[10]

Aryan Khedkar, 12, a 7th grader representing the Oakland Schools Education Foundation of Waterford, Michigan.[11]

Sarah Fernandes, 11, a 5th grader representing the Omaha Sports Commission of Omaha, Nebraska.[12]

Pranav Anandh, 14, an 8th grader representing the Delaware County Intermediate Unit of Morton, Pennsylvania.[13]

Tarini Nandakumar, 12, a 6th grader representing Sweet Success ATX of Austin, Texas.[14]

Surya Kapu, 14, an 8th grader representing The City Journals of Salt Lake City, Utah. Surya was the only finalist in 2023 who was also a finalist in 2022; then, he tied for 5th place.[15]

Charlotte Walsh, 14, an 8th grader representing the Fairfax County Council PTA of Merrifield, Virginia.[16]

Competition

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The 2023 bee was infused with new leadership as longtime Scripps Bee employee and former three-time bee participant Corrie Loeffler assumed the role of Executive Director.[17]

A highlight of the 2023 competition was Akash Vukoti making history as the National Spelling Bee's first ever six-year repeater.[18] Akash tied for 74th place after leaving the competition in round 4.[19]

As in the two years since the Scripps Bee resumed after the cancellation of the 2020 competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[20] spellers engaged in quarterfinal, semi-final, and final rounds over three days of competition. Each segment included spelling rounds and word meaning rounds where the speller displayed their knowledge of definitions by stating their answers from a multiple-choice selection.[21] The bee introduced a new standardized test, conducted prior to the competition, to assess the spellers' collective abilities to aid with the work of the Word List Panel.[22]

The bee's Word List Panel granted exclusive access to The Associated Press during the 2023 Bee Week to publicly reveal details about their process, which had been secret since the panel formed in the 1980s.[23]

ION TV continued its broadcast coverage of the bee for a second year, with Paul Loeffler as commentator and welcoming featured guest commentators such as 2021 champion Zaila Avant-garde, 2022 champion Harini Logan, sisters and former champions Dr. Kavya (2009) and Vanya (2015) Shivashankar, and actor Yvette Nicole Brown.

Rock band The Linda Lindas performed at the bee making them the bee's first ever musical performance.[24]

Final rankings

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1st place

Dev Shah[25]

2nd place

Charlotte Walsh[26]

3rd place (tie)

Shradha Rachamreddy

Surya Kapu[27]

5th place (tie)

Dhruv Subramanian

Vikrant Chintanaboina

Aryan Khedkar[28]

8th place

Arth Dalsania[29]

9th place

Tarini Nandakumar[30]

10th place (tie)

Sarah Fernandes

Pranav Anandh [31]

Word list championship round

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Competition information at spellingbee.com, retrieved 2023-06-01
  2. ^ Scripps National Spelling Bee finalists flex their knowledge quietly, retrieved 2023-06-01
  3. ^ Dev Shah wins the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee, retrieved June 2, 2023
  4. ^ Fairfax speller finishes second at Scripps National Spelling Bee, retrieved June 2, 2023
  5. ^ 2022 FINALIST – SPELLER 223 SURYA KAPU, retrieved June 2, 2023
  6. ^ 2023 Results – round 13 – spelling round, retrieved June 2, 2023
  7. ^ Spellingbee.com About page, retrieved 2023-06-01
  8. ^ a b c Three Bay Area kids, all sponsored by the same Rotary club, make it to National Spelling Bee finals, retrieved 2023-06-01
  9. ^ Meet spelling bee finalist Arth Dalsania, retrieved 2023-06-02
  10. ^ Pinellas middle school student makes National Spelling Bee finals, retrieved June 2, 2023
  11. ^ Aryan Khedkar of Rochester Hills in final round of national spelling bee, June 2023, retrieved June 2, 2023
  12. ^ Omaha girl, 11, bows out after reaching national spelling bee finals, June 2023, retrieved June 2, 2023
  13. ^ Scripps National Spelling Bee finalists, including Pa. boy, ready to f-l-e-x their skills, June 2023, retrieved June 2, 2023
  14. ^ Austin student advances to Scripps National Spelling Bee finals, 31 May 2023, retrieved June 2, 2023
  15. ^ Draper student finishes third in 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee, 2 June 2023, retrieved June 2, 2023
  16. ^ 7News talks with Fairfax County teen competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals, June 2023, retrieved June 2, 2023
  17. ^ "From Competitor to Leader: Corrie Loeffler '04 Named Executive Director of Scripps National Spelling Bee", Azusa Pacific University, retrieved June 2, 2023
  18. ^ "14-year-old competes in Scripps National Spelling Bee for a 6th time", Good Morning America, retrieved June 2, 2023
  19. ^ 2023 Results – round 4 – spelling round, retrieved June 2, 2023
  20. ^ Sport, Guardian (20 March 2020), "'B-U-M-M-E-R': National Spelling Bee called off due to coronavirus outbreak", The Guardian, retrieved June 2, 2023
  21. ^ Contest Rules of the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee (PDF), retrieved June 2, 2023
  22. ^ "Scripps National Spelling Bee finalists flex their knowledge quietly", ABC News, retrieved June 2, 2023
  23. ^ Exclusive secrets of the National Spelling Bee: Picking the words to identify a champion, 29 May 2023, retrieved June 2, 2023
  24. ^ "The Linda Lindas Deliver Scripps National Spelling Bee's First-Ever Musical Performance". Stereogum. 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  25. ^ 2023 Results – round 15- spelling round, retrieved June 2, 2023
  26. ^ 2023 Results – round 14- spelling round, retrieved June 2, 2023
  27. ^ 2023 Results – round 13- spelling round, retrieved June 2, 2023
  28. ^ 2023 Results – round 12- spelling round, retrieved June 2, 2023
  29. ^ 2023 Results – round 11- spelling round, retrieved June 2, 2023
  30. ^ 2023 Results – round 10- word meaning round, retrieved June 2, 2023
  31. ^ 2023 Results – round 9- spelling round, retrieved June 2, 2023