{"id":34603,"date":"2022-06-03T05:09:43","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T05:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/harini-logan-wins-in-spell-off\/"},"modified":"2022-06-03T05:09:43","modified_gmt":"2022-06-03T05:09:43","slug":"harini-logan-wins-in-spell-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/harini-logan-wins-in-spell-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Harini Logan wins in spell-off"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

OXON HILL, Md. – The 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee ended in a way none of the 93 competitions before it did. <\/p>\n

A spell-off. <\/p>\n

The final two competitors, Vikram Raju and Harini Logan, failed to correctly spell two words in a row between Rounds 13 and 18. At that point, judges opted to institute the first spell-off – 90 seconds to spell as many words as possible correctly . The one with the most spelled correctly <\/strong>would win the Bee.<\/p>\n

Logan – an eighth-grader from Texas – spelled 21 words correctly, compared to Raju’s 15, to become the 2022 champion. <\/p>\n

“Just so surreal, this is such a dream,” Logan, competing in her fourth national competition, said. <\/p>\n

Logan, 14, nearly didn’t advance past the word meaning round on Thursday. She’d heard the tragic bell after her answer for “pullulation” was rejected.<\/p>\n

“I was like ‘Wow, I’m out. This is it,'” Logan said. <\/p>\n

However, the judges conferred during a break and ruled that the answer she gave could be correct, since it could mean “to breed” or “to swarm.” <\/p>\n

Head judge Mary Brooks explained the ruling and Logan, who only minutes earlier had learned of her reversed fortunes, returned to her seat on the stage. <\/p>\n

“There was a few minutes in between that were frantic,” Logan said. <\/p>\n

Logan rolled through the rest of the spelling until her stalemate with Raju, which led to the spell-off. <\/p>\n

\"Harini<\/figure>\n

It was like a round of Family Feud’s “Fast Money” met the Spelling Bee. The typical questions competitors may ask the pronouncer – part of speech, etymology and definition – were not permitted. Each word had to be attempted – no skips or passes – and the speller had to press a buzzer before the next word appeared. While Raju went first, Logan was sequestered in a room backstage with noise-canceling headphones that played classical music into her ears so she couldn’t hear her answers di lei. <\/strong><\/p>\n