An East Bay 13-year-old girl, who had been chugging along in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, was finally ousted on Thursday, when she spelled the word "polytocous" incorrectly in Round 6.
Audrey Bantug, an eighth grader at Iron Horse Middle School in San Ramon, will now not advance to tonight's final round.
Just hours before on Thursday, she had spelled "oread," which means mountain nymph, with flying colors.
You can take the test for yourself. Click here to see how you score. It is an audio-based test so you will need speakers and a keyboard.
#Speller24 Audrey Bantug (CA) spells 'polytocous' (bearing many young at a time) incorrectly in Round 6. She does not advance #spellingbee — NationalSpellingBee (@ScrippsBee) May 30, 2013
This year all 281 spellers took an additional "Preliminaries Test." That test contained 12 score spelling words, 12 score vocabulary questions, a Round Two vocabulary question and a Round Three vocabulary question for a total potential score of 30 points. Additionally, spellers who spelled correctly on stage during Rounds Two and Three of the Bee had an opportunity to earn an additional three points for each correct spelling. Here's the catch: If a speller misspelled in either Round Two or Round Three, the speller was eliminated from the competition.
To help viewers follow up-to-the-minute updates on the competition, the Scripps National Spelling Bee is running a live Twitter feed on their account @ScrippsBee.
#Speller24 Audrey Bantug (CA) spells 'polytocous' (bearing many young at a time) incorrectly in Round 6. She does not advance #spellingbee — NationalSpellingBee (@ScrippsBee) May 30, 2013