The 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee crowned this year's champion Thursday night after whittling down its 11 finalists, including students from the Bay Area.
The Bay Area students included: seventh-grader Dhruv Subramanian of Windemere Ranch Middle School in San Ramon, eighth-grader Vikrant Chintanaboina of Discovery Charter School - Falcon Campus in San Jose, and seventh-grader Shradha Rachamreddy of BASIS Independent Silicon Valley Upper School in San Jose.
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WATCH HERERachamreddy ended in third place, which she shared with Surya Kapu, an eighth-grader from Utah. She was eliminated after spelling “orle” as “orel.” An orle is a narrow border inset from the edge of a shield.
Chintanaboina and Subramanian tied for fifth place, which they shared with Michigan seventh-grader Aryan Khedkar.
Subramanian was eliminated after misspelling “crenel,” meaning an indentation in the battlement of a fort or castle used to shoot or fire missiles through.
And Chintanaboina was knocked out for spelling “pataca,” which is the currency of Macau, incorrectly.
Also from California this year was eighth-grader Arth Dalsania from Camarillo Academy of Progressive Education in Camarillo, which is around 50 miles north-west from Los Angeles.
This year's champion was Florida eighth-grader Dev Shah, who won by correctly spelling "psammophile." A psammophile is an organism which prefers or thrives in sandy soils or areas.
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SIGN UP This year's spelling bee had a starting cohort of 231 spellers.
