The 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee broadcast its finals on ESPN’s streaming service at 8:30pm on May 30. Spelling fans tuned in everywhere to watch deft spellers vanquish word after word, until the list was exhausted and not one but eight students were still standing. The biggest victory tie in Scripps history left audiences applauding as eight champions held up the trophy together.

Every year, Town Hall hosts the King-Snohomish County Regional Spelling Bee. The winner of this heated trial of vocabulary moves on from local to national, joining the ranks of spellers competing in the Scripps Bee. This year representing Seattle was Nidhi Achanta, who knocked it out of the park and advanced to Round 3 of the Scripps Bee by nailing words such as porphyry (a hard igneous rock OR a Roman philosopher, depending on who you ask), calligram (an image made of words that are thematically connected to its meaning), and tachycardia (a medical condition that causes increased heart rate).

From among thousands of participants nationwide Nidhi succeeded round after round and made it to just before the finals. She can count herself as one of the best spellers in the nation. That’s no easy task! Congratulations Nidhi! This summer, Nidhi plans on presenting Spelling Bee prep ideas in local libraries to encourage other spellers from our state to take on the spelling bee C-H-A-L-L-E-N-G-E.

Think you’ve got what it takes to be a champion speller? Take the Scripps National Spelling Bee Preliminary Test and see if you can ace some of these tricky words!