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The two spellers from Luzerne County were among close to 150 spellers in the Scripps National Spelling Bee who did not survive Round 3 of the competition.
Haleigh Mensinger, 13, from Drums Elementary/Middle School, misspelled the word “expediently” and Alyssa Evans, 13, from Good Shepherd Academy in Kingston, misspelled “atrophy.”
During the third round of the 92nd annual competition, 149 participants misspelled and 369 participants spelled correctly. Those who spelled correctly then waited to see, based on the results of a preliminary written test they had taken on Monday, which of them would proceed to today’s final rounds of competition, which will be held onstage at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md.
Haleigh’s word, expediently, means “convenient and practical although possibly improper or immoral.”
Alyssa’s word, atrophy, refers to “wasting away, or a gradual decline in effectiveness or vigor.”
Other words which stymied some of the spellers — in addition to “stymie,” which actually was one of the words that tripped up a speller — included subglottal, which means “of or relating to the glottis,” which is part of the larynx; antiquary, which refers to a person who studies the past; vermilion, which is a brilliant red color, and moray, which refers to “a mainly nocturnal eel-like predatory fish.”
Words that spellers mastered included the altimeter, which is an aircraft instrument; cymbalist, which is a musician who plays the cymbals; tidology, which refers to the science of tides; exigent, which means pressing or demanding, and commentariat, which refers to members of the news media considered as a class.
Haleigh won the Times Leader Regional Spelling Bee in March and her trip to the National Bee was sponsored by the newspaper. Alyssa was the first runner up at the Times Leader Regional Spelling Bee. She participated in the National Bee through the bee’s RSVBee program, and was sponsored by her school.
Reached by phone after Round 3, Haleigh was in good spirits.
“It’s been really good here,” she said, explaining she is looking forward to watching today’s final rounds and attending the awards banquet before the week comes to an end. She also enjoyed touring the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
“I love the little dinosaur exhibit and the minerals,” she said.
Today’s competition, set to begin at 10 a.m., can be viewed on ESPN channels. Word by word coverage can also be found on the Scripps National Spelling Bee twitter feed.
