Mastering words such as “cricetine” and “indumentum”, 12-year-old Bruhat Soma clinched victory Thursday in the United States spelling bee. “Bruhat Soma from Florida cemented his win by correctly spelling his final word, ‘abseil’,” organizer Scripps National Spelling Bee announced on X.Soma, who also competed in the past two annual competitions, will take home a $50,000 prize and a championship trophy. Soma correctly spelled 29 words in 90 seconds during the competition’s second-ever “Spell-off” tiebreaker, US media reported. In earlier rounds, Soma correctly spelled 10 words right, including “coulisse” — defined as a backstage area — and the Dutch town Hoofddorp. Children have participated in US classroom, school, and regional spelling bees in hopes of making it to the national contest since 1925, according to Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Source: Punch May 31, 2024 20:53 UTC