SPELLING BEE CONTEST (list and rules)

English Spelling Bee Word List

Malady

Equity

Cliché

Browse

Reverie

Theater

Responsible

Through

Bizarre

Evening gown

Wrong

Wrinkle

Tough

Hilarious

Hijacker

Minimize

Chauffer

Lovable

Tortoise

Plateau

Gauge

Fastidious

Pedestrian

Harlequin

Extraordinary

Hippopotamus

Available

Intravenous

Façade

Chicanery

Repertoire

Ethereal

Lieutenant

Procrastinate

Entrepreneur

Superfelious

Narcolepsy

Repetitiveness

Miscellaneous

Cymotrichous

Succubus

Doppelgänger

Felicitous

Forthright

Lackadaisical

Paroxysm

Shibboleth

Gregarious

Panegyric

Machiavellianism 

Spelling Bee Rules

1. In competition, after the pronouncer gives the speller a word, the speller will be encouraged to pronounce the word before spelling it and after spelling it. The judges may not disqualify a speller for failing to pronounce the word either before or after spelling it. But the judges will know that the speller is done if he or she pronounces the word after spelling it and the pronouncer will be assured that the speller has heard the word correctly if he or she pronounces it before beginning to spell it.

2. The speller may ask the pronouncer to say the word again. The pronouncer shall grant such request until the judges agree that the word has been made reasonably clear to the contestant.

3. Having started to spell a word, a speller may stop and start over, retracing the spelling from the beginning, but in retracing there can be NO change of letters or their sequence from those first pronounced. If letters or their sequence is changed in the respelling, the speller will be eliminated. In other words, a speller can’t correct himself, even while it is still his or her turn.

4. The contest shall be conducted in rounds. Each speller remaining in the spelling bee at the start of a round shall spell one word in the round, except when there are two spellers remaining. (At that point, refer to Rule 6.)

5. If a word has one or more homonyms, the pronouncer will indicate which word is to be spelled. If the listed word is not properly identified, either by defining it or using it in a sentence, any correct spelling of any homonym of the word will be accepted.

6. When the number of spellers is reduced to two, the elimination procedure changes. At that point, when one speller misspells a word, the other speller shall be given an opportunity to spell that same word. If the second speller spells that word correctly, plus the next word on the pronouncer’s list, then the second speller shall be declared the winner.

7. If the contest lasts for too long because the spellers are spelling the words correctly, a stricter time limit will be implemented. A timer will be projected on the auditorium wall to show the speller and the audience how much time the speller has left to spell the word given. If the situation remains after 2 more rounds, then the speller who the takes the least amount of time to spell the same word will be declared the winner. The can be only one!

8. Judges are in complete control of the competition. Their decisions are final. Spelling bees are not unlike sporting events in which referees call the plays as they see them. Players don’t always agree with the decisions or like them, but accept them as part of good sportsmanship.

9. This is the most important rule of all. Please have fun and relax, whether you’re a participant or a spectator.