Spelling Bee Vocabulary Test: 2013 Scripps National Competition Began With New Element (PHOTOS)

Contestants in the Scripps National Spelling Bee take the preliminary test, which includes a vocabulary section this year, Tuesday, May 28, 2013, in Oxon Hill, Md. The 86th Scripps National Spelling Bee is under way, with 281 youngsters taking the first vocabulary test in the history of the competition.

OXON HILL, Md. -- Jae Canetti said he screamed "No!" when he learned the National Spelling Bee would be introducing a vocabulary test. He started changing the way he prepared, studying definitions of words on the bus ride to school each day.

At least the extra work appeared to have paid off. When the 11-year-old from Fairfax, Va., took the test Tuesday morning, he felt he did just fine.

"I knew a lot of the words," Jae said. "It definitely was not, like, painstaking."

The 86th edition of the Scripps National Spelling Bee took on new meaning – or rather, lots of meanings – with organizers having decreed that the precocious youngsters need to prove they know more than just how to spell. The 281 competitors took a 45-minute computer test that probed their knowledge of both spelling and vocabulary, with the results to be combined with Wednesday's onstage round to determine who advances to the semifinals Thursday.

For the most part, the spellers had the same reaction to the vocabulary test: Good idea, but they wished they had known about it sooner.

"I think everybody wasn't expecting it, because it was something you weren't thinking they were going to put in," said 12-year-old Mary Elizabeth Horton from West Melbourne, Fla. "But it definitely changes everything."

Organizers announced the addition of vocabulary seven weeks ago, saying it reinforces the bee's mission to encourage students to broaden their knowledge of the English language. They waited until all of the qualifying bees had been completed so that the spellers would be on equal footing in their preparation.

"Before they announced the vocabulary, I paid attention to the definitions but I didn't focus too much," said 13-year-old Arvind Mahankali of New York. "But then after they announced it, I occasionally had my dad quiz me on vocabulary words, and I studied the definitions once in a while."

Arvind is one of the favorites, having finished third last year, and as he took the vocabulary test he was grateful for a trick everyone learns at school: the process of elimination.

"It was good that they gave multiple choice, so that you could eliminate incorrect answers," Arvind said. "I had to guess at one or two in vocabulary. ... I think it's not too bad of a change, actually. The vocabulary words, they're pretty easy to someone who studies well enough."

There will be another vocabulary test for those who make it to the semifinals, but Thursday night's finals will look the same as always – with spellers taking turns tackling incredibly difficult words under the bright lights of prime-time television until only a champion remains. The winner takes home more than $30,000 in cash and prizes.

The environment Tuesday morning was more low-key. Still, the tension and pressure were evident. The test took place inside a large hotel ballroom, where about 50 spellers at a time sat at a long, rectangular table staring at computer screens. They emerged one by one, greeted with pats on shoulders from parents and whispers of "How'd it go?" There was also a blind speller who took her test in Braille.

The scoring system has the complexity usually associated with something like Olympic gymnastics: 24 words to spell and 24 words to define, although only 12 of each count toward the total score. There was also a pair of extra vocabulary words worth three points each. The spellers were asked to choose among four possible definitions for each vocabulary word.

The lists of words on Tuesday's tests will be announced Wednesday, after the final scores are tabulated.

Organizers might tinker with the format in future years, but there's little doubt that the vocabulary test is here to stay.

"I really like the intended purpose, which is to emphasize vocabulary," said 1999 champion Nupur Lala, who was featured in the documentary "Spellbound."

"I think the level of competition has reached such an apex at this point that they need something else to differentiate spellers – and still keep the bee an educational exercise."

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Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

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Inside Look At 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee, Including New Vocabulary Test (PHOTOS)

Workers prepare the Gaylord National Hotel's ballroom in Oxon Hill, Md., Tuesday, May 28, 2013, for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Spellers arrived Tuesday morning to take a 45-minute computer test that probes their knowledge of both spelling and vocabulary. The results will be combined with Wednesday's on-stage round to determine which spellers will advance to the semifinals Thursday. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

OXON HILL, Md. -- Hello. I'm Speller No. 282. And I'm not going to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

But thanks to the new vocabulary test, I might have been a contender.

This being my eighth year covering the bee for The Associated Press, and with the historic introduction of vocabulary to the annual competition, the bee allowed me an unprecedented chance to sit in the quiet computer room and take the same preliminary round test given to the 281 youngsters competing for this year's top prize.

The quick verdict: I can't spell, but I can define.

I took the test Tuesday, the same day as the rest of the spellers, with the promise that I wouldn't reveal the contents until the results for everyone were announced Wednesday afternoon. Using a complicated formula, those scores are combined with Wednesday's onstage rounds to determine the semifinalists for Thursday.

I was escorted from the waiting room, where parents pass the anxious moments, and led to a large room with some 50 computers on long, rectangular tables. I typed in my log-in number – 282, of course – and put on a set of large, noise-cancelling headphones so I could hear the prerecorded spelling and vocabulary words as spoken by official bee pronouncer Jacques Bailly. A timer counted down the 45 minutes given to complete the test.

When I heard the first word, I thought I was done for.

"Epideictic."

The screen told me the definition, language of origin and used it in a sentence, but I didn't have a clue about the word that means "designed primarily for rhetorical effect." I clicked the button several times to listen to the word, trying to think of the clues I've learned listening to the spellers over the years. I typed: "epidyctic."

Close, but close doesn't count in spelling.

Fortunately, there were some I did know. "Chortle" and "duplicitous" and "romanticism" were no problem, but I went with an "s" instead of a "z" for "netizen" and didn't put near enough vowels in "Ouagadougou."

I was also marked incorrect for a word that the bee listed as "virucide," but officials later determined that the dictionary lists my spelling – "viruscide" – as an acceptable alternative. That gave me an extra point, but, more importantly, it also gave an extra point to 13-year-old Nikitha Chandran of St. Petersburg, Fla., putting her into the semifinals after she was initially told she didn't make the cut.

After 24 words, it was on to the vocabulary test, a radical change in the bee competition. The addition of vocabulary was announced only seven weeks ago, and spellers were unsure how to prepare for it. The bee made the change because it seemed a natural progression in its mission to encourage kids to broaden their knowledge of the language.

Yet this part seemed easier. There were four possible answers for each word, but I didn't need multiple choice to know terms such as "acrimony," "bibliomania" and "tranquil." It soon became clear that there were only two or three really tough words, ones designed to separate the elite competitors from everyone else. I had to make educated guesses on "anechoic" (free from echoes and reverberation), "wolfsbane" (a type of plant) and "epicure" (a person with discriminating taste for food).

After those 24 words, I had two more vocabulary words worth an extra three points each: "flamboyant" and "equipoise" (a word related to balance).

The test was done, and I anxiously awaited my score. I knew that only 12 of the 24 words in the first two parts of the test would count toward my tally, but I didn't know which ones until my results came back.

As it turned out, I got seven out of 12 in spelling and a perfect 12 out of 12 in vocabulary. The only vocabulary word I missed was "wolfsbane," but fortunately it wasn't among the 12 that counted. I also nailed both of the three-point words, so my final score was 25 out of 30.

Not bad, but it wouldn't be enough to advance to the semifinals. I didn't get a chance to test my nerves under the bright lights on Wednesday, but my score would have been one point shy of the qualifying mark even if I had spelled both of my onstage words correctly.

So it was back to my seat on press row, having confirmed what I've known all along: These kids are smart.

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Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

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