40th Scripps National Spelling Bee

40th Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Mayflower Hotel, site of the 40th National Spelling Bee
Date	June 7–8, 1967
Location	The Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Winner	Jennifer Reinke
Age	14
Residence	Deshler, Nebraska
Sponsor	Omaha World-Herald
Sponsor location	Omaha, Nebraska
Winning word	chihuahua
No. of contestants	73
Pronouncer	Richard R. Baker
Preceded by	39th Scripps National Spelling Bee
Followed by	41st Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 40th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, D.C. at the Mayflower Hotel on June 7–8, 1967, sponsored by the E.W. Scripps Company.

The winner was 14-year-old Jennifer Reinke of Deshler, Nebraska who correctly spelled "chihuahua" to clinch the win on June 8. Reinke was the first winner from Nebraska since Virginia Hogan won the 5th Bee in 1929. She appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on June 11.

Anne Clark, 14, of Huntington, West Virginia placed second (falling on "milline" which she spelled as "milign"), followed by 14-year old Milene Henley of Houston, Texas in third.

The words Reinke correctly spelled in the contest were: lily, icy, leisurely, applique, acetate, albino, episcopacy, domiciliary, quisling, cornice, calibrate, antimacassar, hawse, eponym, athodyd, demurrage, encephalitis, mantelletta, cosset, fleche, pogrom, milline, and chihuahua. First Reinke and then Clark failed to correctly spell "spinnaker" near the end of the contest, giving Reinke another chance to win.

This year's contest had 73 contestants sponsored by 72 newspapers, a total of 47 girls and 26 boys. Twelve spellers were age 12, 40 were age 13, and 21 were age 14; 58 were in eighth grade, 14 in seventh grade, and one speller was in sixth grade. At the end of the first day of competition, after 432 words were used, the field was reduced to 35.

Although the New York World Journal Tribune folded in early May 1967, it still sponsored two entrants.

First prize was $1000 in addition to a weekend trip to New York City and three-day trip to Expo 67 in Montreal. Second prize was $250, followed by $250 for second, $100 each for fourth through eighth, $75 for 9th-15th, and $50 each for the remaining spellers.