90th Scripps National Spelling Bee

90th Scripps National Spelling Bee
Date	May 30-June 1, 2017
Location	Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor, Maryland
Winner	Ananya Vinay
Age	12
Residence	Fresno, California
Sponsor	Fresno Bee
Sponsor location	Fresno, California
Winning word	marocain
No. of contestants	291
Pronouncer	Jacques Bailly
Preceded by	89th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland (its seventh year at this location) from May 30 to June 1, 2017, with "Bee Week" events running for spellers between May 28 and June 3, and televised coverage on May 31 and June 1. Ananya Vinay, 12, won the competition by successfully spelling "marocain" in the final round.

There were 291 entrants this year (second only to the 293 who spelled in the 2009 bee). They came from all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as Department of Defense schools in Europe. Six other countries also have entrants: the Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan, and South Korea.

The spellers ranged from age 6 to 15, made up of 138 girls and 153 boys. 66% attended public schools, 23% private or parochial schools, and the rest either attended a charter school or are home schooled. For the first time, a 5-year-old qualified for Bee, Edith Fuller of Tulsa, Oklahoma, though she turned 6 by the time of the national Bee. There were 20 spellers this year age 10 or younger. The largest age group was 13, with 99 contestants. Seventy-three spellers were return contestants: 56 two-time contestants, 14 three-time contestants, and three were participating in their fourth national Bee.

According to a report on the eve of the Bee in the Associated Press, there were three "consensus favorites" to win the competition, including Shourav Dasari (of Conroe, Texas and winner of the Houston area bee), Siyona Mishra (who finished 9th last year), and Tejas Muthusamy (a four-time Bee speller). Dasari and Muthusamy did advance to the final 15, Dasari placed 4th.

The Bee began on the morning of Tuesday, May 30, 2017, when the contestants took their opening written test (the "first round"). On Wednesday May 31 there were two oral spelling rounds (the "second" and "third" round of competition), where a missed word results in elimination. After the first oral round ("Round 2"), 259 spellers of the original 291 remained (32 were eliminated). Halfway through round three, the field was reduced to 222 spellers, and at the end of round three, 188 spellers remained.

The results from the oral spelling rounds were then combined with the written test scores to determine the group of finalists on compete on Thursday, which could not exceed 50 spellers. Only 40 finalists were announced; it took 27 out of 36 points on the written test to become a finalist.

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Wikipedia