A 12-year-old seventh grader from Tampa, Florida, emerged as the champion of the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee, making it only the second-ever spell-off in the competition’s history.
Bruhat Soma emerged as the titleholder in a thrilling and intense spell-off against 12-year-old Faizan Zaki of Plano, Texas.
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Scripps announced Soma as the winner after he correctly spelled the word “abseil,” which refers to “a descent in mountaineering by means of a rope looped over a projection above.”
“I don’t have words to describe it,” Bruhat exclaimed in a television interview on stage, as confetti fell from above. “I’m still shaking.”
During the spell-off, contestants are given 90 seconds to spell as many words correctly as possible. In this particular competition, Faizan Zaki spelled 20 words accurately. However, Soma outperformed him by spelling a remarkable 29 words correctly. According to the New York Times, Soma’s list included challenging words like “heautophany,” “nachschlรคge,” and “puszta.”
Scripps took to social media to applaud the impressive performance of #Speller47 Bruhat Soma and #Speller207 Faizan Zaki in our second-ever Spell-off. They showcased their exceptional spelling skills by correctly spelling 20 words. It was truly a BEEdazzling effort by these talented spellers.
Soma had previous experience participating in the high-profile spelling bee. In 2022, as a fifth-grader, he achieved a tie for 163rd place. The following year, he improved his performance and finished tied for 74th.
This year, he exerted a tremendous amount of effort and crossed the finish line with a narrow victory, triumphantly lifting the trophy above his head. As the customary confetti showered down on him and Zaki, they stood in the center of the stage, exchanging handshakes while still somewhat dazed by the moment.
According to Cole Shafer-Ray, a spelling coach who participated in the event from 2013 to 2015, a successful spelling bee relies on accurately identifying the challenging aspects of words. However, he expresses concerns about how the bee determines a winner in these circumstances.
According to a recent interview with The Times, there has been a notable increase in instances where Scripps’ word selection in this year’s competition has exhibited a clear lack of understanding of word difficulty. In order to address this issue, the suggestion has been made to involve former spellers in the process of selecting words. This would ensure that the chosen words accurately reflect the challenges faced by participants in the competition.
Shafer-Ray admitted that spell-offs can be thrilling, but he believes that they should be used as a last resort. According to him, spell-offs test a completely different skill set.
