N.Y.'s Arvind Mahankali wins National Spelling Bee

Natalie DiBlasio | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Spelling Bee champion turns German curse into blessing Arvind Mahankali , a 13-year-old from New York, was crowned the Scripps National Spelling Bee champion after spelling 'knaidel' correctly.

Mahankali has struggled with German words at past bees

%27The words are extremely hard%2C%27 he says

The 13-year-old says he will study physics

FORT WASHINGTON, Md. — Arms behind his back in his signature stance, Arvind Mahankali spells on his hand, looking up at the pronouncer as he correctly spells "tokonoma."

"Arvind, since you are the only speller left in this round, if you spell correctly this next word you will be declared the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion," head judge Mary Brooks says from the judges table.

Tracing letters on his hand with his finger, Arvind confidently looks up and spells a word meaning a small mass of leavened dough: "k-n-a-i-d-e-l."

German words have led Arvind, 13, of Bayside Hills, N.Y., to his spelling-bee demise for the past two years, when he twice placed third at the bee.

"Arvind, you are the champion," Brooks announced as confetti shot over his head, covering the stage.

It was the first time since 2008 that a boy won the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

"The words were extremely hard," Arvind said. "The German curse has turned into a German blessing."

It was a stressful three days of computerized spelling and vocabulary quizzes and round after round of spelling on stage. It didn't make it any easier that ESPN was broadcasting.

Jumpy spellers had to pause for commercial breaks, ignore cameras in their faces and listen as anchors joked about struggling through the addition of vocabulary quizzes to this year's bee.

All the pomp and circumstance did little to calm the nerves of the final spellers. The "spellebrities," as they were dubbed by spelling bee staff, started with 281 contenders Tuesday morning. By Thursday's semifinals, 42 remained.

At 8 p.m. Thursday, in front of families, friends and the world, 11 finalists took the stage. When Arvind walked away the winner, he took with him a shiny engraved trophy and the title of "champion." He also received $30,000 in cash, a $2,500 U.S. savings bond from Merriam-Webster and $2,000 worth of reference works from Encyclopedia Britannica.

The bee, while often intense, wasn't all serious. ESPN taped fake AT&T commercials with the spellers and did short video bits on some of them. Spellers shared something about their lives and what is interesting about themselves, aside from being a world-ranked speller.

The champion isn't allowed to return to spell at the bee, but Arvind already knows how he will fill his time. "I will spend the entire day studying physics," he said, drawing a laugh from the crowd. "I am retiring on a good note."

As for the rest of the spellers? Back to studying in hopes of making it to next year's bee.