Scripps spelling bee 2018: After the largest Bee ever, just 16 remain

Ryan W. Miller | USA TODAY

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Sometimes, just one letter makes the difference.

After a fierce first half of final round competition here at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, only 16 spellers will continue on to the prime time finals airing on ESPN Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET.

It took eight rounds of Bee action featuring its largest pool of spellers ever to whittle down the competition to the remaining spellers, who now have their chance to claim the grand prize: $40,000 cash, the Scripps trophy, trips to New York and Los Angeles for national television appearances and bragging rights as the nation's best speller.

Among the words missed by only one letter during Thursday's morning rounds: "amyloid," "exegete," "sidereal," "paregoric," and "mydriasis," among others.

Naysa Modi, 12, of Frisco, Texas, said she's "of course nervous" heading into Thursday night's final. "It's really, really scary, but then at the same time, I feel really lucky that I get to go up there in the first place," Naysa said. She tied for seventh last year.

Forty-one spellers made it to Thursday morning's final at the Gaylord National Harbor Convention Center. And had it not been for a new invitational program, 16 of those spellers wouldn't have made it to the competition in the first place.

More from the Bee: His dad won the National Spelling Bee in 1985. Now, he competed for the 2018 title

Jacques Bailly: He's read every word since 2003 until this year. Meet the voice of the Scripps Spelling Bee.

RSVBee allowed for students to compete if they didn't win a state or regional bee and they either won their school bee or had competed at the National Bee in a previous year.

The new program was the reason why a record-breaking pool of 515 spellers made it to the tournament this year. Overall, 238 RSVBee students competed on the national stage.

More: Why the Scripps National Spelling Bee has its largest pool of spellers ever

Jake Faulk, 14, of Denver, made it to Thursday morning's rounds in his first National Bee after qualifying through the RSVBee program.

"It's really cool that the program exists," Jake told USA TODAY earlier this week. "It helps especially for states like Colorado where there's just not a whole lot of opportunity for people to go, and yet there's still a lot of good spellers there."

But like 25 others, he misspelled one of his words Thursday morning — for Jake, it was "lochan," meaning a "body of water smaller than a lake but larger than a pool."

Four RSVBee qualifiers will move on to the second half of the finals.

On-stage competition began Tuesday after spellers took a written test, which played a large part in determining which spellers qualified for the finals. Each speller stood in front of the microphone and saw the bright lights at least once as the Bee trimmed its massive pool Tuesday and Wednesday.

Yet even with the larger pool, returning spellers — like Naysa — retained their competitive edge. Eleven spellers who made previous finals will continue to Thursday night and more than half of finalists overall had been to a prior National Bee.

"It is quite difficult," said Jacques Bailly, the Bee's official pronouncer since 2003, of making it back to the final stage. "You have to keep studying. You have to keep on top of your game." Bailly was the 1980 Scripps champion.

More: How these spellers made it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals — again

Also among the familiar faces Thursday night: Erin Howard, 13, of Huntsville, Ala., who tied for seventh last year. She said she's felt pressure to continue the trend but is staying calm.

"This is my second time so of course I hope to improve, but I'm here already so I'm not that nervous," she said.

Erin, who said she studies using her computer, air-typed "heautophany" on-stage and had a smile on her face even before she finished spelling the word correctly in round eight. She skated through to Thursday night's final.

Follow Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller