Last year’s winner was Ananya Vinay, who won with “marocain.” Although she isn’t allowed to compete in this year’s national bee, she’s still spelling and coaching others.

Texas is the state with the most winners, 11. Twenty-two states have had none. Spellers from other countries can compete, and the first international winner was Jody-Anne Maxwell of Jamaica in 1998, above, with “chiaroscurist.” There are spellers from five countries other than the U.S. this year.

The longest winning word was “scherenschnitte,” spelled by Vanya Shivashankar, who was a co-champion in 2015. The shortest was “luge,” which won Daniel Greenblatt the title in 1984.

In 1983, a child who lost made news. Andrew Flosdorf was praised “for his utter honesty” after telling the judges they misheard him when they said he spelled “echolalia” correctly. “I didn’t want to feel like a slime,” he said.

Think you could compete? Try a sample quiz here.

Sarah Anderson wrote today’s Back Story.

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