Aditi Muthukumar, the Westminster 12-year-old who won the Denver Post-sponsored state spelling bee this year, made it to the quarterfinal round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Maryland, before meeting her match with the word "surette," a tropical American tree with dark wood and yellow berries.
Despite what's changed at the bee, it remains timeless nearly a century on. The joy of winning and the agony of defeat it all comes with the territory at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Spelling Bee buzzes into the quarterfinals round wtkr.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wtkr.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.