Scripps Spelling Bee 2021: Zaila Avant-garde Wins Last Updated July 8, 2021, 10:00 p.m. ETJuly 8, 2021, 10:00 p.m. ET Zaila Avant-garde, the winner of the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee.Credit...Scott McIntyre for The New York Times The last few words were rattled off in a swift spelling duel, with only two finalists still on the stage, Chaitra Thummala and Zaila Avant-garde. First was fewtrils (things of little value), which Chaitra, a 12-year-old who just finished sixth grade in San Francisco, got right. Then retene (a chemical isolated especially from pine tar, rosin oil and various fossil resins but usually prepared from abietic acid), which Zaila got right. And finally