Three Californians in spelling bee finals

And then there were three.

In the semifinal round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the pool was whittled down to 12 finalists, three of them from California: Austin Pineda of Perris, who correctly spelled torii; Justin Song of San Diego (trophallactic); and Tia Thomas of Coarsegold (canicular). Josephine Kao of Roseville got tripped up on sphendone. The round before, Easun Arunachalam of La Crescenta bowed out on cyathiform.

The finals are on ABC-7 tonight at 8 p.m.

The meaning of the words? Keep reading ...

torii: The gate at the entrance to a Japanese Shinto shrine.
trophallactic: An adjective referring to the exchange of regurgitated food among insects.
canicular: Of the dog star, Canicula (or Sirius).
sphendone: A head band worn in ancient Greece.
cyathiform: Shaped like a cup that widens at the top.

--Mitchell Landsberg

Comments

[nat]

I actually had a lot of fun watching the program last night. The kids are sooo intelligent and endearing.

[Pasckie Pascua]

Why don't we inspire our kids to focus instead on subjects that have practical value for their future? Like, for example, Mathematics Bee or Technology Bee or Cultural Sensitivity Bee or how to run a machine bee or how to speak other languages bee. Is a boy/girl who could spell a word that only 1 out of 10 people in a community knows makes sense at all?
Figure this out: I NEED TO WEAR A SPHENDONE THAT IS SHAPED LIKE A CYANIFORM FOR MY APPOINTMENT AT THE TORII IN DOWNTOWN L.A. WHERE MY FRIEND TOLD ME THAT TWO PEOPLE ENGAGED IN A TROPHALLACTIC PRACTICE UNDER A CANICULAR MOON.
No, I don't want my kid to talk like that.