Breaking from a tradition of being led by former contestants, the Scripps National Spelling Bee has hired a nonprofit leader with no history in the competition as its executive director, signaling...

The Scripps National Spelling Bee will return this year in a mostly virtual format, with the in-person competition limited to a dozen finalists who will gather on an ESPN campus at Walt Disney...

The longtime executive director of the Scripps National Spelling Bee has stepped down.

Scripps announced Paige Kimble's departure on Monday, effective immediately, after 22 years in charge...

Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.

The upstart ex-spellers who launched an online spelling bee to fill the void left by the canceled Scripps National Spelling Bee had little trouble running an efficient, and sufficiently...

Like dozens of other veteran spellers in their final year of eligibility, Anson Cook had big plans for this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee, which was canceled because of the coronavirus...

With this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, an online spelling bee launched by two Texas teenagers is offering a consolation prize of sorts, with...

Iconic events like the U.S. national spelling bee in June, Spain’s Running of the Bulls in July and Germany’s Oktoberfest are being scrapped because of the coronavirus pandemic, even amid growing...

There will be no fidgeting at the National Spelling Bee microphone, no banter with pronouncer Jacques Bailly, no pointed questions about definitions or languages of origin, no dreaded bell that...

The Scripps National Spelling Bee won’t be held as scheduled this year because of the coronavirus, meaning years of preparation by some of the country's top spellers could go for...

The Scripps National Spelling Bee will have fewer participants next year. Whether it will have fewer champions remains to be seen.

Six months after the bee ended in an unprecedented...

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — The Scripps National Spelling Bee suffered a body blow when eight kids ended up co-champions because they were simply too accomplished to stumble over any of the words...

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — There were warning signs throughout a marathon day of spelling that this Scripps National Spelling Bee would not conclude like any other in the event's 94-year...

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — The Latest on the National Spelling Bee (all times local):

12:07 p.m.

Eight spellers were better than the dictionary. They were better than anything the Scripps...

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Here are some memorable words that were used in Thursday's final rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee:

VARSOVIENNE: A graceful dance similar to a mazurka. Simone...

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — By any measure, Shruthika Padhy is one of the most accomplished spellers in this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee. And for spellers who are nervous or less experienced,...

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — The opening round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Tuesday had a rare bit of controversy.

Max Greenspan, a 13-year-old wild-card speller from Scottsdale,...

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Akash Vukoti no longer stands out at the Scripps National Spelling Bee for his age, not with a record 23 spellers competing this year who are 9 or younger.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a story May 25 about the National Spelling Bee, The Associated Press reported erroneously that speller Anisha Rao is from Corona, California. She is from Dublin,...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nihar Janga, an eighth-grader from Austin, Texas, with an already impressive array of awards, took home top honors Wednesday in the 31st annual National Geographic GeoBee, an...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ties are back at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

To the relief of many participants, bee organizers have gotten rid of the written test spellers took just in case a...

Here's your look at highlights from the weekly AP photo report, a gallery featuring a mix of front-page photography, the odd image you might have missed and lasting moments our editors think you should see.

This week's images include the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the French Open tennis tournament and a fashion show in Chantilly, north of Paris.

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Karthik Nemmani didn't win his regional spelling bee. He didn't even win his county spelling bee. But he was still good enough to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Throwing everything he had into his one shot at glory, 14-year-old Karthik outlasted better-known spellers on Thursday night and became the champion after a dramatically abrupt end to the competition, when 12-year-old Naysa Modi misspelled the word "Bewusstseinslage" in the first championship round.

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Competitors in the Scripps National Spelling Bee often struggle to contain their emotions as they react to obscure, complicated or tricked-up words that they may have never heard before.

Not knowing a word doesn't always mean a speller will get it wrong — the savviest competitors can piece together a word by relying on their knowledge of roots and language patterns.

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — The Latest on the Scripps National Spelling Bee (all times local):

10:45 p.m.

Fourteen-year-old Karthik Nemmani of McKinney, Texas, has won the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Karthik spelled the word "koinonia" correctly to become the champion late Thursday. He also spelled "haecceitas" correctly after seventh-grader Naysa Modi from Frisco, Texas, missed the word "Bewusstseinslage" in the final round.

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Words that sound easy to the armchair spellers in the Scripps National Spelling Bee audience aren't always cupcakes for the elite spellers on stage — and vice versa. Sometimes the longest, most complicated-seeming words can be easily pieced together by kids who've memorized roots and understand how words fit together in different languages. Here are some memorable words from Thursday's finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee:

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — For 15 years, the Rev. Brian Sietsema sat quietly next to Scripps National Spelling Bee pronouncer Jacques Bailly, just in case the indefatigable Bailly was somehow unable to fulfill his duties.

Bailly never missed a word.

But this year, the bee nearly doubled in size thanks to a new wild-card program, and Bailly knew he could wreck his voice if he didn't take some breaks over three full days of spelling.

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — The Latest on the Scripps National Spelling Bee (all times local):

6:05 p.m.

Forty-one spellers have advanced to the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee out of a field of 516, by far the biggest in the 93-year history of the competition.

The finalists were announced Wednesday after two days of onstage spelling during which nearly 200 spellers were eliminated for getting words wrong. Scores on a written spelling and vocabulary test determined who advanced to the finals.

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — This year's Scripps National Spelling Bee has drawn the largest number of competitors in its history, 516 spellers, but the field gets much smaller Wednesday with the announcement of the 50 or so spellers who will make Thursday's finals.

WASHINGTON (AP) — There's little downtime for the dozen or so spellers who make it to the primetime finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Once they get through the morning finals, which can last 4 hours or more, the remaining spellers are swarmed by relatives, reporters — and Scripps representatives who hand them a color-coded schedule that maps out nearly every minute between their two sessions on stage.

WASHINGTON (AP) — "Gargantuan" might be an appropriate word to kick off this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The competition will be super-sized because of a new wild-card program that provided a path to the bee for kids who didn't qualify by conventional means and were willing to pay their own way.

Scripps was willing to allow the bee to nearly double in size, and that's exactly what happened: There will be 519 spellers in this year's bee, up from 291 last year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For three years running, Siyona Mishra and Dhyana Mishra faced off amid some of the highest stakes in competitive spelling.

They outlasted the rest of the field at the regional spelling bee in Orlando, Florida. But there was only room at the Scripps National Spelling Bee for one of them. Siyona finished eighth overall at nationals in 2015, but last year, she lost the regional bee to Dhyana — the two are not related — and had no way to return.

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Ananya Vinay showed little emotion as she plowed through word after mystifying word in the final rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Later, as she stood beside the confetti-covered stage, the newly crowned champion flashed a toothy grin as she inadvertently revealed how much confidence she'd brought to the competition.

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Ananya Vinay never looked all that impressed by any of the words she was given in the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The 12-year-old from Fresno, California, showed little emotion and didn't take much time as she plowed through word after word. Sometimes she would blurt out questions, with little intonation — "Part of speech?" ''Language of origin?" — and sometimes she didn't even bother.

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — The Scripps National Spelling Bee proves every year that word knowledge is personal and idiosyncratic. Words that baffle most of the audience are considered easy by elite spellers. And spellers get tripped up by words that many older people come across frequently. Here are some memorable words from Thursday's final rounds of the bee.

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — The Latest on the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee (all times local):

11:30 p.m.

Twelve-year-old Ananya Vinay has won the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The sixth-grader from Fresno, California, won by spelling "marocain," a French word for dress fabric made of ribbed crepe. She gets more than $40,000 in cash and prizes.

Runner-up Rohan Rajeev missed the word "marram," a Scandinavian-derived word for beach grass.

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — The Scripps National Spelling Bee weeded out the field to the truly elite spellers during Wednesday's grueling preliminary rounds. Each of the 291 spellers got the opportunity to spell two words on stage. Those who didn't misspell a word were then at the mercy of their score on a written spelling and vocabulary test that they took on Tuesday. Ultimately, the top 40 spellers advanced to Thursday's finals.

Here are some memorable moments from Wednesday's action.