By ANJETTA McQUEEN, AP - June 99
Nupur Lala, a 14-year-old Tampa, Fla., girl who never met
a word she would not look up, correctly spelled ``logorrhea'' on Thursday to win the 72nd
annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee.
``I would read different books and whenever I found a word I didn't know, I
would write it down and look it up later,'' Nupur said as she clutched her gold trophy cup
after a victory leap. ``So that way, if it was a future spelling bee word, I would know
it.'' Nupur, who last year was eliminated in the third round of the national contest, beat
out 248 other spellers, ages 9 to 15, to win $10,000, encyclopedias, two airline tickets
and computer software this year. Her winning word, ``logorrhea,'' means pathologically
excessive and often incoherent talkativeness.
``I was just praying I would get a word that I knew,'' said the eighth-grader,
attributing her victory in the 12th round to her parents' drilling, ``divine
intervention'' and her natural affinity for word sleuthing.
``This time she was very determined,'' said her father, Parag Lala, a University
of South Florida computer science professor. Nupur, who plays violin, swims and
serves on the student council at her middle school, beat David Lewandowski, a 14-year-old
eighth-grader from Schererville, Ind. David, who wins $5,000, cringed after
misspelling ``opsimath,'' a word describing a person who learns late in life. He
misspelled it as ``o-p-s-o-m-a-t-h'' instead.
``I really didn't expect to make it as far,'' said David, who had placed 39th in
last year's bee. ``I was still trying to do my best.''
April DeGideo, 13 of Ambler Pa., and George Abraham Thampy, 11, of Maryland
Heights, Mo., tied for third. April misspelled ``terrene,'' which means relating to life.
George was stumped by ``kirtle,'' a term for a man's above-the-knee tunic.
Many spellers missed their words by a letter or two. Marissa Toma, 13 of
Bridgeville, Pa., spelled ``audace,'' a musical term for bold or spirited, as
``a-u-d-o-c-e'' in the sixth round. Throughout the day, other youngsters were
stumped by the likes of ``obtenebrate,'' ``revictualment,'' ``banns'' and ``muumuu.''
Geoff Misek, 13, of Goodrich, Mich., who spelled the word for the brightly colored
Hawaiian dress as ``m-u-m-u,'' was eliminated in the fourth round with 55 others.
The contestants, most sponsored by their local newspapers, all won regional bees
to qualify. Nupur was sponsored by The Tampa Tribune and David by The Times of Munster,
Ind.
The atmosphere livened as the field dwindled Thursday on the second day of the
two-day contest. The audience in the downtown Washington hotel cheered for the spelling of
``hypsometer'' and ``machicolation,'' ``apocope'' and ``akropodion.'' Kyra Davies
said she did not feel too bad about spelling ``roleo'' as ``r-o-l-l-e-o'' and getting out
in the third round. ``I'm having a lot of fun,'' said the 13-year-old from
Lexington, Ky. ``I would have had to guess at a lot of these words, anyway.''
Angela Smiley's departure from competition was a bit more dramatic. After
missing ``cucurbit,'' the 13-year-old from Kokomo, Ind., made a short bow for the
television cameras posted near the stage. She then ran from the ballroom shouting, ``Mom!
Mom!''
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