Bell tolls for the misspellers as Spelling Bee narrows the field ahead of Friday’s finals

Spelling bee favorite knocked out in semifinal

WASHINGTON — One of the favorites to win this year’s National Spelling Bee has been eliminated.

Tim Ruiter (REYET’-uhr) had studied some 20,000 note cards to prepare, only to be stumped by a skirt worn by men in the Balkans.

The 13-year-old from Centreville, Va., eliminated in the first round of the semifinals Friday morning when he misspelled “fustanella.” He was the runner-up at last year’s bee.

Tim got two long hugs from his mom and said he was feeling all right after he misspelled the word.

Forty-eight spellers began the day with the hope of being among the dozen or so to advance to the finals Friday night. Tim was one of 16 spellers who failed to get past the first semifinal round. The other spellers and much of the audience gave him a standing ovation as he walked off the stage.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The bell tolled early and often Friday morning at the 83rd Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The audience gasped, shoulders slumped, and speller after speller was escorted offstage to the comfort room as the 48 semifinalists were whittled down to the dozen or so finalists who would compete for the winner’s trophy Friday night.

Rory O’Donoghue from Fairbanks, Alaska, was the first to spell and the first to go, putting a “g” instead of a “ch” in “ostrichism” — the 522nd word offered this week by bee pronouncer Jacques Bailly.

Seventeen of the first 25 spellers remained in contention for the winner’s prizes, which includes more than $40,000 in cash and prizes.

Staying alive was Sonia Schlesinger from Tokyo, who turned 14 Friday and was greeted with “Happy birthday” from Bailly and a round of applause from the audience. She seemed absolutely stumped by the legal term “muniments” — pronouncing it many times and asking twice for it to be used in a sentence. When she spelled it correctly, her mouth flew open, she clenched both fists and high-fived her way back to her seat.

Sonia represented Washington, D.C., last year and moved to Japan in January when he father was transferred to a new job. Officials initially thought she had become the first person to represent two countries at the bee, but Tasha Bartch also did so in the 1990s.

Also acing her word was the only speller from Canada, which didn’t send its usual large contingent this year because of cutbacks stemming from the recession. Laura Newcombe, 11, of Toronto, confidently spelled “thalassian” — a sea tortoise.

The event continued to display a newfound funny bone. Only at a spelling bee could one hear sentences like these: “Lauren gently informed her father that the exploding fist bump had fallen out of consuetude” and “The phillumenist had a hard time obtaining fire insurance on his storage unit.”

Consuetude is an established custom, while a phillumenist is a matchbook collector.

The week began with 273 spellers from across the U.S. and countries ranging from Ghana to New Zealand. They were reduced to 48 through a written test Wednesday and two oral rounds Thursday.

Among the semifinalists are three spellers who made the finals last year: Tim Ruiter, 13, of Centreville, Va.; Neetu Chandak, 14, of Seneca Falls, N.Y.; and Anamika Veeramani, 14, of North Royalton, Ohio.