So am I the only nerd who tunes in to this every year?

I was a participant years ago at the regional level, and have always enjoyed watching the kids work their way through the origins, roots, and suffixes to get words I have never heard of spelled correctly. We never had that level of training to prepare for the bee - we got a list of words that would be used in blocks, getting more advanced as you go, and we simply drilled through those lists during competition.

Last night's final was bonkers, and the event coordinators finally gave in after nearly three hours of drilling, and crowned a whopping 8 co-champs. It was awesome to see everyone at that point be recognized for their accomplishment.

There's no telling how long the event would have lasted if they waited until they got down to two remaining finalists.

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