4 0 40 GGAMAMESES W WORLDORLD OF OF P PUZZLESUZZLES | decem | december 2019ber 2019

E

ven if you caught just

a glimpse of this year’s

Scripps National Spell-

ing Bee, which was

broadcast on ESPN, it was im-

mediately apparent that spelling

bees have changed dramati-

cally since most of us were in

grade school. And it isn’t just

the media attention that is

lavished on this annual event

that is different: The words

are way more challenging and

the kids themselves are better

prepared and savvier than was

imaginable even a decade ago.

What accounts for this trans-

formation? What might it mean?

Those are difficult questions.

Fortunately, Shalini Shankar,

Ph.D., a professor of Anthropol-

ogy and Asian American Studies at Northwestern University,

has been studying the Bee for the past few years. In fact, on

April 30, roughly a month before the 2019 Bee, she published

a thoughtful book about the phenomenon called Beeline:

What Spelling Bees Reveal about Generation Z’s New Path to

Success. Shankar, who was busy preparing for the start of the

fall semester, took a moment to answer some of our questions

about the Bee via email. That exchange is below. Read on...

This year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee had quite an end-

ing. What was your reaction to the Octochamps and their

amazing accomplishment?

I was absolutely astounded! Like everyone else, I couldn’t

believe what I was witnessing. In the auditorium at National

Harbor, MD, where the Bee is staged, it had

already been a long day. The morning finals,

which started with 50 spellers, went deep

into the afternoon. The spellers were all so

well-prepared and skilled that it took several

hours to winnow down that initial cohort. In

the nighttime finals, an even higher level of

prowess was on display. The words were

more challenging, but spellers kept getting

them right!

The final eight went for several rounds

without misspelling, and the

competition seemed like it would

never end. One speller summed

up this feeling perfectly when he

began his turn by asking, “What

time is it?” It was a little past

11 p.m. Finally, when Scripps

announced they would name up

to eight champions if they didn’t

misspell for three more rounds,

the audience was momentarily

stunned and quickly grew loud

with excited chatter. No one could

comprehend the possibility of

that many winners. Everyone was

delighted that all eight made it—it

would have been heartbreaking if some were eliminated so

close to winning, even though that is exactly what is supposed

to happen.

What was it that originally caught your attention about

the Bee?

I saw kids doing something amazing that most smart,

well-educated adults couldn’t do. That really intrigued me. I

The

Buzz

about the

Bee

A Q&A with Author Shalini Shankar

4,383&=/,3033()-(