Live Update: Elimination Round (Winners Announced!)

There are enough people with too few outs that we must now do an Elimination Round, where contestants spell as many words as they can until they strike out (whenever they reach 3 outs). Jonathan Lill is now up, he has just misspelled something, but that's only his second out. God, the rich aroma of grilled sandwiches is making me weak. Weak with desire. Whoa, Jonathan Lill has just struck out, but he still has an awful lot of words under his belt. Mark has just got his third strike on his first word of this round. Now we've got Josh, spelling his heart out. In case anybody reading this doesn't realize: the 3 winners are determined by total number of words spelled correctly, so this elimination round is pretty gripping. Even if you go in with 2 strikes, if you can spell enough words before you strike out, you can be Number One! Winner of a $25 bar tab! Ultimate Champion! Poised Contestant Number 4 is reigning the stage with aplomb. Oooo, she just struck out. You know, she looks kinda like a Natalie Merchange/Sigourney Weaver lovechild. Or hybrid, whatevs. John G is onstage, caressing the mic stand. OK, now me!

--Jonathan here, filling in for Megan while she is spelling, except the bar is getting way too loud for me to hear what word she may be spelling or misspelling (did I misspell misspell?). She is still on stage so she must be doing okay. Its the final round as I'm sure she mentioned so the tension is really high, the A/C is starting to lose it's efficacy and everyone is starting to sweat. Megan just spelled out so she's out of the game but maybe still a winner, let's wait and see!

Yeah, I am so not a winner. I misspelled both my words, spelled none right. Number 9 is spelling "tachistoscope." I couldn't hear his word (sitting much nearer the bar part than the spelling part of Pete's, as Jonathan pointed out) but had to do with being "spoon-shaped." Molly's spelling now, somethingerother-osis. The hubbub makes me feel like I have rock'n'roll cotton in my ears. In the crowd, having joined us too late to spell competitively, multiple-winner Tom is looking on.

Holy moley! Sudden death spelling! Jonathan Lill and Number 9 in the camo shorts whose name I never learned are now head to head in Sudden Death Spelling!

Nine missed his word, but now Jonathan needs to spell his right. . . and he did!! (Editor's Note: the winning word was "otorhinolaryngology").

Jonathan Lill: Number one, and first place. Famous for having a Steve Buscemi-type appeal, and being an honest-to-goodness librarian.

Michael: Second place, and turns out, famours for being the Dark Horse Contestant I mentioned in Round 1 -- he didn't disappear, he roared into the spotlight. Oops.

Josh: Third place. Famous for being affable and having a lollipop in Round 2.

Thrilling bonus information: the fellas here to cover the bee were from Thrilling New Periodical: The Brooklynite. So, keep your eye on The Brooklynite, and hear what they have to say about this very same event that I just reported on. Plus, unlike this blog, The Brooklynite will probably offer pictures of the spellers.

This concludes my broadcast. It's been a long bee, time for some refreshment. See you next time.

- Megan