Congratulations to Season Twelve Winner Carolyn D'Aquila

On December 6th, winners from the last six months of bees converged at the Season Finals!

David Henry Haan, Liz Thaler, Wilson Southerland, Maddy DeLeon, Jenny Brown, Carolyn D'Aquila, Amanda Holbrook, Rick, David Zheng, Ben Kusmin, Jennifer Lee, Lisette Vostko, Steve, Johann Chen, and Jonathan Lill proceeded to titillate all present with their orthographical prowess. Jonathan may have compromised his performance somewhere around the third drink. David H. and Liz may have exposed a bit of their romantic rivalry to us all. David Z. was a model of equanimity, as usual. Wilson and his friends laughed every time I said "gaiety" or -- this was Carolyn's word -- "cuirass." (Think about it).

A good time was had by all. An especially good time was had by Carolyn, who went home with $200 and a shiny trophy.

Thanks to Bananagrams for sending all of our finalists home with a Bananagrams book and an Appleletters game!



Winner Carolyn D'Aquila!



The crowd assembles....





Newman's Own sent us some alphabet cookies; they'll leave you, um, "Spellbound"!



Johann



Steve







Maddy and Ben (2nd place tie) and David (3rd place) with hosts Jen and bobbyblue.



The finalists we were able to round up after the bee....

More photos here.

November 22nd Spelling Bee

This week's bee qualified a record FIVE people for the Finals! Congratulations to Wilson Southerland (overall champ with 15 words!), Steve Melis, Jennifer Lee, David H., and Lisette Vostko!*

The Finals -- in which winners from the past six month season will vie to become grand champion -- will take place on December 6th.

*Due to an extremely well-attended and busy bee, our record-keeping was a bit less meticulous than usual, so I apologize for missing or misspelled (oh, the irony) surnames.

November 8th Winners

1st Place: Maddy DeLeon
2nd Place: Jenny Brown
3rd Place: Liz Thaler

It was (de facto) ladies' night at the bee on Monday. Maddy took 1st but declined to be photographed. All three winners proceed to the season Finals on December 6th!

November 22nd is the last regular season bee of 2010! Signup begins at 7. We recommend arriving promptly to make sure you get a spot.

Bee founder bobbyblue's new music video

Did you know that Williamsburg Spelling Bee founder bobbyblue is also a dance music superstar? Enjoy the new video.

Visual Thesaurus

Here's an interesting lexical resource:

The Visual Thesaurus is an interactive dictionary and thesaurus that creates word maps that branch to related words. Several lucky (well, talented) winners at our December 6th Finals will receive free memberships! Check out the Visual Thesaurus here.

The image at right -- that's a t-shirt available on SnorgTees.

October 25th Winners

1st Place: Carolyn D'Aquila
2nd Place: Ben Kusmin
3rd Place Tie: Heather Meyer and Johann Chen

All four winners qualify for the December 6th Finals!

Only two more chances to qualify. Come back on November 8th for the next bee.

From TheOnion: Are Standardized Tests Biased Against Students Who Don't Give a Shit?

In The Know: Are Tests Biased Against Students Who Don't Give A Shit?

October 11th Winners

1st: Amanda Emerson
2nd: Rick Holborow
3rd: Maddy DeLeon (not pictured)









Next bee is October 25th. All are welcome. Signup begins at 7.

September 27th Results

1st: Wilson Southerland
2nd: Amanda Emerson
Tie for 3rd: Jonathan Lill, Jonathan Landsman, Maddy DeLeon

All five (!) winners qualify for the Finals on December 6th.

We'd also like to point out that Amanda and Wilson were tied with 10 words each; Wilson won on a runoff.  So there was a very small gap there -- well done, both of you!

See you in two weeks!

Alot Better Than You at Spelling

If you haven't read Allie Brosh's post about people who wrote "alot," please do so now. It's kind of my favorite thing ever.

The Alot is Better Than You at Everything



You can also get (alot of) Alot merchandise here.

September 13 Winners

1st Place: Wilson Southerland
2nd Place: Jennifer Lee
3rd Place: Jonathan Lill

All three winners qualify for the December 6th finals!

Come back on September 27th for the next Williamsburg Spelling Bee.

Finals Photos by Jane Macneil

This past June, U.K. photographer Jane Macneil happened to be in town during the Finals. When she got back across the pond, she sent us these:



Complete photoset here.

August 30 Spelling Results

Congratulations! All three winners qualify for the December 6 Finals.

1. Ben Kusmin
2. Jennifer Lee
3. Maddy DeLeon

Come back next time on September 13th! We take the first 18 contestants and signup begins at 7 -- our last two bees, we've filled up around 7:15 or 7:20. You must be physically present to sign up (if you have a group of people, one person can't sign up people on their way), so do arrive early!









Complete photoset here.

Photos from August 16th Kickoff Spelling Bee

See more here.

In the New York Times

In the Nocturnalist column by Sarah Maslin Nir: Spellbound in Brooklyn.



The Williamsburg Spelling Bee kicked off its first bee of the new season this Monday. Despite a brief but sloppy downpour, we filled up before 7:30 and had to turn people away. I didn't realize the NYT was in attendance until the bee was over, and all the sudden there was a woman with a notepad.

Some words from this week's bee:
purl
vesicle
lodestar
moil
celadon
jejune
carcinogenicity
tympanum
oribi
diktat
ordnance

Congratulations to:
1st place: Wilson Southerland
2nd place: David Zheng
3rd place: John (whose last name I neglected to ascertain!)

All three finalists qualify for the December 6th Finals. (John, email me and I'll update this!)
Come back Monday, August 30 for your next shot. (Arrive early! Signup begins at 7, and we take the first 18 people).

New Season Begins This Monday

Season Winner David Riddle Interviewed on Word-Buff.com

Check it out: Adult Spelling Bee Champion Gives His Top Tips.

Williamsburg Spelling Bee Season 12 Begins August 16th

The Williamsburg Spelling Bee
Pete's Candy Store, 709 Lorimer St., Brooklyn
(Lorimer St. between Frost and Richardson / L or G train to Lorimer)

Monday, August 16th
7:30pm
Free

Since 2004, the real adult spelling bee that started a national movement -- still fun and friendly, and open to everyone. Signup begins 7pm -- first 18 people get to play. Three-strikes-you're-out policy means more participation for everyone. Hosted by founder bobbyblue and comedian Jen Dziura. Winners get free booze and qualify for a twice-annual Finals.

Announcing The Vocabulary Blog

While I hate to use the word "synergy" outside of talking about Jem and the Holograms, it seems that my day job and my night job have collided.

Welcome to The Vocabulary Blog, in which I sort out what exactly a cog is, why you can't take incendiaries on a plane, what Tina Fey's name is all about, and the difference between being florid and being bombastic (not "boombastic," Shaggy, but thanks).



Visit The Vocabulary Blog.

Season 11 Finals: Congratulations to Winner David Riddle!

Thanks to our sponsors Bananagrams, Giant Microbes, So You Think You Can Spell, and of course, Pete's Candy Store, which provided a $200 cash prize to the winner!

1st place: David Riddle
2nd place: Tamara Glenny
3rd place: Sara Luchian
4th place: Carolyn D'Aquila
Tied for 5th: Dominique Vance and Ben Kusmin
Honorable Mention: Maddy DeLeon, David Zheng, Jenny Brown, Trent Williams, Johann Chen, Nathanael Bonnell

(After a season of bees, Jen's brain is a bit sore, and she's afraid she's misspelled someone's name up here. Alas!)

Come back August 16th for the start of Season Twelve!