Williamsburg Spelling Blog

Funniest Spelling Bee Videos

2012-01-23T15:54:00.000-05:00

How cute is this kid, being asked to spell a ridiculous word?

Spelling Bee - These bloopers are hilarious

More of the same here, including the very uncomfortable white kid asked to spell "negus":

Come on out to the next Williamsburg Spelling Bee on Monday, February 6th. Winner gets a gift certificate to Vine Wine, which we are certain will improve your spelling.

Thanks to Vine Wine

2012-01-10T21:37:00.000-05:00

Ever walk by this on your way to the bee?

Looks familiar, right? This is our new friend Vine Wine at 616 Lorimer St.

Talitha from Vine is standing up for spelling by providing gift certificates to the first place winners for the next three bees! So come on out to the next bee!

Monday, February 6

The Williamsburg Spelling Bee
Pete's Candy Store, 709 Lorimer St., Brooklyn
(Lorimer St. between Frost and Richardson / L or G train to Lorimer)
7:30pm
Free

From "broccoli" to "triskaidekaphobia," come test out your spelling in a bar backroom filled with smart people and beer. Free, open to all (21+). Signup begins at 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 nerdy prizes and qualify for the annual Finals.

Pete's: 718-302-3770
www.williamsburgspellingbee.com
www.petescandystore.com

Spread the Word: We always need prize sponsors. Stand up for spelling!

Sincerely,
Jen

p.s. As befits a Williamsburg wine store, Vine is open until 10pm, so you actually could even stop in after the bee.

January 2nd Winners

2012-01-03T23:21:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to the winners of our first bee of 2012!

1st Place: Marcus Bones
2nd Place: Mika Cheng
3rd Place: Noam Schuldenrein

All three winners qualify for our annual Finals, to be held in late 2012.

From left: Marcus, Bobby, Mika, Noam, Jen

Your hosts!

More photos here.

Come back Monday, February 6th for the next installment. Everyone, win or lose, is welcome back at every bee up to the Finals.

Join the mailing list by text

2012-01-03T00:17:00.000-05:00

Technology is crazy. When the Williamsburg Spelling Bee began in 2004, there was Friendster! Friendster, mind you! And no one was sitting in the audience looking up words on their phones. Oh, how times have changed.

The Bee Begins Anew on January 2nd, 2012

2011-12-27T15:40:00.000-05:00

Monday, Jan 2

The Williamsburg Spelling Bee
Pete's Candy Store, 709 Lorimer St., Brooklyn
(Lorimer St. between Frost and Richardson / L or G train to Lorimer)
7:30pm
Free

From "broccoli" to "triskaidekaphobia," come test out your spelling in a bar backroom filled with smart people and beer. Free, open to all (21+). Signup begins at 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 nerdy prizes and qualify for the annual Finals.

Pete's: 718-302-3770
www.williamsburgspellingbee.com
www.petescandystore.com

Spread the Word: We need prize sponsors! Previous sponsors have included the OED, Bananagrams, Neighborhoodies, Gotham Girls Roller Derby, and numerous Broadway and off-Broadway shows. We love nerdy stuff, but we also love gift certificates for fancy dinners; nerds gotta eat, too!

Interview with Bee Founder bobbyblue

2011-11-15T08:30:00.000-05:00

INTERVIEW Willamsburg Spelling Bee with BOBBY BLUE (founder) by Tom Edmondson

This interview was done by Tom Edmondson the producer of The Tenth Voice on 90.1FM which is the only scheduled LGBT radio show in the Kansas City area and has been since 1991. Tune in every Saturday 1-2pm on 90.1FM and listen online www.kkfi.org

From Tom Edmondson: This is "Part 2 of the Bobby Blue Interview". He is the founder of the Williamsburg Spelling Bee ans was interviewed in Oct/2011 and is a totally out music artist and that is why I gave him a 'voice' on my radio show and his story and music put in the ears of our listening audience.

The Williamsburg Spelling Bee Rules

2011-11-06T11:20:00.000-05:00

In preparation for the recommencement of the bee in 2012, here's what you need to know:

The Rules

1. Signup starts at 7pm and we take the first 18 people.

2. Open to everyone who’s legally allowed to be in a bar. Occasionally, teens have come with a parent, but the bar has final say on who comes in.

3. Three-strikes-you’re-out — you get two “freebies”!

4. Beer is encouraged. In fact, buying alcohol is what keeps the bee going, so please do!

5. Everyone is welcome to participate in every spelling bee up to the Finals, when the winners of the season’s previous bees will square off for the championship!

6. You don’t actually have to say the word before and after spelling it, but it’s a nice idea. If you start spelling a word and you lose your place, you can start over without changing anything, but once a letter comes out of your mouth, it’s set in stone.

7. If you’re Canadian (or even if you aren’t), you can say “zed” for “z” and “double-l” instead of “l, l”; however, all spellings must be American-style.

8. You can’t bring pen and paper up to the mic, but you can pretend to write on your hand if you want.

The Williamsburg Spelling Bee's Season Thirteen Winner is...

2011-06-10T15:36:00.002-04:00

Noam Schuldenrein!

Congratulations also to finalists Carolyn D'Aquila, Ben Kusmin, Amanda Emerson, Jonathan Lill, David Henry Haan, David Zheng, Jenny Brown, and Timmy Tofu.

Here is everyone trying to fit in a hallway! (Noam is the one with the trophy! He's also a bit younger than our other contestants. Pretty impressive.)

Congratulations, Noam!

We'd also like to acknowledge that Amanda Emerson is a really good speller who made a "verbal typo" (g instead of j), which won her the sympathy of everyone. Amanda has been our "winningest" contestant this season. Go Amanda!

More photos here.

May 30 Spelling Bee Results

2011-06-01T13:42:00.001-04:00

1st Place: Noam Schuldenrein
2nd Place: Tamara Glenny
3rd Place: Amanda Emerson

Photos here.

Come back NEXT WEEK, June 6th, for the Finals!

Then we'll be back in 2012!

May 16 Winners

2011-05-18T11:32:00.002-04:00

1st Place: Amanda Emerson
2nd Place: Timmy Tofu
3rd Place: David Henry Haan

Only one more bee before the FINALS!

Then, no more bees til 2012, when we will begin on a monthly schedule. So only one more chance to play this season!

See you May 30th.

May 2nd Winners

2011-05-07T22:41:00.001-04:00

1st Place: Ben Kusmin
2nd Place: David Henry Haan
3rd Place: Maddy DeLeon

All three winners qualify for the June 6 Finals! Only two more bees left this season!

April 18th Winners

2011-04-22T21:18:00.000-04:00

1st Place: Amanda Emerson
2nd Place: Trent Williams
3rd Place: Antoine, whose last name I forgot to get!

(If you are Antoine or know his last name, please contact me!)

All three winners qualify for the Finals on June 6th!

All are welcome at the next Williamsburg Spelling Bee on May 2nd. Only three more chances to qualify for the Finals!

More photos here.

April 4 Winners

2011-04-16T01:28:00.001-04:00

1st Place: Trent Williams
2nd Place: Maddy DeLeon
3rd Place: Roxanne Downer

All three winners qualify for the Finals on June 6!

March 21st Winners

2011-03-22T11:19:00.001-04:00

1st place: Amanda Emerson
2nd place: Jonathan Lill
3rd place: Ben Kusmin

All three winners qualify for the June 6th Finals! Come on out April 4th for a brand new chance to join them.

More photos here.

March 7 Bee Winners

2011-03-08T02:47:00.002-05:00

1st Place: Jenny Brown
2nd Place: Roxanne Downer
3rd Place Tie: Nadine Defoe and Jessica Ellner

All four winners are invited back to the Finals on June 6!

Next bee: March 21st! All are welcome (21+).

February 21st Results

2011-02-23T03:10:00.002-05:00

1st Place: David Henry Haan
2nd Place: Jess Heyman
3rd Place: Cole Entress

Jess and David actually tied in the regular rounds of the bee and were brought back up for a runoff involving churrigueresque, Kierkegaardian, and götterdämmerung, among others.

All three winners qualify for the June 6th Finals!

Everyone is welcome at the next bee on March 7th.

Winners!

These lovely people got some Word Beast t-shirts.

More photos here.

February 7th Results

2011-02-10T16:38:00.001-05:00

1st Place: Ben Kusmin
2nd Place: David Zheng
Tied for 3rd: Carolyn D'Aquila and Maddy DeLeon

Come on out to the next bee on February 21st! All are welcome (21+). First 18 signups get to play; anyone can watch.

Monday, February 7: The Bee is Back!

2011-01-19T10:17:00.001-05:00

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

***Signup at 7***, Bee at 7:30pm
Free

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

Pete's: 718-302-3770
www.petescandystore.com

Congratulations to Season Twelve Winner Carolyn D'Aquila

2010-12-08T13:32:00.000-05:00

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

2010-11-23T19:57:00.000-05:00

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

2010-11-11T17:44:00.000-05:00

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

2010-11-08T16:46:00.001-05:00

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

Visual Thesaurus

2010-11-04T19:26:00.003-04:00

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

2010-10-26T09:41:00.003-04:00

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?

2010-10-22T15:51:00.002-04:00

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

October 11th Winners

2010-10-14T18:21:00.000-04:00

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

2010-09-28T12:08:00.003-04:00

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

2010-09-27T12:45:00.001-04:00

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

2010-09-19T20:26:00.000-04:00

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

2010-09-06T11:17:00.000-04:00

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

2010-09-01T11:09:00.001-04:00

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

2010-08-30T12:20:00.000-04:00

See more here.

In the New York Times

2010-08-18T00:43:00.001-04:00

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

2010-08-14T22:04:00.000-04:00

Season Winner David Riddle Interviewed on Word-Buff.com

2010-07-31T19:46:00.002-04:00

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

Williamsburg Spelling Bee Season 12 Begins August 16th

2010-07-30T22:31:00.002-04:00

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

2010-07-30T22:13:00.003-04:00

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!

2010-06-24T17:17:00.010-04:00

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!

June 7 Winners

2010-06-10T23:39:00.004-04:00

1st place: Johann Chen
2nd place: Dominique Vance
3rd place: Nathanael Bonnell

All three winners qualify for the season finals. Our next bee is the Finals! Winners from the past six months will square off to be declared season champion! There will be a shiny trophy. Everyone is invited to watch.

Here is an incredibly low-quality photo. Founder bobbyblue was on vacation and magician Eric Walton subbed in. My iPhone couldn't really handle the dim lighting.

On a more positive note, the bee was featured on the BBC's website!

May 24 Winners

2010-05-25T12:36:00.005-04:00

1st place: Wilson Southerland
2nd place: Ben Kusmin
3rd place: Dominique Vance

All three winners qualify for the season finals.

Come out to our next bee on Monday, June 7th! Everyone is welcome.

Photos taken with bobby's camera (some by bobby, some by volunteers):

May 10 Winners

2010-05-11T12:18:00.004-04:00

1st place: Ben Kusmin
2nd place: Jane Huett
3rd place: Tamara Glenny

All three winners qualify for the season finals.

Come out to our next bee on Monday, May 24th! Everyone is welcome.

Photos taken with bobby's camera (some by bobby, some by volunteers):

April 26 Winners

2010-04-27T13:44:00.002-04:00

1st place: Ben Kusmin
2nd place tie: Thomas Hemmerick, Carolyn D'Aquila, Maddy DeLeon

All three winners qualify for the season finals.

Come out to our next bee on Monday, May 10th! Everyone is welcome.

Photos taken with bobby's camera (some by bobby, some by volunteers):

April 12 Winners

2010-04-13T13:04:00.004-04:00

1st place: Maddy DeLeon
2nd place: Carolyn D'Aquila
3rd place: Trent Williams

All three winners qualify for the season finals.

Come out to our next bee on Monday, April 26th! Everyone is welcome.

Photos taken with bobby's camera (some by bobby, some by volunteers):

So You Think You Can Spell?

2010-04-07T00:11:00.005-04:00

The book So You Think You Can Spell? came out last October, and we here at the Williamsburg Spelling Bee were gifted a few copies which we, in turn, gifted to that season's spelling winners.

It might be difficult to imagine just how to practice your spelling from a book. For instance, the (children's) book How to Spell Like a Champ is accompanied by a CD, and I, on my Spelling Word of the Day blog, post my content as audio files, so you can spell the word for yourself before clicking to read the answer.

However, I cracked the book open to a random page and the first thing I saw was a quiz question challenging me to pluralize "auto-da-fé," and I said, goddamn, dog, you've figured something out here.

Much of the book is in the form of quizzes in which, for instance, the authors have provided a phonetic pronunciation (muh-KAK) and a definition (short-tailed Asian monkey), and your job is to write "macaque." Some quizzes provide several possible spellings, challenging you to circle the correct one. What I'm trying to say is: this book is really actually quite challenging and worthwhile, even for people who already host or attend adult spelling bees in bars.

Of course, I couldn't finish off this post without including a link to NPR's February 26th Cityscape show, in which two spellers from the Williamsburg Spelling Bee were quizzed by So You Think You Can Spell? authors David L. Grambs and Ellen S. Levine.

And finally: So You Think You Can Spell? now has its own website, where the authors wrote of the Williamsburg bee:

This is not one of those rowdy saloon bees, and there are more than a few around, that value lubrication and lubricity more than lucubration and literacy from the competing performers.

Spelling for adults is kind of a small world.

Cross-posted from JenniferDziura.com.

March 29 Winners

2010-03-31T00:10:00.003-04:00

1st place: Wilson Southerland
2nd place: Carolyn D'Aquila
3rd place: Javier Guerrero

All three winners qualify for the season finals.

Come out to our next bee on Monday, April 12th! Everyone is welcome.

Photos taken with bobby's camera (some by bobby, some by volunteers):

The Williamsburg Spelling Bee for Private Parties

2010-03-22T23:29:00.004-04:00

The Williamsburg Spelling Bee hosts are available for private events. Perhaps you could suggest us to your office manager before she brings in a terrible DJ or that thing with the padded sumo suits (okay, actually, that sounds awesome). Here are a couple photos by Eric Walton from an event at 50 Parties:

March 15 Winners

2010-03-17T23:56:00.005-04:00

1st place: Jenny Brown
2nd place: Carolyn D'Aquila
3rd place Tie: Sara Luchian and Maddy DeLeon

All four winners qualify for the season finals.

Come out to our next bee on Monday, March 29th! Everyone is welcome.

Photos taken with bobby's camera (some by bobby, some by volunteers):

Paul Wing's Spelling Bee

2010-03-12T00:37:00.003-05:00

Did you know that the first-ever televised game show -- in 1938 -- was a spelling bee?

According to UKgameshows.com, that program (or rather, programme) began with a US vs. UK match featuring Harvard and Oxford students (US won), followed by a US/UK rematch featuring actresses and various notables (UK won), followed by "Under Twenty" vs. "Over Forty" (over 40 won), followed by Women vs. Men (women won). The show was a tight 15 minutes, and was ultimately canceled when the imminent war made televised spelling seem a bit frivolous. Incidentally, the spelling bee game show led to several spinoffs, including, amazingly, Tactile Bee.

The impetus for this post is that my longtime Williamsburg Spelling Bee co-host, bobbyblue, found a copy of the board game "Paul Wing's Spelling Bee" on eBay, purchased it, and allowed me to borrow it for purposes of investigative reporting.

The game of zest and test!

(Apparently, Paul Wing was a giant in the field of film stereography, continuing his career from the 1930s through the 1990s, and also, according to IMDB, survived the Bataan Death March; it is perhaps lost to the shifting sands of time exactly how Mr. Wing ended up hosting a televised spelling bee).

What's inside!

Hmmn.

Apparently, spelling fans are called "rooters."

Every hostess will appreciate a game that doesn't require moving the furniture!

One of the harder sets of words. One list had food words, including "pumpkin."

The game was played by choosing a word caller, then going around the room and having people pull numbered disks out of a bag; the number on the disk determined the word you would spell (and some words were notably easier than others, so it was a bit of a game of chance). Correct moves got you a little green counter called a "honey," and wrong moves got you a little red counter called a "stinger" (because it's a bee, get it?)

I only had my gentleman consort around, and it's a pretty lame game with only two people. I asked him to spell "blancmange," and he insisted that I had not pronounced it like a true French person (neither, I imagine, did most people playing Paul Wing's Spelling Bee in 1938), so I gave him a re-do and he got "pumpkin." We sort of shrugged and gave up.

Zest and test! I kind of like the slogan.

Williamsburg Spelling Bee on NPR

2010-03-05T23:30:00.002-05:00

The Williamsburg Spelling Bee was featured on WFUV's "Cityscape" show; listen here.

March 1 Winners

2010-03-02T22:35:00.004-05:00

1st place: Ben Kusmin
2nd place: Wilson Southerland
3rd place: Carolyn D'Aquila

All three winners qualify for the season finals.

Come out to our next bee on Monday, March 15th! Everyone is welcome.

Photos taken with bobby's camera (some by bobby, some by volunteers):

Williamsburg Spelling Bee on NBC Niteside Blog

2010-03-02T15:42:00.002-05:00

Last night's spelling bee featured words including bondieuserie, phrontistery, bagatelle, psephology, gyroceracone, and phthisiology. A reporter from NBC New York came, and this went up this morning:

NitePics: Inside the Williamsburg Spelling Bee at Pete's Candy Store

Photo by Rachel Rique

February 15 Winners

2010-02-16T14:42:00.005-05:00

Last night's spelling bee was attended by a plethora of orthographical dynamos!

1st place: David Riddle
2nd place: Sara Luchian
3rd place tie: Ben Kusmin and Maddy DeLeon

All four winners qualify for the season finals, although Mr. Riddle was visiting from California, so that's probably a little less competition when summer rolls around.

Come out to our next bee on Monday, March 1st! Everyone is welcome.

Photo by Eric Walton:

From left: Ben, Maddy, Sara, David, and hosts Jen and bobbyblue.

Spelling Bee in Frommer's "NYC Free & Dirt Cheap"

2010-02-09T12:39:00.005-05:00

Here's something fun -- the Williamsburg Spelling Bee appears in the book Frommer's NYC Free & Dirt Cheap, by Ethan Wolff.

February 1 Season Opener: Winners!

2010-02-02T14:20:00.005-05:00

The Williamsburg Spelling Bee kicked off Season 11 with a whizbang spelling bee on Monday, February 1st!

1st place: Ben Kusmin
2nd place: Carolyn D'Aquila
3rd place: Dominique Vance

Come out to our next bee on Monday, February 15th! Everyone is welcome.

Dispatch from Season 8 Winner Robert Moy

2010-02-02T12:30:00.004-05:00

Season 8 winner Robert Moy -- known as Mr. Moy to his students at P.S. 334 -- has written in to let us know about the "other side" of spelling bees.

Hello Jennifer and belated Happy 2010 to you and Bobby Blue.

Just want to let you know that this afternoon I helped chaperone my school's three top spellers to Stuyvesant High School auditorium for the Manhattan Borough Spelling Bee. The top 8 finishers will go to the Daily News Citywide championship in March. All three of my kids qualified; I am thrilled especially because I didn't get to coach them very much due to our conflicting school schedules and because they prepped mostly on their own. I've attached some photos for you. Enjoy.

Oh...about the OED dictionary I won last year? Hopefully it will come out of the boxes soon as our school library is shaping up.

All the best,
Robert Moy

These cute kids are welcome in Williamsburg just as soon as they're 21 ;)

Spelling Bee Finals Photos, December 7, 2009

2009-12-16T12:19:00.006-05:00

Congratulations to Wilson Southerland and all our finalists. Photos by Eric Walton.

All (well, most) of the Finalists!

The top three!

Winner Wilson Southerland!

Congratulations to Season Ten Winner Wilson Southerland

2009-12-08T20:21:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to Season Ten Winner Wilson Southerland, who spelled twelve words correctly at Monday's Season 10 Finals! Ben O'Donnell took second place and Lilli Heard took third in a very difficult finals! Professional-quality photographs were taken and will be posted soon.

Congratulations as well to all our Finalists (each of whom placed in the top three during a regular-season bee):

Trent Williams
Jenny Brown
Jonathan Lill
Lilli Heard
Wilson Southerland
Carolyn D'Aquila
David Zheng
Octavia Silva
Ben O'Donnell

A few words spelled by our competitors include imprimis, overslaugh, gramineous, avenaceous, moue, materfamilias, coetaneous, dermatoglyphics, quodlibet, moirologist, and schwerpunkt.

Williamsburg Spelling Bee Theme Song

2009-11-30T15:51:00.005-05:00

Hear spelling bee co-hosts bobby and Jen sing the original Williamsburg Spelling Bee theme song:

November 23rd Winners ... and on to the Finals!

2009-11-24T15:09:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to Carolyn D'Aquila, Lily Heard, and Trent Williams, who all tied for first place with eight words correct, and who all qualified for the December 7th Finals.

Join us on December 7th at 7:30 to watch the victors from the last six months square off to determine who will be crowned season champion!

November 9th Winners

2009-11-13T19:30:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to:

1st place: Jenny Brown
2nd place: Jonathan Lill
3rd place: Octavia Silva

All three qualify for the December 7th season finals!

Only one chance left to qualify for the finals -- come on out and spell on November 23rd!

From left: Winner Jenny Brown, 3rd place Octavia Silva, 2nd place Jonathan Lill, founder bobby and co-host Jen.

October 12th Winners

2009-10-13T11:40:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to:

1st place: Wilson Southerland
2nd place: David Zheng
Tied for 3rd place: Trent Williams and Barry Heard

All qualify for the December 7th season finals!

Bee Photos by Deneka Peniston

2009-10-07T21:35:00.003-04:00

Here's the complete gallery.

September 28th Winners

2009-09-30T10:58:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to:

1st place: Dominique Vance
2nd place: Trent Williams
3rd place: David Zheng

All qualify for the December 7th season finals!

September 14th Winners

2009-09-16T23:20:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to:

1st place: Wilson Southerland
2nd place: Jenny Brown
3rd place: Jonathan Landsman

All qualify for the December 7th season finals!

Oleomargarine and Piccalilli

2009-09-07T07:54:00.001-04:00

I have recently come into possession of this vintage spelling book:

I especially enjoyed the introduction; poor spelling is like dingy linen!

After you learn to spell "menu," move on to "oleomargarine"!

We have used "piccalilli" in the spelling bee before -- spellers, take note!

August 31st Winners

2009-09-02T13:24:00.003-04:00

August 31st was an enormous bee! Welcome to all the newcomers who found out about us on Twitter.

Congratulations to:

1st place: Ben O'Donnell
2nd place: Carolyn D'Aquila
3rd place: Wilson Southerland

All qualify for the December 7th season finals!

Williamsburg Spelling Bee on NPR

2009-08-19T11:23:00.002-04:00

Adults Put the 'Bee' in Orthography (streaming audio, 3:57) - from today's Morning Edition on NPR.

Spelling bees are not just for kids, as more and more spelling bees for adults sprout up across the country. A bar in Brooklyn, New York, has been hosting one for about five years. That bee attracts people just looking for fun and those who really know their stuff.

Thanks to reporter Ben Calhoun! Shout-out to Carolyn D'Aquila, winner of the bee attended by Mr. Calhoun.

August 17 Winners

2009-08-18T15:22:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to:

1st place: Trent Williams
Tied for 2nd place: Ji Seuk, Jonathan Lill, David Zheng

All qualify for the December 7th season finals!

August 3rd Winners

2009-08-04T12:40:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to:

1st place: Jonathan Lill
2nd place: David Zheng

Both qualify for the December 7th season finals!

Incidentally, normally we qualify the top three winners for the Finals, but this time around we had a four-way tie for third, so we qualified only the top two, but gave out four third-place prizes. The paninis are delicious.

Jonathan won not only the usual first place prize -- a $25 bar tab -- but also Roller Derby tickets!

Jonathan also went out for a smoke break mid-bee and came back with a tiny, chirping sparrow perched on his hand. Like Snow White. Seriously. Numerous photos were taken. Send one in to the blog if you have photographic evidence of the Spelling Sparrow Incident.

Williamsburg Spelling Bee Season 9 Final Results

2009-06-24T12:06:00.004-04:00

Congratulations to Williamsburg Spelling Bee Season 9 Winner Carolyn D'Aquila!

Here is the complete top 5:

1. Carolyn D'Aquila
2. Dominique Vance
3. Marc Palatucci
4. Jonathan Lill
5. Lauren Gilbert

And, of course, congratulations to everyone who made it to the Finals: Jan O'Leary, Stacey Choi, Jenny Brown, Wilson Southerland, Greg Hannahs, Ben Speaker, Mary Speaker, Dawid Wiacek, Karen Hudes, Eric Malson, Gwyneth Connell, Jake Cremins, Chris Antionacci, Paulina Szyrmer, Trent Williams, Sandy Bell, James Kibler, and Tamara Glenny.

Come out August 3rd to begin Season 10! Open to all!

Click here for the complete photo set.

June 8 Winners

2009-06-19T14:51:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to:

1st place: Carolyn D'Aquila
2nd place: Jonathan Lill
3rd place: Stacey Choi

May 25 Winners

2009-05-25T23:51:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to:

1st place: Carolyn D'Aquila
2nd place: Jan O'Leary
3rd place: Jonathan Lill

All three qualify for the June 22nd season finals! ( June 8 is the next bee and your last chance to qualify!)

By the way, 2nd place winner Jan will be back in England for the Finals, and I have it on reasonably credible hearsay that frequent winner Wilson will be on the road. Who will be our Season 9 winner? It's not Britain's Got Talent, but I'm still in suspense.

Heidi Montag can't spell, or else thinks Mexicans keep pigs in their chimneys

2009-05-17T22:19:00.004-04:00

From Us Weekly: "I'm ready to get out of the pig flue country."

Williamsburg Spelling Bee on the Recession Activities blog

2009-05-17T21:01:00.001-04:00

A Puppy Dressed as a Bee

2009-05-16T12:23:00.002-04:00

From cuteoverload.com

May 11 Winners

2009-05-16T12:22:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to:

1st place: Dominique Vance
2nd place: Jenny Brown
3rd place: Wilson Southerland

All three qualify for the June 22nd season finals! Next bee is May 25!

April 27 Winners

2009-04-29T12:04:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to:

1st place: Carolyn D'Aquila
2nd place: Greg Hannahs
3rd place: Ben and Mary Speaker

Ben and Mary are brother and sister. When they tied for third, we didn't even realize they had the same last name until we were mid-announcement.

All four qualify for the June 22nd season finals! Next bee is May 11!

April 13 Winners

2009-04-13T23:07:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to:

1st place: Greg Hannahs
Tied for 2nd: Dawid Wiacek & Karen Hudes

All three qualify for the June 22nd season finals! Next bee is April 27!

March 31 Winners

2009-03-31T11:43:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to:

1st place: Wilson Southerland
2nd place: Eric Malson
3rd place: Gwyneth Connell

All three qualify for the June 22nd season finals! Come back April 13 for more booze and wordplay.

March 16 Winners

2009-03-20T13:52:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to:

1st place: Jake Cremins
2nd place: Chris Antionacci
3rd place: Wilson Southerland

All three qualify for the June 22nd season finals! Come on out to our next bee on March 30th to try your hand at orthographical competition.

March 2 Winners

2009-03-04T13:33:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to:

1st place: Wilson Southerland
2nd place: Paulina Szyrmer
Tie for 3rd: Trent Williams and Sandy Bell

All four winners qualify for the June 22nd season finals!

Come on out to our next bee on March 16th!

Feb 16th winners

2009-02-17T08:53:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to:

1st place: Jonathan Lill
Tie for 2nd: James Kibler and Marc Palatucci

All three winners qualify for the June 22nd season finals!

Come on out to our next bee on March 2nd!

Season Nine Is Proceeding Apace

2009-02-14T18:34:00.005-05:00

The bee began its new season on February 2nd! We cut off signups at 25 people, leaving a few souls vowing to come earlier next time.

The winners were:

1st Place - Tamara Glenny
2nd Place - Lauren Gilbert
3rd Place - Jonathan Lill

These three contestants are qualified to compete in the F-I-N-A-L-S on June 22nd. (They also received a $25 bar tab, a $15 bar tab, and a free sandwich, respectively).

The next bee is this Monday, February 16th! Signup begins at 7pm.

Congratulations to Season 8 Winner Robert Moy

2008-12-09T20:09:00.007-05:00

Congratulations to Season Winner Robert Moy!

Read the Gothamist coverage here. Photo by Billy Parker of Gothamist.

Robert Moy, who teaches gifted kids at P.S. 334, will be receiving a 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary! (Courtesy of, of course, the Oxford English Dictionary). The graphic below is in celebration of the OED's 80th birthday -- or, as we like to say at the bee, octentennial.*

Moy also took home $150 cash from Pete's, as well as a trophy, free drinks, and some cupcakes. 2nd place Jonathan Lill and 3rd place Carolyn D'Aquila also took home beaucoup prizes, including Concise Oxford English Dictionaries, subscriptions to the Visual Thesaurus, and more.

Click here for Flickr gallery from the Finals.

* I made that up.

Online Spelling Bee Practice

2008-12-07T21:14:00.004-05:00

Want to practice your spelling online? Try the Visual Thesaurus Spelling Bee. The first word I got when playing was "host." But by the third word, I was asked to spell "unpropitiously."

After skating through "manumit" and "cinnabar," I got stumped on "reseau" (a grid of fine lines in lacemaking or celestial measurement), then nailed glaucous, jeroboam, and cislunar before striking out on "ecdysis" ( a shedding of the cuticle in arthropods) and "naumachia" (a naval spectacle or mock sea battle put on by the ancient Romans). So, um, it gets hard!

Here's a blog post explaining how Visual Thesaurus "uses the latest computational tools to shed new light on the inner workings of the English language." Complete with graphs!

Enjoy!

A Few Updates

2008-10-28T15:22:00.004-04:00

Our bee is currently featured on Brooklyn Based!

There are two more bees left in the current season -- Nov 10 and Nov 24 -- before our December 8th Finals. After that, the bee will go on holiday hiatus and return in February 2009.

Last night's bee was intense! We had a full roster of 18 spellers, and a few groups sadly turned away. Next time, arrive early (and often!)

Here's me and bobby at the Manhattan bee we recently hosted at Housing Works:

When spelling goes wrong

2008-08-18T12:30:00.001-04:00

if only your kitties were so brilliant

2008-08-17T23:24:00.000-04:00

more cat pictures

and afterwards, they can all go see a movie for 15% off...

2008-07-27T22:04:00.004-04:00

Here is a CBS article on senior spelling bees.

Long is a finalist of the AARP National Senior Spelling Bee just about every year. But it seems every time he's about to claim the top prize, he's thrown one of those dreaded culinary terms....

After misspelling "cappelletti" in 2005, he ate the hat-shaped pasta for a week. When he missed "caiparina" - a Brazilian cocktail - it drove him to drink.

New Season Schedule

2008-07-23T12:12:00.000-04:00

Step up to the mic and rule at Pete’s Candy Store’s
WILLIAMSBURG SPELLING BEE
with BOBBYBLUE & JENISFAMOUS
Every Other MONDAY
No cover, open to all
Signup at 7pm, Bee at 7:30

Season 8:
July 21
August 4 & 18
Sept 1 - NO BEE FOR LABOR DAY
Sept 15 & 29
Oct 13 & 27
Nov 10 & 24
Dec 8 FINALS

Quick Hits

2008-07-23T12:03:00.003-04:00

The new season of spelling began this Monday, July 21st. One speller sent me an email afterwards thanking us for the sprachgefühl, an exciting word* you might enjoy deploying in the future.

July 21st winner Jonathan Lill emailed to bring this shirt, which I thought you might also enjoy, to my attention:

And finally, you might enjoy this post on my regular blog: “Perpetrating” the Lyrics: A Critical Exegesis of the 1989 Young MC Hit “Bust a Move”.

*New! From the same people who brought you "schadenfreude" and "weltzschmertz," enjoy sprachgefühl!

Congratulations to Season Winner Tamara Glenny!

2008-06-27T17:24:00.004-04:00

Tamara Glenny (center) came in victorious in our June 23rd finals, spelling "aesculapian" correctly (among many other words), and taking home a $200 grand prize, as well as a "Spelling Bee Winner" tote bag and gift certificate from sponsor Neighborhoodies, and other fun prizes.

Kudos also go out to 2nd place winner Jonathan Lill (top left) and 3rd place winner Jonathan Proctor (bottom left).

"The Impotence of Proofreading"

2008-06-12T10:47:00.003-04:00

deliciously ironic newspaper correction

2008-06-05T16:00:00.001-04:00

From the Washington Post:

A May 31 Metro article about the Scripps National Spelling Bee misspelled last year's winning word. The correct spelling is serrefine.

spelling news

2008-06-02T23:03:00.002-04:00

Did you know that the National Spelling Bee has protestors?

I was already well-aware of the "spelling reform" movement, but this article in the WSJ does add one hilarious fact about the movement of which I was unaware:

The movement reached its apogee on Aug. 20, 1906, when President Theodore Roosevelt, a terrible speller, officially changed the spelling of 300 English words.

What seemed like a good idea -- changing "through" to "thru," and so on -- turned into a humiliating disaster. Newspapers mocked him as "Rozevult." Congress voted 142-24 to overturn the order.

Also in spelling news, spelling bee "icon" Samir Patel is finished at 14 and moves on with his life as a teen genius. (Samir, you are welcome in Williamsburg when you turn 21!)

Spelling Bee on Vanity Fair's blog

2008-05-15T12:24:00.001-04:00

The spelling bee is on Vanity Fair's blog! Thanks to Amy Boyle for the delightfully smart reporting.

Bee News

2008-04-23T10:29:00.003-04:00

The next spelling bee is Monday, April 28th!

7:30pm
Open to first 20 signups (arrive before 7:30 to sign up)
Pete's Candy Store
709 Lorimer in Williamsburg (L to Lorimer)
Free

And if you're looking for something to do in the great isle of Manhattan, check out our new project ... The New York City Spelling Bee.

we're in a cool multimedia news article

2008-04-23T08:44:00.000-04:00

Check out Nerdy Games Rock Bars on NYC24.com.

March 31st update

2008-04-04T01:51:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to this week's winners:

1st - Suzun Tansil
2nd - Melissa Bourgeois
3rd - Paul Vernisi

Also, check out our TV spot on WNBC's "1st Look"! (This is from two bees ago, when I was on tour in LA, so bobbyblue and his friend Laverne were hosting).

Next bee: April 14th!

February 18th bee recap

2008-02-20T01:27:00.001-05:00

Last night's bee was one of our largest ever! We cut off registration around 7:15pm and had to start turning people away.

In a competition that went from boisterous and friendly to suspenseful and competitive at the end, contestant Tamara won first place, spelling 11 words correctly over the course of the bee and thereby winning a $25 bar tab and a Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, while Jonathan Lill and David Dickerson tied for second place, each winning a $15 bar tab. All three winners qualified for the season finals, to take place June 23rd, featuring a cash prize and a complete Oxford English Dictionary for the season winner.

Exciting words from this bee included "tyrannis," "kleptocracy," "acetylcholine," "vigentennial," "homonculus," and "eprouvette."

Next bee: March 3rd!