November 9th Winners

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

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

Here's the complete gallery.

September 28th Winners

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Congratulations to:

1st place: Carolyn D'Aquila

2nd place: Jonathan Lill

3rd place: Stacey Choi