p-r-e-s-s

The spelling bee is on the Mental Floss blog!

The bee is also on MySpace. Feel free to befriend us/it.

The Williamsburg Spelling Bee

Time Out photos

Here are more photos of the bee, taken by Shannon Taggart for Time Out New York (the one that made it into the article is in the post below).

the bee in Time Out

The spelling bee is in the Time Out "New Dork City" issue, on stands now!

Read the complete article here

"Mind Games"

We're in the Village Voice (July 25th, 2006 issue!)

Here's the text:

The Latin root word for supercilious is supercilium, which means eyebrow. What, you might ask, does that have to do with arrogance and haughtiness? When next you look down your nose, suggests Jennifer Dziura, try raising an eyebrow just to drive the point home. Now consider the Latin root word of eminence: eminere, meaning to stand out. This is probably what Eminem was thinking when he chose the name, don't you think? "After all, Eminem is a pretty smart guy," concludes Dziura, comedienne, writer, teacher, sarcastic sex-toy blogger, and co-host of the ever edifying Williamsburg Spelling Bee held at Pete's Candy Store.

Offering less spectacle and spume than Monday night bingo but more opportunity for individual disgrace and grammatical tirades (last week, it was the flagrant misuse of the subjunctive), the Williamsburg Spelling Bee was created by Brooklyn singer-songwriter bobbyblue soon after he watched the orthographic thriller Spellbound. Since then, the Williamsburg Spelling Bee has been syndicated (fans are rumored to have started similar bees in Seattle and London), sponsored by a major Broadway musical (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), and featured in The New York Times and on NPR, making it the bar game of choice for self-proclaimed geeks and well-groomed lovers of logorrhea. However, in the cozy Pullman-car atmosphere of Pete's back room, intellectual acumen does not trump kindness.

Unlike traditional spelling bees, contestants are permitted three misspelled words before they are knocked out of the game, and during the opening interview round, when they are asked personal questions like "If you suddenly found yourself pregnant with devil spawn, what would you do," no competitor is eliminated, even if they should misspell frittata. And after the competition heats up with words like toponymy, somnifacient, hesperidium, commissariat, and thalassocracy, the casualties of cacography are still excused with great sympathy and loud applause.

"You know, I'm up here telling jokes about words," says Dziura after a particularly funny riff about the reconstitution of chicken meat and Scarlatina, a Latino drag queen named after a disease. "At a spelling bee. For adults. In a bar. In Williamsburg. Just so we keep it all in perspective."

"The paper plates help," says Felix Aronoff, a 24-year-old bio major, chuckling at the contestant's number hanging around his best friend's neck. "A great ego leveler."

Here's the link.

um, no, Frosted Mini-Losers

From June 26th winner Warren Bloom:

Here's an entry in my LiveJournal regarding a horrifying commerical for Frosted Mini-Wheats that totally misrepresents the rules of spelling bees.

Next bee: July 10th

The Williamsburg Spelling Bee
Monday, July 10th, 2006
Sign up at 7, compete at 7:30
Pete's Candy Store, 709 Lorimer St. in Williamsburg


A real adults-only spelling bee, as featured in the New York Times, made kinder and gentler by a three-strikes-you're-out policy. 1st place - tickets to "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee", 2nd place - $15 bar tab, 3rd place - free panini sandwich (plus eternal glory!)

Each bee up to the finals is open to everyone, including participants from previous bees, win or lose. The only limitation is that we cut off signups at 18 contestants, so you may wish to arrive early to guarantee a spot on the list.

go ahead and ruin all our smug fun

Here's an article about "simplified spelling" that I trust you will find suitably horrifying.

juicy swag announcement

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (the musical) is back as our sponsor! The first-place winners of this season's bees will each win a pair of tickets to the musical! We also have shirts, notebooks, and CD soundtracks to hand out.

Six young spellers of the Tony Award-winning musical The 25thAnnual Putnam County Spelling Bee are learning about growing up, fitting in and earning R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

In this “R-I-O-T-O-U-S” show (New York Times) Marcy, Chip, Logainne, Leaf, William and Olive learn that winning isn’t everything and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser.

“A Super-Smart show that’s also a bona fide crowd-pleaser. It is perfect in every possible way.” (The Wall Street Journal)


Visit the Website

killing me softly

It is so embarrassing (embarassing? embbarrasing?) when I misspell a spelling bee winner's name! Congratulations to Emily Helfgot for winning fourth (forth?) place in last season's finals!

Season 3 Finals results

Congratulations to our Season 3 Finals winners!

1st - Jonathan Lill
2nd - Megan Rudesill
3rd - Adam Daland
4th - Emily Helfgot
5th - Noel Claro
6th - Mint Lynch-Macduff


The Season 3 Finals demonstrated a sort of poetic justice as Jonathan Lill, winner of the first-ever Williamsburg Spelling Bee in September, 2004, deservedly took home a season championship.

Now, the slate is wiped clean, and a new season begins Monday...

The Williamsburg Spelling Bee
Monday, May 29th
Sign up at 7, compete at 7:30
Pete's Candy Store, 709 Lorimer St. in Williamsburg

A real adults-only spelling bee, as featured in the New York Times, made kinder and gentler by a three-strikes-you're-out policy. 1st place - $25 bar tab, 2nd place - $15 bar tab, 3rd place - free panini sandwich (plus eternal glory!)

p.s. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is back on board as a sponsor! Each regular season bee winner will get a t-shirt from the musical, and the winner of this season's finals will get a pair of tickets.

isn't it cute when we write headlines l-i-k-e t-h-i-s?

Someone is planning to sue over a spelling bee! From CNN: F-U-R-I-O-U-S over spelling bee ruling.

spelling fights crime!

Or, rather, proofreading fights crime! Or, criminals can't spell! Or something. From this AP Story:

Julie Kay Russo, 32, was arrested Monday on 20 forgery counts after she tried to pass an allegedly forged payroll check at the S & S Superstop. The store clerk became suspicious when he noticed the word "independent" in the business name was spelled incorrectly as "indapendent."