11 nerve-wracking images from the National Spelling Bee

Encyclopedic knowledge of words? Check. A stomach of steel? Here's hoping...

Vismaya Kharkar reacts with relief after correctly spelling a word, her ticket to the final round.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Larry Downing)

As if spelling words like bacciferous wasn't difficult enough, contestants in the Scripps National Spelling Bee are required for the first time in the competition's 88-year history to also define the vexing words given to them by judges.

The annual four-day competition, which comes to an end tonight, starts off with nearly 300 spellers from around the world, ranging in age from 8 to 14, and culminates in a final in which only one out-spells the rest in front of a national audience. The champion will win a $30,000 cash prize, a $2,500 U.S. savings bond, collections of dictionaries and encyclopedias, an engraved trophy, and serious bragging rights among middle schoolers and adults alike.

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Lauren Hansen

Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.