For the first time in 50 years, National Spelling Bee ends in a tie

Alex Wong/Getty Images

For the first time in 50 years, National Spelling Bee ends in a tie
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe have serious bragging rights: they both correctly spelled so many words that they basically shut down the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday.

After Hathwar, 14, spelled "stichomythia" (alternating lines between two actors) and Sujoe, 13, spelled "feuilleton" (a supplement to a newspaper) right, there weren't any words left on the competition's list. Thus, the bee ended in a tie for the first time since 1962.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.