A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The nail-biting finish to the Scripps National Spelling Bee came down to the competition's first ever spell-off. After starting with more than 11 million spellers across the country, it came down to 229 who made it to D.C.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
And then last night, there were just two, both veterans of the Bee - 12-year-old Vikram Raju from Aurora, Colo., and 14-year-old Harini Logan from San Antonio, Texas.
MARTÍNEZ: They were both given 90 seconds to spell as many words as they could. Vikram went up first and got 15 right. Then it was Harini's turn.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Your first word is spealbone.
HARINI LOGAN: S-P-E-A-L-B-O-N-E.
(SOUNDBITE OF DING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Phreatophyte.
LOGAN: P-H-R-E-A-T-O-P-H-Y-T-E.
(SOUNDBITE OF DING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Gaydiang.
LOGAN: G-A-Y-D-I-A-N-G.
MARTÍNEZ: Maybe I can pronounce them, Rachel. I can't spell them. No way.
MARTIN: Harini had said she was terrified of the lightning round, but in the end, well, she blazed on through it.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Nandubay.
LOGAN: N-A-N-D-U-B-A-Y.
(SOUNDBITE OF DING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Moorhen.
LOGAN: M-O-O-R-H-E-N.
(SOUNDBITE OF DING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Time.
(APPLAUSE)
MARTÍNEZ: She spelled 21 words correctly, making Harini Logan the champion of the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
(SOUNDBITE OF BAD SNACKS' "PER LA LUNA (MIXED)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.