State spelling bee contestants trade words until there's a winner

Mar. 25—CONCORD — As an athlete who competes on three hockey teams, two lacrosse teams, and in track and field events, Iris LaMoreaux, 14, winner of the 2023 New Hampshire Union Leader Spelling Bee, can spell strategy and endurance in her sleep.

But she can also spell "pentacle," which won her the title, along with other lesser-known words like "skroop" — which refers to the rustling sound of acid-soaked fabric, "cruck" — a building support, and "risorgimento" — a term in music that comes from Italian.

LaMoreaux, an eighth-grader at Plymouth Elementary School, narrowly edged out Amritanshu Pradhan, 13, of Amherst, in round 20 of the 70th annual event, which drew 21 fifth- through eighth-graders from across New Hampshire for a nail-biting showdown of stating the correct letters in the right order. In this final draw, word-lovers spell words that may be as esoteric and difficult to pronounce.

"I like challenges," said LaMoreaux, who said her favorite subject is math, but English is on her list, too. "I've come up with strategies to make sure I'm counting all the letters and getting them right. I spell them in my head and count the letters on my fingers," she said, holding a stuffed bumble bee prize.

Until the last minute, and during rounds 18 and 19, it was impossible to know who would prevail. At spelling bees, the next word is anyone's guess. The audience Saturday at the Bank of New Hampshire Stage was riveted, hanging on every high-pressure letter. Entire families came to cheer on the statewide contestants.

"It's about trying to memorize all the words and having a positive attitude," said Pradhan, who has made it to the state finals twice before.

More than any single victor, the room was full of high-caliber word-spinners who outshone peers at their local schools and scored above the other aces in the semifinals administered online. This year's sponsors included the New Hampshire Union Leader, the New Hampshire Elks Association, the Community College System of New Hampshire, National Inventors Hall of Fame, Granite State Credit Union, Trinity High School, St. Mary's Bank, Club Z and World Academy.

Carolyn D'Aquilla, a Derry native who now lives in Dover, has been moderating the event since roughly 2000 after winning the state spelling championship as a student.

Some kids are visual learners, others are auditory, she said. Some remember how to spell under pressure by envisioning letters on a page or blackboard.

"The secret to doing really well is learning where it's coming from," D'Aquilla said. Words used in English come from a smorgasbord of languages, including Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, German and Sanskrit.

"It's about memorizing the root of the word," said Michele Esposito, 14, an eighth-grader at Fairgrounds Middle School in Nashua. "You can memorize the core of the words then figure out how it's spelled."

"It's definitely all about practice," said Trisha Khetarpal, 12, of Nashua, a seventh-grader at the Academy for Science and Design. This was her first state spelling bee. To prepare she memorized 100 to 300 words a day from the Words of the Champions 4,000-word list and the Word Club app. "For some it comes naturally. For others, it can be a learned thing."

A lot can be taught, said D'Aquilla, but she believes some people have an inborn ability to listen and think through a word step by step without writing on a piece of paper and seeing it.

Esposito said one of the best study tools is reading. "From a young age, I was always reading. I have a bunch of bookshelves filled with books. Reading can take you places," he said.

For everyone, it was a family event. Parents, grandparents and siblings formed cheering squads, including for 10 1/2 -year-old Ella Harford of Claremont, who came with a clan of her closest relatives. "I'm really excited and also nervous," she said before taking a seat onstage with other gold-medal spellers.

The fifth-grader from Disnard Elementary School wore a competition bib that said "8," her lucky number ever since she came into this world weighing 8 pounds, 8 ounces. Her mother, Lillian, smiled proudly.

"I can't spell a lick at all," she said. "But my husband and mother are great spellers. It skipped a generation."

Asked about the keys to her success, LaMoreaux, this year's champion, said she reads and studies words in the car en route to sports events, and she's been competing in spelling bees since third grade. At the end of May, she'll head to the national finals, a weeklong event in Maryland.

Yesterday she took home prizes: a $500 scholarship to Trinity High School donated by Trinity, and a $1,000 savings bond from the NH Elks Association if she attends the national bee. The Elks will also help pay for her travel.