New rules will define Spelling Bee experience
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
BY THE RECORD’S STAFF
The Record
Indrani Das packed two suitcases for her trip to Washington for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. One carried her clothes. The other — far more important – contained the precious cargo that could make or break her quest to capture the national championship.
It was a 17-pound dictionary.
That oversized book, and an imposing stack of other materials, loom especially important this year because of a rule change that, for the first time, requires contestants not only to spell any word in the dictionary, but to define some of them, too.
The new rules, announced in late March after the national field was set, were a surprise to 13-year-old Indrani, an eighth-grader at River Dell Middle School who will represent North Jersey in the event this week.
“I always thought the Spelling Bee was just about spelling,” she said during an interview in her Oradell home, adding, “They should have told us earlier.”
https://www.northjersey.com/news/209295751_New_rules_will_define_Spelling_Bee_experience.html
