WASHINGTON (AP) — The Scripps National Spelling Bee won’t be so quick to force spellers into a lightning-round tiebreaker to decide a champion this year, a shift that follows criticism of the abrupt ...

Tommy Schervish, a second-place finisher last year, won the Canton Repository Regional Final Spelling Bee and heads to Washington, D.C.

FILE - Faizan Zaki, 12, of Allen, Texas ., gestures to his family after spelling his word correctly in the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, in Oxon Hill, Md., May 30, 2024. (AP ...

Last year, the top two spellers were tossed into the spell-off without even competing head-to-head in the traditional spelling bee format, a move that rankled former champions and other bee ...