WASHINGTON—The Scripps National Spelling Bee, which has spent 15 years in suburban Maryland, has scopped its home to a venue befitting the stakes of its competition: Constitution Hall, Washington’s largest dedicated concert venue.
I feel like they should not have moved it. The old venue was better, 14‑year‑old Yahya Mohammed, a three‑time speller from Hoffman Estates, Illinois, told volunteers. The old venue was more spacious, and it feels kind of isolated in the hotel.
The competition opened its preliminary rounds Tuesday, placing spellers and their families in the historic hall amid a swirl of security checkpoints and shuttle buses that ferried them between the J.W. Marriott hotel and Constitution Hall. Constructed in 1929 by the Daughters of the American Revolution, the venue sits a few blocks from the Washington Monument and the White House.
In addition to the bee, the nearby Ellipse is fenced with temporary barriers as crews build an outdoor octagon on the White House South Lawn for UFC Freedom 250, an MMA event scheduled for June 14 to celebrate President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding.
Two very disparate forms of entertainment, Rajeev Malhotra—father of 14‑year‑old speller Rajeev Malhotra—said from Boston, comparing the bee and the mixed‑martial‑arts gala.
The new venue brought heavy security: guards and metal detectors lined each entrance, and explosive‑search dogs prowled the hallways. A few days earlier, a man fired at a White House checkpoint, injuring a bystander before being fatally shot by Secret Service officers.
Last year’s beach‑side venue at the Gaylord National Resort in Oxon Hill allowed spellers to roam freely between their hotel rooms, the ballroom and a large food court. “Last year was better,” said Arpit Aggarwal of Columbia, Missouri, whose daughter is competing for the second time. “Everything was in one place.”
Nevertheless, many spellers relished the buzz of the downtown area. “I just love being here, right next to the National Mall. You can see the Smithsonian, you can see the Jefferson Memorial. It’s such a lively and unique city and I love being in the heart of it,” said Oliver Halkett, a 14‑year‑old from Los Angeles.
Speller Andie Seavey from Fairbanks, Alaska, and her mom visited the National Theater to see the musical ‘The Great Gatsby.’
During the preliminary rounds, 80 spellers were eliminated. The remaining 167 competed in a high‑stakes written test that decided who would move on to quarter‑finals on Wednesday. The bee concludes Thursday night.
Last year’s champion, Faizan Zaki, won even after a misspelling when the bell rang, illustrating that a single mistake does not necessarily end a competition. As speller Kushi Gottimukkala from North Carolina shared, “I was still thinking about the mistake, but I was also really grateful that I got a second chance, and so I took that into consideration and decided to focus on my next word.”
The bee’s advanced rounds demand mental clarity; “Treat every word as if it’s your first and last word,” Kushi advised, showcasing the resilience spellers must display.
Ben Nuckols has covered the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2012. Follow his work [here](https://apnews.com/author/ben-nuckols).
I feel like they should not have moved it. The old venue was better, 14‑year‑old Yahya Mohammed, a three‑time speller from Hoffman Estates, Illinois, told volunteers. The old venue was more spacious, and it feels kind of isolated in the hotel.
The competition opened its preliminary rounds Tuesday, placing spellers and their families in the historic hall amid a swirl of security checkpoints and shuttle buses that ferried them between the J.W. Marriott hotel and Constitution Hall. Constructed in 1929 by the Daughters of the American Revolution, the venue sits a few blocks from the Washington Monument and the White House.
In addition to the bee, the nearby Ellipse is fenced with temporary barriers as crews build an outdoor octagon on the White House South Lawn for UFC Freedom 250, an MMA event scheduled for June 14 to celebrate President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding.
Two very disparate forms of entertainment, Rajeev Malhotra—father of 14‑year‑old speller Rajeev Malhotra—said from Boston, comparing the bee and the mixed‑martial‑arts gala.
The new venue brought heavy security: guards and metal detectors lined each entrance, and explosive‑search dogs prowled the hallways. A few days earlier, a man fired at a White House checkpoint, injuring a bystander before being fatally shot by Secret Service officers.
Last year’s beach‑side venue at the Gaylord National Resort in Oxon Hill allowed spellers to roam freely between their hotel rooms, the ballroom and a large food court. “Last year was better,” said Arpit Aggarwal of Columbia, Missouri, whose daughter is competing for the second time. “Everything was in one place.”
Nevertheless, many spellers relished the buzz of the downtown area. “I just love being here, right next to the National Mall. You can see the Smithsonian, you can see the Jefferson Memorial. It’s such a lively and unique city and I love being in the heart of it,” said Oliver Halkett, a 14‑year‑old from Los Angeles.
Speller Andie Seavey from Fairbanks, Alaska, and her mom visited the National Theater to see the musical ‘The Great Gatsby.’
During the preliminary rounds, 80 spellers were eliminated. The remaining 167 competed in a high‑stakes written test that decided who would move on to quarter‑finals on Wednesday. The bee concludes Thursday night.
Last year’s champion, Faizan Zaki, won even after a misspelling when the bell rang, illustrating that a single mistake does not necessarily end a competition. As speller Kushi Gottimukkala from North Carolina shared, “I was still thinking about the mistake, but I was also really grateful that I got a second chance, and so I took that into consideration and decided to focus on my next word.”
The bee’s advanced rounds demand mental clarity; “Treat every word as if it’s your first and last word,” Kushi advised, showcasing the resilience spellers must display.
Ben Nuckols has covered the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2012. Follow his work [here](https://apnews.com/author/ben-nuckols).
