It was a sad night for New Yorkers yesterday at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, where Forest Hills native (and Einstein-loving math whiz) Arvind Mahankali was defeated by the the word "jugendstil." The agony!
The word, which is the German equivalent of "art nouveau," has a silent "j" at the start, which Mahankali missed. Upon hearing the correct spelling, he exclaimed, "Ahh, a silent letter...I detest them. Letters do not have a right to be silent." He eventually tied for third and promised to be back next year, when "I'll rock everybody."
The ultimate champion was Sukanya Roh of Pennsylvania, who won with "cymotrichous," to have wavy hair. For a closer look at the competition, The Atlantic documented 13 glorious facial expressions from the highly-charged Spelling Bee, including one of a fist-pumping Mahankali prior to defeat. But it might not be all bad news for Arvind, Late Show writer Eric Stangel declared: "BREAKING: Blake Lively announces she's dating Arvind... #SpellingBee." Hot stuff!
