ESPN platforms – ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3 – will combine to present 12 hours live of the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee Finalsfrom Washington, D.C. on May 30-31. This is ESPN’s 19th straight year of televising the Spelling Bee, and the second year every speller on stage will be featured on an ESPN network.All preliminary rounds on Wednesday, May 30, beginning at 8 a.m. ET will be carried exclusively on ESPN3. Television coverage will begin on Thursday, May 31, at 10 a.m. with the semifinals on ESPN2, and conclude on ESPN at 8 p.m. with the Final. ESPN3, ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network, will also simulcast ESPN2 and ESPN’s telecasts.
Throughout the entire competition, ESPN3 will carry a second “Play Along” version, where fans have the option to view coverage without seeing the word so they can test their own spelling skills while they watch against the champion spellers.
The schedule:
| Date | Time (ET) | Round | Network(s) |
| Wed, May 30 | 8:00 a.m. | Preliminary Round Two and Play-Along Version | ESPN3 |
| 1:15 p.m. | Preliminary Round Three and Play-Along Version | ESPN3 | |
| Thu, May 31 | 10:00 a.m. | Semifinals and Play-Along Version | ESPN2
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| 8:00 p.m. | Final and Play-Along Version | ESPN
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SportsCenter anchor Sage Steele returns for the third year as host of the National Spelling Bee. Paul A. Loeffler, a former Bee finalist who represented the Merced (Calif.) Sun-Star in the 1990 National Spelling Bee and finished among the top 13 spellers, returns as the TV word analyst. Samantha Steele, a college sports reporter for ESPN and the Longhorn Network, will make her Spelling Bee television debut as a reporter.
Some ESPN Spelling Bee TV highlights:
- The Celebrity Bee with Nolan Gould, best known for his starring role as Luke Dunphy on the ABC comedy Modern Family, and Atticus Shaffer, who plays the role of Brick Heck in the ABC sitcom The Middle;
- Best of the Bee – Highlights the most memorable moments from past National Spelling Bee Finals; and
- The Week that Was – A look at the friendships that are made among the 2012 Spelling Bee finalists and the fun that is had during Bee week in and around Washington, D.C.
ABOUT THE SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE FINALS
The Scripps National Spelling Bee, the nation’s largest and longest running educational promotion, is administered on a not-for-profit basis by The E.W. Scripps Company and local spelling bee sponsors. These local sponsors include media organizations, universities, nonprofits and other community leaders. The purpose of the Scripps National Spelling Bee is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English usage that will help them all of their lives.
The 2012 Spelling Bee Finals will feature 278 champion spellers, ranging in age from six to 15. Spellers qualify for the national competition by winning locally sponsored spelling bees in their home communities. The spellers represent all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Department of Defense Schools in Europe; as well as the Bahamas, Canada, China, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.
For more information and real-time results for all segments of competition are provided via the Internet at the Bee’s official website,http://www.spellingbee.com
Inside the 2012 National Spelling Bee numbers . . .
- 1 – six year-old in the Finals, youngest in the competition: Lori Anne C. Madison, Woodbridge, Va. According to the organization, she is the youngest speller on record.
- 3 – 2011 championship finalists – Nabeel Rahman of Buffalo, NY, Arvind V. Mahankali of New York, and Samuel Estep of Winchester, Va. – are among this year’s field of competitors
- 15 – top age for spellers in the 2012 National Spelling Bee
- 20 – spellers with at least one family member who has participated in past Spelling Bees
- 84 – percentage of spellers between ages 12 and 14 years old
- 110 – current spellers who named Math as their favorite subject
Matching random Scripps National Spelling Bee winning words …
Following are some of the Scripps National Spelling Bee winning words. Test your Spelling Bee knowledge by matching the words with the definitions. For more information about Scripps National Spelling Bee winning words, champion spellers and the 2012 finalists, visitspellingbee.com.
| Year | Definition | Match the world |
| (Ed. Note: some words have multiple definitions; Source: Dictionary.com) | ||
| 2010 | An instrument for measuring the quantity of blood that flows per unit of time through a blood vessel | __________________ |
| 2006 | A hypothetically reconstructed parent language | __________________ |
| 2001 | A substitute | __________________ |
| 1996 | An act or instance of burying someone alive | __________________ |
| 1995 | A yellowish discoloration of degenerating tissues | __________________ |
| 1989 | One who spoils or damages the value of something | __________________ |
| 1968 | Any of various large edible gastropods of the genus Haliotis having an ear-shaped shell with pearly interior | __________________ |
| 1963 | Equipment and supplies of a military force / a vehicle with four wheels drawn by two or more horses | __________________ |
| 1952 | A brief literary description | __________________ |
| 1941 | The first letter of a proper name | __________________ |
The words …
Euonym; spoliator; schappe; vivisepulture; stromuhr; pococurante; succedaneum; vignette; fibranne; abalone; maculature; ursprache; xanthosis; initials; sarcophagus; equipage
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