Last night, eighth grader Sukanya Roy of South Abington Township, Pennsylvania won the 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee. To clinch her victory, she correctly spelled the word “cymotrichous,” meaning “having wavy hair.” Now, because we are masochists (not to mention recovering regional spelling bee finalists, ca. 1996), it’s time for us to determine whether we know any of the competition’s final ten words. As it turns out, we do recognize one: “orgeat.” And that’s because we’re used to seeing the syrup listed on cocktail menus (it’s an ingredient in the Mai Tai, among other tropical drinks). Sigh. Test yourself — or just drink to our, and perhaps your, misspent adulthood — after the jump.
Scripps National Spelling Bee 2011’s 10 final words:
lekane panguingue Jugendstil galoubet naumkeag hooroosh orgeat sorites periscii cymotrichous