National Spelling Bee competitors face ‘short, tricky words’ as quarter-finals set

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A four-letter word sent Shradha Rachamreddy to a third-place finish in last year's Scripps National Spelling Bee.

As the remaining spellers dwindled, Shradha was given orle", a heraldry term that means several small charges arranged to form a border within the edge of a field. It sounds exactly like oral". Shradha went with orel" and heard the dreaded bell that signals a misspelled word.