Thursday, May 29, 2008

ALOTT5MA BEE POOL 3.0: With Round 4 now complete and 45 spellers remaining, it's time to open up our pool for this year's Bee. As with last year, the rules are simple: Select two spellers, only one of whom can be from among the five rock stars for whom this is at least a fourth attempt at glory -- Tia Thomas (13), Anqi Dong (39), Sameer Mishra (97), Akhsat Shekhar (126) and Matthew Evans (162).

You will get one point for each word your spellers correctly spell during tomorrow's rounds of the Bee, which resumes at 11am on ESPN. Most points wins; tiebreaker will be whoever has the individual speller going the furthest. While individual spellers can be used more than once, you cannot repeat the same pairing that someone else has already submitted. First come, first served, and the pool will close when the kids start spelling tomorrow morning. Google wisely, and do abide Sean Daly's advice in today's New York Post.

As always, your sole prizes are Internet fame and glory forever (or at least as long as this site’s archives remain available), joining 2006 pool winner Elicia Chamberlin, who admittedly had some inside knowledge, and 2007 co-winners Professor Jeff and Amy (which sounds like a messed-up MIT lounge act).

Since it's my blog, I go first: Kayva Shivashankar -- the pride of Olathe, KS, and the only entrant to have made it to prime time the last two years -- and second-timer Curtis Bogetti of Kamloops, BC, because "Kamloops" is a cool name for a town and Curtis says "schuhplattler" is his favorite word. I am concerned that he also claims to be a Lost fan, and I don't want him distracted tonight, but I'm sensing some serious Maple Leaf Mojo this year.

That said, I will not be surprised at all to see Matthew Evans and Tia Thomas among the final competitors Friday night -- one does not come back for a fifth Bee just because one can, but because one believes that the effort will be worth it. Good luck, everyone.

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