- National bee has ended in tie in four of past six competitions
- Controversial rule changes meant to identify single champion
- Last year’s bee canceled for first time since second world war
- Quiz: Can you beat former National Spelling Bee champions?
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is undergoing a major overhaul to ensure it can identify a single champion, adding vocabulary questions and a lightning-round tiebreaker to this year’s pandemic-altered competition.
The 96-year-old bee has in the past included vocabulary on written tests but never in the high-stakes oral competition rounds, where one mistake eliminates a speller. The only previous tiebreaker to determine a single champion was a short-lived extra written test that never turned out to be needed.
Related: How to build a spelling bee champion
Related: ‘Uncharted territory’: National Spelling Bee ends in historic eight-way tie
