66th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 66th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C., on June 2–3, 1993, sponsored by the E.W. Scripps Company.

66th Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Capital Hilton, site of the 66th National Spelling Bee
Date	June 2–3, 1993
Location	Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C.
Winner	Geoff Hooper
Age	14
Residence	Arlington, Tennessee
Sponsor	The Commercial Appeal
Sponsor location	Memphis, Tennessee
Winning word	kamikaze
No. of contestants	235
Pronouncer	Alex Cameron
Preceded by	65th Scripps National Spelling Bee
Followed by	67th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The winner was 14-year-old Geoff Hooper of Arlington, Tennessee, winning with the word "kamikaze" in the 16th round.^[1][2][3]

Second place went to David Urban, 13, of Amarillo, Texas, who misspelled "renascent" and had finished 66th the prior year, followed by Yuni Kim, 12, of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, in third, who went out on "apotheosize".^[3][4][5]

Fourth-place went to 9-year-old Wendy Guey,^[6] who went on to win three years later.

This year's contest had 235 entrants, including 131 girls and 104 boys, from 49 states as well as the Virgin Islands, Guam, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and one entrant from Germany where her father was stationed with the military.^[3]

After the first day and three rounds, the competition was reduced by 101 spellers. 69 spellers made it to sixth round, a "killer round" which then eliminated 31 more. 19 spellers were then eliminated in the seventh round.^[7][8] A total of 963 words were used.^[4]

The first place prize was $5000, second was $4000, third paid $2500, and fourth $1000.^[7]

CNN provided live coverage of the final rounds.^[9]

References

1. Vest, Jason (4 June 1993). King Bee for a Spell, The Washington Post
2. (4 June 1993). 'Kamikaze' seals spelling bee win, The Baltimore Sun
3. (4 June 1993). 8th Grader Wins a Contest, Saying, Oh, It Was E-A-S-Y, The New York Times
4. (4 June 1993). Boy is kamikaze at spelling bee, The Hour (Associated Press)
5. (4 June 1993). Pottsville Girl Places Third On First Try, The Morning Call
6. Miller, Jill Young (2 June 1994). Down to the Letter, Sun Sentinel
7. Cass, Connie (3 June 1993). Spelling bee field narrows to 19, Associated Press
8. Atanasov, Maria (18 June 1993). Under A Spell Davie Student Finally Makes It To Finals Of National Spelling Bee, Sun Sentinel
9. (28 May 1993). Teen flies to spell-off, The Bulletin