Random Words Testing
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WishWin Spelling Bee Results
The WishWin Spellathon 2019 sponsored by SpelPundit was held at The University of Texas at Dallas on Dec 7th. The event was filled with many enthusiastic spellers. Both young and senior spellers had a chance to interact with Scripps National Spelling Bee champion (2018) and co-champions (2019), Karthik Nemmani, Sohum Sukhatankar, and Rohan Raja!
Here is the list of top spellers of Senior and Junior spelling bee category:
Senior Spellathon Winners:
Champion: Michael Kolagani (Austin, TX)
1st Runner-up: Vivinsha Veduru (Keller, TX)
2nd Runner-up: Shijay Sivakumar (Midland, TX)
Junior Spellathon Winners:
Champion: Arnesh Jayaram (Allen, TX)
1st Runner-up: Anirudh Kidambi (Frisco, TX)
2nd Runner-up: Siyonamithra Kandala (San Antonio, TX)
4th Place: Darsheel Paila (Dallas, TX)
The top spellers received gift vouchers of $500, $300, and $200 from SpellPundit!
Kudos to the entire team of WishWin for organizing such a great event for good cause!
WishWin is a Non-Profit Organization. WishWin’s mission is to promote academic excellence through contests, and also help underprivileged children.
Learning Words in SpellPundit
This week’s topic is about learning words in SpellPundit!
Announcing our Updated Homonym Module
SpellPundit’s unique homonym module, with about 4,000 words, has been revamped! Now, spellers can flag homonyms for future review and practice their archived mistakes. Check out this new update at www.spellpundit.com and make sure you know the homonym sets in the following graphic!
SpellPundit is All You Need to Win the Scripps National Spelling Bee
For the last several years, EVERY words asked at the Scripps National Spelling Bee has been in the SpellPundit database. 
No other commercial spelling bee preparation resource is this comprehensive. Register at www.spellpundit.com to try free spelling and vocabulary modules.
No other commercial spelling bee preparation resource is this comprehensive. Register at www.spellpundit.com to try free spelling and vocabulary modules.
Homonyms
Differences Between the Merriam-Webster Print and Online Dictionaries
In 2017, the Scripps National Spelling Bee transitioned from the print version of the Merriam-Webster Third New International dictionary (which is also the CD ROM version) to the online Unabridged dictionary (unabridged.merriam-webster.com).
This blog post will discuss the differences between these two versions of the dictionaries so you are familiar with the changes.
Pronunciation of Words
There are some slight differences in pronunciation between the two versions of the dictionary. Some examples are:
| Word | Print/CD Dictionary | Online Dictionary |
| mattock | mad.ǝk, -atǝk | ˈmatək, -atək |
| tare | ta(a)](ǝ)r, ‘te], ]ǝ | ˈter |
| flair | fla(a)](ǝ)r, ‘fle], ]ǝ | ˈfler |
| square | skwa(a)](ǝ)r, -we], ]ǝ | ˈskwer |
| aerolithology | a(ǝ)(͵)rōli’thälǝjē | ¦er-ə-li-¦thä-lə-jē |
| airbus | a(a)(ǝ)r͵bǝs | ˈer-ˌbəs |
| revert | rə̇’vǝr]t, rē’-, -vӛ], -vǝi], usu ]t+V | ri-ˈvərt |
| redress | rə̇’dres, rē’- | ri-ˈdres |
| steer | sti(ǝ)r, -iǝ | ˈstir |
| board | bō(ǝ)rd, -ȯ(ǝ)rd, -ōǝd, -ȯ(ǝ)d | ˈbȯrd |
| forth | fō(ǝ)rth, ‘fȯ(ǝ)rth, ‘fōǝth, ‘fȯ(ǝ)th | ˈfȯrth |
| coarse | kō(ǝ)rs, -ȯ(ǝ)rs, -ōǝs, -ȯ(ǝ)s | ˈkȯrs |
| panda | pandǝ, ‘paan- | ˈpan-də |
| forth | fō(ǝ)rth, ‘fȯ(ǝ)rth, ‘fōǝth, ‘fȯ(ǝ)th | ˈfȯrth |
| answer | an(t)sǝ(r), ‘aan-, ‘ain-, ‘ån- | ˈan(t)-sər |
Note: While the print dictionary has the diacritical symbol /d./, the online dictionary has replace this with /t/.
Some words have different alternative pronunciations between the two dictionaries. Here are some of these words:
| Word | Print/CD Dictionary | Online Dictionary |
| jacana | jakənə | jə-ˈkä-nə, ˌzhä-sə-ˈnäⁿ |
| chelator | kē͵lātǝ(r) | ˈkē-ˌlā-tər; kē-ˈlā-tər also chē- |
| sleazy | slēzē, -zi | ˈslē-zē also ˈslā- |
| archenteron | (‘)ärk.’entǝ͵rän | (ˈ)är-ˈken-tə-ˌrän, -rən |
| raptore | rap͵tō(ǝ)r | ˈrap-tər, -ˌtȯr |
| Aristotelian | ¦arə̇stǝ¦tēlyǝn, ¦a͵ris-, -lēǝn also ¦er- or ǝ¦ris- or a¦ris- | ¦a-rə-stə-¦tēl-yən |
| ctenophore | tenǝ͵fō(ǝ)r | ˈte-nə-ˌfȯr |
| om | ȯm | ˈōm, ˈȯm |
| flotsam | flätsǝm -lōt- | ˈflät-səm |
| luxe | lǝks | ˈlu̇ks, ˈləks, ˈlüks |
| leopoldville | ˈlē-ə-ˌpōld-ˌvil | ˈlē-ə-ˌpōld-ˌvil, ˈlā- |
| crevalle | krǝ’valē, -lǝ, -lā | kri-ˈva-lē |
| aminophylline | ǝ͵mēnō’fi͵lēn, |amǝ͵nō’-; ͵amǝ’näfǝ͵- | ˌa-mə-ˈnä-fə-lən |
| leipzig | līpsi]g, -sē] | ˈlīp-sig, -sik |
Spelling
Some words are spelled differently between both dictionaries, such as:
| Print/CD Dictionary | Online Dictionary |
| amizilia | amazilia |
| bogsha | bogshah |
| vilnyus | vilnius |
New Online Words
The online dictionary has a lot of new words that the print dictionary did not have. Scripps has asked a lot of these new online words in their bees, such as xylorimba, turducken, mizuna, and Beringia. In fact, a few of these new words were asked at the National Spelling Bee in 2017, such as arribada, clafouti, Bruneian, and bucatini.
SpellPundit is one of the only study resources that has completely incorporated all the spelling/pronunciation changes in the online dictionary. Our New Online Words Module has with over 4000 words for spellers to learn these words and test themselves.