UPDATED May 28 at 7:30 a.m.
Lauren Merillana scored at least 13 during round three, thereby advancing to Wednesday morning’s quarterfinal. There now are only 99 spellers competing out of the original 242.
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Lauren Merillana aced both her spelling and vocabulary words in the preliminary round Tuesday in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
This post will be updated Tuesday night when Round 3 of the preliminaries are finished. That is a written test.
The seventh grader at Robert Frost Middle School correctly spelled croquembouche, which a cone-shaped stack of cream puffs coated with caramelized sugar. She also knew the definition of spontaneity. Choosing from three definitions, the 13-year-old chose the correct one – “a trait of being compulsive.”
There were a total 242 spellers who represented all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Department of Defense Schools in Europe.
A book lover, Merillana read more than 100 novels last year.
#Speller96 Lauren Merillana from MD has spelled the word croquembouche correctly. Croquembouche, which literally means "crunches in the mouth" in French, is Bee Executive Director Corrie Loeffler's favorite word! https://t.co/egjRvwuGam #spellingbee
— Scripps National Spelling Bee (@ScrippsBee) May 27, 2025
