The deaf, like dyslexics, rarely win spelling bees, as they tend to produce wildly inaccurate spellings.

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Typos have been a passion of Deck's since he won a few spelling bees in junior high school.

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There are national competitions for academic high school students, whether spelling bees, math Olympics, and national debate championships.

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Memo to any promoters of spelling bees: Check the patent filings.

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Its boosters argue that one-on-one instruction helps children learn, and point to the striking number of home-schooled children who win debating contests and spelling bees.

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The spelling bees in which Flora competes are drained of all drama by the floating, phantasmagoric style that is favored by the directors, Scott McGehee and David Siegel.

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Jon Pennington, who rocketed past both Miller and me to become the 1986 victor on the word "odontalgia, " came to the Bee possessed of a tremendous passion for spelling and spelling bees -- as well as a lower-than-average fear of public speaking -- and his mother's sunglasses.

CNN: The agony and ecstasy of the National Spelling Bee

While this might be someone's first outing in the orthographic Super Bowl, it takes many rounds -- from school bees to local to regional -- to qualify for the National Spelling Bee.

CNN: The agony and ecstasy of the National Spelling Bee