This year, except for the first round, the word lists were themed for each round, which made the bee more interesting as we tried to guess what the next spelling word would be based on the theme.
So, for those interested, here is the word list from the 2016 ACES spelling bee. Words in bold are the ones that eliminated contestants. The words that I misspelled, sitting in the audience with my laptop, are marked with an asterisk.
- ambiguity
- veterinarian
- rudimentary
- chastisement
- boondoggle
- bankruptcy
- provocative
- artesian
- venison
- tertiary
- subterfuge
- tantamount
- nostalgia
- limousine
- antithesis
- papyrus
- diacritic
- monograph
- virgule
- caret
- biblioclast
- fleuron
- palimpsest
- enclitic
- opusculum
- brevet
Portland, Oregon. An underwhelming view from an eleventh-floor hotel room. - majuscule
- imprimatur
- colophon
- incunabulum
- Connecticuter *
- Michigander
- Louisianian
- Mississippian
- Delawarian
- Tennessean
- Utahan
- Wyomingite
- Wisconsinite
- Missourian
- bialy*
- lutefisk*
- geoduck
- knish
- chitterlings
- burgoo*
- cioppino*
- ptarmigan
- beryl
- loblolly
- sequoia
- palmetto
- saguaro
- chickadee
- tourmaline*
- pendanus
- subrident*
- sortition
- demiglâce
- sybaritic
- nockerl*
- cardiomegaly
