Appoggiatura
Anurag Kashyap, 13, of California clinched “appoggiatura,” defined as “an accessory embellishing note or tone preceding an essential melodic note or tone” to take home some $30,000 in prizes. He won in the 19th round of the 78th Annual National Scripps Spelling Bee on Thursday, beating 272 other spellers. Kashyap is an avid reader and straight-A student whose favorite subject is science. He tied for 47th in last year’s bee. This was Kashyap’s final year of eligibility. The bee is limited to students who haven’t completed eighth grade.
As the national champion, Anurag receives
- $12,000 in cash from Scripps;
- an engraved loving cup;
- A $5,000 cash award from Franklin Electronic Publishers;
- A $5,000 cash award from LeapFrog Enterprises Inc.;
- A $5,000 scholarship from Sigma Phi Epsilon Education Foundation;
- One set of the Encyclopedia Britannica and other reference works;
- $1,000 U.S. savings bond and library of reference works;
Another Indian American, Samir Sudhir Patel, 11, from Texas, had to settle for a tie for second place. He was the youngest of all in the final excruciating round and lost the championship when he misspelled “roscian.” Last year’s spelling champ, David Tidmarsh, of South Bend, Ind., snagged the title with “autochthonous,” meaning indigenous. He took home $12,000, an engraved cup, and other prizes.
