A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

SURVIVING WITHOUT SAMIR: How do we know that Bee season is around the corner? Because an online betting service is taking action on three prop wagers: will the winner be a boy? (Bet $140 to win $100; girls are even money.) Will the winner wear glasses? (-140 on no, even on yes.) And will the winning word be more or less than 8 1/2 letters long? (-150 on yes, +110 on no. Bet on 'yes'.) Here's an early look at some competitors:

• Our youngest competitor -- indeed, the youngest in Bee history, is Sriram Hathwar of Big Flats, NY, who was seven years old and in second grade when he qualified in March. Hathwar survived nineteen two-person rounds to win his Bee, including four double misses, before his foe botched KRIPT-ohn and Hathwar nailed pah-ruh-LEL-uh-grahm and ihm-PEHR-vee-uhs for the win.
• New Zealand's Thomas North will be traveling the furthest, and his coach insists North is "ready for university level linguistics papers." His hometown paper ironically notes, "As well as mastering the more unusual words of the English language, Thomas is also practising using the American spelling of words."
• When asked if there was a secret to her success, Nishat Yasmin of Emporia, KS said: "Yeah, I'm competitive."
• We always look out for the Jamaican competitors. This year it's Sade Dunbar, who's not accustomed to the schwa, but who will undoubtedly be polite.
• Cathy Deng is the representative from the Athens, GA area, studying as late as 4 in the morning for the Bee.
• Austin Hoke, a three-timer from Indiana, who has the right attitude for life -- just not for the Bee: "I am just kind of laying off it," Austin said. "It's really hard to (prepare), so I just figure I won't try."

And finally, ALOTT5MA fave and third-timer (at the age of 11!) Kavya Shivashankar did an interview with GirlsHealth.gov, and her favorite word? "Szczecin (pronounced sche-cheen), which comes from a city in Poland." (Hey, spellers: what makes this a word and not a proper name?)

Live coverage next Thursday and Friday. Right here. As always.