Wednesday, May 28, 2014

THE 2014 SPELLING BEE POOL:  Forty-six fantastic young spellers remain.

Our rules are similar to those in years past -- we have one remaining five-timer (Sriram Hathwar), and four spellers returning for their fourth year (Lucas Urbanski, Yasir Hasnain, Vanya Shivashankar, and Shayley Martin). The use of these veterans will be restricted.

So: pick two spellers, only one of whom can be one of the five spellers above. While individual spellers can be used more than once, you cannot repeat the same pairing that someone else has already submitted. First come, first served, and you cannot choose a speller once s/he spells tomorrow morning.

You will get one point for each word your spellers correctly spell during tomorrow's rounds of the Bee, which resumes at 10am eastern on ESPN2. In addition, each speller will receive an additional point for reaching primetime, to account for the computer-based cutoff after tomorrow's three live rounds. Most points wins; tiebreaker will be whoever has the individual speller going the furthest. Do not edit your entry after you've made it; if you need to make corrections, reply to your original comment.

Previous pool winners are Elicia Chamberlin in 2006 (Close/Hooks), Professor Jeff and Amy tied in 2007 (O'Dorney and Thomas/Horton), KJ in 2008 (Mishra/K Shivashankar), Cagey (K Shivashankar/Pastapur) in 2009, Bob Loblaw/Jenn tied in 2010 (Veeramani and Chemudupaty/Denniss); 2011's winner was Nupur Lala (the Roy/Ye Keystone combo); Bobby in 2012 (Nandipati/Mahankali); and Sara Miller picked the final two of 2013 (Mahankali/Sivakumar).

It's my blog, so I go first: Vanya Shivashankar and Mary Horton—the latter not because she had a perfect score in the computerized test (as did Syamantak Payra, a returning prime-timer), but because you may remember her older brother Jonathan, of whom we were big fans back in the day, and why the heck not go for a younger-sister duo?

67 comments:

  1. Cliff8:01 PM

    Sriram Hathwar and Syamantak Payra

    ReplyDelete
  2. BeeFan8:01 PM

    Call this the my-big-sister-won entry:

    Ashwin Veeramani
    Vanya Shivashankar

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marsha8:01 PM

    Vanya and Jae, please.

    ReplyDelete
  4. victoria8:05 PM

    Shivashankar/Abiad

    ReplyDelete
  5. Here goes nothing: Sriram Hathwar and Alia Abiad.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Scott R8:08 PM

    I've gone with homers the last few years - no more. So my heart is rooting for Tea, but my votes are going for

    Vanya Shivashankar
    Syamantak Payra

    ReplyDelete
  7. Would've been my first choice for an entry as well. These two would be the safe money bet under our rules, I think.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Alaina Kenny and Maria Kaltchenko

    ReplyDelete
  9. julen8:10 PM

    I want Shayley Martin and Samuel Pareles.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Adam B.8:12 PM

    I thought about adding Payra to the restricted list b/c of his primetime appearance, but I had to draw a line somewhere. Certainly considered him as well.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dave S8:16 PM

    Neha Shesadri and Abarajita Rao.

    ReplyDelete
  12. So Syamantak, Vanya, and Sriram are the only returning prime time players? Is that right?

    ReplyDelete
  13. bristlesage8:17 PM

    Shivashankar/Gibbison, please.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sara Miller8:21 PM

    Sriram Hathwar and Mary Horton

    ReplyDelete
  15. Adam B.8:21 PM

    I think so; Venkatachalam in 2012 finished tied for 10th, one round short.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Urbanski and Hannah Jackson please.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Mary Horton and Neha Konakalla

    ReplyDelete
  18. Catherine Cojocaru8:33 PM

    Horton and Urbanski please.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Bobby8:44 PM

    I got Venkatachalam and Hathwar. Very surprised Gokul hasn't been picked yet

    ReplyDelete
  20. Genevieve8:57 PM

    I'll be rooting for the Virginians including Jae Canetti, but for the pool, I take Srirarm Hathwar / Joseph Cusi Delamerced. (Vanya next year!)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Genevieve8:59 PM

    That would've been my pick! Rooting for Alia too.

    ReplyDelete
  22. TinaMiles9:02 PM

    Alekhya Ankaraju (I will be a homer for her, not many Hoosiers make it to the finals) and Sriram Hathwar.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Heather Powell9:11 PM

    Vanya Shivashankar and Muriel Cotman.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Eric J.9:15 PM

    Vanya Shivashankar and Samuel Pereles

    ReplyDelete
  25. Neha Seshadri missed by a round (but didn't misspell in Round 6, was eliminated on vocab) last year.

    ReplyDelete
  26. oonawong2389:52 PM

    Vanya Shivashankar and Lucas Urbanski

    ReplyDelete
  27. Jennifer E9:55 PM

    Hathwar and Kate Miller

    ReplyDelete
  28. I'll take Vanya and Gokul.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Jacob Devine10:30 PM

    Oops, my first couple choices got picked...but let's go Syamantak Payra/Alia Abiad (hat tip to Sriram, who I'd pick to win).

    ReplyDelete
  30. Maria Kaltchenko and Muriel Cotman

    ReplyDelete
  31. Rachel10:43 PM

    Sriram Hathwar and Hannah Jackson

    ReplyDelete
  32. Sherri C10:53 PM

    Vanya Shivashankar and Meghana Kamineni

    ReplyDelete
  33. Kate Miller and Sai Vishudhi Chandrasekhar

    ReplyDelete
  34. Adam C.1:02 AM

    So many good options already taken -- I'll go with Sriram Hathwar and Aparajita Rao.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Adam B.6:16 AM

    Given that they're only doing three live rounds today, that would require one hell of a lawnmower round.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Really, only three? That's fewer than usual, I think?

    ReplyDelete
  37. Adam B.7:38 AM

    Same as last year. The semifinalists all took a computerized test last night which will force a cutdown, after three rounds today, to a 12-or-fewer cohort for primetime tonight.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Kayla7:55 AM

    Gibbison and Loverin

    ReplyDelete
  39. Stacy Wolfe8:07 AM

    Vanya Shivashankar and Harry Harman

    ReplyDelete
  40. Yeah, I knew about the test last night - but for some reason, I thought there were more live rounds on top of that last year.


    At this point, it's just miles different from when I competed.

    ReplyDelete
  41. anonymous8:11 AM

    Hathwar and Allingham (this is Allingham, by the way, and I'm highly offended that no one picked me :P )

    ReplyDelete
  42. Adam B.8:14 AM

    Best of luck today. Wow.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Good luck! It seems like it's been a while since there was a speller from Delaware in the mix.

    ReplyDelete
  44. CharlotteinPa8:39 AM

    I would like Alia Abiad and Mary Horton, please.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Adam C.9:09 AM

    Yet another reminder why we love the Bee and these kids. Good luck Lillian!
    Relatedly, I look down the list of semifinalists and just keep thinking, "Yeah, this is a kid I could see my kids being friends with."

    ReplyDelete
  46. Lucas Urbanski and Alia Abiad, please.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Devin McCullen9:51 AM

    Sriram Hathwar and Jae Canetti
    (Since last year I went with the Jerseyan who qualified in PA, I'll be consistent and not pick the New Yorker who qualified in NJ)

    ReplyDelete
  48. Adam B.9:55 AM

    My bad: it's only two live rounds today. That's just brutal.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Neha Seshadri and Vanya Shivashankar

    ReplyDelete
  50. 1985. It was morning in America, or something like that!

    ReplyDelete
  51. Vanya and Shobha Dasari, please.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Am I too late to grab Vanya and Sumedh Garimella?

    ReplyDelete
  53. Adam B.10:27 AM

    Too late on Sumedh, I think he spelled before you entered. Pick someone later in the round.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Vanya/Alia if available - sorry I'm on a plane and can't see all the comments.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Adam B.10:40 AM

    Only if Alia hadn't spelled by the time you typed; I can't tell.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Me neither, but I'll take Vanya/Gokul if I was too late on Alia.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Adam B.10:51 AM

    That's been taken. Stick with Vanya/Alia.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Adam B.10:52 AM

    As of this point, everyone up to and including Gokul is off-limits.

    ReplyDelete
  59. victoria10:59 AM

    I already had that combo...

    ReplyDelete
  60. Adam B.11:37 AM

    Oops. Yes. Sara, Vanya + a Virginian or Freeman-Susskind is what's left.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Adam B.11:47 AM

    Sara emailed me: it's Vanya/Tea.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Adam B.11:58 AM

    And now we are closed.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Adam C.2:00 PM

    On a quick run through the picks, it looks like only SIX have two spellers in the finals. Vanya's absence wreaked havoc.

    ReplyDelete
  64. BeeFan2:08 PM

    I suppose if Sriram hadn't made it we'd have a pool winner already.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Adam C.3:04 PM

    I recall there were at least a couple entries with two non-Sriram finalists.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Yeah, jam took Horton/Konakalla, and CharlotteinPa took Abiad/Horton.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Adam B.10:43 PM

    You won the pool. Just realized I should figure that out. No one had Ansun.

    ReplyDelete