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Spelling Bee Championships

NPR | By Robert Siegel

Published June 3, 2004 at 12:00 AM EDT

Some 265 girls and boys competed this week for the 77th Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee. We listened in on some of the participants. The decisive word was "autochthonous." A 14-year-old David Tidmarsh, of South Bend, Ind. -- who tied for 16th in last year's event -- triumphed over a 13-year-old from Colorado who was eliminated by the word "schwarmerei." Hear NPR's Robert Siegel.

Copyright 2004 NPR

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Robert Siegel

Prior to his retirement, Robert Siegel was the senior host of NPR's award-winning evening newsmagazine All Things Considered. With 40 years of experience working in radio news, Siegel hosted the country's most-listened-to, afternoon-drive-time news radio program and reported on stories and happenings all over the globe, and reported from a variety of locations across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. He signed off in his final broadcast of All Things Considered on January 5, 2018.

See stories by Robert Siegel

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