It was 'schwarmerei' that did him in.
Unable to negotiate that word, Akshay Buddiga, 13, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, who was brilliantly matching vocabularies with an equally sharp David Tidmarsh, of South Bend, Indiana, ended up in second place in the National Spelling Bee, held Thursday in Washington D.C.
It yet not clear that actual schwarmerei -- which means excessive or unwholesome sentiment -- had any role in Buddiga spelling it svermari in the 14th round. Till then he had coursed along, making easy work of words like 'gruine', 'lagniappe' and 'tralatitious' (pertaining to a crane; a small, token gift; and something passed along down generations respectively).
Meanwhile, Tidmarsh, no slouch himself, parsed 'sophrosyne' (of sound and prudent mind), arête (a sharp narrow ridge found in rugged mountains), 'gaminerie' (childish or foolish behaviour), before having the last word. He spelt 'autochthonous' (originating where found) right in the 15th round and took possession of the title.
Of the other Indian Americans participants, Keshav Pillai, 14, from Parma Heights, Ohio, reached the seventh round before tumbling over 'sciapodous ' (having large feet). In round six, Biplab Panda fell out with 'empennage' (the tail portion of an aircraft), Rajiv Tarigopula was shown the door by 'xenial' (pertaining to hospitality) while Snigdha Sur tripped over carnauba (the root of Coper'nica cerif'era).
Buddiga, who perhaps not unnaturally likes reading, won the state championship in this year's Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge.
His hobbies include playing the harp, chess, basketball, hiking, and video games. Buddiga must be especially disappointed, given that brother Pratyush won the National Spelling Bee in 2002.
