Jun 2, 2023 - News

"Dattock" knocks out Seattle's teen spelling whiz

Melissa Santos

A young person with a yellow cardboard sign on their chest competes in a spelling bee — Sanchali Bohacek on the spelling bee stage on Tuesday. Photo: Craig Hudson/Scripps National Spelling Bee

Seattle's sole competitor in the Scripps National Spelling Bee got knocked out in Round 6 by a word we've legit never seen before: "dattock."

In case you were wondering, it's a tree found in parts of Africa, from Senegal to Sudan.

Details: 14-year-old Sanchali Bohacek, who attends Seattle's Lakeside School, guessed "datuk," causing her to tie for 23rd place among the 231 spellers who competed.

The bottom line: Bohacek made Seattle proud by getting as far as she did (including by spelling "banh mi" correctly in Round 1).

She also spelled "omoplate" correctly in Round 4, which is more than we'd likely accomplish.

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"Dattock" knocks out Seattle's teen spelling whiz

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