‘No joke’: Initial rounds of National Spelling Bee get tough


              Merit Namaste-Rose, 14, from Oregon, Ill.,stands at the microphone during the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
            
              Miles Hubbert, 10, from Centreville, Md., listens to his word during the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
            
              Sulayman Abdirahman, 12, from Roxbury, Mass., left, gets a fist bump from Aaron Kuebler, 12, from Oviedo, Fla., after Abdirahman succeeded to the next round, while competing during the Scripps National Spelling Bee, in Oxon Hill, Md., Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
            
              Dhroov Bharatia, 13, from Plano, Texas, competes during the Scripps National Spelling Bee, in Oxon Hill, Md., Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
            Akira Harris, 14, from Stuttgart, Germany, competes during the Scripps National Spelling Bee, in Oxon Hill, Md., Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Annie-Lois Acheampong, 13, from Accra, Ghana, competes during the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Annie-Lois Acheampong, 13, from Accra, Ghana, reacts during the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Braydon Syx, 13, exhales on spelling a word correctly, during the Scripps National Spelling Bee, in Oxon Hill, Md., Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Braydon Syx, 13, stretches with relief on spelling a second word correctly, during the Scripps National Spelling Bee, in Oxon Hill, Md., Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
‘No joke’: Initial rounds of National Spelling Bee get tough