Watertown speller, 14, advances at D.C. bee

WASHINGTON — A bitter herb spelled sweet success Wednesday for Siraj A. Sindhu, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Watertown who advanced to the semifinals at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Siraj, on his third consecutive visit to the national contest, correctly spelled "witloof," a type of chicory, to seal his spot among 41 contestants who compete on the final day of the bee today.

"I don't think I'm going to study too much. I'm just going to try to relax," Siraj, a student at Case Middle School, said Wednesday night, after spellers learned at an evening assembly who would go on to the next round. That decision was based on Wednesday's oral rounds as well as a written test all spellers took Tuesday. At this point, he suggested, there was not much point in cramming.

Siraj, son of Khalid P. and Nabeela K. Sindhu, Watertown, qualified for the national bee by winning the regional spelling bee at General Brown Junior-Senior High School, Dexter, in March. He is also a three-time winner of that contest. He is sponsored in the national bee by the Watertown Daily Times.

Although spellers could not be sure whether they made the final cut, Siraj said he sensed he had good odds because there were only a few words on the written test that he was unsure about, and he spelled two words right in oral rounds Wednesday. In Wednesday's first round, he correctly spelled "leprosy."

Words become decidedly tougher in later rounds, with all sorts of homonyms and other tricky sounds to trip up spellers. The bee began with 193 competitors.

Siraj and the other semifinalists will compete from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today, with the bee broadcast live on ESPN. The championship round will be at 8 p.m., with a live broadcast on ABC. Siraj is speller number 183.