From The New York Times’ ‘Spelling Bee’ to orthography, a look at all things spelling

By Jennifer LaRue

Published June 26, 2023 at 1:00 PM EDT

Melodie Loya stands in front of a microphone on stage at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Maryland in 2019. — Melodie Loya of Bainbridge, New York, tries to spell the word “madrague” during the fifth round of the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Loya correctly spelled “madrague.”

This hour: spelling — what it is, why it matters, and why some of us actually find it fun.

There will be a test.

GUESTS:

Deb Amlen: Crossword columnist and senior staff editor of the crossword column Wordplay for The New York Times
Richard Gentry: Education consultant and the author, most recently, of the Spelling Connections series
Peter Sokolowski: Editor at large at Merriam-Webster and a member of the Word Panel for the Scripps National Spelling Bee

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Colin McEnroe, Taylor Doyle, Jacob Gannon, Jonathan McNicol, Cat Pastor, and Lily Tyson contributed to this show, which originally aired December 6, 2022.