Only 1 In 10 Will Advance At National Spelling Bee

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — This year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee has drawn the largest number of competitors in its history, 516 spellers, but the field gets much smaller Wednesday with the announcement of the 50 or so spellers who will make Thursday’s finals.
Among the competitors is 12-year-old Atman Balakrishnan, who has tough shoes to fill: His own father was the first Indian-American winner, back in 1985. Now a doctor in Hinsdale, Illinois, Balu Nataranjan recalls that he w