Watch: 13-Year-Old Wins National Spelling Bee with “Knaidel”


Knaidel: “A Yiddish term of German origin meaning “dumpling.”” When Arvind Mahankali, of New York City, was told which word he’d need to spell correctly to win the Scripps Spelling Bee last night, a knowing murmur rustled through the crowd. The 13-year-old, as die-hards know, had been knocked out in the last two years by German words. Here’s how it all went down.