Oxon Hill, Maryland – In 2024, Faizan Zaki was shortened in a spell.
It never happened again. Because he has confirmed that there are no spells. But he didn’t make it easier for himself.
Zaki beat Salvadona Cadam in the 20th round to get the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee by spelling “Caldi” correctly. However, the judges had him spell his final words correctly before declaring him the champion. And he didn’t need a prompt to get the answer.
Zaki, who fell to the floor when the confetti fell, was defeated by Bruhat Soma in a spell last year, and had the opportunity to roll up the Scripps Cup after 18 rounds after Kadam and Sal Daravan got the wrong words.
However, he did not quickly explain the homonym for “Commelina” – he started with “K” – and Mary Brooks’ bell rang as he began spelling before going through his process.
“I’m so happy,” Zaki said afterwards.
Zaki had his hands in the pocket of his black aeropostale hoodie throughout the three-day competition outside the country’s capital. His long, dark brown hair flowed between his students and his glasses. Hand gestures before and after each letter reappeared on stage, where he confidently gave his answer.
Daravan, an 11-year-old fifth-grader, finished third and won the crowd with his cool, cheerful attitude on the microphone.
18 round drama!
Faizan Zaki wrapped up the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee, but he was so excited by the microphone that he started spelling before asking questions. After Sarvadnya Kadam and Sarv Dharavane missed their words in front of him, the correct answer would have given him the title.
Kadam and Dharavane returned to the competition to find the winner as a result.
The depth of this year’s final will be talked about for a long time.
At one point, Speller broadcast 23 correct answers in a row. That was until Harini Murali missed the final letter of “Tekke” by writing it along with “I.” Second, Brian Liu couldn’t nail “kyah” (“kiya” was his answer). Aishwarya Karakuri was unable to nail the northern British town of Kailey, pronounced “Keysley.”
The final three are Faizan Zaki, Sarvadnya Kadam and Sarv Dharavane.
Tensions are rising in the final of the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee. But don’t tell Sarv Dharavane, the youngest speller (5th grade is 11 years old). Before spelling his words correctly, he approaches the microphone with a casual “Wassap” and says “Nothing goes” before his (correct) attempt.
Speller turned another perfect round to keep the finalists at the 6am closed.
(Spelling errors are in parentheses)
Sarvadnya Kadam: Meliponin
Daravan: Bergar
Harini Murali: 7th
Brian Liu: Reserved
Aishwarya Karakli: Corylseos
Faizan Zaki: People
Call these kids “still a sure 6.” Because they don’t go anywhere. In the third perfect round of the night, all six spellers moved again.
Here are some definitions for something more niche, where they introduce the right words.
Sarvadnya Kadam: Atalamas
Sarv Dharavane: Saurel (a species of fish with homonyms, an impressive acquisition of the youngest finalist)
Harini Murali: Ronpon
Brian Liu: Penanglah
Aishwarya Karakli: Savonny (a type of French rug)
Faizan Zaki: Adytum
Another perfect round! Even as judges begin to address the difficulties of words, the last six certainly prepare for a big stage.
Sarvadnya Kadam: Bergerette
Sarv Dharavane: Lactagogue
Harinomuraro: Epistrov
Brian Liu: Lyseinas
Aishwarya Karakli: Polyptot
Faizan Zaki: Radicolous
The next spelling round saw a pair of eliminations. These are the first two spellers (the contestant mistake in parentheses) that stepped into the microphone.
Esha Marupudi: Aramophosis
Oliver Halkett: arore
Sarvadnya Kadam: Tachist
Sarv Dharavane: Fede Ring
Harini Murali: Baguio
Brian Liu: Kinner
Aishaya Karova: Zecchino
Faizan Zaki: Daimieate
Six spellers remain.
Words are just what they mean. And in recent years, bees have adopted vocabulary, previously known as the “meaning of words,” at various stages of competition.
At first, vocabulary consistently tripped the contestants. However, the field has seen a feeling of questions over the years, and this group of finalists continued to do so.
Akshaj Somisetty was unable to come up with the correct answer for Imbroglio (“complex situations”) and became the first speller to hear Bell in the final. The eight are heading for the next spelling round.
These kids don’t have any sweat. The first round of the final (the 11th round of this week) began with all nine spellers nailing their words.
ESHA Building: ISOPAG
Oliver Halkett: Corbikura
Sarvadnya Kadam: Dolabrate
Sarv Dharavane: Ethology
Harini Murali: BiblionGnost
Brian Liu: Infula
Aishwarya Karakli:idempotent
Akshaj Somisetty: gomphosis
Faizan Zaki: Policy
It was the first perfect round of the final since 2019, and the competition ended in an 8-way tie.
Yahya Ali Mohammed, a semi-finalist in the Greater Chicago area, shouted at the microphone and said, “Bear Down!”
Head prosecutor Dr. Jack Bailly is on the microphone. Judge Mary Brooks’ hands float above her pioneer bell (no one wants to hear on stage). The finalists are sitting on the right side of the stage. And the first round is about to begin. Let’s play the text!
Esha Marupudi (13)
- Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona
- sponsor: Arizona Education Foundation.
- Note: This is her first national appearance in the bees.
Oliver Halkett (13)
- Hometown: Los Angeles, California
- sponsor: Los Angeles County Education Department.
- Note: He competed in the Bees in 2024.
Sarvadnya Kadam (14)
- Hometown: Visalia, California
- sponsor: Tulea County Education Bureau.
- Note: This is his third bee (2023, 2024, 2025) and is the final year eligible.
Sarv Dharavane (11)
- Hometown: Tucker, Georgia
- sponsor: Georgia Educators Association.
- Note: He is the youngest finalist (5th grade) and the second bee (2024).
Harini Murali (13)
- Hometown: Edison, New Jersey
- sponsor: SNSB Region 3 Bees.
- Note: This is her fourth bee (2021, 2022, 2024, 2025) and this is her final qualification year. After Harini Logan won everything in 2022, she was able to become the second bee winner of four years with “Harini” in four years.
Brian Liu (13)
- Hometown: Amazing neck, New York
- sponsor: SNSB area 4 bees.
- Note: This is his last year of eligibility. He was in the bees in 2023.
Aishaya Kalbouri (14)
- Hometown: Charlotte, North Carolina
- sponsor: Carolina Panthers
- Note: This is the final year of her eligibility. She was a national competitor in 2024.
Akshaj Somisetty (13)
- Hometown: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
- sponsor: Penon Education
- Note: This is his last year of eligibility. He was in the Bee in 2024.
Faizan Zaki (13)
- Hometown: Dallas, Texas
- sponsor: Dallas Sports Committee
- Note: Zaki, the runner-up in 2024 and the only 2024 finalist, competes in the fourth Bee (2019, 2023, 2024, 2025). Zaki became the fifth speller to finish second and first year since 2001.
Around 7pm local time, the marine band performed songs honoring the military and various branches of the national anthem as the Colour Guard marched down the aisle. Vanyasivashankar, the host of 2015 champion, Be Week, welcomed Scripps president and CEO Adam Singson on stage.
“Tradition doesn’t last that long without universal appeal,” Shinsung said. “And that’s because of the drama and obvious excitement of the finals.”
Corrie Loeffler, executive director of National Spelling Bee, announced that next year’s contest will move from the Gaylord National Convention Center to the Constitutional Hall in Washington, D.C., rather than crossing the Potomac River in Maryland, where Bee Finals is being held since 2011.
42 past bee winners attended the final and received elegant applause.
The 2025 edition of Spelling Bee celebrates its 100th anniversary and dates back to its first national championship in 1925. This has invited the Louisville Courier Journal (part of the current USA Today network) to invite other newspapers to send winners to Washington, DC.
But that is only the 97th edition of Bees. This competition was cancelled between 1943 and 45 due to World War II. This year’s champion will be 110th. The bees ended several times with two-way ties, and in 2019 there was an eight-way ties that catalyzed the invention of “spell-off.” This is a contest to see which spellers can correctly spell the most words in one minute if the event gets too close to the 2-hour limit (this is an entertainment event made for television).
Etching their names on the winner’s list forever is not the only honor that comes from winning. Winners receive:
- $50,000
- Scripps Cup, Official Championship Trophy
- $2,500 plus a reference library (via Merriam Webster)
- 1768 Encyclopedia Britannica Replica Set for $400 (via Encyclopædia Britannica)
- $1,000 academic dollars donated to Champion’s Choice School (via Scholastic)
All finalists receive $2,000. The top finisher’s compensation payments are as follows:
- 6th place – $2,500
- 5th place – $5,000
- 4th place – $10,000
- 3rd place – $15,000
- 2nd place – $25,000
“B Week” began with 243 spellers. The territories of 50 states and the District of Columbia, respectively, were represented in Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands. Internationally, Canada, the Bahamas, Germany, Ghana, Kuwait and Nigeria sent contestants.
The youngest Speller was Zachary Theo, a sophomore from Texas. The two oldest – about 30% of the field were 14 years old, but on August 17th this year, he’ll turn 15 (Eli Neibart of New Jersey and Andrew Ford of Idaho).
Scripps estimates that between 10 and 11 million children are part of the entire process.
The bee final will be aired on Channel Aeon, owned by Scripps. The Final will also air on Bounce, Grit, Ion Mystery, Rough and free ad-supported streaming channels Ion Plus, Scripps News, Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More, Spellingbee.com, as well as other national networks of Scripps.
The finals start at 8pm (ET/5pm).
Fans can head to Spellingbee.com/watch and enter their zip code for instructions on how to watch bees in certain areas.
Zaki, 13, from Dallas, Texas, is a strong candidate based on his track record. He is a lonely finalist and competes for his fourth bee. He reached the quarterfinals on Tuesday afternoon in the Round 3 Qualifying Test with a perfect score of 35 (the minimum score required to advance was 13).
