A seventh-grader at the Mirman School in Brentwood tied for seventh place in the Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday night in National Harbor, Maryland, misspelling “aurore” in the 13th round.
Oliver Halkett omitted the “u” in the adjective that means “marked by or relating to a yellow or pink tint given a white sauce by the addition of egg yolks, tomato puree, or lobster coral.”
The Silver Lake resident was among nine spellers from the original field of 243 to reach the finals. He began Thursday’s finals at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, the 11th round overall, by correctly spelling “corbicula,” which refers to a bee’s pollen basket.
Sarv Dharavane of Tucker, Georgia, left, Sarvadnya Kadam of Visalia, California, Oliver Halkett of Silver Lake and Esha Marupudi of Phoenix, Arizona compete in the Finals of the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 29, 2025 in National Harbor, MD. (Photo by Craig Hudson / Scripps National Spelling Bee)The 13-year-old then correctly answered the multiple-choice vocabulary question, “Who is in charge in a gerontocracy?” selecting “a group of elders.”
The second question in each of the bee’s four segments — preliminaries, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals — is a multiple-choice vocabulary question.
Oliver Halkett, 13, of Los Angeles reacts after successfully spelling his word in the semifinals of the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center on May 28, 2025 in National Harbor, Maryland. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)Related links
Faizan Zaki wins the Scripps National Spelling Bee a year after finishing runner-up In Scripps National Spelling Bee, here’s how LA, OC, Riverside and San Bernardino county students fared How to watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee Students from LA, OC advance in Scripps National Spelling BeeOliver received $2,000 for tying for seventh with Esha Marupudi of Phoenix, who was eliminated earlier in the 13th round.
With the bee limited to students who have not have passed beyond the eighth grade or an international equivalent and 14 years older or younger, Oliver is eligible to compete in the 2026 bee if he finishes first or second in the Los Angeles County bee.
The bee was won by Faizan Zaki, a 13-year-old from Allen, Texas, a Dallas suburb. He correctly spelled “éclaircissement,” which is defined as “the clearing up of something obscure.”
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