Saryn Hooks

Saryn Rebecca Hooks, of Taylorsville, North Carolina, placed third in the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee at the age of 14.
She had been eliminated in the eighth round, but was reinstated after Lucas Brown, the 12 year old brother of another contestant, noticed the judges had the incorrect spelling of "hechsher". Brown had been following the competition, checking words on a digital dictionary on his laptop, when he found Saryn's spelling to be correct, causing him to tell his father, who told the judges.
Hooks was finally eliminated in the 12th round for misspelling "icteritious", an adjective describing a jaundiced (yellowish) color.

This was the third time the West Alexander Middle School student competed at the national competition, and the last time she would be eligible. In the prior 2005 Scripps competition, she made it to the 10th round before misspelling "etouffee", in a tie for seventh place with Katharine Close, who was the 2006 winner.
 
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