Co-champions of the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee, from left, Shruthika Padhy, 13, of Cherry Hill, N.J.; Erin Howard, 14, of Huntsville, Ala.; Rishik Gandhasri, 13, of San Jose, Calif.; Christopher Serrao, 13, of Whitehouse Station, N.J.; Saketh Sund
Co-champions of the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee, from left, Shruthika Padhy, 13, of Cherry Hill, N.J.; Erin Howard, 14, of Huntsville, Ala.; Rishik Gandhasri, 13, of San Jose, Calif.; Christopher Serrao, 13, of Whitehouse Station, N.J.; Saketh Sundar, 13, of Clarksville, Md.; Sohum Sukhatankar, 13, of Dallas, Texas; Rohan Raja, 13, of Irving, Texas; and Abhijay Kodali, 12, of Flower Mound, Texas, hold the trophy in Oxon Hill, Md., Friday, May 31, 2019. Susan Walsh, Associated Press
Herb Scribner
By Herb Scribner

SALT LAKE CITY — There were eight winners of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday night, all of whom were crowned co-champions, according to CNN.

The winner of the spelling bee was going to receive $50,000. But now all eight of them will take home $50,000 each, which means $400,000 will be distributed among them.

Thursday night was historic. Dr. Jacques Bailly, the official pronouncer, said that there weren’t any challenging words left in the dictionary after 17 rounds, according to CNN. He said whoever was left standing after the next three rounds would be crowned champion. No one missed a word after that.

CNN’s John Berman said on “New Day” this morning that the event was the night the dictionary lost and that “they broke the dictionary.”

View Comments

Berman wasn’t the only one to say that:

So how does the dictionary feel?

Well, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary actually conceded to the spelling bee participants on Twitter.

“The Dictionary concedes and adds that it is SO. PROUD,” the account posted.

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.