For city’s best at annual bee

he said. “I will skip a word if I have to, if I can’t pronounce it.”

once a word is read to the speller, they can ask the pronouncer to repeat it, explain its definition, ask whether there’s another way to pronounce it, and what its language origin is.

“It’s a nice representation of different language origins and cultures from throughout the globe, which is great — especially in a place like New York City. we’re a melting pot,” he said.

But there’s no turning back once a speller makes a blunder.

“once you say a letter wrong, it’s pretty much a wrap,” Grzelewski said.

during the first two rounds, the bees were asked to recite an wide array of unusual words — such as “Netherlander,” “fandango,” “fletcherism,” “Kremlin,” and “obsequious” — causing even the adults in the room to scratch their heads.

By the ninth round, just nine students sat before the five judges, sporting bright blue T-shirts and serious expressions.

Benjamin Pena, of the Intermediate School 318 Math Science & Tech Through arts School in the Bronx, was ousted for misspelling “egalitarian.”

But the 12-year-old wasn’t devastated by the loss.

“I’m happy I got to the second round. I tried to not worry about it,” he said.

The spelling bee is also sponsored by the Princeton review and P.C. richard & Son.