Larry Liao of Rockville wasn’t quite precise enough to make it to the semifinals of the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee Wednesday. Still, he performed better than almost half of those who qualified for the bee.
The fifth grader at Cold Springs Elementary School in Potomac incorrectly spelled precisian, which is a homonym of precision. That ended his spelling reign that begin about six months ago when he won a regional championship.
He was one of 122 students out of 229 who qualified for the quarterfinals.
Liao has a few more chances. Students can compete until the end of eighth grade. Meanwhile, he can now go fishing, something he said he hasn’t done in five months, because he was studying so hard.
#Speller87 Lawrence Liao from Maryland has spelled the word precisian, a homonym of precision, incorrectly. https://t.co/1HnC4GBueL #spellingbee
— Scripps National Spelling Bee (@ScrippsBee) May 31, 2023
