The Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee is just around the corner. On July 8, we finally get to see who is the best of the best. In celebration of this big event, Words with Friends is going to feature as the winning words of the 2019 champions as the “Word of the Day.”
If you’re not familiar with this competition, 2019 was the year of the “Octochamps” or eight winners. That was the year when eight finalists could do no wrong and successfully gave the correct spelling. After more than three hours, the judges were forced to declare an eight-way tie.
This year’s spelling bee tournament is critical after the 2020 tourney got cancelled due to the pandemic. For 2021, the champion gets the Scripps Cup, the official championship trophy of the competition. The winner also gets a commemorative medal and takes home $50,000 in cash.
As part of the collaboration between Zynga and the Scripps National Spelling Bee, four words have been added to the game which are:
- auslaut
- palama
- pendeloque
- odylic
As mentioned, these will be featured as the “Word of the Day.” When players click them, the game gives the definition of the word and even a photo of the 2019 champion moment.
In a statement, Bernard Kim of Zynga shared that when it comes to this competition, a lot of the contestants take years to prepare. The same can be said for players, who not only love words but also friendly competition. He added that these Spellers are sure to serve as inspiration for players.
Meanwhile, Dr. J. Michael Durnil, executive director of the tournament, revealed that they are happy to bring back the competition for this year. He went on to say that they are happy to partner with Zynga to bring the tournament to the Words with Friends community.
For those interested, you can learn more about the Scripps National Spelling Bee here.
Words with Friends was released for the mobile platform in 2009. The game has since been introduced to other platforms like Facebook Messenger. It eventually gave birth to a sequel, Words with Friends 2.
