‘Marocain’ wins the National Spelling Bee for Vinay

Being asked to spell “marocain” to win the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee seemed barely a challenge for Ananya Vinay.

She had already survived 36 rounds of competition and along the way had aced the spelling of words such as “konditorei,” “heiligenschein” and “wayzgoose.” (Take your best guess at the definitions, then see the answers at the bottom. But no peeking at a dictionary — of the digital or dead-tree variety.)

Then Ananya was challenged with “marocain” — a dress fabric made with a warp of silk or rayon and a filling of other yarns. She asked for the definition, its part of speech and language of origin.

She knew if she got this correct, she would be the champion.

She looked down, paused for six seconds, repeated the word, licked her lips and spelled it slowly and deliberately.