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Bruhat Soma Wins National Spelling Bee. 12-year-old Bruhat from Tampa, Florida, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 30. During a lightning-round tiebreaker with Faizan Zaki, Bruhat correctly spelled 29 words in 90 seconds, AP reports. Bruhat received a trophy and over $50,000 in cash and prizes. "I was pretty confident that I had a chance at winning because I've been working so hard. And I really wanted to win. That's why I practiced the spell-off so much.", Bruhat Soma, via statement. The word that Bruhat won the competition with was "abseil". It means "descent in mountaineering by means of a rope looped over a projection above". The finals only had eight spellers competing, the fewest since 2010, AP reports. Some critics were upset that the two spellers were subjected to a "spell-off" instead of being given the chance to compete in a conventional round. "I do wish that we would have gotten to see more of a duel between them.", Charlotte Walsh, 2023 Spelling Bee runner-up. "I definitely think they should have been given an opportunity to have some conventional spelling rounds before they defaulted to the spell-off.", Scott Remer, one of four coaches who worked with Faizan, via statement. THIS VIDEO MUST NOT BE EDITED FOR LENGTH TO COMBINE WITH OTHER CONTENT