The Two-Time County Champ Tied for 58th in National Spelling Bee Last Year
EASTVALE – In her second try at the national title, seventh-grader Victoria Li, from Dr. Augustine Ramirez Intermediate School in Eastvale, advanced to the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington on Wednesday, before being eliminated when she misspelled “zinke.”
Zinke (pronounced zink-uh) is an historical European musical instrument, often described as the cornett in English. But you knew that. Victoria misspelled it “zinka”.
Earlier on Wednesday, Victoria was one of 54 spellers remaining in the competition out of the original field of 247 from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, The Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Nigeria, United Arab Emirates, and a Department of Defense School in Germany.
She began Wednesday’s quarterfinals at Constitution Hall by correctly spelling theatrocracy, a noun meaning government by the people assembled in their theater, as in the Athenian democracy, according to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. Common knowledge, yes?
Victoria then correctly answered the multiple-choice vocabulary question, “a profusion is,” by selecting “an overpowering quantity.” A vocabulary question is asked in the second round in each of the bee’s four segments.
Parisienne, Victoria’s sixth-round word, is a noun meaning a Parisian woman or girl.
Victoria began the competition on Tuesday by correctly spelling hoi polloi, a plural noun meaning the general populace. She was then asked the vocabulary question, “Opacity means?” and correctly chose “lack of transparency or translucency.”
Victoria then joined the other spellers who advanced to the third round in taking a 30-question spelling and vocabulary test, with each correct answer worth one point.
Under the bee rules, spellers are grouped by their number of correct answers. The number of spellers to advance is determined by identifying the group whose minimum score results in as close to 100 quarterfinalists as possible.
Spellers with at least 13 points were assured of advancing to the quarterfinals, officials announced. The test reduced the field from 167 to 95. Individual scores were not disclosed.
Victoria qualified for the national bee by winning the Riverside County Spelling Bee for the second consecutive year, correctly spelling “ejecta” — meaning to expel an object, as from an eruption — as her final word.
She was eliminated in the sixth round of the 2025 National Spelling Bee when she misspelled ablegate, giving the fourth letter of the noun meaning a papal envoy on a special mission as an “i” instead of an “e.”
Victoria was among the 16 spellers, tying for 58th.
The 12-year-old’s hobbies are archery, writing and reading. She also loves playing the clarinet and doing anything that is hands-on. In her free time, she enjoys improvising songs, experimenting with different instruments and spending time in her garden, especially climbing trees, according to biographical information supplied by bee organizers.
Her favorite thing in the world is school because she loves learning new things and being around the people she enjoys. Swans are her favorite animal, croquembouche, a cone-shaped stack of cream puffs coated with caramelized sugar, her favorite word, and “Sunrise on the Reaping” her favorite book.
The bee is limited to students who have not passed beyond the eighth grade or an international equivalent on or before Aug. 31, 2025 and who were born on Sept. 1, 2010 or later.
The bee concluded Thursday. The winner recveives $50,000 from Scripps National Spelling Bee, $2,500 and a reference library from Encyclopaedia Britannica, $400 in reference works from Encyclopaedia Britannica, including a 1768 Encyclopaedia Britannica replica set and a three- year membership to Britannica Online Premium, two-day admission for up to four people, a two-night hotel stay, astronaut meet & greet, and $350 in merchandise from the Kennedy Space Center & Visitors Complex and $1,000 in flight credits from Delta Air Lines.
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