Shrey Parikh Crowned 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion After Dramatic Spell-Off

Rancho Cucamonga, California — 14-year-old Shrey Parikh has won the 98th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, defeating 12-year-old Ishaan Gupta in a lightning-round tiebreaker to become the 111th champion in the competition's history. 

The Championship Spell-Off

Parikh and Gupta were the final two spellers standing after a tense competition that culminated in a 90-second "spell-off" on Thursday night. In the tiebreaker, each speller raced to spell as many words as possible:

Parikh's dominant performance turned what began as a high-quality final into a conclusive victory, earning him the title of best young speller in the English language. 

Champion's Profile

Runner-Up: Ishaan Gupta

Prize Package

Parikh's victory comes with substantial rewards:

• $52,500 cash prize 

• Reference works from Encyclopaedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster 

• Custom trophy and commemorative medal

• $1,000 in Delta Air Lines flight credits

A Remarkable Spelling Journey

This victory marks a significant comeback for Parikh, who was the runner-up just two years ago in 2024, finishing behind Faizan Zaki. Zaki went on to win the 2025 Bee, making this year's final particularly meaningful as Parikh returned to claim the championship. 

Competition Details

The 2026 Bee featured 247 spellers representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, three U.S. territories, and five countries: the Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates. After preliminary rounds, 167 spellers advanced, with 95 reaching the quarterfinals following the written spelling and vocabulary test.

Eight finalists ultimately reached Thursday's finals, with competitors advancing through regional bees hosted by sponsors nationwide. To compete, spellers must not have advanced beyond eighth grade or be older than 15.spellingbee+1

Historical Context

Although this was the 98th Scripps National Spelling Bee, Parikh is officially the 111th champion due to multiple ties in the competition's history, including an eight-way tie in 2019. The Bee was first held in 1925 and has been canceled only twice: during World War II (1943–1945) and the COVID-19 pandemic (2020). This year marked the competition's return to Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., a few blocks from the White House.

Ruskin Bond’s 92nd: Friendship, Stories, and a Cake That Looks Like a Book

 Beloved author Ruskin Bond marked his 92nd birthday in the hills of Dehradun, surrounded by eager young readers, chirping birds, and the launch of his latest collection, *All-Time Favourite Friendship Stories*. Held a day before his official birthday, the event drew about 100 children from nearby schools and their teachers, turning a simple book launch into a warm, multigenerational celebration of the man and his work. 

The new book gathers 25 of Bond’s most cherished stories on friendship, spanning his long career and highlighting the quiet magic of companionship in all its forms: from unexpected bonds between children and animals to deep, lasting friendships between people who find each other almost by accident.  Penguin Random House India’s Children’s Division, including publisher Sohini Mitra and Puffin’s Kavya Wahi, helped organise the launch, underscoring a publishing relationship that now stretches across two generations of readers. 

For decades, Bond’s birthday in Dehradun has been marked by the release of a fresh title, making it one of the gentlest traditions in Indian publishing. What began as an annual release has evolved into a small cultural rite: children who once read his stories with their parents now attend with their own children, some of them participating in quizzes and readings during the festivities. 

Surrounded by members of his immediate family, including his granddaughter Srishti and grandson Siddharth, Bond spoke about how friendship has shaped his life. “My entire life has been woven around the strong bonds of friendship that have grown around me,” he said, describing close relationships that have often blurred into family. “Shrishti and Siddharth, Rakesh and Beena and others have all grown up in front of me, and family means friendship and friendship means family. Love embraces us all.” 

Even as he acknowledged the challenges of ageing, his voice remained light and pragmatic. Now living in Dehradun for health reasons, Bond explained that he can no longer walk as much as he would like, and his eyesight has made it harder to write by hand. Yet he continues to produce stories by dictating them, joking that “every day should be a birthday” as he cut into a cake designed to resemble his new book’s cover. 

Publishers and readers alike framed the launch as a quiet continuation of a much‑loved literary legacy. Sohini Mitra described Bond’s stories as a “cherished part” of Penguin’s publishing journey, noting that *All-Time Favourite Friendship Stories* brings together some of his most heartfelt tales to remind readers that friendship often arrives in the most unexpected places.  For the latest generation of Indian children, many of whom grew up on screens, the collection offers a gentle counterpoint: stories that celebrate walks in the hills, stray animals, and the small, unplanned moments that become the most important relationships in life. 

As birthday tributes poured in from across India and beyond, Dehradun stood as a fitting stage for a writer whose life and work remain inseparable from its valleys, trees, and small towns. At 92, Ruskin Bond continues to write with the same unhurried warmth that first drew readers in the 1950s, quietly arguing that, in the end, the smallest things - a friend’s unexpected visit, a quiet hillside, a handwritten story are very often the only things that truly matter. 

• "Every Day Should Be a Birthday": Ruskin Bond Launches a New Book in Dehradun as He Turns 92 Tomorrow 
• prameyanews  
• penguin.co