High School Spelling Bee

Rules of the 2011 High School Spelling Bee

Cannot have previously won the High School Spelling Bee. (This definitely shouldn't be an issue this year, so don't worry about it. (: )
Must have competed in at least one Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Must be a high school student (9th grade – 12th grade) as of March 2011.
Must have access to a webcam and microphone. (Headphones are recommended, but not required.)

~~The 2011 High School Spelling Bee will take place in two segments: Qualifier Groups and the Final Bee.~~
The Qualifier Groups will take place on various dates from late March to early April 2011. A speller, upon registering, will choose their preferred dates; however, the High School Spelling Bee will be the final authority to assign each speller to a Qualifier Group. No more than fifty spellers will be assigned to each Qualifier Group; only the top five from each will advance to the Final Bee.
~~The Final Bee will take place on June 25, 2011 at 8:00 PM EDT. The 30 spellers who qualified from the Qualifier Groups will compete for the title of 2011 High School Spelling Bee Champion.~~ Outdated: the bee will take place April 2nd, 2011 at 7:00 PM EDT.

Both segments of the 2011 High School Spelling Bee will be held over the Internet via video chat at Tinychat (http://www.tinychat.com/highschoolspellingbee). Both segments will be open to audience viewing.

Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged and its addenda section, © Merriam-Webster 2002, is the sole source and authority for all words used in the High School Spelling Bee.

If a speller spells a word incorrectly in any round of the High School Spelling Bee, he or she will be eliminated from the remaining rounds of the competition. All spellers eliminated in the same round are considered as tied for the same place and prizes will be awarded accordingly.
The judges may and will eliminate a speller who 1) refuses to spell their word, who, 2) upon retracing a spelling, changes the letters from those first uttered, or who 3) in the process of spelling, utters unintelligible or nonsensical sounds. Spellers may not, however, be eliminated for 1) failing to pronounce a word, for 2) asking a question not provided in the Rules, or for 3) noting or failing to note the capitalization or accent marks of a word.
Reinstatement: If a speller's parent, sibling, guardian or teacher feels that a speller has been unfairly eliminated, they may make an appeal to the head judge (via private message) provided that it is before the start of the next round. The judges will consider the request and decide whether the speller should be reinstated; the judges' decision is final.

Each speller will have a limit of three minutes (not two and a half like at Scripps!) at the microphone in which to spell their word. An HSSB official will hold a timer up as one webcam broadcast so everyone can see how much time remains. The timer will begin when the pronouncer first offers the word. For the first two minutes and fifteen seconds, the color green will be displayed and the speller will be able to converse with the judges; for the next fifteen seconds, the color yellow will be displayed as a warning; for the latter thirty seconds, the color red will be displayed and the speller will not be able to converse with the judges. The speller must finish spelling the word before the time runs out, or they will be disqualified.

The speller's main responsibility is to spell the words given by the pronouncer.

The speller should face their camera so that the judges can clearly see them.
The speller should (but is not required to) pronounce the word before and after spelling it.
The speller should enunciate each letter clearly and distinctly.
The speller may ask the pronouncer any of these questions, within the time constraints listed in 6.1:

To repeat the word
To provide the definition
To provide the language(s) of origin
To provide alternate pronunciations
~~To use the word in an example sentence~~ No example sentences. I didn't have time to write any
To provide the part of speech
The speller may also ask questions about root words, as provided in 6.3.

The speller is responsible for any misunderstandings of the word or the information provided unless 1) the pronouncer never provided a correct pronunciation; 2) the pronouncer provided incorrect information which was never corrected; or 3) the speller correctly spelled a homonym of the word given, and the pronouncer failed to distinguish its status as a homonym or provide its definition.

The pronouncer's main responsibility is to pronounce words according to the information given in Webster's Third.

Homonyms: If a word has one or more homonyms or near homonyms, the pronouncer should indicate which word is to be spelled by both indicating that the word is a homonym and providing the definition.
Requests: The pronouncer will, within the time constraints listed in 6.1, respond to a speller's requests for definition, language(s) of origin, alternate pronunciations, use in a sentence and part of speech, but only with information that is found in Webster's Third or the official word list.
Root words: The pronouncer will answer inquiries about a root of the word to be spelled if the speller provides a reasonable pronunciation of the root, its language, and its meaning.
Unprompted suggestions: The pronouncer may offer information — without the speller having requested it — if the pronouncer thinks the information will benefit the speller and the information is listed in the official word list or Webster's Third.

The judges' main responsibilities are to determine whether or not the words are spelled correctly, and to uphold and enforce the rules. The judges' decisions are final on all matters.

Speller's errors: The judges will listen to all exchanges between the speller and the pronouncer, and will interrupt if they feel that clarification is needed or if the speller has misunderstood the pronunciation of the word, within the time constraints listed in 6.1.
Pronouncer's errors: The judges will compare the information given by the pronouncer to the information listed in Webster's Third and the official word list. If the judges feel that anything the pronouncer has given does not match what is listed, the judges will direct the pronouncer to correct the error as soon as it is detected. Correction of the pronouncer may override the time constraints listed in 6.1.
Disqualifications: The judges are responsible for disqualifying spellers based on Rule 5.

All rounds of the High School Spelling Bee will consist of oral spelling. Information about each bee will be emailed to all spellers.

Special end-of-bee procedure: At the beginning of the first round in which four or fewer spellers remain, the pronouncer will move to a special 40-word championship list. If one champion does not emerge in the course of giving the final 40 words, all remaining spellers will be declared co-champions. Not happening. If no champion emerges and the entire word list is exhausted, all remaining spellers will be co-champions.
If all spellers in a round misspell: If all of the spellers in a round misspell and none spell correctly, all will be reinstated and a new round will begin.
If only one speller in a round spells correctly: If all but one of the spellers misspell in a round, a new one-word round will begin. If the speller spells the word correctly, he or she will be declared the champion. If, however, the speller does not spell the word correctly, then all of the spellers who began the previous round are reinstated and a new round begins.