RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. A 13-year-old from Queens won the Scripps National Spelling Bee last night. He correctly spelled a Yiddish word of German origin meaning dumpling.
(SOUNDBITE OF SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE)
ARVIND MAHANKALI: Knaidel. K-N-A-I-D-E-L. Knaidel.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: You are correct.
MONTAGNE: Arvind Mahankali had stumbled on German words in previous years. This year, he said, the German curse has turned into in a German blessing. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.