Shrey Parikh clinches Scripps Spelling Bee - here are the words that won him against fellow Indian-origin Ishaan Gupta

Shrey Parikh, a 14-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, California, has been crowned the winner of the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee after a dramatic 90-second spell-off against runner-up Ishaan Gupta.Shrey spelled 32 words correctly in the tiebreaker, setting a new record, while Ishaan spelled 25. The winning word was "bromocriptine" — a polypeptide alkaloid that mimics the activity of dopamine.Earlier in the finals, spellers were tested on words including "pohutukawa" "quincke tube," "cywyddau," "fais-dodo," "emeute," "Faesulae," "vaesite," "catometope," and "essoinee." The vocabulary round included multiple-choice questions testing definitions rather than just spelling.The spell-off format was introduced in 2021. Each speller gets 90 seconds on the clock to spell as many words as possible, with judges presenting the same words in the same order. The speller who correctly spells the most wins.Shrey finished third in the 2024 bee but missed last year's competition due to illness. He returned this year as a favourite and delivered under pressure."Heading into the final, Shrey turned a tense, high-quality showdown into a blowout," the Associated Press reported.Shrey will take home $52,500 in cash and prizes, including the Scripps Cup trophy, a commemorative medal, a trip to Universal Studios Orlando Resort, and a reference library from Encyclopædia Britannica.Nine finalists competed for the title. Eight of them had appeared in previous bees, and three had advanced to finals before. Aiden Meng, Oliver Halkett, Zwe Spacetime, Avishka Dudala, Logan Bailey, Kushi Gottimukkala, and Sarv Dharavane — who finished third for the second consecutive year — rounded out the finalists.The competition began on May 26 with 247 spellers from all 50 states and several countries, including Canada, Ghana, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates. Spellers ranged in age from 9 to 15.