What’s a four-letter word for “anticipatory excitement?”

Buzz!

That is certainly the word on our minds as #BeeWeek and the Scripps National Spelling Bee draws ever closer. On this special series of podcasts, our host Paul Loeffler offers his unique perspective from both sides of the bright lights of the finals. A contestant himself at age 13, Loeffler is all grown up and now hosts the live television broadcast of the Bee.

People love the Scripps National Spelling Bee for the incredible intelligence on display, an endless appreciation for letters, and competitive drama you could cut with a knife. Our guest today is the grand champion of another event with these exact same qualities.

Dan Feyer is the most dominant competitive crossword puzzler of all time. He’s also a musician and a former Scripps National Spelling Bee contestant, and if that weren't enough to draw an invite, he and Paul have been friends since childhood. You’ll hear genuine moments of friendship in this episode, the most heartwarming yet of our young series.

Tune in next time to meet Sophia Hoffman, a young speller from Missouri who narrowly missed out on last year’s Bee after an epic 66-round showdown in regionals. This year she found redemption and punched her ticket to Washington. Once you meet her, you can’t help but root for her.

We’re on Soundcloud, iTunes, and virtually everywhere else you get your podcasts. We tweet at twitter.com/SpellingBeePod, and our website, http://SpellingBeePodcast.com, redirects to our tumblr page.

And you can email comments to us at [email protected].

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