Nathaniel Salazar, 13, of Maui Waena Intermediate School tackles a word today at the 76th Annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington. Gannett News Service

By the end of the first round this morning, the Maui eighth grader was one of 175 spellers who survived. But he missed 12 words on a 25-word written test in the second round and was out of the competition by evening.

"I don't know what happened," he said of the written test.

This morning, when the judge asked Salazar to spell "cordillera," which means a mountain range, he took his time. He wanted the word's origin. He wanted a definition. He asked the judge to use it in a sentence.

"Cordillera? C-o-r-d-i-l-l-e-r-a," Salazar said, smiling as he bounced back to his seat on the stage.

The 76th Annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee opened with 251 spellers from across the United States, the territories and as far away as Europe and Jamaica.

The bee, held in a ballroom of the Grand Hyatt hotel a few blocks from the White House, is an educational competition that has evolved over the years into a widely celebrated public spectacle. Young spellers who survive local or regional bees advance here to test their skills against the very best.

ESPN, the cable sports channel, will televise tomorrow's final rounds live for those who like to watch smart kids squirm. The contestants understand there is no real future in spelling and no professional bees, and they know most of the words they memorize will likely never be used in actual conversation. Still, for middle-school bragging rights, it's all pretty neat.

Salazar, who attends Maui Waena Intermediate School in Kahului, said he studied for two to five hours a day to prepare for the Hawai'i bee in March and the national finals. He eventually wants to go into computer science, but for now his interests are movies, basketball and computer games.

His parents, Manuel and Wilma, were in the ballroom today, which was packed with family members, deadly serious bee functionaries, and newspaper and television reporters. "When you look at it from out in the audience and hear the words, it seems hard. But when I'm up there I'm just calm," Salazar, 13, said between rounds.

Words in the first round were drawn from the official study booklet and the sponsor guides used at local bees, so spellers have an idea what to expect. "I knew most of the words," Salazar said.

Others tripped up. No amount of warning can prepare a teenager for "borborygmus" or "erythropsia."