Spelling Word of the Day: a doughnut-shaped chamber used in fusion research

March 13, 2010

Every day of 2010, I’ll be posting a spelling word here for those who would like some spelling bee practice. Photo at right is from the Williamsburg Spelling Bee, as photographed by Kimi Milo.

Start the audio file to hear the word, definition, and etymology. Once you’ve spelled the word for yourself, click “Read More” to see the answer.

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Monday Math Problem: The Answer to “Divisibility of Your Mom”

March 12, 2010

Every Monday, I’ll be posting a math problem on this site; every Friday, I’ll post the answer to that week’s problem. Give this one a shot and post your solution in the comments!

This Week’s Math Problem:

If m is your mother’s age rounded to the nearest integer, and there is a number n such that n is the square of m, and 45 < m < 65, what are all of the possible numbers of unique prime factors n could have?

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Spelling Word of the Day: starring Nathan Lane

March 12, 2010

Every day of 2010, I’ll be posting a spelling word here for those who would like some spelling bee practice. Photo at right is from the Williamsburg Spelling Bee, as photographed by Kimi Milo.

Start the audio file to hear the word, definition, and etymology. Once you’ve spelled the word for yourself, click “Read More” to see the answer.

Read more

Posted by jen | Categories: spelling word of the day  | Leave a Comment | | Email This Post Email This Post

Paul Wing’s Spelling Bee, Circa 1938

March 12, 2010

Did you know that the first-ever televised game show — in 1938 — was a spelling bee?

According to UKgameshows.com, that program (or rather, programme) began with a US vs. UK match featuring Harvard and Oxford students (US won), followed by a US/UK rematch featuring actresses and various notables (UK won), followed by “Under Twenty” vs. “Over Forty” (over 40 won), followed by Women vs. Men (women won). The show was a tight 15 minutes, and was ultimately canceled when the imminent war made televised spelling seem a bit frivolous. Incidentally, the spelling bee game show led to several spinoffs, including, amazingly, Tactile Bee.

The impetus for this post is that my longtime Williamsburg Spelling Bee co-host, bobbyblue, found a copy of the board game “Paul Wing’s Spelling Bee” on eBay, purchased it, and allowed me to borrow it for purposes of investigative reporting.

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The game of zest and test!

(Apparently, Paul Wing was a giant in the field of film stereography, continuing his career from the 1930s through the 1990s, and also, according to IMDB, survived the Bataan Death March; it is perhaps lost to the shifting sands of time exactly how Mr. Wing ended up hosting a televised spelling bee).

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What’s inside!

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Hmmn.

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Apparently, spelling fans are called “rooters.”

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Every hostess will appreciate a game that doesn’t require moving the furniture!

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One of the harder sets of words. One list had food words, including “pumpkin.”

The game was played by choosing a word caller, then going around the room and having people pull numbered disks out of a bag; the number on the disk determined the word you would spell (and some words were notably easier than others, so it was a bit of a game of chance). Correct moves got you a little green counter called a “honey,” and wrong moves got you a little red counter called a “stinger” (because it’s a bee, get it?)

I only had my gentleman consort around, and it’s a pretty lame game with only two people. I asked him to spell “blancmange,” and he insisted that I had not pronounced it like a true French person (neither, I imagine, did most people playing Paul Wing’s Spelling Bee in 1938), so I gave him a re-do and he got “pumpkin.” We sort of shrugged and gave up.

Zest and test! I kind of like the slogan.

Posted by jen | Categories: spelling  | Leave a Comment | | Email This Post Email This Post

Spelling Word of the Day: how you’d pay for your spot at the Lyceum

March 11, 2010

Every day of 2010, I’ll be posting a spelling word here for those who would like some spelling bee practice. Photo at right is from the Williamsburg Spelling Bee, as photographed by Kimi Milo.

Start the audio file to hear the word, definition, and etymology. Once you’ve spelled the word for yourself, click “Read More” to see the answer.

Read more

Posted by jen | Categories: spelling word of the day  | Leave a Comment | | Email This Post Email This Post

Spelling Word of the Day: eggs, eggs, eggs

March 10, 2010

Every day of 2010, I’ll be posting a spelling word here for those who would like some spelling bee practice. Photo at right is from the Williamsburg Spelling Bee, as photographed by Kimi Milo.

Start the audio file to hear the word, definition, and etymology. Once you’ve spelled the word for yourself, click “Read More” to see the answer.

Read more

Posted by jen | Categories: spelling word of the day  | Leave a Comment | | Email This Post Email This Post

Save the Date for the NYC Spelling Bee at Housing Works

March 9, 2010

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Spelling Word of the Day: a medieval teacher

March 9, 2010

Every day of 2010, I’ll be posting a spelling word here for those who would like some spelling bee practice. Photo at right is from the Williamsburg Spelling Bee, as photographed by Kimi Milo.

Start the audio file to hear the word, definition, and etymology. Once you’ve spelled the word for yourself, click “Read More” to see the answer.

Read more

Posted by jen | Categories: spelling word of the day  | Leave a Comment | | Email This Post Email This Post

Extreme Engineering Nerdery

March 9, 2010

Thanks to Eric Walton for bringing this Rube Goldberg musical experience to my attention.

Posted by jen | Categories: Jen says  | 1 Comment | | Email This Post Email This Post

Monday Math Problem: Divisibility of Your Mom

March 8, 2010

Every Monday, I’ll be posting a math problem on this site; every Friday, I’ll post the answer to that week’s problem. Give this one a shot and post your solution in the comments!

This Week’s Math Problem:

If m is your mother’s age rounded to the nearest integer, and there is a number n such that n is the square of m, and 45 < m < 65, what are all of the possible numbers of unique prime factors n could have?

Posted by jen | Categories: Monday Math Problems  | 8 Comments | | Email This Post Email This Post

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