Eighth-grader from Indiana wins 77th National Spelling Bee

WASHINGTON (AP) -- David Tidmarsh has watched "Spellbound," the documentary about the National Spelling Bee, at least 10 times. This year, just as the movie's tagline says, he got the last word.
It was autochthonous, meaning "indigenous," the word David spelled to win the 77th Scripps bee Thursday, outdueling 264 rivals, including the second-place finalist who returned from a scary collapse on stage. David had come prepared -- the word was on a practice list of about 10,000 he had compiled, and he had also studied a dictionary for months.
Asked by a television reporter whether his win had as good an ending as Hollywood could come up with, David, 14, said, "Even better."
David, a public school eighth-grader from South Bend, Ind., covered his face when he won, overwhelmed. Moments earlier, he had hid himself behind his placard, then lowered it to show tears in his eyes, after nailing gaminerie to make the 15th and final round. The word means "wisecracking spirit."
He won the top-prize package of $12,000 and an engraved cup from the bee, plus another $5,000, encyclopedias, a $1,000 savings bond and a reference library from other sponsors. David attends Edison Intermediate Center in South Bend.
His path to victory went through words such as arete, sophrosyne, sumpsimus and serpiginous.
So what about all that cash he won? "I might put it in a savings account or something," he said, adding, "I'll probably take a little and spend it at the mall."