As a one-time national Scripps Bee competitor who ultimately lost out in an early round to a (now-known to be) ridiculously easy word[1], this was a very good a

As a one-time national Scripps Bee competitor who ultimately lost out in an early round to a (now-known to be) ridiculously easy word[1], this was a very good article. Point 1 (Length) can't be stressed enough, while point 2 (Latin) is not always as helpful as you want it to be. The one thing that isn't really covered there is that you have to know a whole friggin lot to be competitive. Sure, spelling is just spelling, but having effectively memorized the meager dictionaries that my poor upbringing brought me access to, that doesn't begin to prepare you for Scripps, which is sure to challenge you with words from most language origins, and are beyond the memorization capabilities of all but the very best. I wasn't a "contender" by any stretch of the imagination, and I never had any coaching done, so I was at a strategic disadvantage as well as a skill disadvantage of the others, but I remember how smart I was when going to the library and trying to familiarize myself with Latin, Greek and other language origins, if only to familiarize myself with the structure and which things were most likely to reoccur so that, if challenged, I could at least make some good guesses, but unless you're absolutely, positively dedicated, it's really, really hard to know "enough" to do well. [1] - The word was "paunchy", from the Latin "pantex", and borrowed from French "panche" and Old Northern French "pance". None of the above have a 'u', and neither did my spelling. Such was the pain of my failure, I now know this without having to look it up.