Case Study: Rule The Word!

When the Scripps National Spelling Bee decided it wanted to open its 2023 “Bee Week” with a fun puzzle event that would get its spellers working together, it turned to Eric. Given the spelling bee’s annual theme — “Rule the Word!” — Eric, working with acclaimed puzzlemakers Mark Halpin and Dave Shukan, imagined a series of eight “kingdoms,” all seeking to Rule the Word. Each kingdom was represented at a different location in the hotel; the teams of kids went from site to site and tried to solve each kingdom’s puzzle. Ultimately, the eight answers fed into a final puzzle that, when solved, explained which kingdom would emerge victorious. The first team to figure out this answer won a handsome prize from the event’s sponsor, Jimmy Dean Sausages.

The puzzles were always kid-friendly but had a more expansive vocabulary, given that the audience was made up of the best spellers in the country. And of course the puzzles took many forms — not just pencil puzzles but also puzzles that included video, audio, and physical puzzle components.

You can see more pictures from the Rule The World Challenge on the Scripps Spelling Bee Flickr page.