Enthymeme, monadnock, tessaraconter

The June 18 Villager humor column marks Shrey Parikh’s Scripps National Spelling Bee win.

Dorothy Rosby · June 18, 2026

AI-generated editorial illustration: A blank bee trophy and dictionary on an empty school stage — AI-generated editorial illustration · The Villager Today. This artwork is illustrative and is not a photograph of the reported event.

Quick! Spell enthymeme. Now monadnock. How about tessaraconter? No fair. You looked! Those are just a few of the words 14-year-old Shrey Parikh of San Bernardino, California, spelled correctly to win the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. In order, they refer to a type of argument, an isolated hill or mountain and a galley with forty banks of oars.

The annual Scripps Spelling Bee is open to students who haven’t completed eighth grade, aren’t yet 15 years old and haven’t. Rosby writes about mnemonic sentences: “Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move,” “A Rat In The House May Eat The Ice Cream” for arithmetic, and “Big Elephants Can’t Always Use Small Exits” for because — and how those sentences can be more confusing than the spelling. Dorothy Rosby is the author of Alexa’s a Spy and Other Things to Be Ticked off About. Contact: dorothyrosby.com/contact.

Print source: The Villager, Vol. 44 No. 30, June 18, 2026, page 3. Issuu edition.