Sixty-six rounds, and no more words
The Jackson County, Missouri bee of 22 February 2014 was a qualifier for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. NPR reported that it came down to two children and stayed there: Sophia Hoffman, 11, a fifth-grader, against Kush Sharma, 13, a seventh-grader at Frontier School of Innovation in Kansas City. They spelled for more than five hours and 66 rounds without either of them faltering.
The organisers then hit a problem the format is not built for. The word list was finished. Head judge Kate Stover said afterwards that 'it took us an hour to find more words', and that the search was for words 'that were not completely archaic and uncommon'. Rather than decide it on whatever was left, the judges suspended the bee and sent the two spellers home.
The word she went out on
The contest resumed on 8 March before an overflow crowd and ran nearly 30 further rounds. Hoffman misspelled 'stifling'. Sharma then spelled 'definition' and the marathon, close to 95 rounds in total across two dates, ended.
NPR records that Hoffman's parents appealed the ruling on 'stifling'. The judges reviewed recordings of the round and found no problem with the pronunciation, and the result stood. Both children remained eligible to compete again in 2015 - a detail the reporting was careful to include, because at eleven she had years of eligibility left.
What she said, and what happened next
Her own account of the day was plain. 'I was a little nervous,' she told NPR. 'I knew that Kush and I had both really prepared.' Her opponent's line about the contest has been quoted more often - that it was the word that beat them, not each other - but Hoffman's is the one that describes what a 66-round bee actually feels like from inside it.
The attention that followed was national. The KCUR report on the episode is headlined on the point that the marathon made celebrities out of Kansas City-area spellers, and the research record for this page notes appearances by the two children on CNN and Good Morning America. Her sister Jordan had placed eighth at the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee, a family detail carried in the research record rather than in the two cited dispatches.
Why a bee of this length almost never happens
Spelling bees are engineered to terminate. Word lists climb in difficulty precisely so that a room full of children becomes one child inside an afternoon, and the national bee has repeatedly rewritten its rules to avoid ties. A county bee exhausting its entire list against two spellers, and then adjourning for a fortnight, is the outcome the design exists to prevent.
Hoffman was the younger of the two by two school years. That an eleven-year-old took a thirteen-year-old past the end of the word list is the part of the story that has kept it in circulation, and it is the part that is fully documented rather than inferred.
What is documented and what is not
Documented by NPR and KCUR: her age of 11, her grade, the 66 rounds on 22 February, the suspension, the resumption on 8 March, the nearly 30 further rounds, her miss on 'stifling', her parents' unsuccessful appeal, her continued eligibility for 2015, and her own quotation about nerves and preparation.
Not documented in those two reports: her date of birth, her school name, whether she competed again in 2015 or later, and anything about her life since. The research record adds her elementary school and her sister's 2012 placing; both are flagged here as coming from that record rather than from the cited dispatches. No IQ figure appears anywhere in this file.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sophia Hoffman | United States | The 2014 Jackson County marathon spelling bee | Age 9 |
| Naysa Modi | United States | Runner-up at the 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee | Age 9 |
| Akshay Buddiga | United States | Fainting and recovering at the 2004 National Spelling Bee | Age 11 |
| Kush Sharma | United States | Winning the 2014 Jackson County marathon spelling bee | Age 13 |
| Finola Hackett | Canada | Runner-up at the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee | Age 14 |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Aged 11 and a fifth-grader at the 2014 Jackson County bee (NPR)
- Spelled 66 rounds on 22 February before the bee was suspended
- Misspelled 'stifling' when the bee resumed on 8 March
- Her parents' appeal was reviewed and rejected; she stayed eligible for 2015
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- Her elementary school and her sister's 2012 placing come from the research record, not the two cited dispatches
- No date of birth is published in these sources
- Nothing here documents whether she competed after 2014
Questions people ask about Sophia Hoffman
How old is Sophia Hoffman?
NPR reported she was 11 and a fifth-grader in 2014, which places her birth year around 2003. No date of birth appears in these sources.
What is Sophia Hoffman known for?
Taking the 2014 Jackson County, Missouri spelling bee to 66 rounds against Kush Sharma, forcing a two-week suspension when the judges ran out of words.
Which word did she lose on?
'stifling', in the resumed session on 8 March 2014.
Did her family challenge the result?
Yes. NPR reported that her parents appealed the ruling. The judges reviewed recordings of the round, found no problem with the pronunciation, and let the result stand.
Did Sophia Hoffman compete again?
She remained eligible for 2015, which NPR noted at the time. Whether she entered again is not recorded in the sources used here.
Where is Sophia Hoffman now?
Nothing in this record documents her life after 2014. This page does not invent an update.
Is Sophia Hoffman on Wikipedia?
No standalone English Wikipedia article for her is recorded here.
What is Sophia Hoffman's IQ?
No IQ figure for her appears in any source used for this page.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Sophia’s story?
How old was Sophia Hoffman during the marathon bee?
Which word ended her run?
Why did the bee adjourn for two weeks?
Sources
- Weeks Later, Epic Spelling Bee Ends In Missouri — NPR, 2014-03-08
- Marathon spelling bee makes celebrities out of Kansas City-area spellers — KCUR
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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