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Know Your 'Pinealectomy': It's Spelling Bee Time

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AP) -- The 84th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee is underway.

The 275 spellers from across the United States and around the world gathered Tuesday morning for a 25-word test that will help determine the semifinalists.

Some of the words were easy -- like "fourteen" and "wasteland." But there were also stumpers -- like the medical word pinealectomy.

The preliminary rounds continue Wednesday when the spellers take to the stage. The finals will be held Thursday night, once again airing on network television in prime time.

The bee has a new home this year, a convention center in the Maryland suburbs just outside of Washington, D.C. It's the first time the competition hasn't been held in the nation's capital.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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