42nd Scripps National Spelling Bee

42nd Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Mayflower Hotel, site of the 42nd National Spelling Bee
Date	June 4–5, 1969
Location	The Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Winner	Susan Yoachum
Age	14
Residence	Dallas, Texas
Sponsor	Dallas Morning News
Sponsor location	Dallas, Texas
Winning word	interlocutory
No. of contestants	73
Pronouncer	Richard R. Baker
Preceded by	41st Scripps National Spelling Bee
Followed by	43rd Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 42nd Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, D.C. at the Mayflower Hotel on June 4–5, 1969, sponsored by the E.W. Scripps Company.

The winner was 14-year-old Susan Yoachum of Texas, an 8th grade student at Hill Junior High School in Dallas, with the winning word "interlocutory". Yoachum later became a well-regarded journalist, rising to the post of political editor at the San Francisco Chronicle. She died of breast cancer at age 43 in June 1998.^[1]

Second place went to 14-year-old Margaret Matthees of Huntsville, Alabama, who fell on "egalitarian". David Groisser, age 12, of Brooklyn, finished third, misspelling "quoits" as "quytes".

First prize was $1000, second was $500, and third was $250.^[2][3]

There were 73 contestants this year. In the first day of competition, 464 words were used over nine rounds and the field was reduced to 23 participants.^[4] A total of 571 words were used by the end.^[5]