NORTHAMPTON — Jon Lackman and Ian Breen have read the entire dictionary from cover to cover.
Each month, Lackman, a freelance journalist, and Breen, a fiction writer and graduate of the University of Iowa’s Writer’s Workshop, would read 100 pages of the American Heritage dictionary and talk about words they found interesting.
Their love for words paid off Wednesday when Lackman and Breen, teaming up with lawyer Sandra Lucentini as the Smith College Campus School’s Triskaidekaphiles, won the 17th annual Northampton Adult Spelling Bee by correctly spelling “argillaceous.”
Going up against the Daily Hampshire Gazette’s four-time champion Headliners in the final round, both teams were stumped by the first word, “issei,” a Japanese immigrant, especially to the United States.
Next came “argillaceous.” “Relating to or containing clay,” pronouncer Phil O’Donoghue said.
The teams had 15 seconds to sound out the phonetics and write the word correctly before the recording of a gong went off.
“Argillaceous,” an announcer said. “A-R-G-I-L-L-A-C-E-O-U-S.”
For Lackman and Breen, it was their sixth year competing in the spelling bee. Lucentini joined the team about three years ago. Lackman said he’s made it to the finals before, but this is his first year winning.
The team name has changed for each competition. Last year their team name was a tribute to David Bowie. This year they went by Triskaidekaphiles, which Lackman said means people who like the number 13.
As many teams dress in costumes for the event, the Triskaidekaphiles’ marked their faces with paint – “1” and “3” on each cheek.
“It’s a famously misspelled word,” Lackman said of the number.
The spelling bee is a fundraiser for the Northampton Education Foundation. About $14,000 is raised every year, according to Megan Rubiner Zinn, who is on the spelling bee’s word committee.
While some get serious when it comes to spelling, other teams came to have fun.
The WannaBEE Painters, friends who get together to paint with watercolors, dressed in painter outfits and held palettes.
The Make America SPELL Again team of Rachel Ellis, Jake Last and Chris St. George, sponsored by Rep. Peter Kocot, won the award for most humorous after exiting early in their swarm and drawing laughs with their comments on the whiteboard.
The BeeBeetBeats, consisting of Caroline Rosa, Diego Irrizary-Gerould and Katie Carr, dressed as a mixture of a bee and a beet to go with the beet logo for sponsor Grow Food Northampton. They also held books by spoof Beat Generation writers such as Alan Ginsbee.
And while the BeeBeetBeats didn’t make it far in their swarm, the team won best costume.
Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@gazettenet.com.