Did you read "John Krasinski Smells Good" instead of "John Krasinski Spells Good"? Yeah. We meant to be a little tricky like that. And yeah, "spells good" would have a whole line of our past teachers clucking, and rightly so. And yeah, John Krasinski probably does smell good.
But the 826LA Spelling Bee for Cheaters isn't necessarily about toeing the line and doing everything according to plan. The Saturday, Aug. 14 event is a spelling bee, yes, but here's where it diverges from other events that share that name: celebrities. Lots of 'em. Mr. Krasinski and "Where the Wild Things Are" director Spike Jonze and Dianna Agron of "Glee" and McSweeney's-er Dave Eggers are all scheduled to show.
Also, that whole "cheating" bit is different from your traditional high-minded spelling bee. It's in the name. The Spelling Bee for Cheaters is described as a "a tournament of verbal smarts and fraudulence."
Fraudulence. F. R. A. D. U. L. Um. Um. A. N. C. E. Fraudulence. What? We're out?
All of this rapscallionery is going down at Lincoln Middle School at 2 p.m. on Aug. 14. Competitors have been busy raising money online. Various amounts raised correspond with various cheats -- for example, if you don't like a word you're given, you can swap it for $500 -- and the list is positively byzantine in its cheaty cheekiness. Again, our former teachers might cluck, but bet there'll be more chuckle than cluckles at the tourney.
The money raised goes to 826LA programs. Also, the mad people behind "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" are behind this, too. Like. L. I. K. E. Like.
