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Zaila, who just finished eighth grade in Harvey, La., showed a prowess for spelling at 10, when her father, who had been watching the national bee, asked her how to spell the winning word: marocain.

Successful participants must spend countless hours memorizing esoteric words like “marocain,” which the 2017 champion spelled correctly to take top prize of $40,000 that year.

Ananya won the spelling bee on June 1, ending on the word “marocain,” which means a type of dress fabric of ribbed crepe.

Q: The National Spelling Bee winner won on the word “marocain.”

Then Ananya was challenged with “marocain” — a dress fabric made with a warp of silk or rayon and a filling of other yarns.