OLD TOWN – The competition is O-V-E-R for Old Town seventh-grader Brody Winn.

Winn, 13, was eliminated in Round 4 of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

After successfully spelling the words “aryl” and “soporific,” Winn faltered on the word “reliquary,” a container or shrine in which sacred relics are kept.

“I thought I knew how to spell it, but then I got proved wrong,” Winn said good-naturedly from his hotel room in Washington, D.C.

Although the spelling portion of his trip is over, Winn is enjoying his experience in the nation’s capital nonetheless. He and his family were able to take a “Discover Washington” trip, which included visits to some of the city’s historic monuments. They plan to stay in the area until Saturday.

To start the competition off on Tuesday, all competitors were given a 25-word written test and were asked to spell words such as “rijsttafel” and “triskaidekaphobia.”

Rounds 2, 3 and 4 were all spoken rounds and were held Wednesday. The spellers had to succeed in the written test and the first spoken round in order to advance to Round 3. After that, competitors were eliminated after each misspelled word.

An honors student at J.A. Leonard Middle School, Winn won a bid to the national competition after being crowned Maine’s champion at the March 20 state spelling bee. After coming in second last year, this year’s victory was twice as sweet for Winn.

“I was thinking, ‘Wow, I’m going to Washington this time,” Winn said the day after winning the state meet.

Coordinated by the Bangor Daily News, the March state spelling bee started with 16 spellers, one from each county, and lasted less than an hour.

The three-day 77th annual national spelling bee included 265 spellers from the 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Bahamas, Europe, Guam and Saudi Arabia.

Winn said the best part of the competition has been meeting so many different people.

“Sometimes the people sitting next to you could become your good friends,” he said.

Round 4 was the first televised round of the competition, although Winn is not sure if he made it on TV. After he was eliminated, he and his family went to the Hard Rock Cafe to celebrate. His dreams of spelling success are far from over, as next year’s title still is within his reach.

“I’m going to study even harder next year,” Winn said.

Two championship rounds will be broadcast today, the first from 10 a.m. to noon on ESPN2 and the second from 1 to 4 p.m. on ESPN.