WASHINGTON – Maine spelling bee champion Rebecca Garthoff, who tied for 13th place among 248 youths in the national spelling bee last year, correctly spelled “koftgari,” a word derived from an east Indian term, to make it through the first round of action here Tuesday evening. The word, according to a Webster’s unabridged dictionary, means “Indian damascene work in which steel is inlaid with gold.”

The 248 contestants this year, most sponsored by their local newspapers, all won regional bees to qualify. About half were expected to be cut during the first day of the 74th national competition.

Two more rounds of the 2001 Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee will be held today.

The championship rounds Thursday will air live on cable network ESPN beginning at 10 a.m.

Garthoff, a 14-year-old home-schooled eight-grader from Jefferson, in Lincoln County, is sponsored by the Bangor Daily News.