The 13-year-old from West Lafayette, Indiana, who often had the audience laughing with his one-line commentaries, was all business when he aced "guerdon"－a word that appropriately means "something that one has earned or gained"－to win the 81st version of the bee.

"I don't know about comedy lines, but my parents have been telling me since the beginning that I should always stay calm, cool and collected," said Sameer, who likes playing the violin and video games, and hopes one day to be a neurosurgeon.

Sameer, appearing in the bee for the fourth time and a top 20 finisher the last two years, clenched both fists and put his hands to his face after spelling the winning word.

He won a tense duel over first-time participant Sidharth Chand, 12, of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, who finally stumbled on "prosopopoeia," a word describing a type of figure of speech.

Sameer is coached by his sister, Shruti, a high school senior and three-time spelling bee competitor. He was a crowd favorite throughout the tournament. The first-place finish won him US$35,000 in cash and more than US$5,000 in other prizes.