OXON HILL, Md. — A spelling bee week that began with curiosity and angst over a new vocabulary test neared an end the familiar way Thursday night, with bright kids spelling difficult words under the bright lights of prime-time television.

The 86th Scripps National Spelling Bee inched toward a conclusion with 11 finalists being eliminated one by one. They were the last survivors from a field from a field of 281 contenders who arrived to compete for the title of champion speller of the English language.

At stake were $30,000 in cash and prizes and a huge, cup-shaped trophy. The competition tests brain power, composure and, for the first time, knowledge of vocabulary.

Fourteen-year-old Grace Remmer of St. Augustine, Fla., got the final rounded launched by spelling "greffier," which means an official recorder or keeper of records. But she later stumbled while attempting to spell "melocoton," a word meaning a peach grafted on a quince root stalk.

"Thank you, everyone," she said, leaving the stage to a standing ovation.

Finalists included several spelling bee veterans, but as the night wore on they were down to four contestants after more than 2 hours of competition.

Thirteen-year-old Arvind Mahankali of New York finished third last year and in 2011, tripped up both times by words of German origin. A word derived from French and old Catalan — "galere" — nearly bounced the superstar speller as the tense final round wore on.

One of the favorites, he shifted his body back and forth and stroked his chin before correctly spelling "galere" — meaning a group of people with a common quality or relationship — but with only seconds to spare.

A win by Arvind would continue the recent tradition of Indian-American winners. There have been five in a row and 10 of 14, a run that began in 1999 when Nupur Lala captured the title in 1999 and was later featured in the documentary "Spellbound."

This was the first year that a computerized vocabulary test helped determine the finalists.

The 11 finalists were culled from 42 semifinalists Thursday afternoon, with spellers advancing based on a formula that combined their scores from a computerized spelling and vocabulary test with their performance in two onstage rounds.

The show-stealer during the semifinals was 14-year-old Amber Born of Marblehead, Mass., who has wanted to be a comedy writer ever since she saw the pilot to "Seinfeld." The bee's growing popularity is reflected in an ESPN broadcast that gets more sophisticated each year, so Amber got to watch herself featured on a televised promo that also aired on the jumbo screen inside the auditorium.

She then approached the microphone and, referring to herself, deadpanned: "She seemed nice."

The crowd laughed and applauded. Amber turned serious once she heard her word — "pediculicide" — but she spelled it correctly and did a little hop as she headed back to her seat.

In the next round, Amber asked pronouncer Jacques Bailly: "Please give me something I know." Given the word "malacophilous" and told it means "adapted to pollination by snails," she replied: "I don't know if that's possible."