SPELLING: With spell check, it should be more difficult to spell things incorrectly — even though the computer isn’t always right.

And from posts we see on social media, spell check isn’t used often enough. Sure, we at The Era make mistakes, but in all fairness, we’re writing thousands of words a day.

We think back to spelling bees in school and remember doing fairly well. However, we weren’t spelling “Machiavellian” or “thaumaturge,” both of which are words at level Three Bee of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

This year the Scripps National Spelling Bee celebrates 100 years.

We found a study guide for the National Spelling Bee online. We think we’d be OK at the first and second levels. The third level is far more challenging.

At One Bee, the list includes words like punting, fumble, special, flustered, manger, jangled, antennas, ferocious, reactionary, gargantuan, harmonious, trapezoid, dillydally, spelunker, incendiary, primatologist, jabberwocky and tangible.

At Two Bee, the list includes words like Antarctic, insubstantial, starvation, sheriff, Sheetrock, commonplace, gingerbread, antiquarian, phalanges, vituperative, excision, sarcophagus, woebegone, tabernacle, resplendence, jettison, contrivance, ostensibly, kaleidoscope, jocularity, dodecahedron, megalomaniac, panacea and sorrel.

At Three Bee, the list has words like misdemeanor, commodore, guerilla, incomprehensible, nefarious, bantam, terpsichore, rathskeller, prognosticate, polydactyly, effrontery, Huguenot, lachsschinken, fanfaronade, speleothem, retinoscopy, naranjilla, elegiac and yttriferous.

The dictionary used for the competition is the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online Dictionary.

Scripps has a free downloadable app called Word Club, “choose from five spelling play modes and three vocabulary play modes. Track your progress as you conquer the School Spelling Bee Study List and Words of the Champions, the recommended study resource for classroom, school, regional qualifier and regional spelling bees!”