The phrase "attempt to spell" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when describing the action of trying to write or pronounce a word correctly.
Example: "During the spelling bee, I had to attempt to spell some challenging words that I had never seen before."
Alternatives: "try to spell" or "make an effort to spell".
Others worry that any attempt to spell out what America thinks the Geneva Conventions mean will be seen as an attempt to re-write it.
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) — Donald J. Trump deleted nine tweets early Wednesday morning in a failed attempt to spell the word "subpoena," a White House source confirmed.
Or just take a look at one attempt to spell Mississippi, courtesy of the supposedly higher education folks at Mississippi State.
By Andy Borowitz May 2, 2018 WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) — Donald J. Trump deleted nine tweets early Wednesday morning in a failed attempt to spell the word "subpoena," a White House source confirmed.
STONE: In an attempt to respect the categories of philosophy, I looked into some views on the distinction between film criticism and film philosophy and came across this in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: "Whenever scholars attempt to spell out what film is (Is film art? How is it different from other arts?) their discourse becomes necessarily philosophical".
By Roger Angell The New Yorker, February 9 , 1963P. 23 Comment on the newspaper strike...the papers do not simply count the city resident among the bystanders and attempt to spell his name right; they exalt him as a thinker... Our attendance is invited to a poetry reading, a hockey game, an honorary dinner.
We chuckled at one woman's attempts to spell "sdrucciola" ("strewchula," "shtrjhula").
This statement was officially released after four failed attempts to spell "evidence".
The comments were made as chief executive Ashley Almanza attempted to spell out why the group should not bow to activist shareholders and split up the company.
Whether playing a flirtatious, honey-covered salmon, or attempting to spell "restaurant" to save his mother from a crazed gunman, the audience was completely engrossed.
According to time stamps on the transcript, O'Donnell asks the question "When Manuela lived here, did she help with your healthcare?" from 10.59am to 11.04am with no response recorded from Redstone, who occasionally attempted to spell the words of his answers.
