The spelling of the word "whippest" is quite straightforward once you understand the rules of English phonetics. The word is spelled with a "wh" at the beginning, which represents the /w/ sound. This is followed by the short vowel sound /ɪ/, which is represented by the letters "i" and "e" in various English words. Finally, the word ends with a consonant cluster made up of /p/ and /st/, which is spelled "ppest". In IPA phonetic transcription, the word would be spelled /ˈwɪpɪst/.