Good guesswork was the secret of the top team at the Central Otago Extra! Spelling Quiz last night.
Wakatipu High School pupils Ella van der Geest, Margaret Palma and Samantha Perry made up the team that won the years 9 and 10 section, scoring 86 points out of 100.
The trio said it was the first time they had taken part in the spelling quiz and put their win down to good guesswork - "or maybe you'd call it trusting our instincts", Margaret said.
Their instincts proved right every time they guessed an answer and they managed to get the mystery word on the first clue out of four.
The girls said their "great" English teacher, Margaret Wilson, should also get credit for their success.
About 50 pupils from schools in Central Otago, Wanaka and Queenstown took part in the final, which was staged in Cromwell.
Extra! is an Otago Daily Times newspapers in education publication and the quiz was co-ordinated by Extra! editor Ivan Behrnes. Younger school pupils, from years 5 to 8, had their turn at the spelling quiz in Cromwell on Wednesday, with Arrowtown Primary School producing the winning teams.
The format for the quiz consisted of 10 rounds of questions, ranging from spelling words through to adding correct endings on to words, guessing what country words originated from and proofreading and correcting an altered article from the Otago Daily Times.
Cromwell College teams came second and third in last night's event. They were tied on 82 points and had to spell vaccination and vacuum to decide their place.
The quiz is one of a series of four held in the lower half of the South Island, with the rest being staged in Timaru, Christchurch and Dunedin.
Pupils also get to test their current events knowledge later in the year with the Extra! current events quiz taking place in the same four centres in September.
The Otago Daily Times Extra! spelling quizzes are part of the newspaper's Class Act project, which celebrates the excellence of young people.
Extra! is a monthly educational publication produced by the newspaper for senior primary, intermediate and junior secondary school pupils.
Photos by Lynda van Kempen; prints available from otagoimages.co.nz.
