"Soliloquy" was the tough word of the night at the year 9-10 Otago Daily Times Extra! Central Otago spelling quiz last night and one team from Cromwell College says it was thanks to that word that they won.
"Winning was the first highlight of the night," Cromwell College pupil Molly Christiansen said.
"But spelling 'soliloquy' was the second."
Teammates Kaishee Sharma and Daisy-Leigh Norton agreed.
"It was actually quite enjoyable," Kaishee said.
"We kind of didn't know our teams but we won."
"It's surprising," Daisy said.
The team knew each other from school but only came together just before they entered the quiz room.
But that seemed to pay off for the three girls.
"We thought we were going to come last," Molly said.
"We were just going to wing it and hope for the best ... [the announcer] said 'Cromwell College' [won] and we thought 'wait, it was us?"'
Although Molly said they were "cracking up at the end" and could not hold in their laughter, they were happy to come away with the top prize.
Nearly 50 year 9-10 school pupils from Cromwell College, Wakatipu High, Maniototo Area and Roxburgh Area schools battled it out to be crowned spelling champion.
Extra! editor Tricia Rowe said it was the first year 9-10 Extra! quiz she had organised.
"It was hard to find words [for the questions] and to pitch it at the right level.
"But they tried everything and the teachers were supportive - they said it was quite good to have challenging words."
Mrs Rowe said the next Extra! quizzes would be all about current events and would be held in September in Timaru, Cromwell, Christchurch and Dunedin.
