A dramatic four-way tie marked the end of the Otago Daily Times Extra! spelling quiz at Otago Girls' High School last night.
Sixty year 9 and 10 teams from St Hilda's Collegiate, Kaikorai Valley and Taieri colleges and King's, Queen's, East Otago, Otago Girls' and Logan Park High Schools competed in the quiz.
The pupils were tested on their proofreading, dictionary skills and spelling.
They were quizzed on abbreviations, such as kph (kilometres per hour), vs (versus) and pto (please turn over), and then had to decide where words originated, such as nom de plume (France), astronaut (United States), cosmonaut (Russia), autobahn (Germany), haggis (Scotland), flamenco (Spain) and tangata whenua (New Zealand).
The spelling section was anything but easy, and included words like "hieroglyphics", "manoeuvre" and "convalesce".
At the end of the quiz, Otago Girls' High School team 1, Bayfield High School teams 4 and 5 and Taieri College team 3 had all tied.
The words "sycophant", "dysfunctional" and "Machiavellian" were used as a spelling tie-breaker.
The winning Otago Girls' High School team received ODT Extra! medals, a plaque for their school and book vouchers.
The ODT Extra! quiz moves to Timaru next week and Christchurch the following week.
Christchurch was originally scheduled for two weeks ago, but the event was postponed after recent earthquakes.
"It will be on in Christchurch in two weeks, earthquakes permitting," Extra! editor Ivan Behrnes said.
"I'm a bit nervous about that one."
