Stuff Digital Edition

‘Gossamer’ the winning word for NZ spelling bee champion

Matthew Tso

‘‘There’s a difference between spelling with a pen and paper, and orally – they are different skill sets.’’ Janet Lucas

In a field of contestants split between two cities, Max Carter, 14, has emerged as the national spelling bee champion.

Having spelled out ‘‘gossamer’’, the Scots College student had to wait for his final opponent to make a mistake during the 18th round of the 2021 Aotearoa New Zealand Spelling Bee final to be crowned the winner at Wellington’s City Gallery yesterday.

After a little over two hours, he was the last of 21 year 9 and 10 student spellers standing – ‘‘Portuguese’’, ‘‘embryonic’’ and ‘‘corsair’’ proved to be stumbling blocks for contestants during the later rounds.

‘‘I’m a bit surprised – I thought I might make the top five, but I’ve somehow managed to win,’’ Carter said.

He studied for the competition for four months, and credited his love of reading for his win.

Having run since 2005, with the finals always held in the capital, Covid-19 protocols meant this year’s competition had to be modified.

Yesterday, seven locked-up Aucklanders were beamed in on a video link from a remote studio while 14 contestants from the rest of the country gathered in Wellington.

The Auckland contingent could not participate in a regional final like their counterparts from elsewhere because of the lockdown. Instead, they were selected from a written test undertaken by all competitors and were then given coaching online.

While the glory went to Carter, the best quip of the day went to Jessica Park, 14. After asking for ‘‘redoubtable’’ to be used in a sentence, and for its origin, the Chilton Saint James student lightened the mood with a cheeky request that resulted in a burst of laughter though the City Gallery’s theatre.

‘‘Can you spell it?’’ she asked the official.

Following the final round in which she was knocked out, Park said she got the idea while joking with her dad on the way to the competition.

Championship programme director Janet Lucas said the competition was always tough.

‘‘There’s a difference between spelling with a pen and paper, and orally – they are different skill sets.

‘‘With pen and paper, you can see it written down and work it through, but [orally] you have to stay calm despite the pressure of doing it in front of an audience,’’ Lucas said.

‘‘You might know how to spell [a word] but the wrong letter can come out.’’

She hoped to have all the contestants under one roof for the 2022 edition.

News

en-nz

2021-11-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-28T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/281715502888712

Stuff Limited