Covid-19 complications haven't scuppered the search for the country's best junior speller; the Aotearoa New Zealand Spelling Bee is being held today.
Twenty-one of New Zealand's sharpest Year 9-10 students will compete from 11.30am to 2pm for the national title in the event's 16th edition - and a $5000 first prize to go towards future academic study.
However, the event's planning had been far from simple, as the Delta outbreak in August wreaked havoc with preparations.
In fact, when Auckland was plunged into alert level 4 lockdown on August 17, the region's qualification event was only days away.
That meant organisers were forced to consider results from a written test earlier in the year to select Auckland-based spellers for the competition.