WOMEN OUT-SPELL MEN

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 130, 4 June 1938, Page 27

WOMEN OUT-SPELL MEN

Women beat men by 24 points to 18 out of a total of 28 in the fourth Sunday spelling bee broadcast by the says the "Daily Telegraph and Morning Post" It was judged on four rounds, as it was found'that the time limit had been reached at the start of a fifth round. The teams were: WOMEN. Midland.—Mrs. Sargant Florence, Birmingham housewife and wife of Professor of Commerce. Scotland. — Mrs. Edwin Muir, authoress. Northern Ireland.— Miss Aileen jamieson, graduate of Queen's University, Belfast. Wales.—Miss Clarice L. Evans, elementary school teacher. West of England.—Mrs. A. Wild, Salisbury housewife and university graduate. North of England. — Mrs. Cecily Marsh, from Hale, Cheshire, expert In domestic economy. , 'London. —Miss Phyllis Meredith, 22-year-old hospital nurse. 'MEN. : ;> ' Midland.—Mr. A. E. Labrum, Northampton carpenter. ' Scotland.—Mr. Alan Mackinnon, author. / Northern Ireland.—Mr. W. J. K. Millar, of Queen's University, Belfast Wales.—Mr. Philip Phillips, prpfessionar man from Cardiff. West of England.—Mr. W. G. Pike, a clock; and watchmaker, of Crewkerne, Somerset ' ■' ' North of England. —Mr. W. S. Fletcher, a" farmer, of Rowarth, Derbyshire. " _ London.—Mr. William Parsons, Upper Norwood, chimney sweep. LIST OF .WORDS; Mr. F. H. Grisewood was Spelling Master and the list of words was; Acoustics ■ Hyphenated Chronicler Mantelpiece Aberration Straitlaced" ■ Raillery Asphyxiated Inveigle Lackadaisical Spellbound Condensedness Genuineness Rhythmirt Intricacy Languorous Rarefy;- Jejuneaegs Wearisomely ' Dilettantism ; Inaccessible Unforgettable Phosphorescence Moccasin Woolly •. i Condescension Ezcema . Biliousness- Knowledgeable | Pharmaceutical' Follicle |

I Surreptitious Foliaceous i Verisimilitude Vicissitudinous , Garrulous Cataclysinal Sojourn Contemporaneous AcquisitiyeiiMS Occurred Twelfth _ Millennium Roisterer Quinsy Plaguy Misdemeanour Victualler Thirty seconds was the time limit per word for each competitor. There were two gongs—a high-pitched one for the women and a deeper one for the men. Miss Jamieson and Mr. Millar, from Northern Ireland, tossed up, as they had come the longest distance. Miss JamiesOn lost the toss, and Mr. Millar sent the women in first. They lost the first round by one noint. Mrs. Wild spelt "rarefy" as ~rarify" and Mrs. Marsh spelt "inaccessible" as "inaccessable." Mr. Parsons,'by a slip of the tongue, confidently spelt "condescension", as "cpndescensoin." He was incredulous when" this was' pointed, out, but millions of listeners heard him inadvertently transpose the "i" and "o." In. the second round Mr. Labrum spelt "pharmaceutical'"- as "pharmacutical." The word was correctly spelt by Mrs. Edwin Muir. Mrs. Wild paused for a long time between' the "f" and "t" of "twelfth," but got it right. She was followed by Mr. Pike, who substituted a "y" for the "i" in "roisterer."' . In Round 3 laughter was caused by the definition of "straitlaced," . and Mrs.- Florence, who. said she had never used the world, spelt it "straightlaced." In Round 4, Mrs. Florence, after muttering about "i" before "e," got "sieve" right, but Mr. Labrum spelt "eczema" as "excema." 'Mrs. Muir spelt the word correctly. Miss Jamieson spelt "follicle"' as "pholical" and was corrected by Mr, Millar. Mr. Fletcher spelt "millennium" with a single "n." There were shouts of "Unfair" from the men when Miss Meredith, the nurse, was given "quinsy." Laughter was caused when Mrs, Florence, asked to spell "biliousness," said It was what she felt, and Mrs. Marsh characterised "plaguy" as "just about it." _. Of the women, . Mrs. Muir, -Miss Evans, and Miss Meredith scored full marks. Of the men only Mr. Mackinnon scored 4. -Mr. Millar, Mr." Phillips, and Mr. Fletcher each scored 3, and Mr. Parsons and Mr. Pike 2, each.' . . ' , a . t