Registration is now open for Cabin Radio’s third Adult Spelling Bee

How’s your spelling? Is it good enough to unseat the two-time champion of Cabin Radio’s Adult Spelling Bee?

Dust off your dictionaries, we’re once again on the hunt for the best adult spellers in the NWT.

Registration is now open for Cabin Radio’s third annual Adult Spelling Bee, set to begin next month and conclude with a live final in Yellowknife on October 3.

Who should enter?

Scott Letkeman, host of Mornings at the Cabin, said he is looking for people who have previously competed in the spelling bee and not won, anyone who is a “lifelong know-it-all with nobody to show it off to, because people have stopped listening,” and anyone who “wants to display their brain power and show that they are the best adult speller in the NWT.”

“We want someone to give the two-time reigning defending champion Jacki McKinnon a real go,” he said. “We want to see a new champion crowned or to see something absolutely unbelievable and see Jacki become the three-time NWT Adult Spelling Bee champion.”

McKinnon won Cabin Radio’s inaugural spelling bee in 2024 and successfully defended her title last year.

She plans to take a third shot at glory at this year’s spelling bee.

Letkeman believes it will take “an incredible effort” for someone else to take the title of the NWT’s best speller in 2026.

“It is going to take a lot of studying. It is going to take nerves of steel,” he said. “It is also going to take you boning up on all of your community name spelling.”

(In past years, contestants have had to spell such northern words and phrases as Behdzi Ahda, Deninu Kųę́, Tsiigehtchic and Kitikmeot.)

What’s her secret?

McKinnon, however, said all it would take is one “strange word” to knock her out of the competition. She noted she has spelled two words wrong at each of the previous two spelling bees.

It’s a combination of luck and knowledge that makes a spelling bee champion, McKinnon said, and anyone can win.

“I don’t think there’s any one formula,” she said. “I think there’s some good timing and I mean, if you’ve done some studying, [you’ve] probably got a better chance.”

She attributes her spelling bee success to having a father who was an English teacher and “had dictionaries on every surface” of their home.

“We never got the word spelled for us in our house, we would always have to go and look it up. So it just started a lifelong interest for me,” she said.

“Not so much my brother but for me, I love spelling. I love to see how words are formed and their origins.

“Everybody’s got their stuff that pulls them in and this is mine. It’s just a strange little attraction I have for spelling and language.”

McKinnon’s advice to other competitors is to study up and make sure you know your double Rs and double Ss, Indigenous names across the North, and basic spelling principles like I before E except after C.

“Look up ‘spelling bee’ and hard words to spell. There’s all kinds of stuff on the internet and if you’ve got some buddies that are willing to quiz you, get as much of that as you can,” she said, adding you should practise spelling in your head as you won’t be allowed to write anything down during the spelling bee.

Perhaps most importantly, McKinnon said, be sure to have fun – something that has brought her back to the competition year after year.

“Spelling is fun. Spelling is, you know, nerdy cool.”

The details

After the application period closes, Cabin Radio will select 30 people to take part in round-robin heats. Two competitors will face off in each of those heats, which will air live on Mornings at the Cabin from September 8 to 28.

“It can be intimidating. There will be sound effects to distract you,” Letkeman warned of competing in a live radio show setting.

“I guess if you can, centre your mind, find some place of zen where nothing will affect you and all you have to do is visualize words that will be thrown at you and how to spell them. Block everything else out. Nothing else matters except being the NWT Adult Spelling Bee champion.”

(You can watch heats from previous years’ spelling bees on Mornings at the Cabin’s Instagram page).

The 15 heat winners get a spot in the grand final in front of a live audience at Yellowknife’s Top Knight on October 3.

Mark your calendars to watch your friends compete, get the chance to win some prizes yourself and donate to a good cause. All funds raised from the event will go to the NWT Literacy Council.

If you want to compete, you have to sign up by 11pm MT on Thursday, September 3.

Good luck and get studying, nerds.