Karl vs Lisa: Spelling Bee face-off on TODAY

TODAY Show hosts Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson faced off this morning to find out once and for all who is better acquainted with the dictionary.

Joined by NSW Premier's Spelling Bee champion Will Stamp, the duo donned their mortarboards and took turns at trying to spell a series of increasingly difficult words.

After a shaky start, Lisa gained on Karl and finally took top honours in a narrow 3-2 victory.

Karl spelled “beguile” and “cistern” correctly but missed out – catastrophically – on “poliomyelitis”, “sphagnum” and “sforzando”.

Lisa misspelled her first and last words – “kestrel” and “xanthorrhoea” – but nailed “cretaceous”, “decrescendo” and “cantankerous”.

Karl magnanimously congratulated his co-host, but Will was not particularly impressed with either performance.

Asked how he rated their spelling skills, the 11-year-old Mona Vale Public School student smiled and said, “Not as good as mine.”

It is hard to argue, given he took out the Spelling Bee championship with a perfectly recited “phosphoresce” yesterday.