A SCHOOLBOY from Wexcombe has reached the grand final of the national Bananagrams Challenge.

Archie Ross, 10, of Wexcombe and pupil of Farleigh School in Andover, has beaten almost 25,000 other UK primary school pupils to win a place in the live grand final of the anagram challenge.

Archie said: “I never thought I would get this far. It’s been great fun and I can’t wait until the final.”

Almost 25,000 children in 750 primary schools across the country were given the opportunity to take part in the first official UK Bananagrams tournament for schools.

Rena Nathanson, CEO of Bananagrams, said: “The BANANAGRAMS Challenge is the result of years of hard work and is something my father and I talked about when we first invented the game back in 2006.

“Part of the reason BANANAGRAMS was born was out of a desire to help kids play with words, which ultimately enhances their appreciation of language and their grasp of spelling and literacy. But more than that, the game is about having fun – and there’s going to be a lot of that at the Grand Final.”

After triumphing over his classmates in the first stage of the free-to-enter national tournament earlier this year, Archie’s word skills in the online rounds secured him one of just 12 places at the final, which will see the UK’s Top Banana crowned on April 30.

Bananagrams is an anagram game that pits people against each other to come up with the most anagrams as possible.