c4countdown

David Williams

Interesting that DC got UBIETY but missed DUBIETY. Also DUENNAS later on.

David Williams

That's what needs to be achieved. I hadn't got into the precise wording. Your link provides it. Mr Team?

David Williams

Seriously? I always thought "standard method" was just a little joke.

And this method works in 60% of cases, so 40% of the time it leaves you at least 25 away from the target?

David Williams

How many syllables in BANNED? Or BAND? (Actually a special Countdown rule that words like PAINED are considered to have two syllables is not a bad idea.)

David Williams

Tom S wrote: ↑
Mon Aug 06, 2018 1:40 pm
Bit surprised that Asocials is not allowed.

Well, I know what a social is. I'm struggling to imagine what form an asocial might take, but it sounds like my sort of party.

David Williams

As well as the lack of the excitement that football has, is the lack of tension that you get in, say, test match cricket. I'm not massively interested myself, but the current game must be excruciating if you are. Whereas basketball - one team scores, other team scores, first team scores again, ooh t...

David Williams

May I offer a reverse one.

There is a book called Schindler's Ark. There is a company called Schindler's that makes lifts. So one day Steven Spielberg gets into a Schindler's lift . . .

David Williams

I think anyone who knows what 8 x 75 is, and that he is going to take 74 or 76 off it, would be able fairly quickly to work out what 7 x 75 is. It's either a panicky last second spot, or he simply didn't see the 7. I've done both of those. Who hasn't? If you had contestants who were in the middle of...

David Williams

Elliott Mellor wrote: ↑
Mon Mar 19, 2018 7:56 pm
It was nice to see Nick contribute in one of the rounds today - I wish he'd do this more often.

The difficulty is that, on the evidence of the contributions he does make, he is absolutely hopeless at Countdown.

David Williams

Annoying that ATAVISM is a thing, you can be ATAVISTIC, but there's no ATAVIST. Re the 553 numbers game, where Rachel says "You might kick yourselves . . ." I think it would be good if sometimes she would say something like "After you've made 525 you're looking for another 28, which is divisible by ...

David Williams

One of the more influential among us used to be known as Womb Raider.

David Williams

Gavin Chipper wrote: ↑
Fri Jul 20, 2018 8:32 am
There was a cabbage that flew past her left ear at one point, but she wasn't the main focus of the camera at the time.

I think you may be mixing up Countdown with the Tour de France. Or did she take more than the permitted number of puffs on her inhaler?

David Williams

Lots of conjecture over the draw for the C of C. Conspiracy, fixing, agendas etc, when in truth, the only thing that was pre-ordained prior to the draw was keeping people apart from the same series they played in. Granted, there are some series winners who play each other in the first round, but so...

David Williams

Did John say GILTED? I wondered if something went wrong with the filming of this round and they edited it as best they could. Nick asked the player with the longer word to declare first, and nobody seemed to notice that someone had won the round. It was only when the score came up that I was sure w...

David Williams

There was a time when Series winners were kept apart in the first round.

David Williams

Mark Deeks wrote: ↑
Fri Jul 06, 2018 1:42 pm
We Need To Talk About Gevin.

That is actually funny.

David Williams

I don't think I've ever seen an alternative/DC beater before that no-one else has posted. Today, I knew that my moment had arrived. Now it feels like I've just walked into a roomful of strangers and shouted 'Fellatio!' You have no idea how liberating that is. Yes, when Jon Culshaw said "There's a r...

David Williams

You're eight points ahead towards the end. Both playing just about faultlessly. Your opponent declares an eight. How likely does your dodgy nine have to be to make it worth risking? Probably all you geniuses know this already, but (making a few assumptions) I was quite surprised at just how worthwhi...

David Williams

I'm always a bit surprised there never seems to be a problem getting number eight seeds to turn up. You've already achieved what you hoped for, you've been on TV, you've enjoyed it, you've got your teapot. You've shown you're pretty good at Countdown. Indeed you're good enough to recognise that you ...

David Williams

I would assume that if you swallow a sandwich whole, you will get more flavour from grated cheese. But if you chew both varieties to the same consistency before swallowing, the slices will take longer, and so you will get less flavour from the grated cheese. In any case, they only grate it because i...

David Williams

I haven't actually paid enough attention to it to notice whose advert it is, but there's at least one running at the moment for people who just want a cup of coffee being patronised for not knowing, or caring, what a flat white is. Me too.

David Williams

Ever heard of this new-fangled Google thingy?
http://www.edmathshelp.com/about.html

David Williams

Elliott Mellor wrote: ↑
Sun May 20, 2018 8:39 am
Anyone know the whereabouts of Paul Gallen

He writes a weekly Scrabble column for The Times.

David Williams

I'm more interested in the more historic names - Harvey Freeman, Allan Saldanha, for example. Harvey Freeman was always a bit of an enigma, wasn't he? Nobody seems to know anything much about him at all. I've tried in the past to find out about his life outside of Countdown and have always turned u...

David Williams

One thing that Pete Cashmore overlooks is that viewing figures had declined massively even before Richard Whiteley died. At its peak (early 90's?) Countdown got over four million viewers and was the second most popular C4 programme after Brookside. By around 2002 it was well under two million and di...

David Williams

It's so genuinely weird to read stuff about Countdown that's written by people who grew up with Vorderman. In the few episodes I've seen with her in, she is *absolutely unbearable*, yet there's a whole generation that sees her as a presenting icon. Crazy. Objectively Countdown is much better than i...

David Williams

http://www.c4countdown.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=12275&p=174290&hilit=cashmore#p174290 Is this him? Anyone speak to him? He was definitely a contributor to this forum or one of its predecessors a while back. And I may be mis-remembering, but I think he incurred Damian's displeasure by trying to be ...

David Williams

As a small afterthought, after someone has thought for a while and gone for the 'safe seven', Susie will sometimes ask them what their 'dodgy eight' was. I'd like to see this more often. When they come up with a word it's interesting to find out if it's valid or not. If they don't have a word to off...

David Williams

The rules say that you can declare anything you've seen in the 30 seconds, whether you've written it down or not. But custom and practice seems to allow you to think for a while about whether to go for your safe seven or dodgy eight, whether you are declaring first or deciding whether to match your ...

David Williams

Interestingly, Tom's 134 comes almost exactly 2 years to the day that Jonathan Wynn compiled his 134, also in his semi final (on 22/12/2015). For almost 2 years no one matched or beat this. Seeing as it wasn't the exact day, high scores will often be achieved by the best players, finals are always ...

David Williams

Sources vary, but most would say that kryptonite is a fictional substance, normally green, that is lethal to Superman and other inhabitants of the planet Krypton. It may be cancerous to humans after long exposure. If it ever was humorous to describe the perspex mementos handed out in series finals a...

David Williams

All spots for the Series 77 finals are now claimed, and there are still seven heats left in the series. If someone wins the next six games and loses the seventh and last heat, and six wins proves to be enough to make it into the Series 78 finals, can this person be entered into the Series 78 finals...

David Williams

Gavin Chipper wrote: ↑
Tue Nov 14, 2017 3:23 am
Why do round door handles exist?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdOcrUtE-UQ
Why aren't they compulsory?

David Williams

Always something unnerving about the Gyles and Susie sideshow. He invades her personal space and peers intensely, while she sits as far away from him as she can without actually falling off her chair. Not as bad as it used to be, when a younger Susie was clearly highly uncomfortable and there was so...

David Williams

I'll say again. Hesitate for a nanosecond and it's obvious you are trying to match your opponent's word after the time, so you're cheating. If you find yourself in that situation the only thing you can do is say "I'll stick with a safe seven", which at least makes it possible that you had a dodgy ei...

David Williams

If I saw a word after the 30 seconds, and I was 2nd to declare, would that be acceptable?, as I saw DISALLOW just as Graeme declared an 8. Been debated in the past. Many would say it was unacceptable. Personally I've always felt it was OK. But hesitate for a nanosecond and it's cheating. And, becau...

David Williams

Elliott Mellor wrote: ↑
Thu Nov 09, 2017 9:12 pm
Have to chalk the 504 miss as being the worst I've ever seen....

Strangely, I went for (75-3)*7. Two solutions, between them using all six numbers once only.

David Williams

It probably belongs in the 'Really obvious things that you've only just realised' thread, but there's all these people who run past where I live when I'm out for my run on a Saturday morning. They stand around in a car-park for a quarter of an hour, then they do exactly the same course every week n...

David Williams

Why were both players gazing across the studio when the conundrum was on? There's an actual board there where the conundrum is officially revealed - the monitors are only a camera view of this. It's probably much comfier to stare at that than hunch over a monitor, but admittedly it looks puzzling t...

David Williams

Certainly unlucky. A search for SEEDINGS in this forum reveals 207 matches.

David Williams

I was pleased Nick asked Ben about the conundrum. He didn't seem the sort to Hansford, but buzzing in that quickly for BLAZEBOOM? I couldn't imagine what else he thought it could be other than BAMBOOZLE. But as he was given the chance to explain that he thought it was EMBLAZON, and realised immediat...

David Williams

Charlie Reams wrote: ↑
Sat Sep 16, 2017 8:10 pm
My girlfriend and I sleep in separate beds, in separate rooms, on separate floors

Are you absolutely sure you aren't reading more into this relationship than she is?

And ice skating? An impossible dream. I've never managed to stand unsupported with roller skates on.

David Williams

I'd rather assumed that financial education in schools might go to rather greater depth than working out this sort of thing. Mind you, the fact that Susie and Nick had no idea (and both got it wrong) would suggest otherwise.

David Williams

She might, of course have buzzed in because she saw WEAKENING, hesitated for a split second because she thought it might be AWAKENING, and gone with her original answer.

David Williams

Obviously you buzz in if you think you know the answer. Views as to how much latitude you have to change your mind and give a different answer vary from zero to minuscule.

David Williams

Bit of a change of mind on the conundrum? No objection from Nick.

David Williams

(9 x 7 - 5) x 8
Anything more than four numbers is making a meal of it.

And I assume he thought the conundrum was LITERALLY, buzzed, and realised his mistake. Not a true Hansford.

David Williams

Philip Wilson wrote: ↑
Mon Jul 24, 2017 2:12 pm
Also 100 x 6 + 25 x 10 - 4

And its mirror image 100 x 10 - 25 x 6 - 4
Dreadful tactical decision to risk SPOKIER in the last letters round. Nothing to gain, everything to lose.

David Williams

How many tributes to a 25th anniversary do you need in a single programme, particularly when there's a nail-biting series semi-final going on in the background? Rachel's bit at the end was fine - short, sincere and sufficient. Alternatively, if Susie really does follow Arsenal home and away, the Ars...

David Williams

875 = 50 × 7 × (8 − 6) × 5 ÷ 4
Maybe Rachel saw this late. Can't help thinking that multiplying by 2 and dividing by 4 is a sub-optimal solution.

David Williams

In a similar vein, I saw CORRALED a few days ago. If you look it up, it takes you to CORRAL, exactly the same as if you look up CORRALLED. The old print dictionary specifies CORRALLED, and the Introduction to the ODE says that if nothing is specified in the entry for the word, the correct version w...

David Williams

In a similar vein, I saw CORRALED a few days ago. If you look it up, it takes you to CORRAL, exactly the same as if you look up CORRALLED. The old print dictionary specifies CORRALLED, and the Introduction to the ODE says that if nothing is specified in the entry for the word, the correct version wo...

David Williams

So SLITTIER is a word in common usage but SLUTTIER isn't. Good to know.

I think Nick had sent his identical twin brother to this recording session. A really bad day for him compared to previously.

David Williams

It's one of those words that is always a blind spot for me. I saw it, probably wouldn't have risked the S. But it's perfectly valid.

David Williams

TOLERANT and BURPEES

Anyone else think that Berkan rather blagged one of those numbers games?

C2 25x6=150 150-9=141
C1 25x6=150 10-9/9=9 150-9=141

Using 10, 9 and 9 to make 9? Saves showing his solution. Particularly when the target was 142 and they actually needed to make 8.

David Williams

I'm not going to get into a discussion about Jeremy Corbyn, but deciding that because you think he's a bit crap you're going to vote for the Tories is a bit like saying that your bike helmet looks a bit old and might not work properly so instead of wearing that you're going to repeatedly smash your...

David Williams

As this one has rather run out of steam, the answers are

Anfield - Liverpool (something over a thousand times), Manchester United and Wales (but not England - or Everton!)

Racecourse Ground - Wrexham, Total Network Solutions and Wales

David Williams

Marc Meakin wrote: ↑
Sat Apr 15, 2017 10:51 am
Maine Road....City and United played there after the war plus maybe, England

How old do you think I am? And it's not Loftus Road, either.

David Williams

Jack Worsley wrote: ↑
Sat Apr 15, 2017 8:52 am
San Siro (AC Milan, Inter Milan and Italian national team) and Stadio Olimpico (Roma, Lazio and Italy)?

Much nearer home.

David Williams

Quiz question. Two different grounds, on each of which I've seen three different teams play a home game. There must be lots of example of three teams having used the same ground over a short period, but the only one which springs to my mind immediately for English professional clubs is Selhurst Par...

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