Search found 146 matches

by Paul Erdunast
Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:02 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Which words are the most useful to know?
Replies: 92
Views: 36126

Re: Which words are the most useful to know?

I would be willing to bet that in games in Apterous where each player is 1500 rated or higher, the player that spots a 9 goes onto win at a significantly higher percentage than 87%. I'd make the same bet for players within 200 rating points of each other. On reflection, I think this bet would be a ...
by Paul Erdunast
Mon Mar 01, 2021 2:09 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Which words are the most useful to know?
Replies: 92
Views: 36126

Re: Which words are the most useful to know?

Sorry to bump. I've worked with Rob using his spreadsheet previously (which is imo one of the best resources for letters round learning). A few observations, mostly on the usefulness of 9s, which I'd suggest should be higher than is currently valued: 9s importance There are a few reasons why I think...
by Paul Erdunast
Sat Feb 09, 2019 1:26 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Countdown Resources
Replies: 1
Views: 2202

Countdown Resources

Countdown Resources is a website created in the aftermath of the Champion of Champions series. I wanted to leave something to the Countdown Community given that I'll be on much less now. I realised that in-depth tips and knowledge of Countdown technique have not been turned into articles available t...
by Paul Erdunast
Tue Jan 08, 2019 10:06 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Tuesday 8th January 2019 (COC XV, game 5)
Replies: 14
Views: 10124

Re: Spoilers for Tuesday 8th January 2019 (COC XV, game 5)

It was always gonna be a 50/50 game decided by fine margins. My gamble that HISTONE was less likely to pluralise than noshiest^ was to be a valid word didn't pay off. RELEASOR beat me all ends up, and that's how tight games fall. I was pleased to have a good moment in picking for and getting AUTODYN...
by Paul Erdunast
Thu Aug 30, 2018 7:13 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 8 August 2018 (Series 79, Prelim 31)
Replies: 25
Views: 14641

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 8 August 2018 (Series 79, Prelim 31)

It seems so. It's also invalid on Apterous, which surprises me, since you'd expect Apterous to more rigidly follow the rules For the avoidance of doubt in future shows, we've decided from now on that ALL 1-syllable adjectives can be extended with -er and -est, even though it'll be difficult to unde...
by Paul Erdunast
Tue Jul 10, 2018 3:50 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Which words are the most useful to know?
Replies: 92
Views: 36126

Re: Which words are the most useful to know?

This is really great!
by Paul Erdunast
Thu Jun 21, 2018 6:51 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Marked irregular plurals taken down en masse?
Replies: 2
Views: 3582

Re: Marked irregular plurals taken down en masse?

Ah thanks so much. Makes much more sense now.
by Paul Erdunast
Thu Jun 21, 2018 3:39 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Marked irregular plurals taken down en masse?
Replies: 2
Views: 3582

Marked irregular plurals taken down en masse?

I’ve noticed a few words which had irregular plurals specifically marked, eg THALAMI, KNEIDLACH, a few -um endings becoming -a in the plural, no longer have those plurals in. Have Oxford Dictionaries simply taken them down en masse? Have they taken them all down? Are they marked in the premium versi...
by Paul Erdunast
Sun Jul 30, 2017 10:48 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Best ways to improve your Countdowning skills...
Replies: 23
Views: 14303

Re: Best ways to improve your Countdowning skills...

Here's a broadly finalised version. Please let me know if you have any comments, suggestions or encounter any issues.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... -DnWnNaAx8
by Paul Erdunast
Thu Jul 27, 2017 10:13 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Best ways to improve your Countdowning skills...
Replies: 23
Views: 14303

Re: Best ways to improve your Countdowning skills...

I've now completed the list, although it's not yet absolutely perfect. Please let me know if you'd like it!
by Paul Erdunast
Wed Jul 26, 2017 4:06 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Best ways to improve your Countdowning skills...
Replies: 23
Views: 14303

Re: Best ways to improve your Countdowning skills...

Yo I'm compiling a complete list of words, using the newly updated dictionary, ranked according to their usefulness, so you can simply learn the words in order. Hoping to get it done tonight. pm me if you would like it, with your email address. I'd also be very interested in your feedback on its acc...
by Paul Erdunast
Wed Jul 26, 2017 4:01 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Curious about the CD recording process
Replies: 28
Views: 16741

Re: Curious about the CD recording process

I was 2-6 - this sounds like it is a thing.
by Paul Erdunast
Fri Dec 23, 2016 6:22 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday 23rd December 2016 (Grand Final)
Replies: 11
Views: 5418

Re: Spoilers for Friday 23rd December 2016 (Grand Final)

Congratulations Martin on the win and excellent play throughout - a more than worthy successor :)
by Paul Erdunast
Sun Jun 26, 2016 11:15 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Grand Final Spoilers For Friday June 24th 2016
Replies: 11
Views: 4196

Re: Grand Final Spoilers For Friday June 24th 2016

Thank you very much all for the kind comments! As mentioned before, Ann was an incredible opponent, and a fantastic person and Countdowner. I'd say MYOGLOBIN is the better spot as it's more "natural" a spot - one doesn't learn it as a word game word, as it were. But I'm very flattered if p...
by Paul Erdunast
Sun Jun 26, 2016 11:10 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Wednesday June 22nd 2016
Replies: 13
Views: 5420

Re: Spoilers For Wednesday June 22nd 2016

Thanks very much all for the kind comments again! Conrad had me bricking it here... really didn't fancy the crucial. And as he said, another 10 seconds and he'd have got it. I considered that method but never had the time to properly look for the right numbers to make it work. Conrad getting KATIPO ...
by Paul Erdunast
Sun Jun 26, 2016 11:05 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Monday June 20th 2016
Replies: 13
Views: 4731

Re: Spoilers For Monday June 20th 2016

Incredible game and a real testament to Ann's mental strength to come through this and get the conundrum. I instantly regretted being in the local Salford department store for the morning and missing this classic... Tim also showed how incredibly well he'd come on from his octorun to push Ann so har...
by Paul Erdunast
Sun Jun 26, 2016 11:00 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday 10th June 2016
Replies: 11
Views: 4037

Re: Spoilers for Friday 10th June 2016

I guess now all's been said and done I might as well comment on all of the ones I would have commented on, on the day. Thank you very much for the kind compliments! Tony was a really great guy on the set and behind the scenes. I was very nervous at the start, but I'm not sure it affected my play tha...
by Paul Erdunast
Fri Jun 24, 2016 11:38 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Countdown mentions on other shows
Replies: 315
Views: 136975

Re: Countdown mentions on other shows

Apparently one of the games was on gogglesprogs tonight? I'll let someone else expand...
by Paul Erdunast
Fri May 27, 2016 9:39 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Thursday 26 May 2016 (Series 74, Prelim 76)
Replies: 6
Views: 2609

Re: Spoilers for Thursday 26 May 2016 (Series 74, Prelim 76)

I believe this breaks the record for the longest period that anyone has stayed on 0 for?
by Paul Erdunast
Tue Apr 19, 2016 10:00 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday 15 April 2016 (Series 74 Prelim 52)
Replies: 4
Views: 1975

Re: Spoilers for Friday 15 April 2016 (Series 74 Prelim 52)

The best compliment for a great game on here is very few posts telling you how you could have done it better. This is a fine example of that.
by Paul Erdunast
Thu Mar 10, 2016 8:00 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Thursday 10 March 2016 (Series 74, Prelim 34)
Replies: 11
Views: 4308

Re: Spoilers for Thursday 10 March 2016 (Series 74, Prelim 34)

Very well played there. LONGUEUR in the LOUNGER round
by Paul Erdunast
Tue Mar 08, 2016 12:24 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Thursday March 3rd 2016 (Series 74 Prelim 29)
Replies: 8
Views: 2930

Re: Spoilers for Thursday March 3rd 2016 (Series 74 Prelim 29)

US Dictionary is ok; US spellings aren't (see donut). This confused me for a while. Both RAILBEDS and BEDRAILS are valid.
by Paul Erdunast
Tue Mar 01, 2016 9:35 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: COREA16 - Saturday 26th March 2016
Replies: 20
Views: 14255

Re: COREA16 - Saturday 26th March 2016

In please!
by Paul Erdunast
Sun Feb 28, 2016 11:51 am
Forum: Countdown - Current recaps
Topic: Tuesday 23 February 2016 (Series 74, Prelim 22)
Replies: 1
Views: 1203

Re: Tuesday 23 February 2016 (Series 74, Prelim 22)

Bang on - I was indeed going for GLIOMATA
by Paul Erdunast
Wed Feb 24, 2016 8:13 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 24th February (Series 74 Prelim 23)
Replies: 4
Views: 1780

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 24th February (Series 74 Prelim 23)

Very bad luck with that final vowel pick in the last letters round Paul -- you were of course fishing for a U, and I fully expected you to get one as there hadn't been any in the two rounds previous either. A bit like how I fished for an E in game 2 for NEOPLASIA with the current selection at PIANO...
by Paul Erdunast
Wed Feb 17, 2016 4:33 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 17th February
Replies: 11
Views: 3237

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 17th February

ESSAYED in the SUEDES round. Also, in my opinion, the decision made on SUEDES was "It's not in, but you get the points anyway." Yes, but in the brochure they give contestants, there is a dictionary guidance section which gives the classes of noun which may be allowed on Countdown even tho...
by Paul Erdunast
Wed Feb 10, 2016 10:01 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 10 February 2016 (Series 74 Prelim 13)
Replies: 16
Views: 4251

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 10 February 2016 (Series 74 Prelim 13)

ENMASKED is listed as valid on Apterous. Sigh. It is valid indeed. ENMASK an alternative spelling of INMASK, but the search bar doesn't find ENMASKED. Susie should always check the non-inflected word. I don't understand this at all - if you've spent even a little bit of time on the ODO since its ma...
by Paul Erdunast
Mon Feb 08, 2016 11:54 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Monday February 8th 2016
Replies: 7
Views: 3198

Re: Spoilers For Monday February 8th 2016

Would you allow PARIGOTS... and more importantly would susie allow it?

Intenders/indenters
by Paul Erdunast
Sun Feb 07, 2016 10:09 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Is Apterous down? [DO NOT POST IN THIS TOPIC FOR ANY OTHER REASON]
Replies: 604
Views: 307547

Re: Is Apterous down?

Looks like it's down?
by Paul Erdunast
Sun Feb 07, 2016 11:19 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 3 February 2016 (Series 74 Prelim 8)
Replies: 5
Views: 1777

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 3 February 2016 (Series 74 Prelim 8)

Managed three beaters in the first two rounds...haven't got further in the game. MANOAOS :D
by Paul Erdunast
Sat Feb 06, 2016 12:47 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 683600

Re: Ask Graeme?

Wouldn't that unfairly discriminate in favour of strong numbers players in the new 15 era and strong letters players in the old 15 era, to have a conversion chart 'blind' to letters and numbers round differences?
by Paul Erdunast
Fri Jan 22, 2016 6:53 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: CoC Grand Final Spoilers For Friday January 22nd 2016
Replies: 69
Views: 19156

Re: CoC Grand Final Spoilers For Friday January 22nd 2016

Superb game - METACONID was a fantastic spot by Dan - I missed it. Dylan played a pretty much perfect game - I missed EULOGIST too - the numbers and conundrum work were top top drawer. I hate to be negative on such an occasion but I'm afraid it has to be done. To a small extent, some of the games ha...
by Paul Erdunast
Wed Jan 20, 2016 2:11 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: CoC Quarter-Final 4 Spoilers For Tuesday January 19th 2016
Replies: 11
Views: 4549

Re: CoC Quarter-Final 4 Spoilers For Tuesday January 19th 2016

REPOURING is a new entry to the dictionary which is why Dan and Mark weren't sure. It was a good risk though - those sort of silly but half-reasonable words are mostly now in...
by Paul Erdunast
Mon Jan 18, 2016 11:27 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: New -IZE words, whose -ISE variants come up blank in the search tool and are not specified
Replies: 33
Views: 9605

Re: New -IZE words, whose -ISE variants come up blank in the search tool and are not specified

I totally agree Rob. For the majority of the examples in Graeme's link (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/ize-ise-or-yse), Oxford Dictionaries has said you can't use the Z because "-ise is part of a longer word element rather than being a separate ending in its own right." For ones l...
by Paul Erdunast
Mon Jan 18, 2016 12:53 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: New -IZE words, whose -ISE variants come up blank in the search tool and are not specified
Replies: 33
Views: 9605

Re: New -IZE words, whose -ISE variants come up blank in the search tool and are not specified

Update: I asked Countdown about these and they said they would be disallowed (though each word would be judged on a case by case basis). While all ISE can be IZE, it doesn't work the other way round.
by Paul Erdunast
Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:03 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: CoC Preliminary 3 Spoilers For Wednesday January 6th 2016
Replies: 21
Views: 5267

Re: CoC Preliminary 3 Spoilers For Wednesday January 6th 2016

Great quality game, vwp to both. Doubt I'd have seen the 9 in the studio. Was chuffed to spot ISPAGHUL in r12.
by Paul Erdunast
Mon Jan 11, 2016 11:15 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here
Replies: 417
Views: 115805

Re: Post your audition/filming/transmission dates here

Filming 1st Feb and, if I make it, 2nd Feb.
by Paul Erdunast
Sat Dec 19, 2015 12:38 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Friday December 18th 2015
Replies: 22
Views: 6185

Re: Spoilers For Friday December 18th 2015

Despite the hansfording I thought John played it in the right spirit. Always smiling, cracking jokes. Very well played matthew. Addictive was a brilliant spot. OUTLINEAR as an alt to uranolite/tile
by Paul Erdunast
Wed Dec 16, 2015 7:57 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Wednesday December 16th 2015
Replies: 12
Views: 2896

Re: Spoilers For Wednesday December 16th 2015

MAISEYS/MAYSIES as alt spellings of MAISES
by Paul Erdunast
Fri Dec 11, 2015 12:23 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Plurals of new unmarked Latinate words
Replies: 9
Views: 5175

Re: Plurals of new unmarked Latinate words

If the plural isn't specified, then you just apply normal English plural rules, as much as you may expect otherwise from the origin. So add S or ES, or -Y -> -IES. If it points to a mass noun without being listed as a mass noun, I'd expect it to be disallowed, but it's a grey area. OPALINES iirc ha...
by Paul Erdunast
Wed Dec 09, 2015 12:52 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Plurals of new unmarked Latinate words
Replies: 9
Views: 5175

Re: Plurals of new unmarked Latinate words

Great post Rob I agree with all of the above except that GOINTERED* isn't about semantics really; it's about possible grammar, and tenses. It's not about the meaning of the verb (the matter of going) but the actual tense that the word is in, and whether the tense that the inflection would put the ve...
by Paul Erdunast
Wed Dec 09, 2015 1:22 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: New -IZE words, whose -ISE variants come up blank in the search tool and are not specified
Replies: 33
Views: 9605

Re: New -IZE words, whose -ISE variants come up blank in the search tool and are not specified

To make things more confusing: MINORIZE doesn't appear to have the -ISE variant anywhere http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/defin ... h/minorize. This would be a pretty useful verb...
by Paul Erdunast
Wed Dec 09, 2015 12:31 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Plurals of new unmarked Latinate words
Replies: 9
Views: 5175

Re: Plurals of new unmarked Latinate words

And would this pluralise at all? http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/defin ... h/relaxion - see "=relaxation" which is a mass noun?

Similar: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/defin ... h/melitose
by Paul Erdunast
Tue Dec 08, 2015 1:33 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: New -IZE words, whose -ISE variants come up blank in the search tool and are not specified
Replies: 33
Views: 9605

Re: New -IZE words, whose -ISE variants come up blank in the search tool and are not specified

I suppose it's because PAGANIZER is a separate entry, and it's one of those new crappy entries that isn't proper. Yes - so would Susie see behind it, or have instructions to automatically allow any -ISE declaration if -IZE is in and vice versa? If not, it's gonna get extremely confusing and interna...
by Paul Erdunast
Tue Dec 08, 2015 1:07 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: New -IZE words, whose -ISE variants come up blank in the search tool and are not specified
Replies: 33
Views: 9605

Re: New -IZE words, whose -ISE variants come up blank in the search tool and are not specified

It gets weirder with PAGANISER because PAGANISE/S/D are allowed alongside the Z version, so it's even more arbitrary that PAGANISER wouldn't be allowed:

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/defin ... #pagan__14
by Paul Erdunast
Tue Dec 08, 2015 12:58 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: New -IZE words, whose -ISE variants come up blank in the search tool and are not specified
Replies: 33
Views: 9605

Re: New -IZE words, whose -ISE variants come up blank in the search tool and are not specified

Yeah - it just seems a bit strange that something ending in -IZE wouldn't be allowed in -ISE. Even if not specifically in there.
by Paul Erdunast
Tue Dec 08, 2015 12:57 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Plurals of new unmarked Latinate words
Replies: 9
Views: 5175

Re: Plurals of new unmarked Latinate words

Thanks - my thoughts too.
by Paul Erdunast
Mon Dec 07, 2015 10:22 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: New -IZE words, whose -ISE variants come up blank in the search tool and are not specified
Replies: 33
Views: 9605

New -IZE words, whose -ISE variants come up blank in the search tool and are not specified

There are a few new ODO words like http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/paganizer?q=PAGANIZER which don't have the ISE variant specified. When you search for the ISE variant you get http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/spellcheck/english/?q=PAGANISER. Others: PATINIZE So Susie wouldn't ...
by Paul Erdunast
Mon Dec 07, 2015 10:17 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Plurals of new unmarked Latinate words
Replies: 9
Views: 5175

Plurals of new unmarked Latinate words

TEGULA http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/tegula?q=TEGULA is an established dictionary word with Latin background, and its plural is specified as -ae. PAENULA http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/paenula?q=PAENULA is a new entry with Latin background, but has no spe...
by Paul Erdunast
Sat Nov 28, 2015 4:23 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoliers for Friday 27th November 2015
Replies: 6
Views: 2247

Re: Spoliers for Friday 27th November 2015

When else has the conundrum been a word with 2 anagrams where you have to get the other word? Don't think I've seen that before except from teatime teasers
by Paul Erdunast
Sat Nov 28, 2015 12:10 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Thursday 26th November 2015
Replies: 6
Views: 2870

Re: Spoilers for Thursday 26th November 2015

I've been very impressed with James. Doesn't miss much.

EXTROPIAN
by Paul Erdunast
Sat Nov 21, 2015 12:01 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 18th November 2015
Replies: 20
Views: 7554

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 18th November 2015

Congratulations Matthew, very well deserved. The other contestant seemed the loveliest man. Gweilos was the 7 in the gospel round.
by Paul Erdunast
Thu Nov 12, 2015 12:04 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 11 November 2015 (Series 73 Prelim 91)
Replies: 16
Views: 4742

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 11 November 2015 (Series 73 Prelim 91)

Jambeaux and adductor superb spots. I just had beaux to Tonys jamb :p

Demiurge was one of the 8s, which I hit.
by Paul Erdunast
Tue Oct 20, 2015 12:21 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: The restaurant rule
Replies: 17
Views: 3781

The restaurant rule

Just watching an old series of countdown and dictionary corner was discussing whether ravioli could be pluaralised, deciding that it couldn't be becaus it was already plural. The plural isn't allowed on apterous. Would it be allowed on countdown under the restaurant rule, since you can have two ravi...