c4countdown

Phil Reynolds

Jason Larsen wrote:Phil, you didn't have your beard then, did you?

True. And I was wearing glasses, carrying about ten extra pounds and was in colour.

Phil Reynolds

Jason Larsen wrote:I've seen two pictures of you, and you look very different in each one!
Why is that?

Because I am an unrivalled master of disguise.

Phil Reynolds

“Unquestionably, there’s a core of fans who are absolutely fanatical about [Countdown]. I discovered that in the first few days of recording the show but, by and large, they’re very supportive,” [Jeff] says. “One guy came up to me, who’d never met me before, and put his arms round me and said ‘than...

Phil Reynolds

Paul Howe wrote:Interesting insight into the selection process though, did you win any money?

No, despite the teaser at the start of my account of the experience.

Phil Reynolds

I do wonder how many instances there'll be of players not being sure their opponent does actually have what they say they have, but don't want to cause a fuss by questioning it. Good point. But then I regularly used to wonder that when watching Des O supposedly "confirming" that a numbers...

Phil Reynolds

I don't think it would be hard to dial Millionaire's contestant hotline It isn't. But that isn't what Clare (rightly) says is "stupidly hard". My own experience may be illuminating. Over the last ten years, I've probably spent many hundreds of pounds on the UK's Millionaire contestant hot...

Phil Reynolds

Personally, I think it's a bit more fair if they do it the old way because who knows if another contestant's opponent thinks their own word is acceptable? The passing of a contestant's paper to someone else in the studio is not done to judge whether a word is acceptable - it is only done for confir...

Phil Reynolds

Lesley, I already had an audition... and just heard, I passed. I'm going to be on the show! Congratulations Clare - keep us informed about recording and transmission dates etc. Oh and yes, everything on my website is true. If anything it's played down in mind of the fact that everyone and their par...

Phil Reynolds

I think it's worth repeating that writing down the letters in a blind duel is cheating. You're supposed to commit the letters to memory as they appear then disappear. Does that include committing them to short-term memory just long enough to enter them in the 'notes' box on screen? If so, I cheated...

Phil Reynolds

Jon Corby wrote:Rachel and I share the same birthday

Edit: Oh. Apparently not. Wikipedia lied to me

You need to consult Wikipedia to find out when your birthday is?

Phil Reynolds

Despite Countdown's cult, iconic status, it's clearly not a priority for S4C. [... By] the end of Feb S4C will be about a week behind and I've never quite sussed when they catch up. It certainly is frustrating. My mum has to watch it on S4C and, even though it's a pre-recorded show, gets annoyed by...

Phil Reynolds

PARENT + R = PARTNER

Still not exactly antonyms, but closer than most that have been suggested so far.

Phil Reynolds

I recall that in those halcyon days before Angus Deayton was sacked from presenting Have I Got News For You, he once introduced a whole string of episodes using anagrams of the title sent in by viewers. Two that stuck in my mind for some reason were

I VOTE YOU SHAG REF NOW

and

YOU HEAVING WOOFTERS

Phil Reynolds

Kevin Thurlow wrote:And everyone will have seen Britney Spears - presbyterians

Indeed, and another popular cultural icon with a religious scramble:

PEPSI COLA = EPISCOPAL

Phil Reynolds

I think most print dictionaries plough about the same number of lonely furrows, it's just an artefact of the statistical approach they use. Good point. I think I've been biased against the OED for about 30 years, since I found out that it prefers the -ize ending in words like realise etc. (Which in...

Phil Reynolds

Do you get the impression that maybe Susie rejected Brian's advances in the bar the night before?

Phil Reynolds

Jon Corby wrote:
Phil Reynolds wrote:camber is a verb as well as a noun.
Not in the ODE2r it bloody isn't.

One of countless lonely furrows the ODE seems determined to plough. My Collins English Dictionary, and three online dictionaries I just checked at random, all list it as a verb.

Phil Reynolds

Paul Howe wrote:Paul Stewart Howe = Throw up waste ale

I quite like WHALE TWAT POSEUR, regardless of whether or not it makes sense.

Phil Reynolds

Julie T wrote:[T]hought I'd mention a tip that I thought was obvious: When the duel is in a format that I haven't played or rarely played before, I play a custom game or 2 of it beforehand.

I frequently need the obvious pointing out to me, so thanks Julie for the tip.

Phil Reynolds

Martin Smith wrote:I declared 'cambering' for one of the Conundrums (Conundrae?) at my audition

Are you suggesting it was disallowed? It shouldn't have been: camber is a verb as well as a noun.

Phil Reynolds

Welcome, Clare. You're right - you do start thinking in anagrams after a while. As I observed when playing you on Apterous yesterday, 'Hi Clare' is an anagram of Charlie... Woke up at one point trying to work out whether SLANTIE was anagram of ALISTEN, neither of which are words (I think). Have just...

Phil Reynolds

Was it just me or did everyone involved seem slightly nervous and uncomfortable? Understandable in Rachel's case, but even Fern Britton wasn't her normal gregarious self. Her futile struggle to pronounce the word 'encyclopaedic' made her come across more like Judy Finnegan.

Phil Reynolds

Jeff Clayton wrote:The presenters explain how a hardcore DJ was hired to remix the music used in the rounds to give it a proper techno effect. The lady player cannot concentrate in her game and therefore ends up declaring just one.

Gyles Brandreth: I got FRANC for 5 and I wasn't even trying.

Phil Reynolds

Kirk Bevins wrote:
Kai Laddiman wrote: School good enough for ya?
Yeah, that's where I am tomorrow too.

Me too, unless I get moved on again.

Phil Reynolds

"More than half the contestants have already been knocked out". How can it be more than half? Either half are knocked out or if he means a further round, surely three quarters have been knocked out? Unless games are played simultaneously, players are knocked out one after the other. After...

Phil Reynolds

I read the article and have no idea of how Kai got on. Must have missed something. The article at one point mentions the name of a player in a particular game, and then says a couple of lines later: "More than half the contestants have already been knocked out". The latter statement, if t...

Phil Reynolds

Jon Corby wrote:It's quite amusing actually because the bit(s) that might hint at something are actually factually incorrect !

I wondered if they might be. (Love the juxtaposition "actually factually" btw.)

Phil Reynolds

Howard Somerset wrote:
Lucy Gowers wrote:I found the Richard/Kai match really difficult to call though. Reckon it will be a close one.
I had the same trouble. It was the only one I thought about for more than 5 secs.

I take it neither of you has read the Guardian article discussed in another thread then?

Phil Reynolds

Michael Wallace wrote:PRACTICAL --> PIRATICAL

That's a different game called Word + Letter - Letter, or did the pirates plunder the other C?

Phil Reynolds

My rating seems to have had a major boost today!

So does everyone else's.

Phil Reynolds

probably my stupidest risk on the show was DAPPERS* in my champion of champions first round, which I knew was bollocks from the moment I declared the seven (my opponent had a six). I'm still a bit gutted at having OUTLANDS^ disallowed in the subsequent game though. OK, so what's the difference betw...

Phil Reynolds

Dinos Sfyris wrote:
Charlie Reams wrote:Raccoon boy?
Interestingly enough I tried the pictured dessert during my stay in Paris and due to its ghastly taste I called it a cum caramel!

I sincerely hope you didn't try the one pictured...

Phil Reynolds

The new issue of Radio Times features Jeff Stelling in the 'One Final Question' feature.

Phil Reynolds

What is the attraction with the Weakest Link though? It doesn't occur to me that you have a particularly good chance of winning a huge amount of money, plus it's also kinda out of your hands because the best person quite often gets voted off at the end. Is it good fun? Easy to get onto? Can't speak...

Phil Reynolds

David O'Donnell wrote:
Phil Reynolds wrote:Are the circumflexes some kind of C4C code for "these aren't allowable words"?
Yes, they are indeed.

Thanks David. Are there any more bits of board-specific shorthand I should know about? Are they explained anywhere?

Phil Reynolds

David O'Donnell wrote:ULTIMATI^ and TRAINFUL^.

Are the circumflexes some kind of C4C code for "these aren't allowable words"?

Phil Reynolds

Kirk Bevins wrote:
Jon Corby wrote:
RACHEL RILEY + A = CHARLIE LAYER.

Since the person on the right of the arrow is Charlie, that only works if Charlie is in the habit of laying himself. Oh, hang on...

Phil Reynolds

I imagine chemists, for example, might often talk of a number of flasks containing the same chemical at different DILUTIONS. Fuck right off! Any self respecting chemist would talk about different molarities/(insert quantity calculus units here) Who said I was talking about self-respecting chemists?...

Phil Reynolds

Charlie Reams wrote:
Jon Corby wrote:
I guess the letter added is Y.

Actually, you don't need to add any letters at all...

RACHEL RILEY -> LAIRY LECHER

Phil Reynolds

GOD + O = GOOD

Phil Reynolds

Michael Wallace wrote:Charlie sleeps with men.

Phil Reynolds

Kai Laddiman wrote:

Makes a change from "eat my shorts" I suppose.

Phil Reynolds

Another mass noun thingy - I recently didn't risk DILUTIONS against Ollie Garner, settling for DILTION, and DILUTIONS was allowed yet DILUTION is a mass noun. I believe the spirit of the TV show's rules is essentially that, if a non-contrived sentence using the plural of a mass noun can be readily ...

Phil Reynolds

Before I plunge into today's Duel, can someone explain what 'Hypercountdown' is please?

Phil Reynolds

Homer Simpson, though you might have to add some code to check that he's not in the chair when Kai is playing to avoid allegations of nepotism.

Phil Reynolds

Jimmy wrote:Good topic so I thought I'd bring it back. I can't think of anything good myself though.

Charlie Reams: David Beckham

Golden boy of the game and the one most straight men secretly fancy.

Phil Reynolds

If you're partial to Mexican food you'd come across jalapeños and enchiladas quite frequently, along with other lovely words such as chimichangas, fajitas and quesadillas (unfortunately only one short enough to be found on Countdown). You have to be careful with it, too: I seem to remember someone ...

Phil Reynolds

Dinos Sfyris wrote:Could be just the game show for me... After Weakest Link of course. I film Feb 9th. Will let everyone know airdate then.

They aren't usually in a position to tell you the precise airdate on the day of recording - they'll phone you about a week before transmission to let you know.

Phil Reynolds

I was quite chuffed at getting FUSTIAN and ABALONE in this game yesterday, although the first wasn't a max and neither is especially uncommon. I think it's just an ego thing of being pleased with myself for having a wide vocabulary and having an opportunity to use words that aren't often useful in e...

Phil Reynolds

Paul Howe wrote:It's funny (well it made me giggle) because Santa sounds like he's stopping himself from saying hell even though he's just sworn far more grievously.

Yes, but why do you appear to have photographed the screen through a turquoise net curtain?

Phil Reynolds

The article is here. It makes interesting reading, especially finally getting to hear Damian's take on the whole Carol debacle. And I think Kai should change his avatar to a picture of Bart Simpson.

Phil Reynolds

Oliver Garner wrote:
Lee Simmonds wrote:Not sure why but this morning when I went in there were no robots available to play and no daily duel.
I have this problem as well.

Me too.

Phil Reynolds

Were the repeated Conundrums in Thursday's Duel (PUBLICISE and another one that I can't remember now and the site's down so I can't check) deliberate?

Phil Reynolds

Joseph Bolas wrote:What picture did they use?

Presumably one of these. I think the third one from the end is my personal favourite.

Phil Reynolds

Here is the third installment [sic] of the Countdown Scattergories game. ... 4. Check that you have spelt your words correctly before submitting. Rule 4 obviously doesn't apply to the competition itself. ;) On a less pedantic note, there is nothing in the rules about how to submit entries. I presum...

Phil Reynolds

Jason Larsen wrote:Junichiro Koizumi? That really doesn't sound all that uncommon!

Jason, you're a funny guy!

Phil Reynolds

Dan Vanniasingham wrote:I conveniently made some food, missing most of the clip for observation

Wow - how long was the clip? (Or did the food preparation basically amount to boiling a kettle and pouring the contents into a polystyrene cup containing dried pasta, sawdust and monosodium glutamate?)

Phil Reynolds

Jason Larsen wrote:One of my old math teachers said, "You should never put a 0 in front of a number." She was absolutely right!

She was absolutely wrong. Octal constants in many of the most widely used programming languages would be impossible to specify otherwise.

Phil Reynolds

Sometimes the insertion of a DC word into the template dialogue has an outcome that is truly felicitous: http://home.philreynolds.org.uk/ass5.jpg OK, I admit - the above 'screenshot' is a reconstruction, as I realised how apt* Richard's line was a nanosecond after I'd clicked Done to close the windo...

Phil Reynolds

Kirk Bevins wrote:(Assuming "gunpoint" means "really close")

An assumption based on what exactly? According to my (admittedly non-ODE2r) dictionary:

gunpoint n 1 the muzzle of a gun. 2 at gunpoint. being under or using the threat of being shot.

Search found 3329 matches