c4countdown

Phil Reynolds

Ker-ching! I thought that one might prove elusive because Googling the name doesn't reveal anything helpful (at least not in the first page or two of hits), but Googling "stephen pickering countdown" does the job. As, of course, does searching for the name on the wiki.

Phil Reynolds

JimBentley wrote:6 is maybe Phil's Top 4 Countdown Hotties?

Haha. You fell for my deliberate red herring.

But no.

Phil Reynolds

Pizza tonight. Finished making the dough about 15 minutes ago and, as I type, it's sitting under my desk in a cloth-covered bowl next to the fan vent of the PC. 8-) When I uncover it in half an hour or so it'll be a big ball of elasticky, stretchy loveliness ready to chuck on the baking stone and wh...

Phil Reynolds

Mark James wrote:10 is clearly: Phil Reynolds saw my anteater Ra, hair my famous carpet.

No, but points duly awarded for a Quite Interesting answer.

Phil Reynolds

Thomas Carey wrote:I'm pertty sure 9 is [...]

Almost - you're thinking along the right lines, but being too specific.

Phil Reynolds

Eoin Monaghan wrote:Got 1)

Well done! Perfectly apostrophised too.

Phil Reynolds

Bob De Caux wrote:Cracked the code for 1)

Answer for the Macmillan quote is:

ar aan: 'eve ha it so ood'

Clue is alphanumeric extremes

Ah, cool. So within each word you find the letters that are nearest the beginning and end of the alphabet, and then omit any other letters in that word that lie in between.

Phil Reynolds

Brian Moore wrote:Any translation of what they were saying afterwards? I've no idea how they could just talk normally after that.

Imagine if Graeme Cole had been in the car.

Phil Reynolds

7) The phrases are mnemonics for the first notes in national anthems. a) G,E,C,E,G,C is Star Spangled Banner (USA) The others don't seem to be obvious ones, so anyone who has a piano and a knowledge of national anthems can probably help here! Oh, excellent - well spotted. Armed with that knowledge,...

Phil Reynolds

Everyone else seems to be posting quizzes so I thought I'd set one of my own. No prizes, just have fun and feel free to post answers in suitably spoiler-defying colour. I'll post definitive answers and award VFSMBs on Christmas Eve. All the answers are related to Countdown , C4C and/or apterous in s...

Phil Reynolds

Wow. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself because I'd got 8b and 9a.

Phil Reynolds

as far as the piss-up goes, it also applies to "random nobodies who've managed to blag their way in" They've gone very strict on this now. Chris Davies was at the after-party for Ed's series for a little while, but this time round they were very firm on the point that it was only for cont...

Phil Reynolds

Mark Deeks wrote:Quarter finalists get that too. So do backup contestants.

Fair point. In fact, as far as the piss-up goes, it also applies to "random nobodies who've managed to blag their way in".

Phil Reynolds

On this subject, and with a little bit of bias present, I think you should get a prize for being a losing semi finalist. Nothing great, like. But at least something. A standard class return rail fare to anywhere in the country. A book token. Lunch. I dunno, something. How about return rail fare to ...

Phil Reynolds

These are ones I've got but feel free to solve them for fun (or confirm my answers): 9) 364 G M T L G to M in T in the 12 D of C 364 Gifts My True Love Gave to Me in the 12 Days of Christmas 11) 14 O by G and S 14 Operettas by Gilbert and Sullivan (Operas would probably get you the point) 13) 0 P 0...

Phil Reynolds

#7 is Four Inns of Court: Lincoln’s Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple and Gray’s Inn

Phil Reynolds

I thought of a question for the show. Just thought I'd post it here to see what people think. How would a meeting of David Ike [sic] followers, 54, a lost continent and a gangster rapper in the top left corner, tell you who's playing. Hmm. I wouldn't have got it anyway, but it didn't help that unti...

Phil Reynolds

James Robinson wrote:When Graeme went behind, I thought "Surely not!!!"

Picture. I. Did. Not. Want. In. My. Head.

Phil Reynolds

Seconded all that's been said. A truly nail-biting last couple of rounds, a well-deserved win for Graeme, genuine grace in defeat from Carl and a marvellous tribute to Jeff. Oh, which reminds me - that wasn't MWM in the audience at the start was it, holding up the last letter of UNBELIEVABLE about h...

Phil Reynolds

This made me smile.

Phil Reynolds

Jon Corby wrote:If anyone was gonna blow Deeks's semi, my money would have been on MWM.

May I remind you that there's a queue...

Phil Reynolds

And with the 5 second gap when SLOPPED was declared, Carl didn't even look down at his notes. Here for the record is Carl "not looking at his notes" at the moment in question: http://philreynolds.org.uk/c4c/slopped.jpg When you don't like a player it's all too easy to assume every hesitat...

Phil Reynolds

Matt Morrison wrote:"I don't really like Carols" - I remember enjoying that at the time. Well slipped in, Rachel.

She actually said "I'm not a big fan of Carol's" which works even better.

Phil Reynolds

If you like this guy, you'll probably like Sam Tsui and Mike Tompkins who are just a couple of the seemingly shedloads of people who are impressively good at this sort of thing. Hmmm, they don't really float my boat I'm afraid. I can appreciate the technical skill of what they're doing, but their p...

Phil Reynolds

Remember this guy? for me, this one beats the "32 songs" medley hands down [...] I find it hard to imagine that anyone's day won't be brighter for watching it. Well, he's still doing some insanely talented multi-tracking , at home, on the same red sofa. Oh, and he's released a rather serio...

Phil Reynolds

Matt Morrison wrote:I read the Wikipedia page as "torn" rather than "tom" (obviously)

You need to consult Wikipedia to find out what a male cat is called?

Phil Reynolds

Matt Morrison wrote:Genuinely quite pleased with this one. I think it's a lot more doable and cleverer than my first attempt whilst (hopefully) still being a bit of a challenge:

http://www.puzzgrid.com/grid.php?id=1651

Torn?

Phil Reynolds

Joseph Krol wrote:8. Benedictine

Where in the UK is there a town named Benedictine?

Phil Reynolds

7/10.

Phil Reynolds

Mark Deeks wrote:Always up for some nosh

Suddenly, I'm interested.

Phil Reynolds

Michael Wallace wrote:Million Pound Drop Live

Oh for crying out loud, can't believe I didn't twig - been watching the frickin' thing all week. Last night's was a stonker - two consecutive couples lost the entire million on their first question, including one who couldn't even be bothered to read it properly.

Phil Reynolds

Quite a fun little game though, although this clearly MPDL-inspired user-interactivity stuff still feels a bit like some old guy somewhere saying "hey! you know what's cool? these 'socialising networks! the kids really like them!". I've no idea what MPDL means, and Google, Wikipedia and A...

Phil Reynolds

Most annoying misfeature is when you only have a few seconds left, the question comes up, you know the answer... and then the time runs out before the multiple choice answers appear, so you lose.

Phil Reynolds

Jon O'Neill wrote:Is there any point in leaving when you're behind? Seems a stupid question to ask.

I suppose you might hope that your opponent runs out of time and gets stuck in the vault.

Phil Reynolds

Anyone else had a go at this yet?

http://www.channel4.com/bankjob

I'm reynolph if anyone comes up against me in a tournament game...

Phil Reynolds

kiwi jam is horrible I'd imagine any sort of endangered flightless bird boiled up with sugar to make a sweet preserve would be pretty disgusting. Anyway, the best proper jams are raspberry, blackberry and blackcurrant. Strawberries aren't tart enough to balance the sugar and you end up with a sickl...

Phil Reynolds

Joe Swash?

That was three years ago, Morrison. Dougie Poynter is the man.

Phil Reynolds

I heart Dougie Poynter.

Phil Reynolds

Julie T wrote:A repeat of Dinos's appearance on Weakest Link is on BBC2 as I type.

It should go on to BBCiplayer and be there for a week.

Marvellous - just watched it courtesy of the 'Catchup TV' feature on our lovely shiny new BT Vision box. My previous comments still apply.

Phil Reynolds

Rhys Benjamin wrote:In the Telegraph it says:
...something to do with a Labour right playing her...

I thought Meryl Streep was playing her. Did the Telegraph say anything else, perhaps something that made grammatical sense?

Phil Reynolds

Good luck 0/10. :cry: Didn't manage to get any of the groups within the time. I guessed "scents" as the link for the aromatherapy oils one, which was as close as I got to any of them. GUM is a bit dubious I'd say - I've never heard it used to describe the wood of the gum tree, and the onl...

Phil Reynolds

OK Morrison, suck on this.

Phil Reynolds

Matt Morrison wrote:Keep it up Phil! Have to say I found that one bloody easy.

Yeah, and I see my first one's been downrated again too.

I was quite pleased with some of the crossovers in this one though, which hopefully confused you for a few seconds at least. I'll make my next one hard just for you. (Leave it...)

Phil Reynolds

Just as a bit of an aside, I went to the flicks the other night and they were trailering a movie called "The Iron Lady" with Meryl Streep as Maggie and Jim Broadbent as Denis. Thought it would be interesting to see how history's been written here. Pretty much what you'd expect, according ...

Phil Reynolds

I've done another one. This could become mildly addictive.

Phil Reynolds

I'm completely bewildered by an argument that states a job where a condition of employment is at minimum a vocational degree is "low-skilled". You might recall that Craig tends to have his own private definition of certain words (e.g. indistinct ) that are shared by no one else (and certa...

Phil Reynolds

Craig Beevers wrote:Most nurses are just doing things that almost anyone could be trained to do. That makes it low-skilled

Sorry, you're saying that being trained in something doesn't make you skilled?

From the OED: skilled (of work) requiring special abilities or training: a highly skilled job

Phil Reynolds

Clive Brooker wrote:Medium?

I initially rated it "easy" - it's since been upgraded.

I've probably embarrassed myself by describing this as "hard"

We've all been there.

Phil Reynolds

Matt Morrison wrote:whack it up on Puzzgrid and I'd love to give it a go!

#1619

Phil Reynolds

It's that time of year when new issues of Radio Times come through the letterbox thick and fast, as the publication schedules are accelerated ready for the big Christmas double issue. The December 10th-16th issue arrived today, and I bring you the exciting news that Monday December 12th on BBC4 is O...

Phil Reynolds

Wow. Amazing sometimes what unexpected treasures Google leads you to. After posting that WWTBAM remix, I found myself wondering what became of my fellow contestants from 2002. Turns out the dentist that won £64,000 was, at the time, making fraudulent claims to the NHS, subsequently prosecuted and se...

Phil Reynolds

Most of us are quiz show nuts in one way or another, and recently some idle youtubing made me realise that that 'gameshow themes' is a surprisingly rich seam of musical awesomeness. Particular exciting are the 'extended' versions you can find, such as Going for Gold , which is everything you'd expe...

Phil Reynolds

Yeah, thanks Jon and Jono. Was pretty surprised at people not understanding the concept of "finals" vs. "final". Fair enough, but I think if someone offered me "X Factor finals tickets" without any other qualification I'd jump to the conclusion that it was for The Fina...

Phil Reynolds

Matt Morrison wrote:I am now in possession of 4 tickets to the X-Factor finals on Saturday December 3rd

Er, that's the semi-final. Someone's fobbed you off.

Phil Reynolds

Lesley Hines wrote:You only need a CRB check if you're going to be on your own with children.

Not true. Enhanced CRB checks are mandatory for anyone who is regularly involved in supervision of children, regardless of whether other CRB-checked adults are present.

Phil Reynolds

BTW, I don't recommend going to see a sitcom recording - far too many retakes. I've always enjoyed them, just as a chance to observe the process of how what you see in the studio translates into what ends up on screen. Plus as I hadn't been to [Riverside Studios] before I needed to know where the n...

Phil Reynolds

Julie T wrote:excema

Julie T wrote:exczema

Julie T wrote:exzema

Keep trying, I'm sure you'll hit on the right combination of letters eventually, if only by accident.

Phil Reynolds

3 tickets to Russell Howard's Good News TOMORROW 22/11/11 at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith. I thought it was probably a bit short notice for anyone to be interested. No-one replied, so I cancelled the tickets. Not short notice, just rather a long way for us to travel on a midweek evening. If I see...

Phil Reynolds

Back in DC for his 7th stint is my personal favourite, "The Joke Machine Gun" Tim Vine. ;) :) :D :mrgreen: 8-) Although how he can top this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qcUXN7--Ew , from his last appearance will be interesting. Oh wow. Tim plays a Casio MT-40. Nostalgia attack. All thr...

Phil Reynolds

Bad news, James. If the new Radio Times (OLMAA) is to be believed, next week the Beeb are moving on to repeats of series 4.

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