c4countdown

Howard Somerset

So far there have been 57 series completed. Full details are available for the final in every series except the first. Only in 21 of those series has the conundrum been crucial. Indeed, in 25 of the finals the winner has been determined before the last numbers round. And in one final, the result was...

Howard Somerset

Well done, Matt. I look forward to watching tomorrow's game.

Howard Somerset

Anyone else catch Richard on TV this morning? He was on a short 10 minute programme on Channel 4 which was about Carol Vorderman's mother. I only caught the end of the programme by chance as I was turning a video off. It was good to see Richard again. The programme may well be available for download...

Howard Somerset

I think that what makes betting as a DOND contestant different from other betting is that the contestant isn't able to have a second go. Personal circumstances of a contestant could well mean that getting £3000 could make a massive difference to that person's life. OK - getting £20,000 would probabl...

Howard Somerset

Looks good Charlie.
I'd seen it earlier today before this thread had been started, and had been finding my way around.

Howard Somerset

Good luck to all four of you.

Dave, have a good holiday.
Charlie, hope you manage to remember how to do the recap.
Matt, hope your debut goes well.
Dinos, hope you manage to impress your examiner.

Howard Somerset

That was probably the best numbers solution I've ever seen.

Yes, he was an octochamp, but lost in the series 34 semi-finals.

Howard Somerset

Was Carol giving away her true age yesterday? :) At the end of the programme she was talking about April Fool jokes that have appeared on television, and said that she liked particularly the spaghetti tree which was on Tomorrow's World in the 70s. In fact the spaghetti tree april fool was broadcast ...

Howard Somerset

I thought your losing score counts as well :D Joseph. You're quite right, Jason. A losing score does count as well. And because of this, it is quite likely for one player to have seven wins and then lose the final game, and yet have a higher points total than another player who wins all eight games...

Howard Somerset

I still did 112*8 but a slightly different 112 again: - ((25-(6/3))*5)-3=112 Almost the same as Conor's, just getting to 115 and taking off 3 rather than 110 and adding on 2 :-) Only watched this programme a few minutes ago in the nick of time before it expired on C4OD. And I went for your method J...

Howard Somerset

Leicester is no problem at all for travelling. Likely problem for me is a suitable date, as I'm away more than I'm at home during summer months. I'll wait to see when CoLei is to be held, and come if I can.

Howard Somerset

Not quite, Joseph.

Barry Smith has 7 wins and 648 points, and Richard Priest's points total is 516 after 5 games.

Don't know about seeds 6-8.

A seed table will probably appear on the Countdown Wiki sometime soon.

Howard Somerset

I've certainly enjoyed Anne Widdecombe this week. I agree, some of her jokes are old, and I'm sure that it's she who I've heard tell some of them before. But any criticism of Maggie, as she did on Thursday's show, goes down well for me, particularly when the criticism comes from a Tory MP.

Howard Somerset

Joseph Bolas wrote:Does winning this game make Richard the number #4 seed (I don't know all of his scores)?

Not quite, Joseph. He's still 52 points behind Barry Smith, but should overtake him on Monday.

edited - I missed one of Barry's games. Richard is still about 132 points behind Barry.

Howard Somerset

I think I go with the majority here. Geoffrey Durham used to be my favourite guest, that is until Paul Zenon came along. And again, as with others I dislike the spam email lists. I don't think I've yet heard a single one on the programme that I have previously received by email. But there are a few ...

Howard Somerset

Corby wrote:
dinos_the_chemist wrote:Its not all that bad. Sometimes to make things reeeeeeeeeeeally interesting they change the colour of the boxes.
Noel ate a banana once during the show as well. That was a particularly memorable episode.

I'm surprised you stayed awake long enough to see that.

Howard Somerset

That criticism of Des was quite unjustified back in the 2008s. Good to see the audience full of past contestants, and Des talking to them all about those things he said he'd talk to them later about. Des had probably planned this all along. What a shame it doesn't leave any time for MJ's monologue.

Howard Somerset

Holy crap, I can't believe that happened again :o Two great champs go out on one win... really hard luck to both. What a fantastic week it has been so far quality-wise :) Totally agree about this week's quality. And I've yet to watch Monday's game. Both Tuesday and Wednesday have been first class.

Howard Somerset

Nice to hear Susie talking about purple heads when defining TEASELS. Nearly made me choke over breakfast this morning.

Howard Somerset

Since Countdown was cancelled so that Cheltenham racing can be shown, now that the racing has been called off today what's the chances of getting some old Countdown highlights at 3:25 this afternoon?

Howard Somerset

The thing that gets me about dropping Countdown for sporting activities is Carol's inconsistent attitude to it.

For years, she's moaned about Countdown being taken off when C4 has decided to show cricket occasionally. But last year and this she's welcomed the break.

Howard Somerset

dinos_the_chemist wrote:Yeah I would have risked PATIOED. I'll make note of its valid anagram

I'd have risked PATIOED last Friday in round 8, but when I discovered then that it wasn't valid, I hope I'd have remembered and not risked it again today.

Howard Somerset

OMG, you're catching me fast. Happy birthday, Corby. Only half my age now. Just think, in another 33 years, you'll be two - thirds of my age. Getting closer all the time.

Howard Somerset

Thanks, Damien. I didn't get the DVD game two years ago, so will probably go for this one to see what it's like.

Howard Somerset

My guess is that it's an old one, and probably not worth going out of the way to get hold of. The publicity for it shows a picture of Des Lynam on the cover.

Howard Somerset

The offer is certainly in today's paper, but the the claim last Saturday that it would be free is a little misleading. Certainly, if I was prepared to walk 10 miles to the nearest WHSmiths and then back, then I could get it for nothing. The alternatives are 1. Drive to the nearest WHS, then pay £1 p...

Howard Somerset

Thanks for the link, Stewart. The paper itself suggested it would be Wednesday, as it was third in the list of offerings for next week. But the link says Tuesday. My two guesses for the way one gets the CD ROM both seem to be correct. Either buy the paper at WHS (no good for me as I have it delivere...

Howard Somerset

I've just seen that a Countdown PC game is going to be available free with The Times next week. I'm not sure what form it's going to be in, nor how people are going to get it. Today's paper includes a CD-ROM Monopoly game, and tomorrow's Sunday Times will include Scrabble. There's a comment inside s...

Howard Somerset

Probably the events that stick in my mind most, prior to the JFK assassination, were the death of King George VI and the Manchester United plane crash. The King died at the time of my 11+ exam, and I can still remember the look on my headmistress's face when she told us the news shortly after we'd c...

Howard Somerset

Can't add any more spoilers to what's already been said, but I do have a comment on this programme, having just watched it on 4oD - the first prog I missed while being away on hols. My comment is on Nicholas Owen's spot about the Duke of Buccleuch before the first break. The story was certainly ente...

Howard Somerset

I learnt to dive long before I learnt how to swim. This did mean that I used to have to have someone around to get me out for another dive.

I've now progressed to "not very well"

Howard Somerset

[ Is it the case that the different pronunciations of 'h' in the UK, that is, between the *aitch* pronunciation and the *h-aitch* pronunciation, reveal class differences or represent the North/South divide rather than religious differences? There was a letter in The Times only this month talking ab...

Howard Somerset

Conor wrote:Whoops, forgot to watch today's show because I was asleep. Is it on More 4 tonight?

Yes, it was. But my answer's obviously too late for you.
If you didn't catch it on More4, and don't like channel4 OD, you've still got a chance. Just stay up late on Wednesday evening at watch it on C4 at 5.20am.

Howard Somerset

Another here for brie.

Howard Somerset

At last I've got the "keep logged in" problem sorted on my machine. In spite of using Firefox, and making sure the "keep logged in " box was ticked, I was still getting logged out if i moved to another tab, even for only five minutes. However, clearing all cookies relating to the...

Howard Somerset

Anyway back to the game - today's challenger (sorry, can't remember his name) looks like a goody. He reminds me a lot of series 49 champ John Davies - I imagine he must, like John, have Asperger's or something similar - and is he blind in one eye as well? Before you all come down on me like a ton o...

Howard Somerset

I'm another who's only seen Susie's spot since she returned this week. I'd seen comments about it, but not had a chance to see any of them before. The two I've seen so far have certainly been worth watching. I support the reasoning behind having Susie between rounds 9 and 10, Damien. I can only assu...

Howard Somerset

Charlie Reams wrote:I believe Conor could be seen sniggering in his semi-final with Paul Howe, in which they got ERECTION and ERECTING respectively. This is the kind of thing we need more of on daytime TV.

IIRC, Conor had PLEASURE immediately following his ERECTION.

Howard Somerset

He's been doing that for 50 years! When was this?! Presumably when he was solely the Gamesmaster. :mrgreen: It was in the early 1950s. The first book I ever borrowed from my school library was one of Patrick Moore's first books. It concerned the subject which he still says interests him the most - ...

Howard Somerset

Paul Howe wrote:Yes, that about sums it up, although methinks you may have seen this before

Well, it's one of the many things that have interested me ever since I came across a young Patrick Moore, some years before he started his Sky at Night TV prog.

Howard Somerset

It's 366. The earth rotates on its axis once every 23 hours and approx 56 minutes. It needs the extra 4 minutes to continue rotating so that the Sun is in approximately the same place relative to it's apparent position on the previous day. All of those 4 minute chunks add up to an extra 24 hours, so...

Howard Somerset

Ginger Jono wrote:Maybe we'll do a seance where we all put our hands on Kirk's crotch to summon Howard's spirit.

My spirit will await that summons with keen interest.

Howard Somerset

I'll be away skiing, so wont be able to see you unfortunately. But I'll be with you in spirit. Hope it goes well. I look forward to reports of the show here.

Howard Somerset

Congrats, David. I've nearly seen all of your shows - expect to have seen them all by tomorrow - and have been impressed with everything. Hope you're enjoying the break before the finals.

Howard Somerset

I guess the upgrade's been done now. So here's my method. It probably takes less time to do than to read. My method starts by considering only the final digit of the primes involved. Any prime beyond 5 must end with 1, 3, 7 or 9. When we combine any two of our three, we cannot total a multiple of 10...

Howard Somerset

I looked at this problem during lunch today, and did work out a strategy which comes to a solution with not too much brute force or trial and error. Not time to give my method now, as the forum's due to go down in just over five minutes. I'll post again later when it's back up and running. Briefly, ...

Howard Somerset

No problem reading them here as they are now. In fact I find the font here makes them more readable than they were on the old yahoo group. So please don't adjust them.

Howard Somerset

a.m. or p.m. ???

Howard Somerset

Sad news indeed. Jeremy Beadle used to be a relatively near neighbour of my mother, and she often talked about him, and things he did for the community. Garry Glitter was another near neighbour, but for some reason she suddenly stopped talking about him.

Howard Somerset

I've just been watching Tuesday's game. I realise that my hearing is not quite up to the standard that it once was, but I'm convinced that in round 13, the challenger offered the unavailable word FETTER, rather than FATTER, and that Des repeated the word FETTER. Whether I'm right or not, it makes no...

Howard Somerset

I'm glad you decided to post your game against Mark T in the opening post of this thread, Kirk, rather than your game against me. I wouldn't have wanted other people here to have known that I only came up with a three-letter word in the first round I played. Nor that it took four rounds before I got...

Howard Somerset

Nice to see you here on the forum, Michael. And even better to see your run on the programme a week or so ago. Glad someone else calls it the wireless; you must be nearly as old as I am.

Howard Somerset

Had a great time. Thanks Ben for organising it. Thanks Ben's mum for catering for us. And thanks to all participants for your friendship. Here are just a few pics you might like to add to your collection, Ben. Others duplicate too much the ones you've already posted. Looking forward to the next even...

Howard Somerset

Corby wrote:I'll take Susie all day long.

Only the day? What about the night?

In my case I've voted for alternating them. They've very different, but each of them seems to add something to the programme.

Howard Somerset

I've just had a quick look at the programme in question, and can certainly confirm that the W in round 13 was differently shaped from the W in round 4. The W in round 4 is wider at the extremities. The W in round 13 has the same dimensions as the three Ms that appeared in other rounds.

Howard Somerset

Changing your vote should be no problem at all. Go to the top of the thread and put your green dot against another selection.

Bit fickle aren't you though. Changing your mind so quickly.

Howard Somerset

Only 24 lines? You must have one of those small screens.

Howard Somerset

I suggest at the very least it should be kept live, with a link to here.

Howard Somerset

If I'm preparing it myself, as I do most days. then it's boring old Weetabix, toast and marmalade, and black coffee.

If my wife's preparing it, just the same, except without the Weetabix.

In a hotel though, it's porridge, bacon and egg, with, as some others have said, mushrooms.

Howard Somerset

I voted for Paul, simply because he's left-handed, and and we kak-handed people need to stick together,

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