c4countdown

L'oisleatch McGraw

- Nines only come up in 7% of rounds, compared to 34% where the max is eight and 41% where the max is seven (according to apto) - A single eight can be the most useful word in many different rounds. - You can play sevens and eights even when they're not the max, although my doc doesn't account for ...

L'oisleatch McGraw

So, are we still loving Colin in Nick's chair? I was mostly onboard until Monday's episode where some doubts arose. In that episode he did these things... ------------------------------------------- 1. Gave a stern "pens down" instruction to the challenger in one of her first letters rounds, then pr...

L'oisleatch McGraw

The main reason I'm not a vegetarian/vegan is, and I know this sounds shitty, the convenience. Was going through this thread silently eye-rolling, till I saw this clanger. No-one ever has to apologise for not being vegan. The opposite, ...maybe, if e.g. it makes hosting a dinner party more awkward ...

L'oisleatch McGraw

I voted "No" on gay marriage Just to slightly deviate from the topic at hand, might one enquire why you voted "no"? No problem. I was ashamed that same sex marriage was being pushed for, that it made its way onto the political agenda, and very disappointed that many gay people were campaigning for ...

L'oisleatch McGraw

I understand that the best way for someone to learn these would be to go through the list from top to bottom in whatever sorts of chunks seem manageable ...however not everyone likes to do it that way. If you were to learn the words in chunks of 100 by letter count (so "Essential nines Vol. 1" being...

L'oisleatch McGraw

- It's just me that works on this - I update the lexicon and run a new simulation whenever Apterous publishes its dictionary changes. Well, the replies that have come in since, have me convinced that it is currently as near perfect as it needs to be... So I can put to bed any lingering reservations...

L'oisleatch McGraw

I do have empathy and sympathy for Rhys. The lockdown is tough and I hope he has decent support. But I also think changing his politics would be a benefit to him as well as everyone else and would be an additional step to him feeling better. Well I disagree with that. If we all shared the same poli...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Splitting hairs Everything I've written in the last few days on this thread is about splitting hairs. This is a near perfect resource, and fair play to Rob (and anyone else involved) for making it. Is it perfect? No. Will it ever be perfect? No. Why be an arsehole and point that out? Because I thin...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Doing a little more nerding around this... I listed 20 (more problematic imo) nine-letter words from both our lists in order of playability, and then checked how often each word had appeared on Countdown, and on Apterous. I then listed 20 nine-letter words in order of playability that were in the To...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Ian Volante wrote: ↑
Wed Jan 20, 2021 12:54 pm
Would it make that much difference? I'm not sure.

Hey, it's an Ian Volante of this world!

Probably not a massive difference, no...
Though there have been quite a few of ye in the last 10 years.

L'oisleatch McGraw

I spent this evening getting to grips with your word list... and I have some observations to make. What I am about to write may not be of great relevance, but in case I have stumbled upon something useful that could help you, I am sharing. Back in 2017 I made my own nerd list in preparation for goin...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Thank you. I am not familiar with excel. I didn't tick the relevant box... and may have done other things wrong, not sure. But it is working now. By the way, I don't know if this is any use to you for future editions, but what I did was included Column A when resorting the data, then added a new col...

L'oisleatch McGraw

The Ian Volante's of this world, might help increase that percentage slightly - if their non-octo contribution from their original series is now stricken as they have subsequently attained Octo status?

L'oisleatch McGraw

If I sort the document by Word length (i.e. Column D), so that it lists all the 9s first, the the 8s etc; the data in columns O and R disappears. Is there a way to sort it that way without that happening?

L'oisleatch McGraw

I'd like to nominate this thread for c4c dispute of the year. ffs! :oops: Those comments aren't getting deleted any time soon, are they? :lol: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As far as GOTY is concerned, I am far too lazy for the nominations st...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Haha, your post was unreal, Gevin.
If it gets deleted, you'll to go back down to 10,127.
Robbo will be hot on your trail...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Obviously it is up to the admins themselves, but I see nothing constructive in the last 5 comments on this thread. They bear little relevance to the topic at hand. Might be best to delete them. My initial one was in error, and the rest are just a car crash of fumblings, awkward apologies and a gener...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Yes, you are right. My mistake. It looked to me like an unnecessary dig at Ronan for nomming his own games... but that's not what it was. Apologies, Elliott. For what it's worth, these weren't all nominated by Ronan. I suggest you take care in the future before making assumptions like this and perh...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Yes, you are right. My mistake.
It looked to me like an unnecessary dig at Ronan for nomming his own games... but that's not what it was.
Apologies, Elliott.

L'oisleatch McGraw

Just putting down a marker... 9Rers = 19 years, 45 series. (1982-2001. S1-S45) Old 15Rers = 12 years, 23 series. (2001-2013. S46-S68) New 15Rers = 8 years, 16 series. (2013-now! S68-S83+) As far as longevity is concerned, New 15 has yet to earn its stripes, but for me is the best incarnation of the ...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Elliott Mellor wrote: ↑
Sun Jan 10, 2021 6:02 pm
List of games nominated that didn't make the top 3 of GotW:
Ronan Higginson 190 - 0 Apterous Prune
Ronan Higginson 138 - 0 Apterous Prune

Was there a good reason to include this list or is it just Elliott being Elliott?

L'oisleatch McGraw

Mark James wrote: ↑
Mon Dec 21, 2020 2:09 am
People who go on about 2020 being a shit year as if 2021 isn't also going to suck.

2021's going to have a Eurovision, so it's already winning!

L'oisleatch McGraw

Peak bardcore!

L'oisleatch McGraw

Marc Meakin wrote: ↑
Sun Nov 29, 2020 10:58 am

Conor wrote: ↑
Sat Nov 28, 2020 5:25 pm
People who say 'The Rona' to mean Covid-19.
It's a bit better than Wuhan Flu

No-one's ever gonna top "Kung-flu"

L'oisleatch McGraw

Did anyone else find the Zoomdown Semi-Finals that little bit more entertaining than the S82 semis on telly?!
Well played all!

L'oisleatch McGraw

But don't dare pretend any offence I take from your "principled" use of the word isn't real. I have edited out the emotive and anecdotal material*, as it is not relevant to the context in question. I am not pretending anything, and my original use of the word wasn't out of any principle at the time...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Alright, I read the recent replies that came in... and it is mostly hot air and bluster. Graeme taking a cheap shot about my character? Come on man, you are better than that. And Adam just here for the pile-on, lol, without properly engaging with what's been written. fyi Fiona outed herself, and the...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Well, that makes sense to me. Racism hurts people. Cunts don't hurt anyone. Probs worth quoting. Yeah I've just noticed that the previous posts in this thread are over ten years old. Attitudes can and do change, and most people today accept that those extremely racist terms should be used with extr...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Ok, this is a going to be a bit uncomfortable, and truth be told, it's something I'm not particularly keen to write about, but there is a point of principle involved, so here goes. Cutting straight to the point, I think one of the mods of c4c (Jack Hurst) has made a poor call regarding a censorship ...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Just need two players now! Who will they be? My guess: Callum vs Jack. Callum v Jack would be a great game, but one which would only be possible in an SF this series given that they are seed's 2 and 3 :) Oh yeah, d'oh! Well, I suppose I'd better try again. I'll go Rob vs Jack then... ...though the ...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Paul Anderson wrote: ↑
Fri Dec 11, 2020 7:32 pm
Just need two players now! Who will they be?

My guess: Callum vs Jack.

L'oisleatch McGraw

Seems a non-issue to me, and something Fred shouldn't have had to defend himself over. Had the decision been to include this particular non-racist word among the maxes, it would be a non-issue. That it was omitted, makes it an issue, and raises more interesting questions. (The lengthy discussion th...

L'oisleatch McGraw

The thing is, if you're a random outsider, you've got to do more than just want the job. You've got to put yourself out there and convince people you're serious - not a couple of jokey comments on the forum, but actually put your pride on the line, risk being laughed at, and tell TPTB that you want...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Seeming as the name Mark Deeks has been put forward a few times, check out the closest thing we currently have to a screentest for him.

So, verdict?
Can you picture him as host one day?

L'oisleatch McGraw

Pretty sure there were odds available for both Ned Pendleton and Tom Barnes to be named host when Jeff quit? It's not the most, um, robust market to be pinning any sort of hopes on. (Obviously, because Mark wasn't on the list.) Paul's a more credible option than random Toms, Deeks, or Neds who may ...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Callum Todd wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 09, 2020 6:45 am

L'oisleatch McGraw wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 09, 2020 2:24 am
Obviously I'm backing Mark Deeks ahead of both of them.
Whaaat?!
That's rideekulous!

L'oisleatch McGraw

What do we think the chances of someone like Paul Anderson actually getting this job are? Rachel did not have a broadcasting background when she was selected for the arithmetician role... Would ratings really suffer if the new host was not an established celeb of sorts? I'm not convinced they would....

L'oisleatch McGraw

... so they may end up going down the token diversity route. Why "token" ? Because the novelty factor would be the determining factor in the appointment. Tokenistic filling of diversity quotas is happening a lot in the entertainment industry (particularly the US). I'm surprised the trend has manage...

L'oisleatch McGraw

I LOVE that Carol is 2nd fave here!
Bring on the triumphant return of Vorders to the fold.

Also in favour of (in order of preference):
Richard Osman
John Barrowman
Moira Stuart
Eamonn Holmes
and of course the only Apterite who made the shortlist, Sean Fletcher!

L'oisleatch McGraw

Fred needs no apology, Fiona. I didn't call him a name. Just because you wuss out or chicken out of something, it neither makes you a wuss nor a chicken. I wuss out of things all the time... (like declaring "PANNIER not written down" in my CD QF, for example) Though having read Fred's ridiculous "I'...

L'oisleatch McGraw

the fact they've played over 1000 letters rounds by now (I think) and this is the first time such a debate has come up (I think) shows that this is going to happen rarely enough that no policy is needed and in-the-moment decisions can be made. Agree with pretty much all of what u said there. The qu...

L'oisleatch McGraw

BEN: Have you been involved in the world of Scrabble much lately? Part of the reason that NASPA took the decision to remove slurs, is due to the burgeoning popularity of Scrabble live streaming. It's become very advanced over Twitch & YouTube and they are getting thousands and sometimes tens of thou...

L'oisleatch McGraw

I’m quite triggered at the suggestion we don’t know what we’re doing 🤔 How could that possibly trigger you? Of course you don't know what you are doing! Everyone knows this. :) You are hobbyists on a learning curve... The show is getting slicker all the time, but none of you have qualifications in ...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Looking through my games, I noticed SPOUSE was censored. Like what is ZD's agenda against marriage? I'm sOooO tRigGerEd Lol, totes hilair, Bradders. (Sarcasm works best when there is some intelligence behind it, keep that in mind for next time.) The games you refer to are from the infancy of Zoomdo...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Maybe other like-minded people share your moral code, but why should it be imposed on the majority? What on Earth makes you think you're in the majority here? Know, not think. When John Chew pushed through a "Naughty list" whereby certain 'offensive' words were blacklisted in the US version of tour...

L'oisleatch McGraw

As for the offence point, most Countdown people I think hear the syllables of CUNTIER being read out and think of it as an amusing word. The cat's arse thing was funny/charming. Hearing the syllables of PACKIES being read out isn't associated with much fun or frivolity to me and I predict the same ...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Risk causing offence?
Not only did ye have CUNTIER said out loud in S1, but ye went on to have it included as part of your "Highlights of Zoomdown" package, along with a close up of a cat's arse?

Odd.

L'oisleatch McGraw

What was the deal with PACKIES in the last episode?

Usually ye list all maxes, but in that round just the other two (COOKIES and OOPACKS) were mentioned. Was that just Fred wussing out of it for his own personal reasons, or is it Zoomdown policy to censor certain valid dictionary words?

L'oisleatch McGraw

Marc Meakin wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 03, 2020 12:01 am
This show is too white.

Hold on a sec. This is the sort of racism that people are cool with, right?
It's hard to keep up.

L'oisleatch McGraw

The third part of the "Irish Countdowners" trilogy is online now.
Potential future Octochamps.

L'oisleatch McGraw

So sorry... Much of this is my fault. It was an official FOCAL event. The appropriate fee was paid on time etc etc. In the FOCAL fb chat, I discussed with Jeff about updating the website and the twitter etc, as there was tumbleweed blowing through it, and no mention of Waterford at all. We agreed th...

L'oisleatch McGraw

In light of the 18-11-2020 daily duel, I wonder which apto daily duel had:
a) the most 1st places awarded
b) the greatest percentage of 1st places awarded (if different)

?

L'oisleatch McGraw

Part 2: It's grim up north!

L'oisleatch McGraw

"Eoin Jackson and Fiona T have played each other in 23 games, with Eoin Jackson winning 8 games and Fiona T 15 games" - pretty poor record against a woman in a permanent menopausal fug. ;) You hardly want me to stop goin' easy on u? :? I thought it was the gentlemanly thing to do... (To be clear, I...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Fiona T wrote: ↑
Sun Nov 08, 2020 6:51 pm
Yeah it's fine to assume that women's moods are entirely at the mercy of their hormones, and of course it's OK to equate a man who's a bit grumpy to a menstruating woman, because we all know that menstruating women are incapable of rational thought.

All fair points.
I knew you'd come around.

L'oisleatch McGraw

Well I don't know how far in advance the conundrums are chosen, but BRIGANDRY was a toughie, especially against two new contestants! It is better that there is an element of randomness to the Con difficulty (except for in the finals when they are harder by design). It is possible to over-egg the pu...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Not sure how you would incorporate the up-to-the-minute stuff like ZD, Twitter etc in a show that's recorded months ahead Actually, your bringing up of Twitter in there reminds me of a bugbear I have with the show. Twitter gets mentioned A LOT, especially from Rachel in the pre-game chat with Nick....

L'oisleatch McGraw

Fiona T wrote: ↑
Sun Nov 08, 2020 12:00 pm

L'oisleatch McGraw wrote: ↑
Sun Nov 08, 2020 6:51 am

Is it your time of the month?

The '80s called - they'd like their misogynistic tropes back please.

Does 2020's PC culture now try to deny that PMT exists?
Interesting. I'm not gonna go with that particular denial of reality if it's all the same to you.

L'oisleatch McGraw

Great post. Take your wish list as granted. But then, run the show. 12 hours, costume, makeup, scripts, sound, lighting, teasers, conundrums, scoring, DC guests content, set problems, 8 cameras, all done as live. Then resign. Odd unprovoked whinge. Is it your time of the month? This thread is in no...

L'oisleatch McGraw

Well, if it weren't for Co:Wat?! the number would be 1 or maybe 2, but here's what I've got:- MY HOUSE : 1. Hazel 2. Antoinette 3. Mark M 4. Robbo 5. Eddy 6. Brendan 8. Alan S 10? (Elaine G.) 11? (Sean L) PARENT'S HOUSE : Hazel 9. Jessamine 12? (George D) 13? (Roger S.) SEVERAL LATE 90's GAFFS : 7. ...

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