c4countdown

Gavin Chipper

Charlie Reams wrote:A decision was very deliberately made against this. Far too many conundrums are soluble in less than the 2 or 3 seconds you'd have to allow people to start typing the answer.

OK, but I think 3/4 of a second would probably suffice.

Gavin Chipper

They all work out from that what colour their eyes are??? That's clearly what you're driving at, so that is my answer. What do I win?

Gavin Chipper

Kirk Bevins wrote:You hope what will come in handy - the K or the knowledge that they are 3.5 inches of pure square?

Presumably the fact that, when in Susie's hands, objects look like they are of more inches.

Gavin Chipper

Yep, CountGen does 101-999 only, although as you rightly say, it's still potentially worthwhile to declare anything as low as 91. I have to say I think someone has changed CECIL without informing Damian, because 100 has not come up in any of the last 2484 numbers games, which makes it 93.7% likely ...

Gavin Chipper

I think that the way of pressing the first letter of the conundrum to buzz does give an advantage to typing geeks who know their way around a keyboard. My suggestion would be to press space to buzz but then you still have to type the conundrum immediately afterwards, so you would have less time to d...

Gavin Chipper

I don't know if you are after any suggestions Charlie, but I was thinking, would it not be possible to devise a scoring system where the points on offer depends on the number of players and where they come. For example, if there were 20 participants, first place would get 20 points and last place w...

Gavin Chipper

Gary Male wrote:You've got the twins the wrong way round, surely? Chas is the younger, so he can be born in August. Dave is older, he can be born in July. 1982 works for me.

I've just had a look at this, and I came up with the same answer as you.

Gavin Chipper

Gavin Chipper wrote:A couple of times in conundrums when my opponent has buzzed and got it wrong, some of the letters in it are replaced by dots which makes it rather difficult!

Does anyone else get this by the way?

Gavin Chipper

[any sensible person would choose to go second Given this, does tournament Countdown (not that I play it but if I ever became good I might) have to conform to what happens to be the current format on television? Couldn't a system be adopted with an even number of each type of round? I know this isn...

Gavin Chipper

Is there any need to say how many letters the other person has declared while you decide? I know it's more "realistic", but I think it's unnecessary and this game seems to be attempting to be more "objective" than television Countdown, and I see no reason to give each player this...

Gavin Chipper

A couple of times in conundrums when my opponent has buzzed and got it wrong, some of the letters in it are replaced by dots which makes it rather difficult!

Gavin Chipper

An invisible mode for those to want to look around but not play anyone without looking like they're avoiding anyone?

Gavin Chipper

How about a minimum time between selecting each letter? I like to write them down!

Gavin Chipper

Fair enough if you want people to donate before they can play the robots, but it might be an idea to have an option to play completely on your own (against yourself so to speak) before committing any money. This is because it would be nice to try out the game before committing any money, but withou...

Gavin Chipper

IMHO priorities should be: sorting out the conundrums (making the scrambles into word-forms like on TV, and having some way of making tournament conundrums be of an appropriate difficulty level) and having a challenge feature for disallowed words. How are the conundrums currently done? Are they jus...

Gavin Chipper

We used to have one of these polls for every series but we haven't had one for a while, so here it is. For reference, there haven't been any so far. And, in deference to the Spoiler Police, I'm not voting. But your subcinscious mind may have influenced you to make this poll as some sort of bragging...

Gavin Chipper

Kirk Bevins wrote:I never saw you as a pedant, Howard. I try and be helpful and at least twice on this thread I've had comments against the help.

I took the question as a genuine request for clarification.

Gavin Chipper

I don't know what I'm doing, but when I was entering my solution I think the time ran out (10 seconds isn't enough time Jono!) and a separate box came up which threw me completely.

Gavin Chipper

Fair enough if you want people to donate before they can play the robots, but it might be an idea to have an option to play completely on your own (against yourself so to speak) before committing any money. This is because it would be nice to try out the game before committing any money, but without...

Gavin Chipper

I think the ODE did a fair job this time. It clearly states that FUNNEST isnt acceptable in standard English. There are many terms in the dictionary that would not be used in standard English. It's not about whether they are used in standard English, but whether they are used enough to be in the di...

Gavin Chipper

Jon O'Neill wrote:

If you take this literally, it doesn't actually explicitly say that all one syllable adjectives can have _ER or _EST added unless otherwise specified. It can be interpreted as saying that where you can, it is regarded as regular and not listed.

Gavin Chipper

I meant the game of Countdown, but no doubt the Over-Analysis Police (led by Chief Inspector Gevin) will be on the scene any second. You've given tons away, namely that you win your first game with a solid enough 98, but slip to 83 in your second game but still win anyway and then lose your third g...

Gavin Chipper

Martin Gardner wrote:As Gevin points out you might see one and not the other, this is true, but it doesn't invalidate my point.

Yes, but your point about never needing to play MAINEST seemed to precede the general discussion about words that never need be declared in theory.

Gavin Chipper

Jason Larsen wrote:That's good to hear, Chris.

Most families have more than one Jon, so you were lucky to get an answer having provided so little information.

Gavin Chipper

Damian E wrote:They definitely won't be as good as yours Gavin. Even if they were, they wouldn't.

And even if they would, they weren't.

Gavin Chipper

We had an interesting debate on one syllable adjectives when a player had RIGHTEST disallowed and was later invited back to the show as a challenger again, but still lost (I think). I remember that. I like to think that it was because of us that he got another go. Another one that's allowed in Scra...

Gavin Chipper

Ross Allatt wrote:Got the numbers but after time:

((75 + 10) * 8) - (100/50)

I got that one in the time, but messed up the second one. Was anyone else shocked by the challenger's failure to get the final numbers? Yeah yeah I know studio pressure etc. but this was still an impressive miss!

Gavin Chipper

Jon O'Neill wrote:I'm sorry, but there were no good suggestions.

We've gone for Penny and Pippa. Lovely.

If that's what fits the template of "good" no wonder we didn't stand a chance!

Gavin Chipper

He reappeared for three posts in June having been gone for about two months, so I wouldn't be too worried as this provides proof that he is the sort of person that would disappear without being dead.

Gavin Chipper

Julie T wrote:I love Jo Brand's jokey made-up words.

But they're no better than anything that you could come up with at home.

Gavin Chipper

What's with the word "suite" or am I being stupid?

Gavin Chipper

What's with the word "suite" or am I being stupid?

Gavin Chipper

Damian E wrote:Edit to add............. i take your points on board. But not right now eh?

What about now?

Gavin Chipper

More interestingly, has anyone noticed that Wiltshire Farm Foods appear to have hired a witch for their latest advert? Her yellowed teeth and pointy features all suggest some underlying malice, but any doubt is dispelled by the shot of her pouring hot gravy onto a Yorkshire pudding while cackling w...

Gavin Chipper

I also find it annoying that "one's" requires an apostrophe even when it's functioning as a pronoun, e.g. "to put all one's eggs in one basket". I've heard someone else say that before. I don't find it annoying though. It's just an indication that it is not a "proper" ...

Gavin Chipper

I tend to agree with your thoughts David. Susie certainly seems to get help, like when she suddenly gets a word quite late on when she isn't even looking.

Gavin Chipper

If you say anything like, 3 over 4, you probably don't get any points. Do you? You won't. Obviously if someone says something like "200 * 3 / 4 = 150" then Carol would grill them about whether the 3/4 was in brackets or whether they meant 600/4, but I think the case would ultimately be ju...

Gavin Chipper

It's not a stupid question, but I think you (and most people) don't realise how much it costs me to keep the site up - currently around £160 p/a, and rising with each new domain name that I use. My subscription has come up for renewal and I can't afford that right now, so I decided it was time to r...

Gavin Chipper

Ben Wilson wrote:
Jason Larsen wrote:Would someone please give me an example of division resulting in a fraction?
3/4=3/4.

Brilliant.

Gavin Chipper

Damian E wrote:Negative numbers and fractions are not allowed.

Somebody once tried to be different by dividing 10 by 4 to make 2.5, but it was swiftly disallowed.

One wonders why he would do this if it's made clear in the rules.

Gavin Chipper

I was planning a slightly more organised announcement than this, but oh well. Both sooreams.com and the Countdown Corral are going away for a bit, with a view to a redesign and relaunch, hopefully in September. As a stopgap measure, I'm hosting a rather unsightly version of CountGen on apterous.org...

Gavin Chipper

Joseph Bolas wrote:Now that Countdown is back on, shouldn't this topic really be locked?

Why bother?

Gavin Chipper

Wasn't the last numbers game a shambles? Carol has an unfortunate habit of not bothering to listen to the contestant once she thinks she knows what they're going to say. It seemed to dawn on her that something wasn't quite right, but as the solution was pretty obvious she made a big point of saying...

Gavin Chipper

Dinos Sfyris wrote:
Michael Wallace wrote:(mine was similarly complicated, going for ((50-1)*5)+100-(75/25)).
I went that way too. Just seemed to leap out at me.

And me.

Gavin Chipper

Jason Larsen wrote:Talk about great timing! The first new episode of Countdown in a month airs tomorrow, as will Deal or No Deal start its fourth season!

That's wonderful!

But Deal or No Deal is rubbish.

Gavin Chipper

Was there a reason for the repeats rather than new Countdowns by the way? If so, I missed what is was.

Gavin Chipper

Martin Gardner wrote:It is an end of an era, but on the other hand Countdown's been lucky to have kept both of its presenters for 20 years and Carol for 6 years longer.

Richard died in 2005 so wouldn't that be both for 23 and Carol for 3 years longer?

Gavin Chipper

Jon Corby wrote:I do though, I do quizzes, we constantly play the quiz machine in the pub etc etc, it's exactly the kind of thing I (and people I've asked) should have known. It's really bizarre.

Don't worry about it - this was your one missing fact and now you know everything.

Gavin Chipper

David O'Donnell wrote:Isn't zany like CrazyLite? I mean they don't lock you away for being zany though they definitely should.

But you have to be the sort of person that uses words like "zany" to get on.

Gavin Chipper

Right, I've just emailed my application back. I cobbled it together from my past failed applications for Big Brother and X-Factor, so if you could ignore the bits about being "the next Mariah Carey" and "totally crazy but if I've got an issue with someone then I'll just tell them str...

Gavin Chipper

Joseph Bolas wrote:I can't remember if it was last Friday, but there was a skit of a children's game, that was based on the events of 9/11, which I honestly thought was crossing a line.

I enjoyed that sketch. Sorry.

Gavin Chipper

Maybe I'm being stupid, but how can you sign the form if you're going to e-mail it back to them?

Gavin Chipper

Julie T wrote:which is a whole different kettle of fish.

You've lost me there. Care to decode?

Gavin Chipper

David O'Donnell wrote:You are not the "you" so why should you?

Who is the "you"? I took it to mean "you" plural, but since you know differently, it must be you! What a detective I am.

Gavin Chipper

You could split the complex number between them. One of them could be 5 and the other 12i (thought I'd make a different one), but when you call them for their tea you shout "5 plus 12i!"

Gavin Chipper

Sorry to have recommended it folks. The 10 secs I saw in advance looked promising, the rest of the clip (about another 20secs) was shite. It was on early in the programme, I don't know if it returned later because I abandoned the show after 10 minutes :| I've watched the first few shows of this and...

Gavin Chipper

Though, who knows (probably a doctor), the only people I have met, with Asperger's, have had a fairly serious version of the disorder - more like Jeffrey - and have needed round the clock care. I would have thought those with autism may need round the clock care, but Asperger's is a milder form whe...

Gavin Chipper

Charlie Reams wrote:My first thought was "my my, he's a bit young." Then I realised it was Bradley Walsh and not Bradley Cates.

My first thought when I read that was "Who the fuck are Bradleys Walsh and Cates?!" Then I realised nothing and thought the same again.

Gavin Chipper

David O'Donnell wrote:There are quite a few people with Asperger's on this site - rather more than you'd think!

Is this based on your own diagnoses or other from the horses' mouths?

Gavin Chipper

PRONER and PRONEST should be in. Yes - the Coundown rules do make for some odd-sounding allowable words :) If an adjective is a single syllable, then the '..ER' comparative and '..EST' superlative are allowed, even if they're not specified in the dictionary. Hence, e.g. BADDER and BADDEST and GOODE...

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