c4countdown

Fiona T

Rachel was holding a competition. At the end of a really long and incredibly narrow runway stood her shed, which for no particular reason was raised up about a foot on stilts and was coloured turquoise. Whoever amongst us bowled their ball (sorry Jono, I mean tenpin bowling not cricket stuff) down ...

Fiona T

Also happy to give it a go.

Also have no friends.

Fiona T

Tis weird what we humans have decided is "rude".

The rest of the animal kingdom has no such prudishness

Fiona T

Gavin Chipper wrote: ↑
Thu Apr 08, 2021 2:55 pm

Ian Volante wrote: ↑
Thu Apr 08, 2021 2:01 pm

Mark James wrote: ↑
Thu Apr 08, 2021 12:24 pm
The Blink 182 album title "Take off your Pants and Jacket" is a pun.
Can you explain it to me then?
It doesn't sound like it wants to be explained if it's what I think.

Ian is such an innocent little flower

Fiona T

This is hard to describe but what do you call it when you get a bit off skin off the side of your fingernail? I've asked some friends and everyone seems to have their own colloquial name for it. I've always called it a mitch. One friend calls it a ting and his girlfriend calls it a granny. What do ...

Fiona T

Stats and that are all very interesting, but shouldn't undermine what was a cracking all round performance. A huge max helps, but you've still got to spot the words!

Congrats Luke - it was a fun run to watch - I learned some new words, and I look forward to seeing how you get on in the finals!

Fiona T

Thomas Carey wrote: ↑
Wed Mar 31, 2021 3:36 am

Fiona T wrote: ↑
Tue Mar 30, 2021 8:07 pm

L'oisleatch McGraw wrote: ↑
Tue Mar 30, 2021 1:12 pm
~Has yet to break into the Pro-Ranks top 10.
Think he was 10th= a few months back, but lost 10th place because alphabet.
pro ranks is calculated to something like 11 decimal places, so the chance of an actual tie is v small

Ah ok - that's a no then!

Fiona T

L'oisleatch McGraw wrote: ↑
Tue Mar 30, 2021 1:12 pm
~Has yet to break into the Pro-Ranks top 10.

Think he was 10th= a few months back, but lost 10th place because alphabet.

Fiona T

Adam Dexter wrote: ↑
Tue Mar 30, 2021 3:00 pm
Felt for the challenger today - he could have done well against a regular person.

It's somewhat amusing - people feel sorry for the opponents who get obliterated, and they feel sorry for the opponents who give him a close game.

I think it boils down to feeling sorry for his opponents!

Fiona T

For clarity - Decisions about whether to allow fudged numbers games, handsforded conundrums etc have to be made instantly by whichever members of the team are on the call - we can't pause filming to have an off-air discussion. We've allowed stuff that in hindsight we shouldn't have on a few occasion...

Fiona T

AKETONS (and AKETON) is valid on Apterous. No sign on Lexico, so maybe an old word needing to be taken out? But there is a lesson in there. Always go for the least obscure available option. Edit - There's already an Apterous ticket to remove it. Google suggests it's a proper word, so maybe seemed s...

Fiona T

dogeship in R2
soutane in the aketons x round - very unlucky there Luke

missed the 9 tho

Fiona T

See if I can beat him with another 10 letter word today

Fiona T

OK - these are my personal views, not necessarily those of Paul or the rest of the team. When we started ZoomDown, perhaps naively, I don't think any of us even entertained the possibility that people might cheat. We certainly hadn't discussed a process for dealing with people suspected of cheating....

Fiona T

You forgot -

Susie - ZoomDown : 1

Fiona T

Philip A wrote: ↑
Tue Mar 23, 2021 5:27 pm
Never mind 1,000 club... his average is currently 138.333... which, over 8 wins, would put him in the eleven hundred club!!

Yeah, if only he'd got that 10!

Fiona T

Ignore that - wrong letters!

Damn - was pleased that that

Fiona T

MARTINGALE in r4

Numbers alt - (6+1)*9+25+50 = 138

More great stuff from Luke - at this rate we might see another member of the 1000 club!

Fiona T

1) all wonen have the same amount of eggs in their lifetime, ergo if you menstruate first at a young age you will have your menopause early. Is this a commonly held belief? I've never heard it. It is nonsense. There you are - debunked! With all due respect to yourself Fiona, you saying its nonsense...

Fiona T

Marc Meakin wrote: ↑
Sun Mar 21, 2021 8:15 am

1) all wonen have the same amount of eggs in their lifetime, ergo if you menstruate first at a young age you will have your menopause early.

Is this a commonly held belief? I've never heard it. It is nonsense. There you are - debunked!

Fiona T

The 'firm dressing down' comment was supposed to be a bit of banter, but if we must venture into tediousness, I have some tedious advice for you too. If you are keen to shake off the 'mumsy' image, cutting back a bit on the schoolmarmy stuff (see above) would serve you better than pretending to lik...

Fiona T

Yeah, I can't say I get the whole secrecy thing - but that's his choice - it's not really for you to announce to the world. Are you giving me a firm dressing down again Fiona? I do so love our little chats! :mrgreen: Firm dressing down? Lol. Just makes me a bit glum that you seem to care not about ...

Fiona T

Yeah, I can't say I get the whole secrecy thing - but that's his choice - it's not really for you to announce to the world.

Fiona T

I chose time travel. Obviously there's very different ways of like, how it works, depending on what film/tv show/book/whatever you're in, but the reason I picked it (which is very boring) is just so I could go back a few years and redo my life from thereon and make some changes, and then be able to...

Fiona T

I think it's actually really good that a "mystery" player has come along and taken the game by storm. It basically never happens now. All the really best players are on Apterous and known to be so. You're basically going back to Julian Fell for another debut like this. What name does he go by? Woul...

Fiona T

I'd have to think about the best one, but on the invisibility thing, maybe there's an assumption that people would just use it for perverted reasons. BUt it could be useful for e.g. listening to "top secret" meetings, like cabinet meetings. I think it wouldn't actually be very good on its own thoug...

Fiona T

I'm sure that those involved in medical care have training about what the appropriate language/questions are.

For the rest of us, it's pretty simple. We refer to someone as how they identify - no need to get hung up about genitalia.

Fiona T

There are a lot of suppositions in your post. The ZoomDown team do not believe that anyone deserves a public shaming. However, if any player feels they have been treated unfairly by the ZoomDown team, they are of course welcome to instigate their own public discussion - but IMO it's not for you to m...

Fiona T

Ashwin has withdrawn for personal reasons. But why reinstate Ruth? Is this another cheating (well suspected cheating) controversy that ye are trying to hush up? Ashwin has withdrawn. After some discussion, the decision of the team was to reinstate Ruth as Ashwin is no longer in the competition. I'm...

Fiona T

Ashwin has withdrawn for personal reasons.

Fiona T

There's probably quite a lot wrong me me - I dunno. But anyway, we've had a murder, and it's become about sexual harassment of women. It just seems a massive non-sequitur to me. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56368531 "The Met Police is to be investigated over its handling of an allegation of indece...

Fiona T

Jon O'Neill wrote: ↑
Fri Mar 12, 2021 12:27 pm
Catcalling of a woman by a man is only considered to be sexual harassment by 44% of people.

Out of interest, do you consider it to be harrassment?

As I previously said, it's so commonplace as to be uncommentwortyh - it is a normal part of being a woman. But it bloody shouldn't be.

Fiona T

Seriously it would be harder to believe that 97% haven't been harrassed. I'm an overweight middle-aged woman and I frequently get stuff shouted at me - especially out on my bike ("nice arse" etc) - it's so common as to be uncommentworthy. If you're out in town at closing time, and you're female, you...

Fiona T

While the case of Sarah Everard is indeed tragic (assuming the remains that have been found are hers), the media coverage of it can't go unmentioned here. Rather than being seen as a one-off murder, it's turned into a narrative of women not being safe in general, unsurprisingly headed by lunatic-in...

Fiona T

It's widely accepted that consuming 3,500 more/fewer calories = 1lb of fat gain/loss 1lb = 453.92 grams 100g of lard = 898 calories, so 1lb of lard = 4076 calories. So if I eat a pound of lard, I'll put on 1.16lb - how does that work then? I think the 3500 calories thing is a bit oversimplified, bu...

Fiona T

It's widely accepted that consuming 3,500 more/fewer calories = 1lb of fat gain/loss

1lb = 453.92 grams

100g of lard = 898 calories, so 1lb of lard = 4076 calories.

So if I eat a pound of lard, I'll put on 1.16lb - how does that work then?

Fiona T

There was one just a few years after I left. Went along with a mate - everyone else was really old - at least 40! - so we buggered off after about five minutes. Actually googling tells me that the "old girls' association" was set up in 1987 which was three years after I left, so it must have been pr...

Fiona T

Disgruntled. You cant be gruntled though I bet you were pretty gruntled when you came up with it! Turns out you can be gruntled. Not sure of the dis word i was thinking of I'm dismayed and disconsolate at the disruptive disdain with which you appear to regard this thread. The whole thing has left m...

Fiona T

Posted on apto, but duplicating here for good measure :) It seems that youtube has been over-zealously deleting comments from live chat while people are playing along. Googling doesn't offer any suggestions as to why this might be. But there is an 'approved users' section that we can manage - accord...

Fiona T

Happy birthday Graeme!

Q that came up in aptochat -

What percentage of players who have won n games go on to be octochamps?

So if you win 0 games then you've got 0% chance, to 8 games 100% chance, but what are your chances when you've won 4 or 6 or any other?

TIA

Fiona T

L'oisleatch McGraw wrote: ↑
Sat Feb 27, 2021 3:23 am
.. briefly amusing a handful of lads in their mid 20s...

And women in their early 50s

Fiona T

As well as many political opinions, I share a birthday with Tom Harwood. Which would be nice if I didn't have a huge inferiority complex. I guess it's time for me to decide whether I want to model my political views after Neil Kinnock or Lady Gaga Lady Gaga is deciding whether to adopt the politics...

Fiona T

Back tomorrow at 8 for the start of series 3

This episode sees Paul in the hot seat with Callum stepping in to host. Zubair will be hoping for a fourth win. Whatever happens, we have a great second game lined up too!

Hope to see you then

Fiona T

Documentary's good - really enjoyed it. Expected to find 80 minutes a drag, but it was really well put together and the time flew. Great job Paul.

But I've gotta shake off this mumsy image - it's not how I see myself! Gonna get HATE tattooed across my knuckles or something.

Fiona T

Also, I'll add that you can't just dismiss her Weakest Link "character". She may have had an edict to be a bit of a git on there - although she has said in interviews that she wasn't told do that and just found herself gravitating towards it over time, which, yeah, red flag right there - but there'...

Fiona T

Countdown currently uses two versions of Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO) for adjudication in the letters rounds on Countdown : > the Premium version, which can only be accessed via an annual subscription fee and is the one Susie Dent uses; > the free version, which since June 2019 has been branded...

Fiona T

Give her a chance I reckon. Agree that the "mean" act wouldn't suit countdown, but she's got a good variety of presenting history. The age thing is the most surprising - 74 is the same as Nick, but I guess at least it shows C4 aren't ageist. Will be interesting, but doubt she'll be there for the lon...

Fiona T

SPROUNTED in the underpost round

Fiona T

I suppose the bit I don't get is really the specific time/number based but of it. Obviously it makes sense to plan to do good stuff, do lots of it, and do it as soon as possible. But why isn't that enough? Why "100,000 tests a week by this time" or "everyone vaccinated by May" rather than "as many ...

Fiona T

I don't think it's clear that Marc was using the word "woke" as a pejorative. In my experience people tend to use that word as a self-identifier as often as it is used as a pejorative. I read Marc's comment as him referring to people he knows who describe themselves that way. Yep, fair enough - apo...

Fiona T

As a member of the Scrabble community,i can say those that I know are very much against it. There are a few woke people that are for it. Your argument would be more convincing if you didn't dismiss those who support the idea as 'woke' - they disagree with the prevailing view so they must be snowfla...

Fiona T

NOVATEUR in whichever round it was.

https://www.lexico.com/definition/novateur

NOUN

= novator.

There's no definition for novator...

Fiona T

ATOMIZES as a better alternative to SOMATIZE in round 1 and EASTERLY as a better alternative to LATERISE in the round with those letters (I'm not counting). Define 'better' :) My first thought was "that's a very useful alt for atomizes - it can take a D or S for a juicy 9!" (as indeed can laterise)

Fiona T

Congrats to Elliott, our numberists winner, and Callum our goat winner who even managed a bit of beardown! Great games, and thanks to all who entered those contests - the standard was jaw-dropping! You might like this puzzle posed by one of our viewers on the youtube chat - "There are only 761 words...

Fiona T

I agree on bars of soap. This is the 21st century. We've moved on. Aren't they generally made of tallow (animal product), Callum the vegan? Soap gets slippy. That's why the 80s had soap on a rope before shower gel was invented. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/MeuNJNldh-9kS7o46qOZb8Ujjs9ZFLf...

Fiona T

I don't mind reverse declarations. You can see this in many games in the past, I think Stelling did it as a matter of course. Even in the Gotcha, Whiteley asks the "wrong" player first on the DIARRHOEA round. Declaring second is a definite advantage. In my first game, I had a 6 or a dodgy 8. My opp...

Fiona T

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 ...

Fiona T

For balance

Can't beat Hawksmoor - not cheap but for a special occasion definitely worth it!

Fiona T

Look there's douchebags of all political persuasions, especially on the Internet. I just find this notion that the left are uniquely intolerant compared to the right is completely overblown. I wanna hear about policy proposals and what impact they will have on people's lives, not about someone gett...

Fiona T

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...

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