c4countdown

Fiona T

It's fine - there's a singular definition [IN SINGULAR] archaic A relish or liking: he had a particular gusto for those sort of performances It's fine. It can be pluralised because there's an "IN SINGULAR" specification. Got to love the logic! Yeah, I'm with you. Not sure that logic is co...

Fiona T

It's fine - there's a singular definition

[IN SINGULAR] archaic
A relish or liking:
he had a particular gusto for those sort of performances

Fiona T

My problem will be the age old Scrabblers problem on Countdown, risking Scrabble 7s and 8s Works both ways - scrabble club last week had EGILOT? in my rack. Having been stung by RIGOLET before, I went for ALIGOTE. Got challenged off. So went for GOLDITE next turn. Got challenged off. Unsurprisingly...

Fiona T

Gavin Chipper wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 1:35 pm And I don't think you're much older than me

I'll take that

Fiona T

My problem will be the age old Scrabblers problem on Countdown, risking Scrabble 7s and 8s Works both ways - scrabble club last week had EGILOT? in my rack. Having been stung by RIGOLET before, I went for ALIGOTE. Got challenged off. So went for GOLDITE next turn. Got challenged off. Unsurprisingly...

Fiona T

yeah it's like the x% of y = y% of x thing - very obvious when you think about it, but took someone to point it out!

Fiona T

Gavin Chipper wrote: ↑Fri Sep 30, 2022 10:21 am "Young person" or "young people" like it's some sort of title, rather than a general vague description of someone. As in "I'm a young person" rather than "Yeah, I suppose I'm quite young".

What's the cut-off? Can I self-identify?

Fiona T

I'm sure everyone knows this but I only just twigged...

If you've got a multiple of 11, then you can reverse the sum -

so 77 x 9 = 99 x 7 , 44 x 3 = 33 x 4 etc etc...

Whole new number skillz unleashed!

Fiona T

How are we feeling about Sally Lindsay replacing Richard? Is she permanent? I'd got the impression there would be a succession of guest Richards. But I think she's OK - a bit awkward but not terrible and if permanent will settle into it nicely - right sort of humour. I remember Sue Barker when she ...

Fiona T

Gone up £2 since yesterday then - probs best book sooner rather than later - but double what it was 2020

Fiona T

Yep looks that way

https://www.apterous.org/ticket_view.ph ... 625#p61842
https://www.apterous.org/ticket_view.ph ... 624#p61841

Both Ray and Philip ticketed it for removal in 2018, and both said it was clearly marked as a mass noun.

Edit: Have ticketed its addition

Fiona T

Saturday Countdown! I did ((10+5)*6-8)*9+5=743 in the third numbers (round 9 or whatever) - in the time as well! PELAGES was deemed acceptable by Susie (though not declared by a contestant), but it's not on Apterous. Presumably a borderline mass noun but Lexico doesn't exist any more so I'm shootin...

Fiona T

Been getting some dodgy game ads recently. (now is when Jack tells me they're based on cookies...) Interesting. I don't specify exactly which ads appear, but I do have some control over blocking specific things. Feel free to direct message me more details or a screenshot. Neil sends picture of &quo...

Fiona T

L'oisleatch McGraw wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 10:35 pm
Fiona T wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 7:11 am Yeah, I've been asked to be a reserve
Congrats!
If you get to play it will be quite the coup given that you're at best 30th in line for one of 16 places!

Just call me Holly Willoughby

Fiona T

I presume there will be a travelling reserve in case someone doesn’t show up or has to drop out - any idea who that is? Yeah, I've been asked to be a reserve (not confirmed yet whether "travelling"?) I believe at least two others declined before I was asked, but delighted to be involved e...

Fiona T

Note this is really Monday 19th September's episode which was not broadcast on the day. Seeing this episode and watching Rachel Riley doing the twist I can kinda see why someone might have deemed it inappropriate. What is *really* inappropriate though is that all the date references will be out of ...

Fiona T

Methinks someone has been trolling the trolls

Fiona T

Yes, I know the draw now. It was shared, but the person who shared it did not say it was secret and did not ask me to keep it secret... so there's no real reason why I should. But they shared it privately? I assume private stuff is not for me to publish publicly unless I ask the person who shared i...

Fiona T

So the whole queen dying/funeral thing seems to have revived religious fervour. I've become more and more sceptical about religion, and whilst I'm happy for people to be free to believe what they want to believe, I'm increasingly uncomfortable with the role of religion in state and politics. I'd lik...

Fiona T

The draw for this has been leaked. One anyone care to publish it, or shall I do the honours? If one of the contestants has put it in the public domain, then link to it by all means. If a contestant has told you in confidence, or one of the people they have confided in in confidence has told you (pr...

Fiona T

Very sad news indeed. I hope his mum has the support she needs at this incredibly difficult time. My thoughts are with David and his mum.

Fiona T

Ian Volante wrote: ↑Fri Sep 16, 2022 8:00 am I'm disappointed not to get through the entire run of dodgy shirts. Also, I've got long blue hair now. Maybe this would be more interesting than all these geeky mathsy types.

IV for CoC!

Fiona T

Do you keep them all? Throw them all away? Keep some of them? I always have this dilemma and I never know what to do. If you keep them, they just build up as clutter. But some are quite nice, and then you have to decide where to draw the line. And where do you keep them? It's always a problem. What...

Fiona T

Philip A wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 9:40 pm
Unfortunately, Mike Daysley, the winner of Series 79, has not been invited. I feel sorry for him.

Given the length of time since his appearance, it could simply be that his contact details are no longer current.

Fiona T

Plot twist - the whole thing a an AH windup

Fiona T

L'oisleatch McGraw wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 8:48 am
Steve Hyde wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 7:06 am Both things are true. Two S86 players are involved
Weird, Eddy and Tom!
Why would they include these two before the series has been played out?
Better to save them for the one after...

#TeamAziz

Fiona T

Now that I’m aware that this CoC will have at least one Series 86 player (and CoCs have had players from the latest regular play before) that’s probably why the draw hasn’t been announced. Obviously that will be affirmed fully at filming in case of dropouts. Ah that makes sense - you wouldn't annou...

Fiona T

Thanks Gevin - quite interesting given the previous discussion that the list is still dominated by young men, and in fact we have to go to me in 25 to get to a middle aged woman!

Fiona T

Possibly a controversial take, but I actually think keeping the draw a secret is better than publishing it before filming or broadcast. From a viewer’s point of view, not knowing who’s playing who before broadcast, in my opinion, gets people watching the show, and finding out as it goes along on-sc...

Fiona T

Obviously anyone is allowed to make their own list on here! But wen I do the results for Blackpool, I'll probably update the PB list and could do an age-grade list as well. But as discussed in this video , the percentages are biased towards females and old people. It's much easier for e.g. an 80-ye...

Fiona T

Thirded (62.54)

David Williams wrote: ↑Mon Sep 12, 2022 9:53 am Seconded (76.22%). Though it's a completely different dataset. Your best time isn't necessarily your best age grade ranking.

At the moment mine is - PB late last year!

Fiona T

Well a few years' back, he said that when his time came, he would be "Defender of faith" rather than "Defender of the faith" to reflect our multi-faith society. Hopefully he'll also defend science

Fiona T

@Christy - you know there's an 'unfollow' button right? Your life will be much happier if you use it.

I've not seen anyone celebrating in my feeds, everything has been respectful.

Fiona T

Fiona T wrote: ↑Thu Sep 08, 2022 10:19 pm @Countdown Team - what's the chances of a small audience of well behaved friends?

Or can I offer my services as an unpaid work experience lackey?

Fiona T

Ian Volante wrote: ↑Fri Sep 09, 2022 6:40 am I can confirm I'm a bit too far down the pecking order to have received an e-mail. A couple of series too many for me I suspect!

Fiona T

I'm no monarchist, but had a lot of respect for the queen and the dignified way she conducted herself, and it does feel like the end of an era - actually Newsthump put it pretty well https://newsthump.com/2022/09/08/goodbye/ But the public wailing and gnashing of teeth does feel a bit OTT to me - I'...

Fiona T

@Countdown Team - what's the chances of a small audience of well behaved friends?

Fiona T

Who else has been invited, beyond presumably the last batch of finalists? I doubt whether the current series 86 finalists will get an invite, they normally go up the series ending 6 months before. So probably covering series 79-85 inclusive, which most likely means the (initial) invitees will be th...

Fiona T

Exciting times!

Fiona T

The new Dictionary.com doesn't include a shedload of words that were in Lexico.com. Is Dictionary.com the online source that Suzie Dent will use for word checking? We're pretty sure she won't. It's a completely different dictionary and also has lots of words that aren't in ODO/lexico Unfortunately ...

Fiona T

On a slight tangent, I very much enjoyed the 15R classroom format that Tony did a co:MSO - it was really nice to play a proper 15 rounder. We got slightly fewer games in (5, plus the grand final) but I'd certainly be happy to see more events like this.

(But yep agree - not a fan of divisions!)

Fiona T

Hotels got expensive - Premier Inn - 2019, £85 for two nights. 2021, £81.50 for 2 nights, 2022, £122 for 2 nights. Will give it some thought.

Fiona T

Graeme - we love you.

Fiona T

Pretty sure your guest is the audience.

Nothing on the usual ticket site, and I'd expect an email as I'm on the mailing list, so doesn't look like it.

Fiona T

https://humanists.uk/2022/09/02/government-finds-97-support-for-labelling-of-non-stunned-meat/ Relates to a few issues on the thread. By clearly labelling how an animal has been slaughtered – whether it has been stunned or not before being killed – consumers can exercise their freedom of choice abou...

Fiona T

r5: UNDERTIES Sorry, not a word. OTHER WORDS FROM TIE re·tie, verb (used with object), re·tied, re·ty·ing. un·der·tie, noun un·der·tie, verb (used with object), un·der·tied, un·der·ty·ing. well-tied, adjective Unfortunately with the demise of lexico, there's no easy way to check words without a sub...

Fiona T

It would be entertaining if an overnight change was announced - would certainly throw cat among pigeons with the apto-trained folk! Imagine if they made the switch to CSW a few days before some misfortunate big hitter was about to record... Someone massively invested, like e.g. Ronan / Zohaib. Ther...

Fiona T

L'oisleatch McGraw wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 9:32 pm Dear Graeme,

Just wondering
1. Do you edit the Countdown wiki using the pseudonym "Launchballer"?
2. If so, do you actively prefer for people not to know that that user is you?
3. If so... why?!

Thanks

I can answer that.

1. No, he doesn't.

Fiona T

It is a pipe dream that CD start using CSW, so the worlds of Scrabble and Countdown can merge into one massive orgy of top anagramming, but - I dunno - is the link between CD and Oxford too strong to sever? As an alternative, if a dedicated and authoritative word list (like CSW) were to be publishe...

Fiona T

My feeling in this is that Damian (and the other people on his team) were not aware of any errors in the guidelines, and that if this gets pointed out, they will be very grateful to whoever brings it to their attention, and happy to revise it. Agree 100% with this post. Strongly disagree with the i...

Fiona T

Well of course we are trying to apply the rules to apterous, but ignoring apterous completely, they're in danger of misleading contestants (i.e. wrong). I did read all the rules carefully before I filmed, and had remembered some things that were not allowed. A contestant that, having read the rules,...

Fiona T

I think guidelines change over time. In the 30th Birthday Championship, Conor Travers scored 18 points for FLORUITED. That episode was repeated during 2020 lockdown and they have since considered it incorrect. I was given guidelines in 2017 and it ruled out EXEUNTED. Now they’ve added FLORUITED to ...

Fiona T

Having now got my mitts on a recent copy, a few things jump out as inconsistent Some of the examples - They give BOATLESS and REWATCH are given as examples of -less and re- words that are not allowed, but both are now in the dictionary They give SUNCREAM/SUNCREAMS in the example of mass nouns where ...

Fiona T

From the contestant's guidelines: "The rule of thumb for Countdown is that comparatives of all 2-syllable adjectives must be specified in the dictionary or they will not be allowed on the show. You’ll get used to what is acceptable and what isn’t over a period of time – but in general, if it’s...

Fiona T

L'oisleatch McGraw wrote: ↑Tue Aug 30, 2022 9:35 pm
Fiona T wrote: ↑Tue Aug 30, 2022 9:00 pm the contestant guidelines
Pretty sure Tom Stephenson posted them somewhere recently...

Cool missed that - will have a look-see. Anyone got a link?

Fiona T

Best of luck Marc! Assuming you have, or will shortly be receiving, a fresh copy of the contestant guidelines, would you be kind enough to share the exact wording round comparatives, superlatives and single syllable adjectives? Comes up frequently and everyone always says "the guidelines say......

Fiona T

Callum Todd wrote: ↑Mon Aug 29, 2022 12:38 pm Nice podium pic. Looks like ronan has two medals, did he win another event?

He got the junior winner medal too

Fiona T

Podium pic

Fiona T

I very much enjoyed the event - thank you Tony.

The video of the grand final is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a3v1bo9YSc

Fiona T

In terms of events, it looks like there were plenty of players at the MSO games - so look out for it next year! https://scontent-lhr8-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/301117154_5618077134910424_8788819703322717781_n.jpg?stp=cp1_dst-jpg&_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=twV9W8rSQ...

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