Search found 505 matches

by Clive Brooker
Thu Nov 13, 2014 10:41 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Thursday November 13th 2014 (S71 P86)
Replies: 10
Views: 2949

Re: Spoilers for Thursday November 13th 2014 (S71 P86)

Well, I wouldn't there to be any subjective decisions made, because contestants then have to guess whether a lexicographer might consider a word to be reasonable. Also, Susie has used her own subjective judgement in the past and it has led to criticism on here. That doesn't mean FEINTER has to be a...
by Clive Brooker
Thu Nov 13, 2014 4:34 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Thursday November 13th 2014 (S71 P86)
Replies: 10
Views: 2949

Re: Spoilers for Thursday November 13th 2014 (S71 P86)

Interesting that FEINTER is a word today. An extra dose of blood-pressure medication needed I think. Having a blanket one-syllable rule would OK if it could be applied consistently, but it plainly can't be. As far as I'm aware the current dictionary gives no support for it's continued half-use, whi...
by Clive Brooker
Sun Oct 26, 2014 9:12 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: You Are The Ref
Replies: 345
Views: 148552

Re: You Are The Ref

Even early in the game (round 3) people might pick numbers based on the score. Also, while it's rare for a letters choice to reflect such tactical thinking, someone might still decide to risk a word or not depending on the current score. So it's difficult to know where you draw the line, even if th...
by Clive Brooker
Sat Oct 25, 2014 9:43 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: You Are The Ref
Replies: 345
Views: 148552

Re: You Are The Ref

Personally I take a completely opposite view. IMO changing the result of a round retrospectively is worse than the problem it's attempting to resolve. Once a round is completed, the adjudication should stand, no matter what. This is the way practically all competitive activities with a formal set of...
by Clive Brooker
Sun Sep 21, 2014 9:29 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday September 19th 2014 (S71 P49)
Replies: 19
Views: 4056

Re: Spoilers for Friday September 19th 2014 (S71 P49)

Also CANEDEST if you're playing apterous, although I doubt it would be allowed on the show. They should allow it since they've done nothing with the rules to stop it despite the opportunity to do so. They can't disallow a word because they don't like the look of it (even though it's happened on sev...
by Clive Brooker
Fri Aug 15, 2014 8:20 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Tuesday August 12th 2014 (S71 P26)
Replies: 32
Views: 5342

Re: Spoilers for Tuesday August 12th 2014 (S71 P26)

That's interesting. Wouldn't that make her even more likely to end up with 112 * 4 though? I'm sure that's what I would do. But if you look at an obvious multiple of 112 and your brain immediately sees the factors 7 and 8, then maybe you might proceed differently. Tricia was nothing if not a little...
by Clive Brooker
Thu Aug 14, 2014 8:44 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Tuesday August 12th 2014 (S71 P26)
Replies: 32
Views: 5342

Re: Spoilers for Tuesday August 12th 2014 (S71 P26)

It's far more obvious that 448 is divisible by 4 than 7. If I can remember primary school arithmetic when all weights and measures were done in imperial, Tricia certainly should be able to. Anyone who did countless sums based on factors or multiples of 56 or 112 should be able to see the factorisat...
by Clive Brooker
Tue Aug 12, 2014 9:56 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Monday August 11th 2014
Replies: 16
Views: 3090

Re: Spoilers For Monday August 11th 2014

[Of course, we're still waiting for the COD7 section! So are you saying that the COD7 section is more explicit and less fudged than the COD10 and NODE? I know, I haven't forgotten. Not everyone in my household regards things like this as my highest priority. The COD7 section (it hadn't actually cha...
by Clive Brooker
Mon Aug 11, 2014 9:14 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Monday August 11th 2014
Replies: 16
Views: 3090

Re: Spoilers For Monday August 11th 2014

But the point is Susie explicitly mentioned the (one-syllable adjective) rule rather than the fact that the ODO finds it , so does that mean we're still allowing PISSEDER etc? I thought this was quite particularly disappointing. Remarkably, the only Countdown dictionary which has ever seemed to sup...
by Clive Brooker
Tue Aug 05, 2014 6:54 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Monday August 4th 2014
Replies: 10
Views: 2893

Re: Spoilers For Monday August 4th 2014

She might have had a risky 6 or 7 that she was agonising over. She wouldn't have been able to get away with cheating here without it looking really obvious. It would have been - Long pause, "Six. Er, not written down." That would have looked pretty bad. This reminds me of the "slow p...
by Clive Brooker
Mon Jul 28, 2014 5:26 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday July 25th 2014 (S71 P18)
Replies: 64
Views: 12637

Re: Spoilers for Friday July 25th 2014 (S71 P18)

http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_2795 I remember this one in particular. I'm pretty sure DROSSIER was a desperation play, and that it wasn't specified in the dictionary of the day, but it decided a semi-final. All the evidence I've looked at suggests that this decision was consistent with the worki...
by Clive Brooker
Mon Jul 28, 2014 3:42 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday July 25th 2014 (S71 P18)
Replies: 64
Views: 12637

Re: Spoilers for Friday July 25th 2014 (S71 P18)

http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_2795 I remember this one in particular. I'm pretty sure DROSSIER was a desperation play, and that it wasn't specified in the dictionary of the day, but it decided a semi-final. All the evidence I've looked at suggests that this decision was consistent with the worki...
by Clive Brooker
Sun Jul 27, 2014 7:18 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday July 25th 2014 (S71 P18)
Replies: 64
Views: 12637

Re: Spoilers for Friday July 25th 2014 (S71 P18)

Game 1636 could be a max for Chris Rogers (summarised). That's quite interesting. I would suggest that it probably would count as a max. Were there specific rules on comparatives and superlatives at the time? Did they tend to just go with the dictionary? I'm trying to be cautious. The section on in...
by Clive Brooker
Sun Jul 27, 2014 6:19 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday July 25th 2014 (S71 P18)
Replies: 64
Views: 12637

Re: Spoilers for Friday July 25th 2014 (S71 P18)

Although I didn't take to her at first, the more we learn of Tricia the more I like her. The 9/9 thing was so odd I still feel there must be a story behind it. Weirdly, in her previous game there was another 6 small game where her solution was "different but really the same". And she would...
by Clive Brooker
Sun Jul 27, 2014 1:30 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: You Are The Ref
Replies: 345
Views: 148552

Re: You Are The Ref

C1 trails by 21 points going into the last letters round. Both contestants offer seven, C1's not written down. He declares a voracious tropical fish. C2 says "Same", and shows his paper to C1. On it are written the words PIRANHA and PIRAHNA. C1, who needs to win the round, asks which spel...
by Clive Brooker
Sun Jul 27, 2014 9:03 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday July 25th 2014 (S71 P18)
Replies: 64
Views: 12637

Re: Spoilers for Friday July 25th 2014 (S71 P18)

How do you know that Clive? If that is what happened, she simply declares her solution "not written down" . No need for any dodginess whatsoever. The explanation is my invention, an attempt to find a totally plausible explanation for using 9/9. BIB - not if she didn't notice her error unt...
by Clive Brooker
Sun Jul 27, 2014 8:11 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday July 25th 2014 (S71 P18)
Replies: 64
Views: 12637

Re: Spoilers for Friday July 25th 2014 (S71 P18)

Using 9/9 instead of 1 was very odd, though. The only legitimate explanation I can think of is that in haste she simply saw the two 9s and missed the 1. She solved it comfortably with several seconds to go. Just after the 30 seconds had finished, too late to amend her paper, she realised that she'd...
by Clive Brooker
Sun Jul 27, 2014 7:50 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: You Are The Ref
Replies: 345
Views: 148552

Re: You Are The Ref

My solution, which I don't think anyone's suggested yet, would be to replay the quarter-final and semi-final that Harry won, but with the standby contestant in his place. So #9 would play #8 in the replayed quarter final, the winner of that would play #4 in the replayed semi-final, and the winner o...
by Clive Brooker
Sat Jul 26, 2014 6:55 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: You Are The Ref
Replies: 345
Views: 148552

Re: You Are The Ref

Great thread. I wondered whether DC had an offline version of the dictionary anyway, because otherwise they are relying on the website not going down during recording. How reliable is it? It would be far more satisfactory this way since the words would be set in stone before the game started. It mig...
by Clive Brooker
Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:27 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Tuesday July 8th 2014 (S71 P7)
Replies: 29
Views: 3597

Re: Spoilers for Tuesday July 8th 2014 (S71 P7)

... there could well be counterexamples and I'd be interested to see them. If I'm understanding you correctly, some examples which appear as spelling variants but which might be considered substantively different from their UK forms are aluminum, apothegm, behoove and tidbit. There used to be zibet...
by Clive Brooker
Wed Jul 02, 2014 8:09 pm
Forum: Countdown - Current recaps
Topic: Tuesday 1st July - Series 71, Prelim 2
Replies: 2
Views: 1083

Re: Tuesday 1st July - Series 71, Prelim 2

Round 10: I M T A U V S O E James: MAUVE (5) Sue: AMUSE (5) DC: ATOMISE (7) MOTIVES (7) OT: AMOSITE (7) ATOMIES (7) MAUVEST (7) TIMEOUS (7) VOMITUS (7) Score: 45–43 (max 91) James equals Sue's five here, but will be disappointed to learn he could have just added ST onto his word for a seven. MAUVES...
by Clive Brooker
Wed Apr 30, 2014 6:04 pm
Forum: Countdown - Current recaps
Topic: Monday 28th April 2014
Replies: 21
Views: 2729

Re: Monday 28th April 2014

79 x 7. What are the other 29 seconds for?
by Clive Brooker
Wed Apr 30, 2014 4:56 pm
Forum: Countdown - Current recaps
Topic: Monday 28th April 2014
Replies: 21
Views: 2729

Re: Monday 28th April 2014

But no, Clive phrased it in such a way that he could go "oh no, that wasn't my intention". He had to not only mention that he got it, but also that it was meat and drink to him (as he's sure that so many others got it too). I don't know whether you actually believe this, but if you do it'...
by Clive Brooker
Wed Apr 30, 2014 9:53 am
Forum: Countdown - Current recaps
Topic: Monday 28th April 2014
Replies: 21
Views: 2729

Re: Monday 28th April 2014

No, that wasn't my point at all. If I'd felt like showing off I'd have posted in the spoilers thread. Nearly everything that has been done in recording games for posterity is admirable. However I do find it strange that whereas there have been debates about matters such as whether conundrum solution...
by Clive Brooker
Wed Apr 30, 2014 6:23 am
Forum: Countdown - Current recaps
Topic: Monday 28th April 2014
Replies: 21
Views: 2729

Re: Monday 28th April 2014

Round 3: 8, 6, 8, 9, 1, 25. Target: 553. Neil: 550. Glynn: 551. ((8+8+6)*25)+1 (7) RR: 553. ((9+1)+8)*6+25 (10) Score: 16–7 (max 26) We saw on Friday that Neil’s skills with words are not matched by his numbers games and this enables Glynn to get his first points on the board and reduce Neil’s lead...
by Clive Brooker
Mon Apr 07, 2014 9:50 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Monday April 7th 2014
Replies: 8
Views: 2828

Re: Spoilers For Monday April 7th 2014

I think R9 contained JACOBITES - inadmissible I presume, but worthy of note.
by Clive Brooker
Wed Mar 12, 2014 7:53 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

I'd assumed that the questioner was asking whether the picker has a better chance of winning the round, not maxing it. Intuitively, I'd expect the player declaring second to have the advantage in a letters round, this effect possibly swamping any minuscule advantage gained from being the picker. Is ...
by Clive Brooker
Sun Mar 02, 2014 1:32 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday February 28th 2014 (S70 P40)
Replies: 51
Views: 6038

Re: Spoilers for Friday February 28th 2014 (S70 P40)

...you're exploiting a shortcoming in the studio logistics to give yourself an advantage in the game, and I definitely think that's against the spirit of the game, and worth trying to stamp out. I agree with this, but I'm not sure I'd then reach the conclusion that it's the player's responsibility ...
by Clive Brooker
Tue Feb 25, 2014 8:41 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Monday February 24th 2014
Replies: 28
Views: 5532

Re: Spoilers For Monday February 24th 2014

During the 8 years or so between deciding I wanted to apply and doing so (in 2009), most of the comment on this forum (and its predecessors) suggested that what people were expected to do to pass the audition would automatically put them amongst the top players on the show. Also, I could see no reas...
by Clive Brooker
Tue Jan 28, 2014 2:42 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

Equally interestingly, Philip Griffiths seems to have maxed R1 in 1189, and both players maxed R7 in 1614. Would CLAMORED have been OK back then for R1 in 1189? Yes, I think so. It looks as though I was wise to equivocate slightly. Seeing a recap for a game in 1995 which implies that the players co...
by Clive Brooker
Tue Jan 28, 2014 8:20 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

Gavin Chipper wrote:
Graeme Cole wrote:[Only two games have seen neither player max a round: episode 1189 and episode 1614.
Interestingly, both players from episode 1614 went on to make the quarter finals.
Equally interestingly, Philip Griffiths seems to have maxed R1 in 1189, and both players maxed R7 in 1614.
by Clive Brooker
Sat Jan 25, 2014 7:08 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday January 24th 2014 (S70 P15)
Replies: 12
Views: 4365

Re: Spoilers for Friday January 24th 2014 (S70 P15)

I didn't like the way Sam told Rachel off for short-cutting the writing of his solution. ... Rachel was actually ahead of him I thought Rachel was well out of order and I'm glad Sam picked her up on it. When he said "8+7", I don't think he'd given any indication that he wanted it added to...
by Clive Brooker
Fri Jan 17, 2014 9:31 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Is this word allowable?
Replies: 25
Views: 6346

Re: Is this word allowable?

I think BENTER could be used in the sense meaning dishonest or corrupt , like "he's the bentest copper on the force", or the slightly odder but still plausible "there's no-one benter than him on the force". A fair cop, you could say. Just wait till you see what I've got lined up...
by Clive Brooker
Fri Jan 17, 2014 7:53 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Is this word allowable?
Replies: 25
Views: 6346

Re: Is this word allowable?

...there are some exceptions where an adjective will be single syllable but where adding -er or -est would be very strange. One example would be 'loath' - as in 'I'm loath to do something'. Another is fain. And bent . Uri's fork was benter than mine? An aberration surely. A straightforward rule tha...
by Clive Brooker
Wed Dec 04, 2013 12:13 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

Yes, but that's just an error in the recap, and I thought people had gone through the earlier games with the old dictionary. But in any case, I don't think errors from earlier games should entirely dictate the system we use. I think 6/7 gives it too much. I think someone who gets the max of 7 6 tim...
by Clive Brooker
Tue Dec 03, 2013 5:24 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

This game , recently made famous, illustrates one of the problems with counting the number of maxes, at least whilst the data remains less than 100% perfect. The recap denies Tim Morrissey the max on round 5, but I don't believe SPREITEN was valid at the time. A system which awarded Tim 6/7 for tha...
by Clive Brooker
Tue Nov 05, 2013 9:12 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

I've assumed that all numbers declarations where the player was not asked for their method because their opponent was closer were correct as declared. Five.....................six.............................................eight, I hope but I'm probably wrong. Not written down. Countdown tools say...
by Clive Brooker
Thu Oct 10, 2013 1:15 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Series 70 - 2014 onwards.
Replies: 175
Views: 61320

Re: Series 70 - 2014 onwards.

I can't think of any change in the history of the show which so radically changed the look and feel as much as this one will (changing to an online dictionary, that is). An uncharacteristically brave decision by Team Countdown. I suppose we'll have "Computer Corner" from now on, making an ...
by Clive Brooker
Thu Sep 12, 2013 9:09 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Tuesday September 10th 2013 (S69 P45)
Replies: 32
Views: 8869

Re: Spoilers for Tuesday September 10th 2013 (S69 P45)

Whether or not a game is solvable using something from a 4 largeist's bag of tricks doesn't make it inherently easier. A fairer test is to put yourself in the position of someone who is arithmetically competent but hasn't studied the numbers game in detail. The 483 example is pretty easy if you noti...
by Clive Brooker
Thu Sep 12, 2013 8:24 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Tuesday September 10th 2013 (S69 P45)
Replies: 32
Views: 8869

Re: Spoilers for Tuesday September 10th 2013 (S69 P45)

I also completely disagree with the 99% difficulty rating as if you're a practised 4L player, that's the sort of method you look for. Do you have examples of games which you think are harder? No 99% game has ever been solved on the show, either by a contestant or an arithmetician with or without ex...
by Clive Brooker
Sun Aug 25, 2013 12:29 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: I like Carol, and I like Rachel, but who's better?
Replies: 17
Views: 5222

Re: I like Carol, and I like Rachel, but who's better?

Having had a quick look at a couple of Mike's scans, the information may well be there (to the end of series 64 at least) so perhaps the situation can be retrieved. The info is certainly out there (as they say in a certain TV show) - I still keep the same notes even if I haven't uploaded them recen...
by Clive Brooker
Sat Aug 24, 2013 3:11 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: I like Carol, and I like Rachel, but who's better?
Replies: 17
Views: 5222

Re: I like Carol, and I like Rachel, but who's better?

The wiki, and therefore the database, doesn't record whether the arithmetician solved it in the 30 seconds or needed some extra time. So the best we can do here is just assume that if the wiki says the arithmetician solved it, they solved it, and not bother about how long it took. This deficiency i...
by Clive Brooker
Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:47 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

It's interesting that despite all the training support available to modern players, Julian still seems to be the letters king. How different would the picture be if all games are taken into account? Up to the end of series 68, 418 people have a perfect record in all the numbers rounds they ever play...
by Clive Brooker
Wed Jul 17, 2013 8:26 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Negative numbers... why not?
Replies: 15
Views: 4987

Re: Negative numbers... why not?

To become fully proficient, you would have more tricks to learn. Therefore the game would be harder. No argument, surely?
by Clive Brooker
Wed Jul 17, 2013 7:15 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Negative numbers... why not?
Replies: 15
Views: 4987

Re: Negative numbers... why not?

Guy Barry wrote:I should have thought of an example that didn't have an obvious alternative solution. (I'm sure someone will.)
Here are a couple:
3 3 10 8 9 6 : 955
25 10 10 5 4 1 : 343
by Clive Brooker
Thu Jul 11, 2013 7:40 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday July 10th 2013 (Series 69 Prelim 8)
Replies: 13
Views: 3208

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday July 10th 2013 (Series 69 Prelim

But the dictionary and Countdown rules could hardly be clearer. WORNEST is fine. The dictionary says that 1-syllable adjective taking -er and -est are treated as regular and are not shown. I've never seen how this can be interpreted as implying that these forms automatically exist for every 1-sylla...
by Clive Brooker
Mon Jul 01, 2013 9:18 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Grand Final Spoilers For Friday June 28th 2013
Replies: 50
Views: 11172

Re: Grand Final Spoilers For Friday June 28th 2013

Good to hear from you again, David.

I think that what Rachel does is extremely unwise, for all the reasons you mention. I've often thought about raising the same point myself but I've always bailed out for fear of being perceived as questioning the integrity of the show.
by Clive Brooker
Tue Apr 23, 2013 10:08 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

Yes, the database is just a MySQL thing on my desktop computer, it doesn't get updated automatically. Currently the database doesn't have any games in it after 1st March 2013, the end of the 30th birthday championship. Do you have your own extraction method, or do you still welcome my input? If you...
by Clive Brooker
Thu Apr 11, 2013 2:26 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

The 16 99% numbers games (the most difficult on William Tunstall-Pedoe's crossword tools scale) seen on the show are: 153/4 100,3,7,9,9,7 : 442 1002/13 50,75,25,7,8,3 : 939 2050/8 75,100,50,1,4,1 : 994 2083/8 75,6,3,6,8,9 : 848 2980/4 75,25,2,1,8,5 : 957 3015/8 25,100,1,7,4,3 : 951 3254/5 50,75,100,...
by Clive Brooker
Wed Apr 03, 2013 6:54 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

Hope this hasn't been asked already... has the number of 'thrashings' gone up over time (and especially since the dawn of apterous)? I'm thinking in terms of increased winning margins (as a percentage). Be nice to have some kind of evidence as to whether apterous really is 'killing Countdown'. :) W...
by Clive Brooker
Tue Apr 02, 2013 6:26 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

Moving to the next hardest, in the 119 89% games, 5 of the 238 attempts have been successful. Out of interest, do you have the rounds themselves available/wiki links? Great bit of research! If I've copied them correctly, the links are as follows: 3901 R5 4843 R10 4977 R5 5210 R14 5633 R14
by Clive Brooker
Fri Mar 29, 2013 10:51 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

Using the Countdown Tools difficulty rating system for numbers games, what is the most difficult numbers game ever solved on the show? I'm not going to be able to do this one because I don't know how the Countdown Tools difficulty rating works. I was messing about really, trying to judge how much i...
by Clive Brooker
Tue Mar 26, 2013 11:12 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Tuesday March 26th 2013 (Series 68 Prelim 13)
Replies: 34
Views: 6811

Re: Spoilers for Tuesday March 26th 2013 (Series 68 Prelim 1

I thought it might be useful to make a note of exactly what Susie did say: DOTAGES - very bad luck. There was very big debate about this a long time ago on Countdown. and I did a lot of research into it with with the OUP. Unfortunately you can't have DOTAGES. You would talk about more than one perso...
by Clive Brooker
Tue Mar 26, 2013 12:27 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday March 25th 2013 (Series 68 Prelim 12)
Replies: 35
Views: 6952

Re: Spoilers for Monday March 25th 2013 (Series 68 Prelim 12

The main issue is the consistency. I'm quite happy for FLORUITED to be disallowed if there is a sensible rule in place that covers it and all other words without arbitrary add-ons. Really it's up to the dictionary to specify. If it doesn't, it should be allowed. I'd rather have words that "are...
by Clive Brooker
Mon Mar 25, 2013 9:54 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday March 25th 2013 (Series 68 Prelim 12)
Replies: 35
Views: 6952

Re: Spoilers for Monday March 25th 2013 (Series 68 Prelim 12

FLORUITED and EXEUNTED will no longer be accepted. I was a bit surprised that this (from the "Good News, Gevin!" thread) attracted no comment at all. I'm guessing that it means that all derivatives, not just plurals of mass nouns and comparatives/superlatives of single syllable adjectives...
by Clive Brooker
Wed Mar 20, 2013 8:26 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

Using the Countdown Tools difficulty rating system for numbers games, what is the most difficult numbers game ever solved on the show?
by Clive Brooker
Wed Mar 20, 2013 8:24 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

I can't be the only one who has been in the audience and seen the shuffling take place (although this was about four years ago). It was definitely face up and, as you might expect, featured a lot of what looked like deliberate splitting up of runs of consecutive letters. I assumed it was well known...
by Clive Brooker
Sun Mar 17, 2013 10:25 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

Beyond that, everything is shuffled like a pack of cards, nothing is ever messed with, we get what we get. There is certainly a precedent, because in my very first game 10 years ago, me and my opponent were informed before the game started that the J and Q had been removed, and lo and behold, they ...
by Clive Brooker
Mon Mar 11, 2013 4:20 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Monday March 11th 2013
Replies: 12
Views: 3363

Re: Spoilers For Monday March 11th 2013

And that's pretty much it for a week. Still, the weather looks like it could turn and if it does and the racing is snowed out then we could be treated to some specials. Let's hope... When Cheltenham (or part of it) has been cancelled due to the weather in the past, as far I can remember it has alwa...
by Clive Brooker
Sun Mar 10, 2013 11:00 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 686539

Re: Ask Graeme?

What evidence is there that letters are manually sorted, rather than shuffled? I know it's often been pointed out that we don't seem to get enough triple or quadruple vowels in individual rounds. No doubt that can be tested with the data now available. However, conclusive evidence is more easily fo...