Search found 1259 matches

by David Williams
Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:55 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: What do you dislike most about Countdown?
Replies: 164
Views: 17069

Re: What do you dislike most about Countdown?

Two simple things they could do. There should be no hint as to the acceptability of the first player's word until the second player has given his. If neither player has written their word down, then both should be asked to do so. (Quick edit. Would it be an idea to ask anyone who has not written the...
by David Williams
Mon Dec 14, 2009 5:07 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: What do you dislike most about Countdown?
Replies: 164
Views: 17069

Re: What do you dislike most about Countdown?

D Eadie wrote:"How many this time John?"......"8"
"And what about you Peter?"....."5 but i haven't written it down"
SD "I'm awfully sorry, Peter, it's not there."
by David Williams
Sat Dec 12, 2009 4:50 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Greatest Ever Sportsman?
Replies: 126
Views: 31486

Re: Greatest Ever Sportsman?

Assuming you accept darts as a sport (which it is) then you can compare the best sportsman in their respective field to the rest of the field. In darts Phil Taylor is so far ahead of everyone else it's ridiculous. He recently beat Scott Waites in the Grand Slam final 16-2. Ridiculous. He has hit se...
by David Williams
Sat Dec 12, 2009 12:09 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Friday December 11th 2009
Replies: 39
Views: 5887

Re: Spoilers For Friday December 11th 2009

Doesn't it seem a bit odd to you that one of those decades would have 9 years? That's just as odd as calling Thursday - Wednesday a week (which is exactly what we do here in Cambridge...) If you follow the same logic, presumably you have to seek out the Babylonian (or whoever) who decided on a seve...
by David Williams
Sat Dec 12, 2009 12:02 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Questions you've always wanted answered
Replies: 1615
Views: 631360

Re: Questions you've always wanted answered

How do they crack walnuts without breaking the nut?
by David Williams
Fri Dec 11, 2009 11:17 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Greatest Ever Sportsman?
Replies: 126
Views: 31486

Re: Greatest Ever Sportsman?

Fair point in its way, but then if you only include sports that all the world plays, are you left with anything but athletics and football? And possibly not even football, given the almost total lack of interest in China and India? You've reminded me of something I saw ages ago. Someone (in America...
by David Williams
Fri Dec 11, 2009 1:50 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Greatest Ever Sportsman?
Replies: 126
Views: 31486

Re: Greatest Ever Sportsman?

I used two main criteria - that the person should have been the undisputed best at his game for at least 10 years, and that it needs to be a game where running around is part of it. (Otherwise I'd be putting a case for John Solomon, croquet, which is my game.) So that means Grace, Laver, Ruth. Brad...
by David Williams
Sun Nov 22, 2009 11:06 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: UK Citizenship Test
Replies: 83
Views: 8116

Re: UK Citizenship Test

We do seem to be nation that likes to keep that last one a secret - just the sign, white circle/black slash through I figure the reason for this is that they might change the national speed limit in the future, and this would save them from changing all the signs. I mean, if you can't remember what...
by David Williams
Sun Nov 22, 2009 10:57 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Duh.
Replies: 8
Views: 1331

Re: Duh.

While your interest is up, watch Apollo 13, and realise just how clever what they did was.
by David Williams
Sat Nov 21, 2009 5:10 pm
Forum: Countdown - Current recaps
Topic: Tuesday 17th November 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 87)
Replies: 4
Views: 1207

Re: Tuesday 17th November 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 89)

I do think it's worth noting that, for the first time I've noticed, Susie credited a word to the producer. Round 13, GAMBADE.
by David Williams
Tue Nov 17, 2009 11:22 pm
Forum: Countdown - Current recaps
Topic: Monday 16th November 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 86)
Replies: 5
Views: 960

Re: Monday 16th November 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 86)

Dinos Sfyris wrote:Stirling recap . . . and pedant-free
by David Williams
Tue Nov 17, 2009 11:15 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Tuesday November 17th 2009
Replies: 16
Views: 2998

Re: Spoilers For Tuesday November 17th 2009

Is that the first time Susie has acknowledged she gets help, or do I fast forward too much normally? And if so, should we assume everything else is her own work? I think this is a new policy coming into effect. Damian said a while back that this would happen, in response to that article in the Dail...
by David Williams
Tue Nov 17, 2009 6:57 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Tuesday November 17th 2009
Replies: 16
Views: 2998

Re: Spoilers For Tuesday November 17th 2009

Is that the first time Susie has acknowledged she gets help, or do I fast forward too much normally? And if so, should we assume everything else is her own work?
by David Williams
Sun Nov 15, 2009 2:34 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: In the news again...
Replies: 52
Views: 5960

Re: In the news again...

I see what they do as more important than how they do it. What's good for the programme is to show the best available - but not infallibly, so that just once in a while the viewer gets a kick out of beating the experts. And that works well, and has for as long as I've been watching. But the dishone...
by David Williams
Sat Nov 07, 2009 3:56 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: CountMax errors
Replies: 727
Views: 91036

Re: CountMax errors

Rules are there to be broken. If ARGUE wasn't listed we wouldnt disallow it because the rules say so. There is a duty to be sensible with things ROADSIDE? The biggest problem we've had with some of the words is remembering what we did with them last time round. GAMBIERS is easy enough, but some of ...
by David Williams
Tue Nov 03, 2009 3:44 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Global Warming - your view
Replies: 82
Views: 5888

Re: Global Warming - your view

I don't have a view. Are wind farms a good thing? You'd think it wouldn't be too difficult to come up with an objective measurement of tangible cost and benefits over their lifetime, even if you then had to weigh them against intangibles such as impact on scenery, but all you get is people who think...
by David Williams
Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:52 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Global Warming - your view
Replies: 82
Views: 5888

Re: Global Warming - your view

Having stood and watched the fabulous sight of Gormley's 'Wasteman' set alight for the film 'Exodus', filmed in Margate, I have to say I disagree. It was incredible to see this structure, made entirely of scrap wood donated by the people of Margate, so enormous that the hand on the upstretched arm ...
by David Williams
Fri Oct 30, 2009 7:07 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: What gets your goat(down)?
Replies: 148
Views: 11519

Re: What gets your goat(down)?

Phil Reynolds wrote:they almost invariably drop back to a safer distance.
Obviously there are occasions on which they write off your car, but at least you've made your point.
by David Williams
Fri Oct 30, 2009 4:47 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: What gets your goat(down)?
Replies: 148
Views: 11519

Re: What gets your goat(down)?

One other gripe, which i am sure most people can associate with, is whenever you walk into a shop and the assistant zooms straight into you and gives you the old 'can i help' routine. I used to agree strongly, but I've recently come across a tactic that works really well. Be totally honest with the...
by David Williams
Fri Oct 30, 2009 2:20 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: What gets your goat(down)?
Replies: 148
Views: 11519

Re: What gets your goat(down)?

However, it seems inevitable these days that, when I've paid cash in a shop or supermarket and am holding out my hand for change, with my wallet in the other hand, the checkout operator will put the notes and/or till receipt in the palm of my hand and pile the coins on top. I've now got both hands ...
by David Williams
Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:17 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Who Gets Your Vote?
Replies: 122
Views: 10482

Re: Who Gets Your Vote?

I vote in European elections, and I take note of the fact that the account audits never get signed off. So there. Quite. Tell me, who's in power now, what's your MEPs' names, what are the major issues facing them at the moment, when are the next elections, what do the opinion polls say? Anyone? And...
by David Williams
Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:39 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Who Gets Your Vote?
Replies: 122
Views: 10482

Re: Who Gets Your Vote?

I'm sort of with you on the Common Market, George. Free trade, and France and Germany not going to war every thirty years, are things we take for granted now, but they weren't a given in the 1950's. The Common Market achieved that. Bringing Eastern European countries in? Fine. Free movement of labou...
by David Williams
Tue Oct 20, 2009 11:16 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: What is the point...
Replies: 83
Views: 7877

Re: What is the point...

Having flicked through all of this, I still have no idea whether the ABSP will encourage or discourage players from auditioning for Countdown. In fact I hadn't even realised the voice of Scrabble had changed from Holden to Beevers part way through. I also have no idea what Damian thinks is the best ...
by David Williams
Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:31 am
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: NSC Final
Replies: 18
Views: 1718

Re: NSC Final

I played through the three games, never having shown much interest in Scrabble before. I've always thought of Craig as the best Countdowner, as he was so good while so obviously playing within himself. But this really brought it home to me how hard it must be to "forget" half your vocabula...
by David Williams
Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:46 am
Forum: Countdown - Current recaps
Topic: Monday 12th October 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 61)
Replies: 12
Views: 2024

Re: Monday 12th October 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 61)

I knew chaos would reign when they started letting people into middling universities without basic Latin.
by David Williams
Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:24 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Where does the Daily Mail get its ideas from?
Replies: 46
Views: 5410

Re: Where does the Daily Mail get its ideas from?

I presume the article is factual, and I can't see how it really puts the boot in. There's a "quote" that there isn't a problem if the viewing figures stay at current levels. I don't know what a par figure would be, but the fact that different presenters in a different time slot got astound...
by David Williams
Fri Oct 16, 2009 8:44 am
Forum: Countdown - Current recaps
Topic: Monday 12th October 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 61)
Replies: 12
Views: 2024

Re: Monday 12th October 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 61)

Think you mean ONAGERS in round 4. Thought I'd point it out here rather than pming you discretely about it so we can all have a jolly good laugh. discreetly Good spot. My way of remembering the difference between -eet- and -ete- is that in the one meaning 'separate', the E's are separated by the T....
by David Williams
Thu Oct 15, 2009 3:49 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Recommend A Book For Kirk
Replies: 47
Views: 3768

Re: Recommend A Book For Kirk

I used to have awful trouble persuading myself to study. I could spend days not studying, and this was before the internet. But somehow it got into my mind whenever I was reading a book that I should be studying instead, and I've never quite shaken off that feeling. So I read very little, which I r...
by David Williams
Thu Oct 15, 2009 1:51 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Recommend A Book For Kirk
Replies: 47
Views: 3768

Re: Recommend A Book For Kirk

I used to have awful trouble persuading myself to study. I could spend days not studying, and this was before the internet. But somehow it got into my mind whenever I was reading a book that I should be studying instead, and I've never quite shaken off that feeling. So I read very little, which I re...
by David Williams
Thu Oct 15, 2009 1:14 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: What is the point...
Replies: 83
Views: 7877

Re: What is the point...

I don't think anyone is accusing you of doing anything wrong. I think they are, and if it was the FA Cup, a competition run by an organisation formed by the contestants, I'd agree with them. In fact, from the selfish point of view of someone who watches purely for the game itself, I do agree with t...
by David Williams
Thu Oct 15, 2009 11:27 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: What is the point...
Replies: 83
Views: 7877

Re: What is the point...

What Countdown needs is a couple of hundred competent contestants a year. Pay them minimal expenses, give them a good day out and be nice to them (civility costs nothing) and send them on their way with a goody bag which costs virtually nothing. That's what the production team are paid to do. If you...
by David Williams
Sat Oct 10, 2009 9:23 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: For
Replies: 13
Views: 2858

Re: For

A search for "Rachel" on this forum gets 1630 hits. Must be some other Rachel, I suppose.
by David Williams
Fri Oct 09, 2009 4:11 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: HOWTO: Hyperlinks for Dummies
Replies: 25
Views: 3142

Re: HOWTO: Hyperlinks for Dummies

Charlie Reams wrote:Ah the sweet joy of a populace dependent on a technology they do not understand. No wonder it's so easy to make millions selling shoddy software products.
It's called specialization. Without it we'd still be living in caves.
by David Williams
Fri Oct 09, 2009 3:33 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: HOWTO: Hyperlinks for Dummies
Replies: 25
Views: 3142

Re: HOWTO: Hyperlinks for Dummies

Incidentally, there's a bit of a delay in these words appearing on the screen when I type. I've been assured it's because I have a lousy broadband connection. Are you kidding? This is absolutely wrong as anyone with the slightest clue about the Web would tell you. I'd suggest ignoring any future ad...
by David Williams
Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:59 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: HOWTO: Hyperlinks for Dummies
Replies: 25
Views: 3142

Re: HOWTO: Hyperlinks for Dummies

To me it's hard to imagine a more obvious way of putting the question. In this instance you're probably right, but it's all in the "To me". If something's obvious to me, I find it hard to understand why it isn't obvious to everyone else. And, incidentally, there's a bit of a delay in thes...
by David Williams
Fri Oct 09, 2009 10:16 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: HOWTO: Hyperlinks for Dummies
Replies: 25
Views: 3142

Re: HOWTO: Hyperlinks for Dummies

It worked!!! Brilliant! Thanks ever so much. It had been really irritating me! FFR this is also available as the first Google result for "how to change which program opens a file". There's money to be made out of something that translates your specific hard-to-describe not-sure-exactly-wh...
by David Williams
Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:03 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Card trick (presented to you as a puzzle)
Replies: 36
Views: 2136

Re: Card trick (presented to you as a puzzle)

Pick the first card so that: a) the first card has another card in the same suit, and b) the other card is no more than 6 places "higher" than the first one (you might have to go round in a loop) Yes! Going round in a loop was what I missed. Then rank all the rest of the cards like in Bri...
by David Williams
Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:37 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Card trick (presented to you as a puzzle)
Replies: 36
Views: 2136

Re: Card trick (presented to you as a puzzle)

You now have three other random cards to use to determine the number, plus the fact that you can also have agreed that the face-down card can be higher/lower/further from 7 than the exposed one. Very close, can you be a bit clearer though? If I could work out the answer, then I'd be clearer! If you...
by David Williams
Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:26 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Card trick (presented to you as a puzzle)
Replies: 36
Views: 2136

Re: Card trick (presented to you as a puzzle)

There must be at least two cards the same suit, so you pick one of them and put the other in an agreed spot relative to the others. You now have three other random cards to use to determine the number, plus the fact that you can also have agreed that the face-down card can be higher/lower/further fr...
by David Williams
Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:13 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Card trick (presented to you as a puzzle)
Replies: 36
Views: 2136

Re: Card trick (presented to you as a puzzle)

1. Do you have a glass floor?

2. Does the relative position and orientation of the laid-down cards vary each time you do it?
by David Williams
Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:35 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: The C4C Football Thread
Replies: 1265
Views: 195282

Re: The C4C Football Thread

Would have liked to contribute to this discussion but I was travelling home from a football match. Sorry. You probably know much more than I do anyway.
by David Williams
Sat Oct 03, 2009 9:54 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: C4Cers in Other Media
Replies: 166
Views: 29750

Re: C4Cers in Other Media

And what's wrong with anoraks?
by David Williams
Fri Oct 02, 2009 2:51 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Questions you've always wanted answered
Replies: 1615
Views: 631360

Re: Questions you've always wanted answered

Whenever I started a new job it used to amaze me that my predecessor was able to work despite being unable to get his handset more than six inches away from his telephone. It only needs untwisting, but there's something counter-intuitive about which direction to go. So lay the handset on the desk an...
by David Williams
Fri Oct 02, 2009 1:11 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-lympics
Replies: 118
Views: 24647

Re: Co-lympics

http://ukresults.net/2008/seaside.html

Scroll down to 95th place.
by David Williams
Thu Oct 01, 2009 1:41 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: What's the most spectacularly stupid thing you've ever done?
Replies: 44
Views: 7226

Re: What's the most spectacularly stupid thing you've ever done?

Phil Reynolds wrote:I just remembered: my car's a two-seater. :oops:
Phone mutual friends with proper cars?
by David Williams
Tue Sep 29, 2009 3:56 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Classic Editions.
Replies: 73
Views: 10250

Re: Classic Editions.

Only just caught up with this. The first top player I saw was Scott Mearns. I'd be fascinated to see anything from before then. Mark Nyman, Michael Wylie and Damian Eadie must be included. And top players like Harvey Freeman and Allan Saldanha as well. But I don't think I'd ever be bothered to watch...
by David Williams
Thu Sep 10, 2009 8:57 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: United States of America
Replies: 61
Views: 6073

Re: United States of America

Phil, just read your first post again. Reminded me (don't know why!) of a time we did the standard LA, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite, San Francisco, Route 101 trip. All fabulous, but what I remember in particular is that we decided to have a break from the driving and got a cottage...
by David Williams
Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:53 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: United States of America
Replies: 61
Views: 6073

Re: United States of America

Superb David. Never heard of that oddity before. Just had a look at it on Google Earth. So, do people born in Point Roberts need passports to travel through Canada to the rest of Washington State? Absolutely. The border post for Point Roberts is fairly relaxed. I think quite a few Americans work in...
by David Williams
Thu Sep 10, 2009 1:47 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: United States of America
Replies: 61
Views: 6073

Re: United States of America

This time next week I shall be in Alaska. I'd hazard a guess I've been to one place in the USA that few others have made it to. Point Roberts is a peninsular on the west coast that juts southwards out of British Columbia a couple of miles south of the 49th parallel. Presumably some bureaucrat in the...
by David Williams
Tue Sep 08, 2009 4:48 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: What haven't you done?
Replies: 59
Views: 4933

Re: What haven't you done?

I've never watched an episode of EastEnders, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks, The Wire, The Simpsons, a Harry Potter film, or a Lord of the Rings film. I have never played on a games console, or read a single word of a Harry Potter book. Until last year I had also never owned a microwave, or watched Eurovisio...
by David Williams
Sun Sep 06, 2009 8:28 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Tell us something surprising about yourself
Replies: 64
Views: 7275

Re: Tell us something surprising about yourself

Kieran Child wrote:I'm scared of bubbles.
marlo, omar, snoop in particular. but bubbles?
by David Williams
Sun Sep 06, 2009 3:18 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Four blokes
Replies: 52
Views: 5309

Re: Four blokes

Am I right in thinking that this is about one of them deducing that he has the best chance of guessing right, rather than being certain?
by David Williams
Sun Sep 06, 2009 2:59 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Viewing Figures
Replies: 35
Views: 4427

Re: Viewing Figures

Time for an update of Rachel v Carol while you're at it!
by David Williams
Sun Sep 06, 2009 12:57 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Viewing Figures
Replies: 35
Views: 4427

Re: Viewing Figures

I've started pulling the numbers out of the published BARB data to try and see what the overall picture is. Available data starts in June 1998, and in the week beginning 1/2/1999 the lowest audience was 4.32m, the highest 4.48m. During that month the average appears to be well over 4m and I think t...
by David Williams
Sat Sep 05, 2009 11:14 am
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Chess Thread
Replies: 22
Views: 3762

Re: Chess Thread

I inhabit that nether world of the over 50's, who cannot play chess seriously unless it takes place in some freezing inconvenient location on a winter's evening when everyone else is watching the Champions League. I play for my local club in two leagues, and my grade is 170. I can claim to have play...
by David Williams
Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:23 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: How many words would you need to know...
Replies: 26
Views: 2088

Re: How many words would you need to know...

Yes. But I'm less happy than I was about the significance once you get wider than two words that appear only in each other's entry.
by David Williams
Fri Sep 04, 2009 8:50 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: How many words would you need to know...
Replies: 26
Views: 2088

Re: How many words would you need to know...

There's something about closed loops as well. If A and B are both in the dictionary, and both appear only in the definition of the other, then one, and only one, of them has to be in the list. You can extend this to groups of three self-contained words, and so on. And as all the words left in the di...
by David Williams
Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:40 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: How many words would you need to know...
Replies: 26
Views: 2088

Re: How many words would you need to know...

I don't have the maths to tackle this, but here's a way to start. First, find any words that appear in definitions, but are not themselves defined. (I think FORELEG was one such.) All of these need to be in our list. Next, find all the words that are defined but do not appear in any definition. I'm ...