Search found 539 matches

by Matt Bayfield
Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:50 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Pass the time?
Replies: 153
Views: 16273

Re: Pass the time?

Yup. This is Pobol y Cwm. I'm not a regular viewer, but I used to know someone who was in the cast.
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:30 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Pass the time?
Replies: 153
Views: 16273

Re: Pass the time?

DOH, AUTO-SKAT ===> SOUTH DAKOTA

Next: BLOWMYCOP
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:23 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Pass the time?
Replies: 153
Views: 16273

Re: Pass the time?

I don't know the answer, but in the spirit of Touchdown, it's one letter away from either Toni Basil or Lisa Bonet.
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:21 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Pass the time?
Replies: 153
Views: 16273

Re: Pass the time?

GLOWLEPEASY ===> YELLOW PAGES

How about LAYCARPETSCAL? Hint: two words.
by Matt Bayfield
Fri Sep 04, 2009 3:29 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Collaborative crossword writing
Replies: 373
Views: 36154

Re: Collaborative crossword writing

Kieran Child wrote:Electrical centre of Ireland = Voltage.
Ah, I was looking for an electrical term, but didn't think of that one. Is "voltage" the answer because V = IR?
by Matt Bayfield
Fri Sep 04, 2009 10:21 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Friday September 4th 2009
Replies: 31
Views: 2754

Re: Spoilers For Friday September 4th 2009

As I'm sure you know, the probability of nines being available today, or tomorrow, is independent of any previous games. Oops. :oops: Have just read my post back, and I should add here that the probability of nines being available tomorrow is zero, what with there being no show on a Saturday. It's ...
by Matt Bayfield
Fri Sep 04, 2009 10:03 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Friday September 4th 2009
Replies: 31
Views: 2754

Re: Spoilers For Friday September 4th 2009

The fact he's only had two nines so far means he must be 'due' some. Only if you believe in karma. ;-) As I'm sure you know, the probability of nines being available today, or tomorrow, is independent of any previous games. On the subject of the dearth of nines, I did notice Chris picking 5-vowel s...
by Matt Bayfield
Fri Sep 04, 2009 8:09 am
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Collaborative crossword writing
Replies: 373
Views: 36154

Re: Collaborative crossword writing

Since I think interest has died down, it's hopefully safe to give the remaining solutions to the football clubs which I set: Sicknote hides pervert? Not on the Royal Sporting Club! (10) = ANDERLECHT. Sicknote is the nickname of Darren ANDERTON, "not on" implies -ON, giving ANDERT, and if y...
by Matt Bayfield
Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:17 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Favourite Platonic Solid
Replies: 42
Views: 4327

Re: Favourite Platonic Solid

Bait accepted, Jon. The following rant to be taken with a pinch of salt. I'm sure it will at least mildly offend someone so I'll make my apology for the offence, but not my opinion, in advance. [off-topic rant] Utterly ridiculous things, "baby on board"/"child on board" signs. Os...
by Matt Bayfield
Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:38 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Favourite Platonic Solid
Replies: 42
Views: 4327

Re: Favourite Platonic Solid

Not being a mathematician (or knowledgeable type) I didn't know what "platonic solid" meant until reading this thread. Now I do... I feel educated. Phil's mention of baby solids reminds me of a Hale & Pace sketch from the early 90s, where an unbelievably precious and pretentious couple...
by Matt Bayfield
Sun Aug 30, 2009 6:06 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Interview with Rachel in the Daily Mail
Replies: 13
Views: 2308

Re: Interview with Rachel in the Daily Mail

And Oxford was where she met fellow graduate, Jamie, who, like her, is a keen sportsman. More slapdash journalism from the Daily Mail. Unless she's had some remarkable gender reassignment surgery, Rachel is definitely not a sportsman. Maybe Rebecca Hardy is too young to learn from the similar mista...
by Matt Bayfield
Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:04 am
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Collaborative crossword writing
Replies: 373
Views: 36154

Re: Collaborative crossword writing

Ah, a fellow non-league follower - good on yer Oliver. I'm an Ebbsfleet fan, btw - not one of the myfc.co.uk lot, but back from when the club used to play as Gravesend & Northfleet in the Ryman League. Mind you, now we don't have a pot to piss in (in the financial sense), two more seasons and we...
by Matt Bayfield
Thu Aug 27, 2009 7:47 am
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Collaborative crossword writing
Replies: 373
Views: 36154

Re: Collaborative crossword writing

All the football club answers so far are correct. Well done to the peeps who've worked their way inside my twisted and slightly contrived imagination. Seconds not in court of the saints = SOUTHAMPTON "seconds" = S, "not in" = OUT, "court" gives HAMPTON, as in Hampton Co...
by Matt Bayfield
Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:23 pm
Forum: Countdown - Current recaps
Topic: Tuesday 25th August 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 27)
Replies: 12
Views: 2588

Re: Tuesday 25th August 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 27)

Yeah, on reflection, maybe a perfect game would have been very difficult thanks to the first numbers round, but I definitely think it was one of those odd games where some lesser players would have done equally as well as much better players - mainly because all the maxes were either relatively simp...
by Matt Bayfield
Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:34 am
Forum: Countdown - Current recaps
Topic: Tuesday 25th August 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 27)
Replies: 12
Views: 2588

Re: Tuesday 25th August 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 27)

Based on Paul's comments, maybe I just had a good day... but I'll allow myself a metaphorical pat on the back for outscoring Dinos (as I don't think I'd manage that too often)! I suppose I thought yesterday's game was easy because I came one point away from maxing the letters without using any words...
by Matt Bayfield
Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:06 am
Forum: Countdown - Current recaps
Topic: Tuesday 25th August 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 27)
Replies: 12
Views: 2588

Re: Tuesday 25th August 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 27)

This has to be one of the easiest 15-rounders there's ever been, as all the letters games (except round 13) included at least one common, easy-to-spot, maximum. Playing along at home, I got 13 maxes (assuming you include the conundrum which I spotted at the same time as C2), which is a record for me...
by Matt Bayfield
Thu Aug 06, 2009 10:51 am
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Scrabble Event, 1st November
Replies: 60
Views: 7551

Re: Scrabble Event, 1st November

If I get some CSW practice in with Quackle, I might be tempted by Ben's tournament, so ta for the shout. I've never played competitive Scrabble in the UK, but did play a little bit of club/tournament Scrabble (with the TWL98 lexicon) in the US a few years ago. Over 39 club and tournament games with ...
by Matt Bayfield
Tue Aug 04, 2009 8:29 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Boring or Sporting?
Replies: 42
Views: 3288

Re: Boring or Sporting?

I will watch - and indeed play - almost any sport. I would guess that at least a third of the television I watch is sport; with the remainder mainly music, comedy or quizzes; leaving only a sliver for other light entertainment, drama, film, news and documentary. I subscribed to Sky Sports mainly to ...
by Matt Bayfield
Fri Jul 31, 2009 1:46 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Collaborative crossword writing
Replies: 373
Views: 36154

Re: Collaborative crossword writing

CAMEMBERT is excellent. To resurrect this thread, here are some football teams celebrated in cryptic form. Some prior knowledge of football is required, for which I apologise. Some of the clues are a bit contrived, for which I make no apology... *grin* Championship side is yellow or red if and only ...
by Matt Bayfield
Fri Jul 31, 2009 1:40 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: What do you put in a toaster?
Replies: 36
Views: 4118

Re: What do you put in a toaster?

I consider toast to be a luxury food as it's terribly environmentally unfriendly. If you want to be green, eat bread instead. Firstly, there's the obvious usage of electricity (or gas, if you're using a gas-fired grill) when toasting bread. But secondly, the process of toasting oxidises the bread wh...
by Matt Bayfield
Fri Jul 31, 2009 10:28 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: The most boring OFF-topic poll
Replies: 12
Views: 2283

Re: The most boring OFF-topic poll

I much prefer Vegemite to Marmite, but Marmite is ok. I neither love it nor hate it.

Both Vegemite and Marmite are very salty, mind, so probably not desperately good for you, despite all the vitamins and minerals they contain.
by Matt Bayfield
Thu Jul 30, 2009 1:32 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Cola
Replies: 43
Views: 3752

Re: Cola

Emma's former flatmates are testament to the oral decay they cause as they went through 2x2litre bottles a day between them and I wouldn't go near their mouths with a 10ft bargepole. Shame... with their prodigous guzzling habits, they might have rather enjoyed having a large pole thrust towards the...
by Matt Bayfield
Tue Jul 21, 2009 4:13 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Alternative Pastime
Replies: 68
Views: 10136

Re: Alternative Pastime

MOOB, of course, must be, Men Often Ogle Breasts. Even if they're their own.

R.I.N.G.O.
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Jul 20, 2009 7:43 am
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Proposal to run another CoLei (Leicester)
Replies: 45
Views: 5790

Re: Proposal to run another CoLei (Leicester)

I'd be interested in taking part.

I probably wouldn't be able to make the weekend of Sat 3/Sun 4 October, but apart from that, the general timing of late Sep/early Oct sounds good.
by Matt Bayfield
Fri Jul 17, 2009 4:44 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: HOTELIEST
Replies: 16
Views: 3175

Re: HOTELIEST

How about EARN for number 2? [Edits] And one of buddies has just come up with TEMP, for the same puzzle... For Question 1 there are a bunch of possibilities which are technically solutions due to the dropping of the final letter "E" when forming a present participle, but I'm not sure these...
by Matt Bayfield
Wed Jul 15, 2009 2:11 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Charity Exhibition Match
Replies: 12
Views: 2318

Re: Charity Exhibition Match

I'm not suggesting that it was a cynical move on the part of the challengers, but using that ridiculous letter distribution was probably their only chance to keep down the margin of defeat (although surely they were shooting themselves in the foot by including three conundrums). Any Scrabble players...
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Jul 13, 2009 12:43 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: "What is COLIN?" and other questions
Replies: 37
Views: 34128

Re: "What is COLIN?" and other questions

Jeff: Leicester is reasonably easy for me to get to, so esp since I can't play on apterous atm (computer probs), I'd potentially be interested. Please keep me updated of any developments.
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:10 am
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Dumb Band Name Guessing Game
Replies: 36
Views: 4197

Re: Dumb Band Name Guessing Game

*is highly pleased with the return on the 5 minutes he spent submitting his entry* Nice one Jim - as a bit of a music nut, and also general lover of trivia/obscure references (not just limited to music, that one), I can't resist this kind of quiz, although there may have been more luck than judgment...
by Matt Bayfield
Tue Jun 23, 2009 11:11 am
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Apterous Summer Open Week 1
Replies: 88
Views: 11186

Re: Apterous Summer Open Week 1

Oh pants. I'm really sorry about this, but I think I'm going to have to withdraw from the competition. Because of an unexpected development at work (one of my job hazards is having to move at ultra short notice), this afternoon I will move to an office where I will have no access to apterous. This m...
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Jun 22, 2009 7:05 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Apterous Summer Open Week 1
Replies: 88
Views: 11186

Re: Apterous Summer Open Week 1

by Matt Bayfield
Mon Jun 22, 2009 1:58 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Card Hunt!
Replies: 58
Views: 7587

Re: Card Hunt!

At time of writing, I appear to be the only person to have been awarded an 8 of diamonds. Unfortunately I didn't write down the relevant word or game, so I have no idea what I got it for. I've worked out what the Queen is for, and I think I know what the 6 is for. The others I haven't worked out yet.
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:58 am
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Apterous Summer Open Week 1
Replies: 88
Views: 11186

Re: Apterous Summer Open Week 1

David O'D: I tend to be on apterous between 8 am and 9 am, noon and 1 pm, and 5 pm and 6 pm. If I haven't spotted you online after a couple of days, please look out for me.

Cheers--
Matt
by Matt Bayfield
Sat Jun 20, 2009 7:20 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Official Thread of Brag
Replies: 1176
Views: 167166

And while I'm bragging...

by Matt Bayfield
Sat Jun 20, 2009 7:18 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Official Thread of Brag
Replies: 1176
Views: 167166

If at first you don't succeed...

...I know it's only junior, but even so, my first "Rex on a Stick" took me 35 attempts. As there was no way I could solve the conundrum in less than Rex's normal time of 0.7 seconds, I had adopted the tactic of randomly clicking the middle letter as soon as it appeared... and on this occas...
by Matt Bayfield
Fri Jun 19, 2009 8:05 am
Forum: Countdown - Current recaps
Topic: Thursday 18th June 2009 (Series 60, Semi-Final 2)
Replies: 3
Views: 1072

Re: Thursday 18th June 2009 (Series 60, Semi-Final 2)

I felt supersmug for seeing BENTONITE after about 20 seconds - it must have been on my mind as I was writing a drilling report earlier yesterday, and bentonite is used for weighting drilling mud (in the oil & gas production industry). I missed the other three nines, though, and would have been t...
by Matt Bayfield
Thu Jun 18, 2009 7:07 am
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Hypercountdown- solution to the problem
Replies: 45
Views: 3877

Re: Hypercountdown- solution to the problem

Charlie Reams wrote:I believe that nothing in the current Apterous lexicon exceeds 12 letters. This is something we might as well address while fixing general Hyperness, just in case of an Ultrahyper variant one day in the future.
Thanks for the clarification, Charlie.
by Matt Bayfield
Wed Jun 17, 2009 3:14 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Hypercountdown- solution to the problem
Replies: 45
Views: 3877

Re: Hypercountdown- solution to the problem

Guilty as charged! :D
by Matt Bayfield
Wed Jun 17, 2009 2:51 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Hypercountdown- solution to the problem
Replies: 45
Views: 3877

Re: Hypercountdown- solution to the problem

Quick question, sort of related to this thread, but more appropriate to Unlimited than Hyper variants: could anyone tell me, does the current apterous lexicon include words longer than 12 letters? I do quite enjoy the occasional game of Unlimited, but on the rare occasions I find one, I'm never sure...
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Jun 15, 2009 4:19 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Alternative Pastime
Replies: 68
Views: 10136

Re: Alternative Pastime

Marc, I got confused by the angry faces, so I figured I should apologise just in case!

No offence taken.
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:07 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Alternative Pastime
Replies: 68
Views: 10136

Re: Alternative Pastime

Apologies Marc. Having lived in the US myself, no offence was intended; clearly I misjudged.
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Jun 15, 2009 10:41 am
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Alternative Pastime
Replies: 68
Views: 10136

Re: Alternative Pastime

Young Americans fire guns. And for CCCC, Carol can't count chickens...

R.S.P.B.
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Jun 15, 2009 9:50 am
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Alternative Pastime
Replies: 68
Views: 10136

Re: Alternative Pastime

Kumar Sangakkara only runs leisurely. Or for those not following the cricket: Kissing Sharon Osbourne ruins lovelife.

Next up: R.N.L.I.
by Matt Bayfield
Sun Jun 14, 2009 1:47 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Superstats!
Replies: 60
Views: 5819

Re: Superstats!

Sorry Maxine... it was me!

What makes it worse is I had spotted MOROCCO as well, but because I wasn't sure that was valid, I went for the shorter word which I knew would be in the dictionary because you had mentioned it in the "best words" thread... *blush*
by Matt Bayfield
Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:15 am
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Which two letters come next in the sequence?
Replies: 81
Views: 9608

Re: Which two letters come next in the sequence?

Matt, pleased don't be confused by my mention of "groups". I was using "group" as a synonym for a pair of letters. Replace every occurrence of "group" with "pair" and it might be less misleading. Each two-letter pair does refer to a single thing. As it happene...
by Matt Bayfield
Thu Jun 11, 2009 3:30 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Miscellaneous notable games
Replies: 16
Views: 1829

Re: Miscellaneous notable games

I've just noticed that my recent standard goatdown against Waldorf has broken the record for highest metamax. I wonder whether I have also set the record for worst picking by one player? An actual max 137 out of a metamax 203 is only 67.5%, which has to be pretty shambolic when you consider there ar...
by Matt Bayfield
Thu Jun 11, 2009 2:49 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Which two letters come next in the sequence?
Replies: 81
Views: 9608

Re: Which two letters come next in the sequence?

Well Jon, I wasn't about to spoil the intrigue for everyone else when there was the alternative option of adding to their general confusion! I only saw this thread this afternoon as I rarely visit this forum. The answer suddenly dawned on me after 15 minutes of considering various options of what ki...
by Matt Bayfield
Thu Jun 11, 2009 2:03 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Which two letters come next in the sequence?
Replies: 81
Views: 9608

Re: Which two letters come next in the sequence?

Got it! The next two letters are "HO".

And to complete what I regard to be the end of the finite sequence: HO, TH, IS, JA, HO. Ok, you could continue it still further from there, with FR, TE, ME, but then you run out of two-letter groups.
by Matt Bayfield
Thu Jun 11, 2009 10:42 am
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Apterous Summer Open
Replies: 118
Views: 15650

Re: Apterous Summer Open

Count me in please Andrew. Enter me the the U1200 if I'm eligible or the Open if I'm not. (My current rating has gone up this morning to a personal best of 1199, so for now I will be "top seed" for the U1200. However, if I win my next standard game I'll presumably exceed 1200 and will end ...
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:53 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Superstats!
Replies: 60
Views: 5819

Re: Superstats!

Ah, okay! Thank you - I see it's already on its way.

Ta for the link Kirk although I was after the "all-time" list of nines rather than my list from the last 30 days. PANOPLIES is probably one of my better words...
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Jun 08, 2009 12:02 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Superstats!
Replies: 60
Views: 5819

Re: Superstats!

Brilliant! Thank you. Edit: I can't find my (or anyone else's) list of nines since the beginning of aptotime. If it is there (as mentioned in the initial post in this thread), could someone point me in the right direction? Ta. If the all-time list of nines isn't there yet in Superstats, it would be ...
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Jun 08, 2009 9:52 am
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Superstats!
Replies: 60
Views: 5819

Re: Superstats!

Superstats is another in a long list of great apto-features. One question - do the stats and graphs there get updated - if so how often? (Is it once a day?) Anyhows - my £5 towards hardware upgrades should be with Charlie by now (please let me know if it didn't arrive) so if that qualifies me for a ...
by Matt Bayfield
Fri Jun 05, 2009 9:50 am
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Official Thread of Brag
Replies: 1176
Views: 167166

Re: Official Thread of Brag

It doesn't compare to the standard of the top players round here, but I was well pleased with this standard 15-rounder , where I had to pull out a personal best 12 maxes just to make certain of beating a seriously in-form Plum. I wasn't expecting Plum to play quite as solidly as that?! If I hadn't g...
by Matt Bayfield
Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:43 am
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Your best apterous word to date?
Replies: 124
Views: 14874

Re: Your best apterous word to date?

It's only a 7-letter word, but I was quite pleased with the pencil I earned for WACKOES.

Mind you, some credit is due to Barry Evans who had beaten me with DILDOES (so to speak) a couple of days previously. Without that, I would never have thought to pluralise my word with -ES rather than -S!
by Matt Bayfield
Fri May 29, 2009 7:49 am
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Apterous League Championship
Replies: 60
Views: 5608

Re: Apterous League Championship

Nice idea Ben, but we all know how rubbish the French are in high-profile knockout tournaments. Even if you invited the best of a few other European nations, the champion of des Chiffres et des Lettres would probably only ever win once in the first 54 attempts, compared to, say, 12 wins for the Brit...
by Matt Bayfield
Wed May 20, 2009 10:20 am
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Official thread of scrag
Replies: 328
Views: 50787

Re: Official thread of scrag

The only positive to come from Chris' game there was that despite having what can only be described as an absolute nightmare, it showed he was a perfect gent in defeat. And I suppose it's also encouragement to us mere mortals that even the very best players go blank sometimes. Anyhow, very best of l...
by Matt Bayfield
Thu May 14, 2009 3:28 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Welcome! - Post here first
Replies: 1961
Views: 1027163

Re: Brief intro

You sound like a nice guy. You'll never fit in here. (PS Judging by your photo, you must've been watching the first episode in nappies.) (PPS Sometimes I have to watch in a nappy, it depends what Susie is wearing.) You're too kind. I'll sacrifice fitting in as long as people don't mind playing the ...
by Matt Bayfield
Thu May 14, 2009 3:09 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Welcome! - Post here first
Replies: 1961
Views: 1027163

Brief intro

hullo folks... I'm Matt. Some of you may have spotted me on apterous for the last week or two. Back in the day, I watched the very first episode of Countdown, and then probably most episodes for the first ten years, playing along at home like I guess most of us do. I lost interest from the mid-to-la...
by Matt Bayfield
Thu May 14, 2009 2:15 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Bug reports
Replies: 2157
Views: 437415

Re: Bug reports

I can give you the 5 games back although it hardly seems worth it when you have 23 already. The ratings will be given an overhaul quite soon anyway and the games will be recounted then. Thanks, that's fine. If those games are missed, it barely affects my rating, but I would quite like them included...
by Matt Bayfield
Thu May 14, 2009 11:50 am
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Bug reports
Replies: 2157
Views: 437415

Ratings/totals being frozen.

Apologies for my first post being a bug report, but in follow-up to yesterday's comments: * the 5 games I played yesterday (13 May) still aren't included in my total games & total wins * the effect of the 5 games doesn't seem to have been included in my rating Is this fixable? The games I have p...