c4countdown

'Ocelots' always makes me snigger, because of the joke from Fraiser (can't remember which episode) about Maris sitting there rubbing her ocelot (say it to get the pun).

Would 'taxiing' be valid?

Rather bizarrely, I got the first Teaser using a completely different apparent clue - Nancy Drew....

Was 'cervine' okay?

Susie doesn't seem to be back on form. I can understand her missing 'ecotone' (was pleased to see that, as it came up in my episode), but I thought she'd get 'tallest'. I had Carmines as well; seems to be a mass noun, obviously different shades aren't used often enough.

I can understand it with Amay, as he looked about 10 when he was first on it. Inviting back players who nearly beat eventual Octochamps might be worth doing (Austin Shin comes to mind), but otherwise it should probably be a one-attempt show.

I'm finding James Whittaker pretty dull, and that voice is so annoying....

I like the Origin of Words, find it thoroughly educational, and I'm glad it's back. I do agree that it would be better after the numbers round though - why create unneccessary distractions for the players?

The main problem was that the weekend schedules couldn't be standardised, mainly because of sport. The Saturday edition was on at different times every week - it was hard to keep track of, especially for the older viewers. Having the occasional special or Champion of Champions series on Saturdays mi...

It's interesting that women rarely do well on the show these days. Is it just the sheer amount of 'swotting up' that some of the guys do?

Well done David, I knew you'd do it. I feel good about only losing 92-62 to you

I seem to have a real odd assortment for breakfast, mainly depending on whether I've got up early enough. Half a tin of Heinz Beans & Sausages is quite common (used to be the whole tin, until I realised it was 2/3 of the daily guideline for salt), but I often have soup for breakfast. Cold meat o...

Once the filming started I felt and looked pretty calm though - that's the one thing almost everybody who's seen it has commented on.

That sounds right. The first 25 episodes of this series were filmed in five successive weekdays in December, but they aren't returning to film again until this week (I think), which would make Susie's baby about 3 months old, so she's probably ready to return for the odd day.

Getting 'tiramisu' should outweigh not getting 'cottagers', because it's such a difficult word. That's the one which told me how tough my game was going to be.

Gulp! :shock: Sorry, I call people kid if they are under 25. Actually, I made an exception for Martin Smith (my opponent on Monday) because although he is 26 he looks about 17. Yea, he was surprised when I started talking about going for a pint afterwards. And being from Eastbourne and doing charit...

I got that Conundrum faster than David, although otherwise he obliterated me. I had 'medians', which was annoying. Embarassingly my mum got 'waiter' and I didn't.

'A charity volunteer worker from Eastbourne' makes me sound like a pensioner...

Agreed about the clichés, the constant "I don't think you can win" is especially annoying; most players can work that out for themselves once given the scores (you can't actually see them from the contestants' positions). Overall I like Des now, his banter can be amusing and he seemed very...

Alternating might be good for Susie, especially when filming five weekdays in succession as they did recently. The variety would be nice. Susie is better at the job - very natural, and good at learning and explaining very complex words. Alison is a stunner though, very slim.

I'm Martin Smith, I was a contestant last Monday, losing 62-92 to David. I've been watching on and off for years, but really got hooked the last 4 years or so. I'm the guy who did all the charity work, I should've mentioned the furniture redistribution charity, especially after the first Teatime Tea...

I think Susie would win. She's so good at memorising the words which come up a lot (daemons, palinode, operant/operand, qintar etc). The numbers aren't so important; at worst you'll lost 30 points , but you can get that back from 4 or 5 of the 11 letters rounds, and that's before you consider 9-lett...

The list of restrictions is quite complex. Silver and grey are discouraged, as are thin stripes. T-shirts have to be round-necked. Sponsor's logos are forbidden. I actually had to head to the local charity shop to find the five suitable items they asked for.

David Mitchell would be great, as long as the older viewers wouldn't mind him.

Incidentally, has their ever been a non-white DC guest?

I'm annoyed with myself for not getting the first numbers game, but otherwise I feel like I did myself justice. Nearly risked 'parisher' in the last letters round, which would have been silly as I needed a 9 to still have a chance. David's a Green Party member, which is how he knew 'ecotone'.