c4countdown

Gavin Chipper

Maybe you could have an initial post with just a dot in it, all discussion goes after it, and then the first post is edited to become the recap. Obviously this would have the problem that someone would always need to remember to do the dot post (presumably the person doing the recap as well).

Gavin Chipper

Isn't there a difference between stressing a rather obvious correlation and providing a set of stats that allow the surfer to draw their own correlations: personally, I think there is no contradiction. Not a contradiction as such, but if I wasn't interested in the meaning behind scores, I certainly...

Gavin Chipper

Charlie Reams wrote:But for the record I agree that the correlation is not very interesting.

I find it interesting that you would say this, given your website with all the ranking lists based on total scores and percentage of highest possible score etc.

Gavin Chipper

Urp, that would really annoy me. For a start you'd end up seeing the DC beaters on the way down to the recap. The benefit of being able to read old posts is minimal, since I doubt there's much need to refer to old spoiler threads and there's a Search box on every page if you really need it. Well, i...

Gavin Chipper

I have to admit that now this forum has been around a while, the more I think that the "spoiler" and "recap" threads for each game would be better off being the same - i.e. the two subforums could become one. People discuss the game in both anyway, and if I'm looking for an old p...

Gavin Chipper

I think the point that Damian, Charlie and Ben are trying to make is that stating there is a correlation between high scores and skill (I am an exception) is so obvious it's not even worth stating. Well Damian seems to respond by disagreeing with the obvious point. Obviously you're not an exception...

Gavin Chipper

Ben Pugh wrote:
Gevin-Gavin wrote:The point is that there is a positive correlation between high scores and skill.
Revolutionary.

You know, I think I've seen the same thing in football and rugby and cricket and basketball and golf and...

I'm not sure Damian agrees with the point. The point wasn't made out of the blue.

Gavin Chipper

Yeah, but plenty of series have had more than one 800 octochamp, so therefore plenty of 800 octochamps have not won the series. You can argue it both ways. The point is that there is a positive correlation between high scores and skill. We can argue about how strong the correlation is, but it is un...

Gavin Chipper

Jason Larsen wrote:Adolf Hitler has been dead for a long time.

You mean the fight took place a long time ago and it was to the death?

Gavin Chipper

Richard Brittain wrote:creating a general balance between all of our moods?

Gavin Chipper

Richard Brittain wrote:What does sense have to do with fighting?

Well if Hitler goes in fast and early then he might wear himself out. Eubank would be sensibly sitting back, absorbing the punches and then would go in for the kill in a later round.

Gavin Chipper

Yep. Although there seems to be an implicit exception for participle adjectives like PISSED, because you presumably can't have PISSEDER/PISSEDEST, although I'm not sure if this rule has ever been tested. Is this just something assumed by people who discuss online? I think they should be allowed for...

Gavin Chipper

I'm not sure I really "get" haikus. Is there any logic behind the number of syllables in a line or is it just some arbitrary invention?

Gavin Chipper

Damian E wrote:Pattern......

Every time there has been an 800+ Octochamp in a series, an 800+ Octochamp has won the series.

Gavin Chipper

DaveC wrote:I never worked out the rule for when you can and can't add "IEST", GORSY is specified in the dic.

DC

Isn't the rule that you can have it if and only if it's listed? One-syllable adjectives only can have -ER and -EST added by default.

Gavin Chipper

Corby wrote:
Chris Corby wrote:
Corby wrote: I've tried to make anagrams of Lara Searle and I gave up because they are all arse.

Cheers Dad, I knew it would be too subtle for these morons.

I think we all saw the joke but left it to others to comment.

Gavin Chipper

Basically in terms of realistic candidates, we have Harvey Freeman, Julian Fell, Conor Travers, Paul Gallen and Craig Beevers. In terms of who I would go for, Julian, Conor and Paul have all lost one game, so are equal in that respect, but of those I'd probably go for Paul Gallen, considering his p...

Gavin Chipper

Back onto the topic - it's quite interesting to read Julian Fell's experience on Mike's page. He comes across as not very competitive and lacking in killer instinct, which possibly contributed to his downfall. He saw it as a bad thing that Grace Page scored nothing in the first two or so rounds in t...

Gavin Chipper

Who was the guy?

Gavin Chipper

Still, what's the policy on accepting words that are trademarks but nonetheless given in lower case? If it's lower case, it should be allowed. Starting off as a trademark is just another way for a word to enter the language. In addition to the examples that Charlie gave, HEROIN, ESCALATOR, TANNOY, ...

Gavin Chipper

OXTAIL is actually a mass noun, so it hard to say whether OXTAILS would be allowed. Susie Dent would have the final say on whether it was allowed or not. There is a discussion in here to do with Mass Nouns that focuses on other mass noun words discussed. But isn't it the tail of an ox? Edit - in my...

Gavin Chipper

dinos_the_chemist wrote:I didn't see the show but I'm guessing for round 2 Jo Brand offered MOPFIGHT. Am I right?

Can anyone confirm this?

Gavin Chipper

Richard Brittain wrote:Pardon?

Don't people define animals to be of the same species if they can breed? A hybrid can presumably only occur if they can breed. Not sure it works as a sensible definition myself (presumably the attempt is to categorise types of animal) but I know nothing about the subject.

Gavin Chipper

David O'Donnell wrote:Zef:Gevin:Zef:Martin Gardner:Jason Larsen- it's all starting to make sense.

I have seen superficial similarities between Zef and Jason Larsen.

Gavin Chipper

You don't look old big lad. Actually, I expected you to look somewhat more beleaguered: I added a bit of VAT from when I saw you as a contestant and in DC which proved to be OTT. I think Gevin wasn't making a joke but even if he was it's typical that he shrouds it in his cloak of semi-anonymity. My...

Gavin Chipper

Martin Gardner wrote:
Damian E wrote: I was born in '69 - so i was a kid in the 80's. And an ugly one at that.
I don't get it either.

Martin

Obviously I was implying that he was older. Forget it though - obviously far too confusing for this forum. It was my post that you didn't get, right?

Gavin Chipper

BTW Martin, have you and Gevin ever been seen in public together? I mean by this, are you posting for the two of you - IS there two different people or is Gevin a pseudonym of yours? I ask this genuinely, and without malice, as i stopped reading the other forum a long while back, so may have missed...

Gavin Chipper

Damian E wrote:In the 80's, when i was a kid

Just noticed this - hilarious!

Gavin Chipper

I stalled and passed.

Gavin Chipper

I suspect Richard Priest's average score of 99.57 is the highest ever for someone who didn't become an Octochamp which makes him one of the best non-Octochamps ever. I think he'd be the favourite against one of the Octochamps unless he's #8 seed then he's playing DOD who averages 110 points a game....

Gavin Chipper

But...........there isn't one...................... "a" rather than "the" - just talking hypothetically. I don't think anyone on the whole planet other than yourself is really thinking about this right now. Over 90 posts in this thread - not all by me. I didn't even start it! I ...

Gavin Chipper

Well, to get all the sides of the dice to come up, you first have to get one of them - there is a 100% chance of achieving this on your first go, and the average number of goes is one. Then you need to get the second number. Each time you roll, there is one chance in n of failing (the chance of rol...

Gavin Chipper

Well, I can't hold a candle to the gentlemen above, but when I knew I was going to be on the show I used Charlie's Anahack program to practise common 7s, 8s and 9s for about half an hour each night up until my CofC appearance ,so about 3 months total. I'm not sure if it was worth it or not; I didn'...

Gavin Chipper

Ben Wilson wrote:STRAIGHTS is the only other 1-syllable niner I can think of.

GRAUNCHED is a word isn't it? STRETCHED definitely is.

Gavin Chipper

Speaking of Paul Gallen, I think that some people rank him lower than they might have because he lost the series final. He was pretty decent in that series anyway, and if Tournoff simply hadn't got the conundrum and Paul had won the series despite doing exactly the same things, I think his unbeaten ...

Gavin Chipper

How did you come up with that? Well, to get all the sides of the dice to come up, you first have to get one of them - there is a 100% chance of achieving this on your first go, and the average number of goes is one. Then you need to get the second number. Each time you roll, there is one chance in ...

Gavin Chipper

Anyway, for an n-sided dice: n/n (or 1) + n/(n-1) + n/(n-2) ... + n/(n-(n-1)) (or n)

Gavin Chipper

Nah, bollocks. How many people had a computer and knew how to program it in the 1980s? How many of those want to type out the entire dictionary too? Yes, you could pick out high-probability words manually but no one's actually going to do that, because time is finite and people have lives outside C...

Gavin Chipper

I think it's interesting what people say about today's contestants having an advantage with computer aids etc. While it may help, I don't think the lack of computer aids acts as a definite stop on someone reaching the same standard. Someone could go through a dictionary manually picking out high pro...

Gavin Chipper

Would that finally be enough to tempt you into putting your ass on the line and having a crack? I was considering applying a few years back but I'd need to be much better to give it a proper shot. I'd have to put in the hours, and then it would all be wasted if I still didn't turn out to be as good...

Gavin Chipper

Unless you played best of 500 it would probably have the exact opposite effect. Plus there'd still be no Holden, probably no Gallen and soon enough no Beevers, which would devalue the whole thing. And then we could start discussing second best ever contestant. What you need is big money involved to...

Gavin Chipper

I tried to reply to this earlier but it logged me out. Well, first of all I wouldn't like to comment on great players like Mark Nyman because I've never seen him play. Only one of his game is online, the score of 79 which was the highest ever score at the time. That one is on the Countdown Page. I'...

Gavin Chipper

Maybe one day we'll have a mammoth big-daddy style tournament and put it to bed once and for all. Unless you played best of 500 it would probably have the exact opposite effect. Plus there'd still be no Holden, probably no Gallen and soon enough no Beevers, which would devalue the whole thing. And ...

Gavin Chipper

Strange to question Julian Fell's depth of word knowledge . Just a small selection of Julian Fell offerings............. PATRIAS, OLEFINE, SAVATE, LANDTIE, APOGEES, ENDGATES, TAURINE, SOLATIUM, SEVICHE, ARTESIAN, DUKEDOM, VALORISED, AGRION, GAMBIER, DAIMYOS. Doesn't look an awful lot wrong with tha...

Gavin Chipper

But, if we're taking age in account, i still standy by Salldanha, but i know you're not taking age into account. You want to find the best ever, but without considering anything other than the statistics, which i don't really understand. TIger Woods is considered the best golfer ever, but he didn't...

Gavin Chipper

Paul Howe wrote:My impression is that in the 15-round era at least, Messrs Travers, Beevers and Gallen are a notch above the rest

Does Julian Fell not even make the same notch? Would he had he won the CofC?

Gavin Chipper

I think Julian Fell is always likely to feature because of his massive scoring, despite his defeat against Graham Nash. Even if Craig Beevers wins the CofC, 924 might be compared to 907 and 1307 to 1236 (11-game totals). However, obviously scores aren't everything and it's quite possible that Julian...

Gavin Chipper

Please stop. I will. Eventually. But before I do, do you recognise either of these quotes? The toughest series ever to play in is the one that has the best player in it - and that was Scott Mearns by a country mile. I only consider Scott to be the best player because he had a natural ability, rathe...

Gavin Chipper

Fred has no friends and his only companion is a coin. He likes to toss the coin until both sides have come up at least once. How many turns of this game does he get to play on average? Fred eventually gets bored of the coin and starts to play with a die, rolling it until all 6 faces have come up at...

Gavin Chipper

Jason Larsen wrote:No new contestants have ever been introduced to determine a Countdown game's result, Michael.

Yes, Michael.

Gavin Chipper

So up to the supreme championship, Harvey Freeman is the most realistic candidate - very few others would make the poll, though one could argue for Mark Nyman and, erring on the side of inclusivity, Allan Saldanha, Nic Brown and Don Reid. Carrying on from this (erring on the side of inclusivity) po...

Gavin Chipper

Not here, but in the mailing list this topic did appear. To quote Ray Folwell (who devised a program to work this out). "According to my calculations 10,858,746 (91.2%) of the 11,905,457 possible numbers games can be solved. As Howard pointed out, the most difficult selection is 1,1,2,2,3,3 wh...

Gavin Chipper

This is pretty typical of the thread and the whole concept of who is / was the greatest player ever. It's very much trapped in the last decade, and it disregards far too many brilliant players of Countdown. Your choices are largely based on statistics, which mean very little overall. You say that M...

Gavin Chipper

Damian E wrote:Have you gone mad?

Not that I've noticed. You?

Gavin Chipper

Jason Larsen wrote:There was a time in which both contestants could come back after tying a game as co-champions. This was instead of playing the tie-breaking conundrum as they do now.

Was Julian Fell on during that time?

The tie-break conundrums came in a whike before Julian's time.

Gavin Chipper

Here is a list of all the Octochamps in the 15-round era who went on to win all 11 gamess to win their series - in fact all the champions have been Octochamps, apart from Ben Wilson who was a Viscount. 1. Julian Fell - 1307 2. Jack Hurst - 1276 3. Kirk Bevins - 1240 4. Craig Beevers - 1236 5. Conor ...

Gavin Chipper

We need recaps of JF's octochamp run, particularly the 138-29 which might have fulfilled that criterion (I know for sure he cocked up the final numbers so didn't score there, so was therefore 99+ ahead after round 13). Julian Fell was 97-23 up after 10 rounds, so his opponent "could" have...

Gavin Chipper

I think we should have a poll at some point, but after the next CofC so people will be at the same level of potential achievement (apart from the earlier players who had the supremes). But if I were to make a poll myself now, I would be slightly more generous than just including those five. It would...

Gavin Chipper

Why is a 'great player' not a candidate for greatest player ever? It's like saying a strawberry isn't a candidate for a fruit salad. This thread bores me to death. Some great players are candidates for greatest ever but not all. You may have a large strawberry but that doesn't automatically makest ...

Gavin Chipper

There are too many candidates. Craig, Conor, Scott Mearns, Paul Gallen, Paul Howe, Mark Tournoff, Chris Wills, Julian Fell etc etc - its just not possible. Maybe we'll find out one day if we do a supreme-like competition. Who knows. I think there are a lot of candidates for who is a great player, b...

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