c4countdown

Mike Brown

Just a slightly belated note to say how much Mike and I enjoyed the events on Thursday. Apart from the obvious honour we all shared of watching history being made, it was great (as always) to see faces old and new in what turned into 'Contestants' Corner' in the bar and then afterwards at the legend...

Mike Brown

John Douglas wrote:Why did Des call him Danielle at the beginning?

Maybe he was thinking about Countdown's unit assistant...

Mike Brown

I think you could make a case for 'fennels' using the 'restaurant menu exception'. I've ordered it as a vegetable side dish. If you ordered two portions of it, a conversation in the kitchens along the lines of "Have you plated up the fennels?" would be feasible. I've heard Susie justify '...

Mike Brown

Recap for Tuesday 4 November 2008. C1: Champion Andy Crompton (2 wins, 160 points.) C2: Challenger Martin Bishop (from Tadworth, Surrey.) DC: Susie Dent and Paul Zenon. CV: Carol Vorderman. OT: Other words or solutions. It’s the second day of poppy-wearing, although Carol and Susie are no longer wea...

Mike Brown

Like the idea, Charlie! I was thinking after the quarters that such a place would be a good idea, but never got round to mentioning it. Nice to see that so many forumites are coming to the final, too. Presumably some of them may want to be kept in the dark about what happened in the quarters, or is ...

Mike Brown

Well...the first question is does the show really need a guest? Maybe with the new hosts they will ditch the 'celebrity' guest - why not, do they really add anything to the show? That's not what we watch it for. I'm sure that's not true of everyone on C4C, and certainly not of the Countdown audienc...

Mike Brown

Sorry to read this Julian, but I totally respect your decision. I always enjoy your posts (especially the mass noun ones) and it's a shame "Mr 146" is bowing out. It's been an honour and pleasure to meet you several times over the last few years (I'll put my drubbing in the quarter-finals ...

Mike Brown

Damian E wrote:JS eh? Now there's a thought.

Ah, there you are!

Mike Brown

Dinos Sfyris wrote:Recap brought to you by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand....

How dare you associate me with Russell Brand, Dinos! I've never even met Andrew Sachs' granddaughter!

(Actually, given their respective ages, I suppose I must be Jonathan Ross...)

Mike Brown

I see the latest speculation centres around John Sergeant. Personally, I think he'd be quite a good choice. I know he isn't everyone's cup of tea (who is?), but I think he's quite witty and wouldn't 'take over' the show in the same way that some presenters would. Damian is probably thinking up a com...

Mike Brown

I've just caught the last 15 minutes too, having just returned from two days away. There were so many references to Alexander and Countdown that I assumed an announcement had finally been made and he was officially the new host, but having trawled the Net, it doesn't seem to be the case - unless he'...

Mike Brown

Why doesn't C4C have an emoticon for yawn?

Mike Brown

Man, I want some of this pint action. Mike is a great guy! I'm sure he'll be getting that man's body real soon now. What's that, Charlie, you're saying I haven't already? :lol: Great game today, by the way. Very enjoyable to watch. Hopefully see you later this week; maybe I'll even be able to get y...

Mike Brown

Countdown recap for Tuesday 21 October 2008. In which the artist formerly known as Soo gets closer to possible octochampdom (or does he? Read on to find out). C1: Champion Charlie Reams (4 wins, 438 points.) (he’s originally from Enfield, apparently.) C2: Challenger Allan Harmer (a treasury controll...

Mike Brown

Julian Fell wrote:If I've made a mountain out of a molehill, sorry. But at least it's led to Mike's getting more recognition, so some good has come out of it.

This is getting embarrassing! Maybe we could draw a line under this now (after I've shot Corby) and the next time I see you, Julian, I'll buy you a pint!

Mike Brown

Hi Chris. Welcome to the forum. I don't suppose you know what the scramble for the other conundrum (BLOODSHOT) in your final was?

Mike Brown

Mike, thank your for your very informative post. (I realise what distinguished company I'm in, but I will wade in regardless... !) It's good that the trend is now towards allowing more "sensible pluralisations" of mass nouns. ... lots of interesting stuff about the plurals of MANKIND and ...

Mike Brown

I don't think so Mike, it wouldn't be fair or welcomed. People should be able to say what they like, but so long as that includes a right to reply from those who make the show. Opinion-based comments are never going to be 100% rosy from our point of view, but if people post factual claims about rig...

Mike Brown

Damian E wrote:At the risk of boring you to death, i'll go one step further to clarify.

Don't apologise Damian, us geeks love this kind of stuff!

Mike Brown

I think at one time the pluralisation of mass nouns was allowed and then the rule was changed (I seem to remember Susie announcing it). I would personally always allow them because you can always count different categories or classes of mass nouns. Hi John. I think the original ruling was that mass...

Mike Brown

Julie, I think in principal your ideas are very good. However, when it comes to specific adjudications on words, it a tricky situation. We know the ODE isnt as user-friendly for Countdown as we would like, but its still a cracking dictionary. The problem is, who writes the definitive list of words?...

Mike Brown

Thanks for that Jono. All the new potential visitors to this site, who don't know you or your dry humour, will now be wondering what on earth is going on. I give up. This raises a very interesting point, I think. Should we now be extra-careful what is said on C4C, because of its effect on the show?...

Mike Brown

I have no reason to doubt you are actually in love with me both physically and emotionally. Sorry Damian, you must be confusing yourself with Susie! :) Thanks for the reply anyway, and thank you to Julian for his defence. I must admit I can't really think of any occasion in the past where you've tr...

Mike Brown

Would that be the same Damian who went to the trouble of inviting you to Carol's last show, the after-party and got you tickets for the QF's and SF's of this series, Mike? Hmmm. You can tell i don't like you. Cheeky sausage. :roll: OK, I feel suitably embarrassed now! Sorry if I've overstepped the ...

Mike Brown

What surprised me is that Charlie was allowed to advertise this site on the programme. When Mike Brown was on, it was said that he runs a Countdown website, but the URL wasn't given. And I mentioned my numbers game solver on my application form, but this information was completely censored out for ...

Mike Brown

Ipswich Town. Although I come from Norfolk, I just can't bring myself to support Norwich City

Mike Brown

Not sure I can add too much to what's already been said, but what a great debut, Charlie, and you managed to get a great plug for C4C in as well (complete with unedited URL!). I'm looking forward to tomorrow, I'm sure it will be similarly entertaining! Well done. Didn't realise you came from Crowlan...

Mike Brown

Martin Gardner wrote: Round 14: 100, 7, 2, 1, 5, 6. Target: 860.

C2: 860. (10) I can't remember how she did it

Tracy's method was ((7+1)x100)+(6x2x5).

Mike Brown

Keith Bevins wrote:Round 10 numbers:-

Whether that is how CV did it is of course unknown.

Carol's method was ((75-2)x7)+25.

Mike Brown

And here we see a weakness of issuing these corrections in private. I already pointed this out to Mike in a PM and I might not have been the only one, so he's probably in for a barrage of duplicate corrections next time he logs in! Thanks to you both for your correction. To be honest, I can see pro...

Mike Brown

Countdown recap for Tuesday 7 October 2008. C1: Champion Kai Laddiman (3 wins, 283 points.) C2: Challenger Don Walker (a former Customs & Excise officer from Gateshead). DC: Susie Dent and Nicholas Owen. CV: Carol Vorderman. OT: Other words or solutions. R01: V O A L D K O P N R02: T N U D E S A...

Mike Brown

C1: Champion Junaid Mubeen (1 win, 100 points.) C2: Challenger Hazel Jones. DC: Susie Dent and Andrew Sachs. CV: Carol Vorderman. OT: Other words or solutions. R01: L F S E A E M D K R02: Y R T Q I E U D T R03: G V T L I A E N O R04: M W S L E O A O S R05: 7, 8, 9, 1, 7, 10. Target: 774. TTT: LOANVO...

Mike Brown

And of course some guy called Charlie Reams...

Mike Brown

DC's offering in round 3 were COMPLIES and COMPILES. I really must learn to write more clearly!!

Mike Brown

Just thought some of you might enjoy this headline from BBC News:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7641707.stm

Or is it just me?

Mike Brown

TACRINE and TRANNIE aren't listed in COD9. All the other OT words are fine. I'm happy to check similar things in the future; I can't guarantee timeliness, though!

Mike Brown

Anyone have any thoughts on the news that Alexander Armstrong is said to be the current favourite to be the next host of Countdown? Personally, I don't really know what to think, as I've not watched Armstrong & Miller, but my worry radar has been duly activated! See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tv...

Mike Brown

Hi Julian I certainly wouldn't expect you to get any kind of time delays. I must admit I've always copied to a hard disc first, and then onto DVD, but I suspect the difference may just be that technology has moved on (or some recorders are better than others, as you implied). I can certainly recomme...

Mike Brown

Hi Julian All you need is a VHS machine, a DVD recorder and either a SCART lead or phono cables to link the two together, then it should be a piece of the proverbial. I've copied a friend's wedding video and a few episodes of Countdown (although, ironically, not my own!) without any particular diffi...

Mike Brown

Firstly, hats off to Charlie for not only Apterous, but for being the grandmaster of the online Countdown community and for putting in countless hours of effort over the last 4 or 5 years. Thank you :) Although with people like Mike Brown and Ben Wilson on the scene, I don't think I can accept the ...

Mike Brown

Yes that's a good point Mike - the Corral / its successor is looking more and more like The Countdown Page all the time List of stuff Mike has that I don't: ... blahblah... List of stuff I have that Mike doesn't: ... blahblah... List of stuff that is the same: * Lists of game results I think I'm ha...

Mike Brown

Jason Larsen wrote:Mike, I'm confused because you called Charlie a name, yet you did complement him on the Countdown Database!

Why?

I think it's called teasing...

Mike Brown

Jason Larsen wrote:Mike:

Are you happy or are you not?

Yes.

Mike Brown

Countdown recap for Tuesday 9th September 2008 (Series 59 Prelim 37). C1: Champion Debbi Flack (5 wins, 448 points.) C2: Challenger Kay Landsburgh. DC: Susie Dent and Anton du Beke. CV: Carol Vorderman. OT: Other words or solutions. R01: N S R E O N V E G R02: D T S O A E B X I R03: L T R E A I T M ...

Mike Brown

Stewart Scott wrote:I got my copy of StW on Amazon.co.uk and I'm sure they deliver to the US so you could probably get a copy there Jason.

Or if you PM Mark Tournoff, maybe he can post a signed copy to you?

Mike Brown

You b****r! I've just been adding links to the Corral on to all the series pages of my site :evil: But seriously, Charlie, I'm looking forward to when cdb has more info on the nine-rounders, so I can check all my stats pages, amongst other things! Looks good, at any rate, and I shall be watching it ...

Mike Brown

Jeff Clayton wrote: Game 5

A: Ross Allatt 45 - 50 Mark Tournoff
B: Dinos Syfris 40 - 61 Ben Wilson
C: Stewart Gordon 44 - 32 Richard Priest

Sorry to correct you, Jeff, but the result of game C was 44-52. Nice summary of all the goings-on, though.

Mike Brown

Just noticed this morning that one of Dinos's conundrums (SPUDMONEY) was one of yesterday's puzzles on the 2008 calendar - coincidence or not? I think we should be told!!

Mike Brown

Recap powered by CountMax, Apterous.org and a cup of tea. No queries on the cup of tea, but are you sure you need CountMax? The Recap Writer's automatic maximum filler-inner thingie ought to do the same job much faster. I only ask because I worry that maybe the Recap Writer is broken. Actually I di...

Mike Brown

Another great event, despite the low turnout. And another 'well done' and yet more thanks to Jeff for the smooth organization. It was good to see everyone again, and nice to meet Karen for the first time, and Ross for the first time in a long time! And as I know you're all on the edge of your seats ...

Mike Brown

Countdown recap for Tuesday 26th August 2008 (Series 59 Prelim 27). C1: Champion Jeremy Miles (1 win, 62 points.) C2: Challenger Alex Horne. DC: Susie Dent and Arthur Smith. CV: Carol Vorderman. OT: Other words or solutions. R01: T O P C S A M E A R02: Z R O E T C D I L R03: V A R G S E N L O R04: T...

Mike Brown

Charlie Reams wrote:
Mike Brown wrote:Any chance of a version of the Recap Writer being made available?

http://apterous.org/recapwriter.php

Charlie, you're a star. Thanks for that. I will attempt to get Tuesday's recap done tomorrow evening.

Cheers

Mike (searches his wallet for a fiver towards the Corral...)

Mike Brown

I was planning a slightly more organised announcement than this, but oh well. Both sooreams.com and the Countdown Corral are going away for a bit, with a view to a redesign and relaunch, hopefully in September. As a stopgap measure, I'm hosting a rather unsightly version of CountGen on apterous.org...

Mike Brown

Good to have Countdown back after a month's break. A bit of a scrappy old game, but I must admit I really enjoyed it. It still seems pretty unreal to me at the moment that Carol is leaving, I must confess...

Mike.

Mike Brown

I just had HUMOUS disallowed - could this be added to the dictionary as it's in the ODE. Edit: And me and Paul both had DECLASSING disallowed in hypercountdown. Just looked this one up out of curiosity... Curiously, the NODE and ODE2 both give HUMMUS, HOUMMOS and HUMOUS as being acceptable; ODE2r s...

Mike Brown

With great unoriginality... Vowel and Consonant.

Mike Brown

What a great event, with many memorable moments. And what a pleasure to finally meet the one and only Joyce Cansfield! Thanks once again to Ben and his mum for organizing another succesful Co- Event. And a message to Dan - BOLETI wasn't in after all (it's BOLETUSES, apparently, despite its Latin ori...

Mike Brown

Damian E wrote:We're showing 2 weeks of repeats now. Aug 11 - 15 is 5 shows of David Edwards from July 07 - and Aug 18 - 23 is 5 shows of Neil Mckenzie.

I have to say, Damian, that I'm underwhelmed!

Mike Brown

Round 4: T A K C I K E P E Odd.. Yep. I'm pretty sure there aren't even two Ks in the pile any more, denying us such gems as KAYAK and KAPOK. I'm not sure there ever were to be honest, and there certainly weren't at the time of this game - probably one slipped in from the set used for the conundrum.

Mike Brown

Jon O'Neill wrote:I think yes. Maybe need a second opinion though.

Seconded.

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