c4countdown

It's time to dust off your bagpipes once more as Countdown in Edinburgh returns for its third appearance on the tournament calendar.

Bookings are now being taken for CoEdi3, making November a bumper month for Countdown competition addicts. Apologies to those who can't stretch to two tourneys in a month, that's just how it's fallen - and it does look like we may have a drought between CoMultiLon and CoEdi, so hopefully it won't be too offputting.

Jointly organised by Nita Marr and friends from the legendary Edinburgh Countdown Club, Rich Priest and myself, it will be an Edinburgh-style tournament (naturally - that's like Lincoln, except that points determine seedings and results rather than both wins and points) at the home of the ECC in the south of the city (to be more exact, the Braid Bowling Club, 58 Cluny Gardens, Edinburgh EH10 6BR).

There are already 15 club members raring to go, so why not come and join them?

The price remains the same as last time, which is £10 including a buffet lunch (which is always very tasty), and payments can be made via PayPal to mike@mjbrown.demon.co.uk (don't forget to specify a personal payment to avoid any charges being levied). Those living locally can pay Nita directly if they prefer.

Advance rail tickets should soon be available from the usual online emporia. Travelodges will no doubt be selling out fast!

Hope to see you there!

Mike.

PROVISIONAL TIMETABLE:

11.00 Doors open
11.45 Welcome / Round 1 Draw announced.
12.00 Round 1
13.20 Lunch
14.05 Round 2
15.25 Break
15.40 Round 3
17.00 Break
17.20 Grand Final (15 rounds)
17.45 Prizegiving
18.00 End / down the pub!

Needless to say, one of those 15 club members raring to go is me. Hope to see lots of you there!

Me and Michelle will be there for a third time.

Ryan Taylor wrote:Me and Michelle will be there for a third time.

you got a loyalty card buddy?

IN

Defo in, nice time for a break before COHUD two weeks later.

I'll be there.

Interested, but probably underfunded by November. We shall see.

In

Probably in, especially since korfball is all on Sundays this year.

Will probably attend this. What hotel do people normally use for this event?

Looks like my mum wants to go to edinburgh around about that time to look around so could kill 2 birds with one stone, put me down as likely.

Unfortunately I'm unlikely to be available this weekend due to music commitments

Callum Todd wrote:Will probably attend this. What hotel do people normally use for this event?

Normally one of the many Travelodges in the area. The cheapest seems to be this one.

I'll be in Edinburgh once again but for the darts so sadly it's a no from me.

Kirk Bevins wrote:I'll be in Edinburgh once again but for the darts so sadly it's a no from me.

You out in the evenings?

I'll probably be there!

In for me and my girlfriend (Lucy)

Adam Dexter wrote:In for me and my girlfriend (Lucy)

Awesome, I can finally give you back the ODE3 I've still got from this year's COLIN.

Ben Wilson wrote:

Adam Dexter wrote:In for me and my girlfriend (Lucy)

Awesome, I can finally give you back the ODE3 I've still got from this year's COLIN.

Yay As long as it doesn't exceed the weight allowance for carry-on We're flying up, because it's actually cheaper than train and will mean a night less hotel (whoop whoop)

May give this a go - it's been a while and anything has to be an improvement on the last time I played Countdown in public - will know for sure nearer the time if I can make it.

Right looking for a bit of assistance from anyone who might know - we're getting the 'plane in, and need to make our way to the event from the airport. I have seen there are buses, trams, or taxis, and trying to work out what the best thing would be? We're going to need to get into Edinburgh city centre after the event, and back to the airport the day after. Any ideas?

The trams and Airlink buses both go directly between the airport and city centre - the buses take about 25 minutes or so each way and I think are slightly faster and cheaper than the trams, so they're probably your best bet. Getting from the city centre to the event and back is probably best done with a taxi if you don't know your way around - the journey shouldn't be more than 15 minutes and there'll probably be other c4cers staying in the area who you can share with.

Have you all got a valid passport?

Paid (via Paypal) Me and Lucy Westwood (the missus) are IN!

Gavin Chipper wrote:Have you all got a valid passport?

... and an ATM card to get the local currency?

Jack and I are probables.

Could this be the first Co event to be held abroad?

I wonder if there will be a Scottish Countdown.

Don't know if Scotland will be in or out, but we'd like to be in Scotland,
thanks, Phyl and Alan

Whatever you decide today, Scotland, I'll still love you. In.

I'll probably drive up, or get the train, or fly. Not really sure tbh, but IN and paid.

Styleses - how are you planning to get to Edinburgh?

With five and a half weeks to go we now have 25 attendees (12 of which are from the club), which is great news. The room is limited to 36 so if you're thinking of coming along and haven't booked yet please send me your payment soon to avoid disappointment! There are a number of people above who have indicated a definite 'in' but I haven't seen any PayPal offerings so unless you've booked through the club please get in touch with your tenners - you know it makes sense! Thanks.

Jen, I've got to work on Friday 31st October, so I'll tak' the high road (plane) and my parents will tak' the low road (train), and they'll be in Scotland afore me. I'll PM you my flight details

Won't be able to make it unfortunately

Mike Brown wrote:With five and a half weeks to go we now have 25 attendees (12 of which are from the club), which is great news. The room is limited to 36 so if you're thinking of coming along and haven't booked yet please send me your payment soon to avoid disappointment! There are a number of people above who have indicated a definite 'in' but I haven't seen any PayPal offerings so unless you've booked through the club please get in touch with your tenners - you know it makes sense! Thanks.

Have you received ours (£20)?

Adam Dexter wrote:Have you received ours (£20)?

Yes Adam, received OK.

There are now 7 places remaining. For the record, people who've expressed an interest but not paid (unless I've screwed up) are: Dan McColm, Jen Steadman, Ian Volante, Callum Todd, Paul Worsley, David Barnard.

Paul can no longer make it, I'm afraid but I take it you received my payment (via his account). Look forward to seeing everyone there.

Jack Worsley wrote:Paul can no longer make it, I'm afraid but I take it you received my payment (via his account). Look forward to seeing everyone there.

Sorry your dad can't make it, Jack, but yes, received your PayPal payment with no problems.

Mike Brown wrote:

Adam Dexter wrote:Have you received ours (£20)?

Yes Adam, received OK.

There are now 7 places remaining. For the record, people who've expressed an interest but not paid (unless I've screwed up) are: Dan McColm, Jen Steadman, Ian Volante, Callum Todd, Paul Worsley, David Barnard.

I'd like to go, but non-Megabus ways of getting there are quite expensive and my plans for the next year have changed recently so need to be saving money where possible Enjoy, hopefully will be able to make it next year and see a bit more of the city over the weekend too

Mike Brown wrote:

Jack Worsley wrote:Paul can no longer make it, I'm afraid but I take it you received my payment (via his account). Look forward to seeing everyone there.

Sorry your dad can't make it, Jack, but yes, received your PayPal payment with no problems.

Hi Mike, me and my Mum will certainly be going, just got to wait until payay which is friday then the money will get to you, does my Mum still have to pay even though she's not playing? Not a problem if she does, just need to know how much money I need to send

David Barnard wrote:

Mike Brown wrote:

Jack Worsley wrote:Paul can no longer make it, I'm afraid but I take it you received my payment (via his account). Look forward to seeing everyone there.

Sorry your dad can't make it, Jack, but yes, received your PayPal payment with no problems.

Hi Mike, me and my Mum will certainly be going, just got to wait until payay which is friday then the money will get to you, does my Mum still have to pay even though she's not playing? Not a problem if she does, just need to know how much money I need to send

Hi David

Does your mum want to take advantage of the lunch and other refreshment that will be on offer? If so, perhaps paying £5 would be in order. Does that sound fair?

Hi,

What are people planning after? We're staying near Haymarket station, and will be driving back to our hotel after (room for 2 or 3 if they want dropping near Haymarket!). I wonder if there's a Wetherspoons (or Caledonian equivalent) nearby that we could all have a meal and reasonably priced drinks at?

Adam Dexter wrote:Hi,

What are people planning after? We're staying near Haymarket station, and will be driving back to our hotel after (room for 2 or 3 if they want dropping near Haymarket!). I wonder if there's a Wetherspoons (or Caledonian equivalent) nearby that we could all have a meal and reasonably priced drinks at?

The Haymarket pub is reasonable for grub, and has stacks of ales. Not exactly convenient for the venue though, depends where everyone's staying I suppose. Not usually too tough to get a table. Handy for me as I live about half a mile away though.

Mike - I should have my arse in gear to pay for this very soon!

With the change to the use of ODO, does anyone have any thoughts on what we should use (and what will be practical to use) as the word arbiter on the day? What is the plan for CoHud and what was used at CoMultiLon? Would people be happy with the dictionary or Lexplorer? I was thinking it might be nice to be able to link to the web for the final at the very least. Would appreciate your feedback. Bit pushed for time these days to plan anything elaborate, but all constructive suggestions (or offers of assistance) are welcome.

Mike.

Mike Brown wrote:With the change to the use of ODO, does anyone have any thoughts on what we should use (and what will be practical to use) as the word arbiter on the day? What is the plan for CoHud and what was used at CoMultiLon? Would people be happy with the dictionary or Lexplorer? I was thinking it might be nice to be able to link to the web for the final at the very least. Would appreciate your feedback. Bit pushed for time these days to plan anything elaborate, but all constructive suggestions (or offers of assistance) are welcome.

Mike.

At CoStAl, we used your solver for general words, and the ODO for the final say on new words, etc. It'll be the same at COHUD.

Practicality of ODO v ODE depends on whether the venue has wifi (I don't think it did last time) and whether someone can bring a spare laptop which can use said wifi (mine will be tied up drawing numbers on a screen). Based on my knowledge of the venue from past events, I think the dead-tree edition would involve less faff and be most prone to working, but I know some players have learned a lot of ODO-only words in the past few months.

Perhaps we should have a show of hands? In true CoEdi tradition, this must take place after round 1.

Hi Mike, did you receive the £15 for me and my mum? (she's not playing, just eating and watching)

Graeme Cole wrote:In true CoEdi tradition, this must take place after round 1.

It is also not the number of votes that counts, but how high each hand is raised.

I can easily bring a laptop along if it'd help in any way, though I'm pretty sure there isn't going to be wifi at the venue. I don't think it should affect the tournament too much to just stick with the ODE3 (people who've learned ODO-only words will usually know that they're ODO-only and know not to play them, it's what we're used to on apterous after all) so for the sake of practicality I'd say just go with the usual paper dictionary and/or laptops with ODE3 word checkers.

At CoMultiLon, we used ODO. It was used to adjudicate only two or three words all day, so it hardly seemed worth the hassle. I don't mind what is decided for Edinburgh.

People with phones and a reasonable data plan can look up words, unless it's in the middle of nowhere with no signal.

Is there a downloadable version of the ODO available if we can't get wifi? If not, I'm happy to continue using the ODE 3.

If you don't mind me going off on a tangent slightly, what do people think about what rules should be applied to judging the validity of certain words, such as dodgy one-syllable adjectives' comparatives and superlatives (PAINEDER, PAINEDEST etc.), pluralisation of nouns which really should be listed as mass nouns but aren't (CANOEINGS for example) and the past tense of certain verbs such as FLORUITED? Should we go strictly by the rules or apply common sense where necessary?

My tuppence-worth: If there is a dictionary corner person or people present at a Co event, it is up to them to judge the validity of words. If not, it is up to the person hosting the game. There are no rules available, only areas of adjudication. What is common sense to one person may not be to another; there will always be an element of subjectivity and unpredictability. (For example, when I was in dictionary corner at CoMultiLon, I decided to err on the side of allowing rather than disallowing words. PAINEDER, PAINEDEST and so on would have got my unequivocal thumbs-up.)

Jack Worsley wrote:Is there a downloadable version of the ODO available if we can't get wifi? If not, I'm happy to continue using the ODE 3.

I have the Oxford Dictionaries app on my iPhone and iPad, and it does have the ODO words in it, and I'll certainly bring those along anyway.

Can also provide an extra laptop on the day if necessary. Let me know, Mike.

MAYBE

Thanks for all your input guys re word adjudication. I think the best approach will be to use a combination of ODE3 (hard copy edition) and Lexplorer's word list. For the final it would be good to hook up with ODO if we can and if anyone wants to use ODO during the games it's fine by me, but I'd suggest people agree between themselves before the games start (and in any dispute, ODE3/Lexplorer would get the casting vote). As for extras laptops, I'll be bringing one along and possibly a tablet, but the more the merrier probably. We might end up with more computer power than the Met Office and could probably do just as good a job at predicting the weather!

David Barnard wrote:Hi Mike, did you receive the £15 for me and my mum? (she's not playing, just eating and watching)

Yes David, received with thanks.

Just a note for anyone who hasn't been before. If you're travelling by car or if the gate to the bowling club isn't open on Cluny Gardens, the club can be accessed from Midmar Drive, where there is some parking available. Postcode for satnav fans is EH10 6BT.