Series 82 Player Analysis and Ongoing Discussion Thread (Spoilerific!)

Discuss anything that happened in recent games. This is the place to post any words you got that beat Dictionary Corner, or numbers games that evaded Rachel.

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Tom S
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Series 82 Player Analysis and Ongoing Discussion Thread (Spoilerific!)

Post by Tom S »

Seeing as I've got a bit of time on my hands, I thought I'd continue with the player analysis. As before, I'll start with the current octochamps, and then the remaining finalists when the time comes around.

Starting with the mighty Luke Johnson-Davies
Current Seed: 1
Wins: 8
Points: 1024 (128 per game)
Total Maxes: 95/120 (79.2%)

Letters Maxes: 65/80 (81.25%)
Badged Words:(7+ length maxes not previously submitted as a max by a contestant on Countdown before at time of broadcast): 6
Medalled Words: (7+ length maxes not previously submitted as a max by a contestant or DC on CD before at time of broadcast): 12 (!)
Badged: Hailstone, Towline, Obeisant, Crowdie, Veronica, Timeous,
Medalled: Postgame, Outdrives, Eutopians, Orarium, Airpots, Relaxion, Daigous, Resinites, Monticule, Amirite, Flowered (a joint medal alongside his opponent), Parvitude, Mimosas.

Numbers Maxes: 24/32 (75%)
6S: N/A
1L: 18/24 (75%)
2L: 6/8 (75%)
3L: N/A
4L: N/A

Conundrums: 6/8 (75%)
6 Solved, 0 Lost, 2 Unsolved

Luke was excellent throughout his run and will be a very tough cookie to beat, missing very little throughout, and demonstrating a wide variety of word knowledge. The majority of his conundrums have been lightning fast, which on 2 occasions have proven to be a minor downfall, as he was unable to provide a valid answer. Nonetheless, he's only the 2nd person to surpass 1000 in his octo-total, and is a very worthy recipient of such an accolade. All the best to him in the finals!
Last edited by Tom S on Fri Dec 04, 2020 5:55 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Tom S
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Re: Series 82 Player Analysis and Ongoing Discussion Thread (Spoilerific!)

Post by Tom S »

Now for Ian Volante:

Current seed: 2
Wins: 8
Points: 826 (103.25 per game)
Total maxes: 61/120 (50.8%)

Letters Maxes: 36/80 (45%)
Badged Words: 3
Medalled Words: 1
B: Overbids (a joint accolade alongside his opponent), Theatres, Unretire
M: Crowner

Numbers Maxes: 19/32 (59.4%)
6S: 1/2 (50%)
1L: 15/20 (75%)
2L: 3/10 (30%)
3L: N/A
4L: N/A

Conundrums: 6/8 (75%)
6 Solved, 1 Lost, 1 Unsolved

Despite not having stats on a par with Luke's (excluding conundrums), Ian has still given a good demonstration of his abilities, with some good stuff across the board in all rounds. Plus, given some of his recent performances on Zoomdown, he could end up giving Luke a good run for his money should they meet....
Tom S
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Re: Series 82 Player Analysis and Ongoing Discussion Thread (Spoilerific!)

Post by Tom S »

Ryan Styles:

Current seed: 3
Games won: 8
Points: 820 (102.5 per game)
Total maxes: 53/120 (45.8%)

Letters Maxes: 30/80 (37.5%)
Badged Words: 2
Medalled Words: 5
B: Cuticle, Moulters
M: Cloaking, Starched, Roadsters, Unamused, Defying (joint accolade with his opponent)

Numbers Maxes: 19 /32 (59.4%)
6S: 0/2
1L: 14/22 (63.6%)
2L: 5/7 (71.4%)
3L: N/A
4L: 1/1 (100%)

Conundrums: 4/8 (50%)
4 Solved, 2 Lost, 2 Unsolved

Being only 6 points behind #2 seed Ian in the standings, Ryan's stats are unsurprisingly, not too dissimilar. They both have had the same number of maxes in the numbers, and have both had their great solves and the odd getable miss. Nonetheless, his practise in the letters rounds have been demonstrated get some obscure words which your general player misses. Will be interesting to see what he comes up with in the finals!
Tom S
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Re: Series 82 Player Analysis and Ongoing Discussion Thread (Spoilerific!)

Post by Tom S »

Phil Hulme:

Current Seed: 4
Games won: 8
Points: 789 (98.63 per game)
Total maxes: 64/120 (53.3%)

Letters Maxes: 40/80 (50%)
Badged Words: 1
Medalled Words: 4
B: Collagen
M: Sonicate, Rivieras, Montera, Radious

Numbers Maxes: 21/32 (65.6%)
6S: 2/4 (50%)
1L: 12/19 (55%)
2L: 6/7 (85.7%)
3L: 1/1 (100%)
4L: 0/1

Conundrums: 3/8 (37.5%)
3 Solved, 2 Lost, 3 Unsolved

Despite having the fewest conundrum solves of our octochamps so far, Phil has better stats than both Ian and Ryan for the letters and numbers, and is not a million miles off Luke either, with his numbers stats'. The latter is especially impressive given that Phil is the only octochamp so far to have had every single numbers selection available. All of his ability can be described well (competition-wise) in 1 word: UNDERDOG.
Last edited by Tom S on Tue Aug 25, 2020 2:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Series 82 Player Analysis and Ongoing Discussion Thread (Spoilerific!)

Post by Tom S »

And finally for the time being, David Kempshall:

Current Seed: 5
Wins: 8
Points: 732 (91.5 per game)
Total Maxes: 39/120 (33.3%)

Letters Maxes: 15 /80 (18.75%)
Badged Words: 2
Medalled Words: 1
B: Fabrics, Overhead
M: Breather (joint accolade alongside his opponent)

Numbers Maxes: 18/32 (56.25%)
6S: N/A
1L: 15/25 (60%)
2L: 2/3 (66.7%)
3L: 1/3 (33.3%)
4L: 0/1

Conundrums: 6/8 (75%)
6 Solved, 0 Lost, 2 Unsolved

Despite a wide variety of scores, David has shown that he has earned his spot winning 8 games, and has a nice average score to boot with it. His conundrum record is the joint best of the octos so far alongside Luke and Ian, and he has a good record overall on the numbers. I think if he could improve his consistency with his letters, then he's definitely able to unseat those above him in the standings.
Last edited by Tom S on Mon Nov 30, 2020 10:03 am, edited 2 times in total.
Tom S
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Re: Series 82 Player Analysis and Ongoing Discussion Thread (Spoilerific!)

Post by Tom S »

So that's it for now. Given that the series will be extended until December, there may be a chance for more than 8 octochamps, and it would be a great shame if any of the current players were not to make it. I'll be interested to see if the upcoming octochamps can maintain the standard!
Sam Cappleman-Lynes
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Re: Series 82 Player Analysis and Ongoing Discussion Thread (Spoilerific!)

Post by Sam Cappleman-Lynes »

Tom S wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 11:06 am Total Maxes: 98/120 (81.7%)
Are you sure? I just looked through the games on the wiki, and although I don't trust my count as I got different answers each time, I counted 95 the first time and 94 the second, both of which are quite far from 98.
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Re: Series 82 Player Analysis and Ongoing Discussion Thread (Spoilerific!)

Post by Tom S »

Sam Cappleman-Lynes wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 4:33 pm
Tom S wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2020 11:06 am Total Maxes: 98/120 (81.7%)
Are you sure? I just looked through the games on the wiki, and although I don't trust my count as I got different answers each time, I counted 95 the first time and 94 the second, both of which are quite far from 98.
I could very well be wrong :) I'll double check :)

EDIT: I tend to work back in order to get the max calculations- the octochamp summary on the Apterous wiki is used to get the conundrums, then I add up the total maxes using James Robinson's recap summary on here, and then by process of deduction for the numbers. I have added up some of these in my head beforehand, so perhaps best to use a calculator for reference next time :)
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Re: Series 82 Player Analysis and Ongoing Discussion Thread (Spoilerific!)

Post by Tom S »

Will probably do Sam's stats tomorrow.
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Re: Series 82 Player Analysis and Ongoing Discussion Thread (Spoilerific!)

Post by Tom S »

Stats for Sam Cappleman-Lynes....

Current Seed: 2
Wins: 8
Points: 939 (117.4 per game)
Total Maxes: 93/120 (77.5%)

Letters Maxes: 59/80 (73.8%)
Badged Words: 9 (!)
Medalled Words: 20 (!!!)
B: Denarius, Doctrines, Gelcoat, Betonies, Emperor, Covalent, Tornadic, Euphoric, Firepot
M: Mowdies, Ideatum, Poorgas, Telecon, Taihoaed, Mecates, Rearises, Element, Arytenoid, Merlion, Toadied, Argileh, Cutlines, Indicate, Awarding (a joint medal alongside his opponent), Outfoxes, Melodias, Windigo, Moreness, Rosemaled

Numbers Maxes: 28/32 (87.5%)
6S: 2/2 (100%)
1L: 16/18 (88.9%)
2L: 7/7 (100%)
3L: 1/2 (50%)
4L: 2/3 (66.7%)

Conundrums: 6/8 (75%)
6 Solved, 0 Lost, 2 Unsolved

A very impressive display overall, and interesting to see how similar his stats are to Luke's, despite the large gap in points. 20 Medalled Words is a brilliant achievement and I would say that this is without doubt the most I've seen someone get since doing the stat analysis. Whilst Luke pips Sam on the letters, Sam pips Luke on the numbers, which is notably impressive given the variety of selections he had. I look forward to these finals with intrigue!
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Re: Series 82 Player Analysis and Ongoing Discussion Thread (Spoilerific!)

Post by Tom S »

After a rather long octochamp drought....

Stats for Damien Doughty:

Current Seed: 6
Wins: 8
Points: 758
Total Maxes: 51/120 (42.5%)

Letters Maxes: 24/80 (30%)
Badged Words:0
Medalled Words:2
B:N/A
M:Factioned, Attached

Numbers Maxes: 23/32 (71.9%)
6S:2/7 (28.6%)
1L:18/22 (81.8%)
2L:3/3 (100%)
3L:N/A
4L:N/A

Conundrums: 4/8 (50%)
4 Solved, 3 Lost, 1 Unsolved

I think if it wasn't some mistakes on 6 smalls in his early games, then Damien would be sitting just behind #2 seed Sam in 2nd place concerning numbers maxes. Damien seems to be part of an elusive bunch of octochamps who seem to be better at the numbers than their letters, and Damien has undeniably had some strong solves. Not to take away from the fact that he has also spotted some good words in his run, too. If current chair occupier Leo wins 8 (which I think is likely), Damien will face Sam in his quarter-finals. I think a bit letters practise would help Damien give a closer game against Sam, but even if the game would not be close, I'm sure some numerical excellence will be displayed on both parts.
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Re: Series 82 Player Analysis and Ongoing Discussion Thread (Spoilerific!)

Post by Tom S »

And for the final octochamp of the series....

Leo Smith:

Current Seed: 3
Wins: 8
Points: 869
Total Maxes: 79/120 (65.8%)

Letters Maxes: 50 /80 (62.5%)
Badged Words:5
Medalled Words:1
B: Notifies (Joint accolade alongside his opponent), Hemiolas, Moderant, Almoners, Wormiest (Joint accolade alongside his opponent)
M: Colourize

Numbers Maxes: 23/32 (71.9%)
6S: 1/3 (33.3%)
1L: 14/19 (73.7%)
2L: 4/5 (80%)
3L: 2/2 (100%)
4L: 2/3 (66.6%)

Conundrums: 6/8 (75%)
6 Solved, 1 Lost, 1 Unsolved

Possibly one of the greatest octorun's of all time for a non-Apterite, Leo would certainly stand a chance of making the grand final at least in a more conventional series, but alas, this is not one. Nonetheless, he is accomplished on all fronts and I would wager that he'll make the semi-final's at the very least. However, he's up against Phil Hulme in his QF, who has put in some strong performances, too, so I have a feeling that it won't be an easy ride for him.
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Callum Todd
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Re: Series 82 Player Analysis and Ongoing Discussion Thread (Spoilerific!)

Post by Callum Todd »

Hey Tom, this thread is great. Good stuff gathering all the data.

Sorry if this is an ignorant question - haven't ventured onto this side of the forum for years - but what is the distinction between 'Badge' and 'Medal' words please?
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Tom S
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Re: Series 82 Player Analysis and Ongoing Discussion Thread (Spoilerific!)

Post by Tom S »

Callum Todd wrote: Fri Dec 04, 2020 5:10 pm Hey Tom, this thread is great. Good stuff gathering all the data.

Sorry if this is an ignorant question - haven't ventured onto this side of the forum for years - but what is the distinction between 'Badge' and 'Medal' words please?
Cheers, Callum!

Here's the answer to your Q:
Badged Words:(7+ length maxes not previously submitted as a max by a contestant on Countdown before at time of broadcast):
Medalled Words: (7+ length maxes not previously submitted as a max by a contestant or DC on CD before at time of broadcast):
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