Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23rd December 2020 (Special S49)

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.

Moderator: James Robinson

Post Reply
User avatar
Rhys Benjamin
Postmaster General
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2010 4:28 pm

Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23rd December 2020 (Special S49)

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

It's the final Countdown of 2020. We're leaving together, etc.

And it's the big monster of monster fixtures, which could have been played 7 years ago except a max game from Jon O'Neill got in the way.

JACK WORSLEY
Highest score: 115 vs Christine Hunt, 30BC Round 2
Lowest score: 75 vs Mark Murphy, Quarter Final
Score: 1,387
Average: 99.07
Max faced: 1,736
% score: 79.9%
Raw score: 1,462
Raw average: 104.43
Raw % score: 84.2%
Conundrums: 6/14

CONOR TRAVERS
Highest score: 146 vs Jack Hurst, 30BC Grand Final
Lowest score: 69 vs Chris Wills, 25th Anniversary special (12 round game - scored 10/30 on numbers, missed con, and 59/70 on letters... so in an old 15 probably still worth "only" around 90)
Lowest 15-round score: 98 vs Matthew Shore, Grand Final
Score: 2,348 (including that 12 round game; 2,279 without)
Average: 111.81 (including that 12 round game; 113.95 without)
Max faced: 2,649
% score: 88.6%
Raw score: 2,392 (including that 12 round game; 2,316 without)
Raw average: 113.90 (including that 12 round game; 115.80 without)
Raw % score: 90.3%
Conundrums: 17/21

Perhaps most notably, Conor's last 51 televised letters rounds have ALL been maxed.

Even though many of the TTT clues in Conor's games aren't in the wiki (grumble grumble) I'm #TeamConor on this one. Conor's performances on TV managed to get all of my year group at school talking. Yep - a bunch of 7 and 8 year-olds were utterly losing our minds over Conor's TV performances. When he lost in the COC12 semi final, many of us were distraught! Conor's the most well-known contestant to come out of Countdown since Richard Whiteley's passing, arguably the most well-known ever, and I haven't seen anyone capture the hearts and minds of the general public before or since. Love you, Jack, but I'm #TeamConor.

Both Conor and Jack's stats hugely improve with the 30BC compared to their original runs, incidentally. Conor's droppings of points to his opponents mainly come from poor letters selections. So if Jack's done his homework he'll pick flatly. Jack's lowest scores come all in his series finals and a conundrum success rate of 43% compared to more than 80% online is difficult to explain.

Conor's worst performance, although it's somewhat fudged by being a 12-round game, was the 25th Anniversary special. Though he did well enough on the letters, missing only NEUROGLIA and EARWIGS, he missed 2 of the 3 numbers games and the conundrum SMILEMORE - a rarity for him, with 17/21 conundrums (81%). Presumably the long hair got in the way, which was missing when he returned improved for 30BC... it all makes sense now...

I hope we get something that really breaks records. A double max 230 metamax please!

Something I did over lockdown I was add a Co-event winners table to the wiki. Jack Worsley leads this list, all of which were after 30BC.
The forum's resident JAILBAKER, who has SPONDERED several times...
User avatar
Charlie Reams
Site Admin
Posts: 9494
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:33 pm
Location: Cambridge
Contact:

Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by Charlie Reams »

This post would've been lost in the migration, but it looks like quite a bit of effort went into it so I'm reposting it here!
Rhys Benjamin wrote: Wed Dec 23, 2020 12:07 am It's the final Countdown of 2020. We're leaving together, etc.

And it's the big monster of monster fixtures, which could have been played 7 years ago except a max game from Jon O'Neill got in the way.

JACK WORSLEY
Highest score: 115 vs Christine Hunt, 30BC Round 2
Lowest score: 75 vs Mark Murphy, Quarter Final
Score: 1,387
Average: 99.07
Max faced: 1,736
% score: 79.9%
Raw score: 1,462
Raw average: 104.43
Raw % score: 84.2%
Conundrums: 6/14

CONOR TRAVERS
Highest score: 146 vs Jack Hurst, 30BC Grand Final
Lowest score: 69 vs Chris Wills, 25th Anniversary special (12 round game - scored 10/30 on numbers, missed con, and 59/70 on letters... so in an old 15 probably still worth "only" around 90)
Lowest 15-round score: 98 vs Matthew Shore, Grand Final
Score: 2,348 (including that 12 round game; 2,279 without)
Average: 111.81 (including that 12 round game; 113.95 without)
Max faced: 2,649
% score: 88.6%
Raw score: 2,392 (including that 12 round game; 2,316 without)
Raw average: 113.90 (including that 12 round game; 115.80 without)
Raw % score: 90.3%
Conundrums: 17/21

Perhaps most notably, Conor's last 51 televised letters rounds have ALL been maxed.

Even though many of the TTT clues in Conor's games aren't in the wiki (grumble grumble) I'm #TeamConor on this one. Conor's performances on TV managed to get all of my year group at school talking. Yep - a bunch of 7 and 8 year-olds were utterly losing our minds over Conor's TV performances. When he lost in the COC12 semi final, many of us were distraught! Conor's the most well-known contestant to come out of Countdown since Richard Whiteley's passing, arguably the most well-known ever, and I haven't seen anyone capture the hearts and minds of the general public before or since. Love you, Jack, but I'm #TeamConor.

Both Conor and Jack's stats hugely improve with the 30BC compared to their original runs, incidentally. Conor's droppings of points to his opponents mainly come from poor letters selections. So if Jack's done his homework he'll pick flatly. Jack's lowest scores come all in his series finals and a conundrum success rate of 43% compared to more than 80% online is difficult to explain.

Conor's worst performance, although it's somewhat fudged by being a 12-round game, was the 25th Anniversary special. Though he did well enough on the letters, missing only NEUROGLIA and EARWIGS, he missed 2 of the 3 numbers games and the conundrum SMILEMORE - a rarity for him, with 17/21 conundrums (81%). Presumably the long hair got in the way, which was missing when he returned improved for 30BC... it all makes sense now...

I hope we get something that really breaks records. A double max 230 metamax please!

Something I did over lockdown I was add a Co-event winners table to the wiki. Jack Worsley leads this list, all of which were after 30BC.
Peter Mabey
Kiloposter
Posts: 1123
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 3:15 pm
Location: Harlow

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by Peter Mabey »

Ali 1st numbers: (75-8)x(6+5-4)=469
User avatar
Rhys Benjamin
Postmaster General
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2010 4:28 pm

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

<3 x
The forum's resident JAILBAKER, who has SPONDERED several times...
User avatar
Rhys Benjamin
Postmaster General
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2010 4:28 pm

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

I'm not sure it has lost it? It's still here: http://c4countdown.co.uk/viewtopic.php? ... ac42346f5a
The forum's resident JAILBAKER, who has SPONDERED several times...
User avatar
Rhys Benjamin
Postmaster General
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2010 4:28 pm

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

Well that was anticlimactic wasn't it?
The forum's resident JAILBAKER, who has SPONDERED several times...
JackHurst
Series 63 Champion
Posts: 1987
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:40 pm

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by JackHurst »

Great performance from both players today, well done guys. I believe Conor maintains his ridiculously long streak of maxes on letters rounds.

I know most people probably wanted to see the Conundrum go solved, but I do think a crucial going all the way to 30s make for more exciting TV :)
User avatar
Rhys Benjamin
Postmaster General
Posts: 3101
Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2010 4:28 pm

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

Yep, 61 consecutive letters maxes for Conor now.
The forum's resident JAILBAKER, who has SPONDERED several times...
Matthew White
Newbie
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2020 8:10 pm

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by Matthew White »

JackHurst wrote: Wed Dec 23, 2020 3:03 pm Great performance from both players today, well done guys. I believe Conor maintains his ridiculously long streak of maxes on letters rounds.

I know most people probably wanted to see the Conundrum go solved, but I do think a crucial going all the way to 30s make for more exciting TV :)
Between URINALAIM (reject from Catsdown for being too hard?) , Rachel's jumper yesterday and the conundrum answer on Monday being infected, there's definitely a sense of winding down for Christmas across these specials. :D

And an insanely high standard as expected.
Gavin Chipper
Post-apocalypse
Posts: 13215
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:37 pm

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Awesome game. Well done guys. That conundrum is a 1/10 on Apterous though.
User avatar
Jon O'Neill
Ginger Ninja
Posts: 4545
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:45 am
Location: London, UK

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by Jon O'Neill »

Fantastic shows this week. Really enjoyed them all. Colin is fantastic. Loved that he took a big interest in the contestants and also the people at home playing along.
Sam Cappleman-Lynes
Enthusiast
Posts: 266
Joined: Sun Apr 07, 2013 11:30 pm

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by Sam Cappleman-Lynes »

Amazing game, gripping until the end. EGOSURF a personal favourite.

For me, Colin has been perfect for these specials. He brings the contestants into it and makes them relatable and his energy is absorbing. Even the most part-time viewer would have appreciated the atmosphere and sense of occasion having both Conor and Jack in the studio thanks to Colin's hosting.

What an amazing end to the year, with two great Countdown LUMINARIES battling it out all the way to a crucial conundrum.
Thomas Cappleman
Series 72 Champion
Posts: 330
Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2008 9:42 pm

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by Thomas Cappleman »

Great game both, and everyone this week. Shame the max wasn't friendlier today, but obviously solid play throughout.

It's interesting that Colin described Jack as being one of the absolute best of all time. Obviously it is completely true in non-televised Countdown, but on just televised form there's plenty with better records. So did Colin know how good Jack's been on Apterous and at co-events to describe him that way?
Matthew White
Newbie
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2020 8:10 pm

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by Matthew White »

Thomas Cappleman wrote: Wed Dec 23, 2020 6:14 pm Great game both, and everyone this week. Shame the max wasn't friendlier today, but obviously solid play throughout.

It's interesting that Colin described Jack as being one of the absolute best of all time. Obviously it is completely true in non-televised Countdown, but on just televised form there's plenty with better records. So did Colin know how good Jack's been on Apterous and at co-events to describe him that way?
I'd imagine the production team would have known and relayed that to Colin.

And he's hardly going to introduce the show with 'one of the best on telly, and some other bloke who was well above average in his telly run but not the best on telly but is phenomenal at off-TV games'
Gavin Chipper
Post-apocalypse
Posts: 13215
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:37 pm

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Weird you're all talking about Countdown in Lincoln like it's a sentient being.
User avatar
Callum Todd
Series 69 Champion
Posts: 1123
Joined: Tue Sep 10, 2013 3:38 pm
Location: Leeds

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by Callum Todd »

Colin had an information card with just a couple of bullet points on for each game. I think the 'theme' given for this game was a GOAT match (Maus vs George was billed as a Bingley derby, and me vs Jack was billed as series champ vs series champ).

However, Colin also mentioned to Tom that he had done some stats research on the wiki (classic sports presenter research), so it's possible he knows just how good Jack is.
Mark Deeks wrote:Callum Todd looks like a young Ted Bundy.
JackHurst
Series 63 Champion
Posts: 1987
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:40 pm

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by JackHurst »

"I am going to Don King the fuck out of this intro" was what I heard Colin saying to the others on the studio floor just before cameras went on.
Jojo Apollo
Devotee
Posts: 825
Joined: Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:29 am

Re: Special Spoilers for Wednesday 23 December 2020

Post by Jojo Apollo »

Brilliant game, chaps. Great set of specials, well done all :)
Post Reply