Spoilers for Wednesday 15 October (Reams' debut)

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 7:26 am

Everybody point out how much they beat Charlie by in here. I know he'll particularly appreciate a detailed breakdown of which words/numbers you got that he missed, and how they affected the score against him.

Dinos Sfyris · Post by **Dinos Sfyris** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:43 am

I'm looking forward to it. I will stick a bet on him getting 11 maxes, with him missing a devilish numbers, an obscure 8, an obscurer 7 and LEOTARD.

Debbi Flack · Post by **Debbi Flack** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:30 pm

I will, of course beat him on every round and get the conundrum before he has chance to get his finger on the buzzer!

Well, a girl can dream, can't she?

Nick Wainwright · Post by **Nick Wainwright** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:01 pm

I'll predict a slightly more modest 9 maximums before a 2 second conundrum spot which should be good enough for a 50+ point victory. Good luck Charlie - no pressure!

Ben Wilson · Post by **Ben Wilson** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:35 pm

GNOMONS equaller R1?

Joseph Bolas · Post by **Joseph Bolas** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:38 pm

Most users ever online was 257 on Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:34 pm

I think Charlie's plug of the site worked

Ben Wilson · Post by **Ben Wilson** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:41 pm

Joseph Bolas wrote:
Most users ever online was 257 on Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:34 pm
I think Charlie's plug of the site worked

6 new users in 3 minutes kinda agrees with you!

Mark Kudlowski · Post by **Mark Kudlowski** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:43 pm

Beat the panel on game 1 with GNOMONS.

(A gnomon is the 'hand' of a sundial)

Richard Priest · Post by **Richard Priest** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:46 pm

TREENAILS came up when I was first on, and Anne Widdecombe was in DC too.Strange coincidence.

Clare · Post by **Clare** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:48 pm

Hi, I'm one the newbies, thanks to his plug, come on charlie!

Peter Dunwoody · Post by **Peter Dunwoody** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:52 pm

Same here...I'm a newbie too. Although how I haven't stumbled across this site before I have no idea!!

Ben Wilson · Post by **Ben Wilson** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:04 pm

R12 TETRAGON?

Ben Wilson · Post by **Ben Wilson** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:07 pm

Nice one Mr. Reams!

Joseph Bolas · Post by **Joseph Bolas** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:08 pm

Ben Wilson wrote:R12 TETRAGON?

You can have TETRAGONAL and TETRAGONALLY but it doesn't mention TETRAGON, sorry.

Nick Wainwright · Post by **Nick Wainwright** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:12 pm

Well played Charlie - great debut

Joseph Bolas · Post by **Joseph Bolas** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:12 pm

Ben Wilson wrote:Nice one Mr. Reams!

Very well done to you Charlie for an impressive first win.

Like Carol, I was expecting you to pick 4 large too

.

Michael Wallace · Post by **Michael Wallace** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:13 pm

Yeah, good stuff - I liked your expression when they revealed that you'd missed a 9

I am also entertained by the (relatively) huge increase in traffic

Karen Pearson · Post by **Karen Pearson** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:18 pm

Well done Charlie. I knew you'd make it look easy!

Dan Vanniasingham · Post by **Dan Vanniasingham** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:26 pm

Personally - I'm disappointed. I expected at least 125 for a debut score and a 70+ point winning margin. Rubbish.

Sincerely,

Mr I M Takinda Pees

Well played mate - hope it continues.

Dinos Sfyris · Post by **Dinos Sfyris** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:30 pm

Nice one Charlie, 114 and 11/15 maxes is pretty impressive! I only managed to beat you with DIADEM and you were 8 points up going into the conundrum as I missed PLEURON and CHIMERA (I had CHIMER

). I saw REINFLATE but didnt risk it. Did anyone spot its anagram? Also GAROTTE as an equaller rd 12 and MEASLIER and ATELIERS are a few of the many 8s in round 8.

Again well played Charlie and good luck tomorrow!

Richard Priest · Post by **Richard Priest** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:31 pm

Well done Charlie, great performance keep it up (retroactively that is).

Joseph Bolas · Post by **Joseph Bolas** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:36 pm

Dinos Sfyris wrote:Nice one Charlie, 114 and 11/15 maxes is pretty impressive! I only managed to beat you with DIADEM and you were 8 points up going into the conundrum as I missed PLEURON and CHIMERA (I had CHIMER ). I saw REINFLATE but didnt risk it. Did anyone spot its anagram? Also GAROTTE as an equaller rd 12 and MEASLIER and ATELIERS are a few of the many 8s in round 8.

I didn't play against Charlie at home, but I saw CHIMERA and would've risked PLEURON. I didn't see REINFLATE, nor it's anagram (which I didn't even know there was one

). I did see MEASLIER though in round 8

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:40 pm

Thanks everyone

Peter Mabey · Post by **Peter Mabey** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:42 pm

I did see INTERLEAF, but not REINFLATE.

Kai Laddiman · Post by **Kai Laddiman** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:46 pm

I got GNOMONS too. 114 on his first game! That's amazing! Charlie could go all the way I reckon! But I hope he doesn't beat me to the No.2 seed!

Martin Bishop · Post by **Martin Bishop** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:49 pm

Joseph Bolas wrote:
Ben Wilson wrote:R12 TETRAGON?
You can have TETRAGONAL and TETRAGONALLY but it doesn't mention TETRAGON, sorry.

I had the same word. Just to make it worse, it is in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (the two-volume one), but not in the ODE.

I still won, though.

Gavin Chipper · Post by **Gavin Chipper** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:58 pm

Joseph Bolas wrote:
Ben Wilson wrote:Nice one Mr. Reams!
Very well done to you Charlie for an impressive first win.

Like Carol, I was expecting you to pick 4 large too .

I think Carol twigged the reason in the final numbers game. I think it's fairly standard practice to go for one large if you're leading comfortably.

Peter Mabey · Post by **Peter Mabey** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 4:08 pm

I got EARLIEST as an alternative to MATERIEL.

A great win, Charlie!

Ralph Gillions · Post by **Ralph Gillions** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 4:20 pm

Well done Charlie.
Splendid!

Martin Gardner · Post by **Martin Gardner** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:14 pm

Extremely impressive, you basically got everything apart from the nine which I suppose you saw and chickened out, which is probably the right decision as you were already leading at that time, no reason to go for a phoney. If you had offered it, that would have 124 which equals Jonathan Coles highest ever debut score. I'll be giving your wiki profile a good update whenever you lose, or at the end of 8 games if you win 8.

Kirk Bevins · Post by **Kirk Bevins** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:15 pm

Yes, loved every minute of your debut. It was quality. I'm glad you spotted the likes of PLEURON. Seeing Father John's face after you kept beating him with (seemingly) obscure words was a picture!

DaveC · Post by **DaveC** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:29 pm

Excellent stuff, very solid debut there. Lots of fun to play along from home. Definitely looking forward to the next 7 games (which isn't a spoiler, we are pretty much guaranteed quality play for at least the next 7).

Fingers crossed my 200th (and last, certainly fo the timebeing) review will come with the added pleasure of being Charlie's octochamp win.

oddly I saw INTERLEAF pretty quick then agonised over whether it was a word or an old conundrum mix from times gone by.

DC

Matthew Green · Post by **Matthew Green** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:38 pm

Well played Charlie, great start.

I have to ask, whats with Carol calling him Father? That was really irritating, I hope that was her choice and not Damiens. I once burnt a witch but nobody gives me props for it.

Dinos Sfyris · Post by **Dinos Sfyris** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:27 pm

Matthew Green wrote:I have to ask, whats with Carol calling him Father?

For she hath sinned!

Joseph Bolas · Post by **Joseph Bolas** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 7:55 pm

Gavin Chipper wrote:
Joseph Bolas wrote:Like Carol, I was expecting you to pick 4 large too .
I think Carol twigged the reason in the final numbers game. I think it's fairly standard practice to go for one large if you're leading comfortably.

To be honest, I thought with the win in the bag, that you would try either 4 large or 6 small to see how you do on them.

Lee Simmonds · Post by **Lee Simmonds** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:41 pm

Yeah, well done Charlie, great debut score.

Michael Wallace · Post by **Michael Wallace** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:44 pm

Joseph Bolas wrote:
Gavin Chipper wrote:
Joseph Bolas wrote:Like Carol, I was expecting you to pick 4 large too .
I think Carol twigged the reason in the final numbers game. I think it's fairly standard practice to go for one large if you're leading comfortably.
To be honest, I thought with the win in the bag, that you would try either 4 large or 6 small to see how you do on them.

Yeah, but you want to maximise your score for optimal seeding placement.

Allan Harmer · Post by **Allan Harmer** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:53 pm

Well done Charlie. A great debut performance.

I was pleased to beat you to the Conundrum, which was some consolation after TREENAIL and OPIATED had stuffed me!

Good luck for tomorrow.

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 9:33 pm

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 Crowland, by the way! Does that count as Peterborough these days; I certainly still think of it as Lincolnshire!

Paul Howe · Post by **Paul Howe** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 9:38 pm

A fine debut, congratulations, and much more to come I'm sure. For some reason though, watching you made me feel nostalgic

Just noticed the swarm of 257 people who were online earlier today. Yesterday I spent a few befuddled moments wondering what caused the previous record of 28 sometime in May, but that's been well and truly massacred now.

Ben Wilson · Post by **Ben Wilson** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:12 pm

Paul Howe wrote:A fine debut, congratulations, and much more to come I'm sure. For some reason though, watching you made me feel nostalgic

Just noticed the swarm of 257 people who were online earlier today. Yesterday I spent a few befuddled moments wondering what caused the previous record of 28 sometime in May, but that's been well and truly massacred now.

It gets better mate- I've just been notified of our fiftieth new member since today's plug.

Here's hoping that's not the end of it!

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:17 pm

Awesome stuff Charles

Great viewing, can't wait for tomorrow's episode (which I get to recap

)

You're actually pretty hot too, there's a bit of Beckham about you, isn't there?

Joseph Bolas · Post by **Joseph Bolas** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:18 pm

Ben Wilson wrote:
Paul Howe wrote:A fine debut, congratulations, and much more to come I'm sure. For some reason though, watching you made me feel nostalgic

Just noticed the swarm of 257 people who were online earlier today. Yesterday I spent a few befuddled moments wondering what caused the previous record of 28 sometime in May, but that's been well and truly massacred now.
It gets better mate- I've just been notified of our fiftieth new member since today's plug. Here's hoping that's not the end of it!

Just imagine if all those 50, on top of the regulars, wanted to go to the CO-events

Julian Fell · Post by **Julian Fell** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 11:00 pm

Nice one Charlie! Not only a record for users online, but also for replies to a spoiler thread, surely?

Well done for a great display, and you came across v well ("he likes reading the dictionary, lifting weights and eating cheese", lol), though you didn't look too overjoyed at the end

Maybe it was Ann Widdecombe cramping your style. You beat me with PLEURON, anyway.

And young Kai (nice to have you here, by the way) - GNOMONS is a fantastic spot, I was nowhere near that.

Martin Gardner wrote:the nine which I suppose you saw and chickened out

Did you Charlie? I was also wondering (after checking CountMax at the end) whether you were thinking about UNPITIED in the round where you offered PITIED? That would've beaten me as well...

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 8:56 am

Julian Fell wrote:Did you Charlie? I was also wondering (after checking CountMax at the end) whether you were thinking about UNPITIED in the round where you offered PITIED? That would've beaten me as well...

I didn't see REINFLATE, but I had UNPITIED and decided there was no value in going for it. I was still feeling a little cautious and really didn't want to have anything disallowed. I scored in every round so that was good enough for me.

Stewart Holden · Post by **Stewart Holden** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 10:20 am

Well done to Charlie for his performance and also for the plug for this site. Ben tells me he's approved over 50 new members in the last 24 hours - excellent stuff.

I haven't watched the show much since I was on in 2004 but changing circumstances mean I've caught several episodes of this series. Junaid is obviously very good and seems like a nice bloke, Kai is wonderful and intimidatingly good without the slightest hint of pretention and with the potential for some Reamsy action in the Finals too I think I might have to tune in a bit more regularly

Good luck to everyone taking part.

Stewart
(series 51 champion who set up the original c4countdown forum in 2004... ahh, those were the days)

Julie T · Post by **Julie T** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 12:01 pm

Brilliant debut, Charlie, congratulations, and very exciting to see you on the show.

As Father John McCarthy beat me 89 to 92 I won't embarrass myself by saying how much you beat me by.

Matthew Green wrote: I have to ask, what's with Carol calling him Father?

Don't know about Carol, but perhaps I'm allowed to call him 'Father', since my father's name was John McCarthy. Maybe Carol and I are related?

These Catholic priests get about a bit, don't they?

Annoyed that I didn't spot REINFLATE in round 2, since I got INFLATE.

With a bit of poetic license, seeing as it's an adjective, an imaginary one at that, I spotted REAMIEST in round 8. Superlative REAM, maybe? Very apt.

Charlie Reams · Post by **Charlie Reams** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 12:05 pm

If I remember rightly, John was asked whether they could (or should) call him Father John and he said yes. Have to say I didn't participate in this rather odd ritual.

Ben Hunter · Post by **Ben Hunter** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 1:19 pm

I was also put off by the undeserved reverence that John received in yesterday's episode. I'm sure John's a nice enough guy, but I'm glad that Charlie socked it to him

.

Craig Beevers · Post by **Craig Beevers** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 1:52 pm

Didn't see this, I know before I went on the heats I'd decided I'd go for any 9s I was 50/50 about and play safe on anything shorter (the shorter ones were more likely to be confused with Scrabble anyway).

Anyways will try and catch today's episode.

David O'Donnell · Post by **David O'Donnell** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 4:52 pm

Matthew Green wrote:Well played Charlie, great start.

I have to ask, whats with Carol calling him Father? That was really irritating, I hope that was her choice and not Damiens. I once burnt a witch but nobody gives me props for it.

Because 'Father' is his title, or do you want to repress us Irish Catholics all over again?

I didn't like the habit of combining Father + forename, it's generally, Father or Father + surname.

Howard Somerset · Post by **Howard Somerset** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 7:53 pm

Excellent debut, Charlie. I managed to watch it earlier today, but not had chance to comment. Annoyed not to beat you in round 2. Saw INFLATE, and extended it to INFLATER to equal you there, but should really have got that nine. Also used exactly the same method as you with the second numbers game, rather than the more obvious method that your opponent used. Overall, you beat me by a mile.

Going to watch your second programme shortly, followed by Friday's, in which I hope you'll be competing.