c4countdown

This could be yet another big day in Countdown. Dylan Taylor is on the verge of being an octochamp, but more than that, he is 113 points away from being the all time record holder and ending Giles' reign at only 4 months. Even if he doesn't do that, a score of 93 or higher will ensure that he is the number 1 seed for now. And if for some reason he sets a new record score of 147 or more, he'll join the 1000 club. Which of these will happen, or will he shock us all and lose? We shall see.

Join James for this possibly huge recap later.

This could be huge, can't wait to see

huge pressure for dylan but i am sure he can handle it. should be good game is it the finals on this christmas?

RINGTONE in Round 2

Well done Dylan.
Alt round 2, Jessica got DC beater NITROGEN
Jessica got the numbers game in round 9: ((100+(4*10))*4)-2-1=557
She lost to Dylan in every other round
Round 10: Thought Dylan said WATERMAN and Susie corrected it to WATERMEN. Dylan given benefit of doubt as I'm sure he "wrote it down" as such although Susie didn't ask.
Even so, massive performance by Dylan to beat the record b 9 points. Well done from both of us.

Mauro/Jessica

Those seems to be the only beaters, though there are some interesting alts.
I like Mr Taylor's apropriate spot of TAILORED, where I was distracted, as always, by LEOTARD.
Well dome Dylan! For the moment He's Ar' King alright!

szodiac wrote:Well done Dylan.

Round 10: Thought Dylan said WATERMAN and Susie corrected it to WATERMEN. Dylan given benefit of doubt as I'm sure he "wrote it down" as such although Susie didn't ask.
Even so, massive performance by Dylan to beat the record b 9 points. Well done from both of us.

Mauro/Jessica

Checked back with subtitles for that bit and they had 'watermen' for Dylan and 'waterman' for Nick's repetition.
Spotted an upside down 'N' somewhere in today's game I think

Well done Dylan on octochampionshipdom.

I can't see it being long before 1000 is broken which was virtually impossible under the old system. Playing from home and against Dylan's opponents I clocked up 1023 so it's definitely doable. Dylan would have broken 1000 had he got a few more conundrums and the nine or two he missed.

Very strong performance, Dylan. You'll definitely be feared with your steely-eyed determination in the finals

Brilliant set of games there, Dylan. Many congrats on the new record.

SUPER AWESOME, DYLAN!!!

974 reasons there to just be staggered in amazement at what you have just accomplished, and it's just amazing to be able to watch it like the dedicated fan that I am.

BIG CONGRATS, MY MAN, YOU DESERVE IT (AND I'LL MAKE SURE YOU GET A SUPER GOOD RECAP TONIGHT TOO. )

Kirk Bevins wrote: and the nine or two he missed.

He missed a two?

Awesome job Dylan. Clinical. Was that a total max on the numbers by the way?

I totally heard watermEn. It was just Nick who said it wrong.

I grew very tired of Gloria's Dylan is copying me "joke". I'd have been quite upset about that if I'd been in the chair.

Seriously good scoring though. Congrats on the record. Your relief at the end was palpable. I thought you would smash the record so to come down to the conundrum was a surprise and you saved your best till last as you buzzed before i even read the letters!

Well done Dylan!

Well played Dylan. There's another record, too...

Until today, David O'Donnell and Kirk Bevins jointly held the record for the fewest rounds lost in a 15-round-per-game octorun; they were each beaten in only three rounds. Dylan was beaten in only two rounds out of 120.

Graeme Cole wrote:Well played Dylan. There's another record, too...

Until today, David O'Donnell and Kirk Bevins jointly held the record for the fewest rounds lost in a 15-round-per-game octorun; they were each beaten in only three rounds. Dylan was beaten in only two rounds out of 120.

He also has the record for most maxes in an octorun with 101, beating the previous record set by Edward McCullagh, who had 96

Graeme Cole wrote:Well played Dylan. There's another record, too...

Until today, David O'Donnell and Kirk Bevins jointly held the record for the fewest rounds lost in a 15-round-per-game octorun; they were each beaten in only three rounds. Dylan was beaten in only two rounds out of 120.

Yowsers!
Does anyone know if Dylan also got the record for the highest cumulative victory margins over his opponents? By "anyone" I mean Graeme. Or anyone actually. Just figure Graeme would have that info to hand.

John Garcia wrote:

Graeme Cole wrote:Well played Dylan. There's another record, too...

Until today, David O'Donnell and Kirk Bevins jointly held the record for the fewest rounds lost in a 15-round-per-game octorun; they were each beaten in only three rounds. Dylan was beaten in only two rounds out of 120.

Yowsers!
Does anyone know if Dylan also got the record for the highest cumulative victory margins over his opponents? By "anyone" I mean Graeme. Or anyone actually. Just figure Graeme would have that info to hand.

The total is 628 points, don't know if that's a record though. His opponent's total is 346, which I think is just shy of AP's record, if I remember correctly......

Kirk Bevins wrote:Well done Dylan on octochampionshipdom.

I can't see it being long before 1000 is broken which was virtually impossible under the old system. Playing from home and against Dylan's opponents I clocked up 1023 so it's definitely doable. Dylan would have broken 1000 had he got a few more conundrums and the nine or two he missed.

Very strong performance, Dylan. You'll definitely be feared with your steely-eyed determination in the finals

1.023 out of a max of 1,050???

That's 97.43% are you sure???

Even Conor's amazingly unmatchable (IMO) 30th anniversary CofCofC's win was only 97.47% of the maximum over his 6 matches, which included a win against you Kirk...???

I know you're good Kirk, but, REALLY???

PS

How did you fair against Dylan overall Kirk???

James Robinson wrote:

John Garcia wrote:

Graeme Cole wrote:Well played Dylan. There's another record, too...

Until today, David O'Donnell and Kirk Bevins jointly held the record for the fewest rounds lost in a 15-round-per-game octorun; they were each beaten in only three rounds. Dylan was beaten in only two rounds out of 120.

Yowsers!
Does anyone know if Dylan also got the record for the highest cumulative victory margins over his opponents? By "anyone" I mean Graeme. Or anyone actually. Just figure Graeme would have that info to hand.

The total is 628 points, don't know if that's a record though. His opponent's total is 346, which I think is just shy of AP's record, if I remember correctly......

Andy's cumulative margin was 565, and his opponents' scores combined were 324.

To be honest I've never really liked the "biggest margin" and "fewest points against" records, though. If you're a top player hitting 12+ maxes regularly, your margin of victory depends more on your opponent's play than yours. Without disrespecting Dylan or Andy's undoubted ability at the game, I think those records do more to highlight the low score of the opponent(s) than the talent of the winner.

Graeme Cole wrote:To be honest I've never really liked the "biggest margin" and "fewest points against" records, though. If you're a top player hitting 12+ maxes regularly, your margin of victory depends more on your opponent's play than yours. Without disrespecting Dylan or Andy's undoubted ability at the game, I think those records do more to highlight the low score of the opponent(s) than the talent of the winner.

Agree. A lot of people could score very highly if their opponent was so poor they never won a round. If you score 950 and your opponents muster 350 that's amazing. If you score 950 and your opponents score 550 that's (probably) even better, because the stronger opposition implies you were less likely to score when you missed a maximium.

Definitely how I thought about it...

Good points both!

Dave Preece wrote:

Kirk Bevins wrote:Well done Dylan on octochampionshipdom.

I can't see it being long before 1000 is broken which was virtually impossible under the old system. Playing from home and against Dylan's opponents I clocked up 1023 so it's definitely doable. Dylan would have broken 1000 had he got a few more conundrums and the nine or two he missed.

Very strong performance, Dylan. You'll definitely be feared with your steely-eyed determination in the finals

1.023 out of a max of 1,050???

That's 97.43% are you sure???

Even Conor's amazingly unmatchable (IMO) 30th anniversary CofCofC's win was only 97.47% of the maximum over his 6 matches, which included a win against you Kirk...???

I know you're good Kirk, but, REALLY???

PS

How did you fair against Dylan overall Kirk???

It doesn't really count as I'm sat at home with no pressure etc, but I always score against both contestants in the games I watch. Since you asked, Dylan beat me in the 8th game. The number of maxes I got were 14, 13, 14, 14, 14, 12, 13, 12. (Scores against Dylan's opponents: 120/121, 143/146, 131/132, 115/122, 133/135, 140/143, 124/126, 117/125).

I think Dylan is probably the consistently strongest contestant in the heats I've seen, ever. I had to 'beat' him with crucials on a few days out of those. Awesome play, Dyl.

Good stuff!

What an amazing record-breaking run! Awesome stuff, Dylan! I think Kirk summed it up nicely - you seem to have that consistency and a competitive edge that will make you very hard to beat if you can keep it up come the finals. Really impressive throughout your run; I loved when there was a smile playing on your face sometimes when Nick asked you for your declaration, usually swiftly followed by Susie breaking out the dictionary! I agree that Gloria's 'copying' thing got very repetitive, but you seemed to shrug it off nicely! Being the first to break 100 maxes out of 120 is a huge achievement as well!

Finally, a word on your opponent in this game - I think he played pretty well, but had 7 when you had 8 etc., and I think he'd have had a good chance of winning a few games. He seemed like a very nice bloke and he looked like he managed to enjoy himself despite coming up against you on top form! Gloria redeemed herself at the end there by making a big thing out of your achievements, which she could easily have left to the hosts as they rightly recognised the historic nature of your performance too.

What a treat this series has been so far! I've still got quite a few games to catch up on now!