c4countdown

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11662754

(Transsexual wins national championship)

Less salacious version.

Haha great. She should go on Countdown!

At least we know what's become of Stewart Holden now.

Good to see Countdown getting a mention with the venerable Mr. Nyman!

Charlie Reams wrote:Less salacious version.

So Mark's last play in Game 5 - was that a complete punt since he knew he'd lose otherwise?

Edit: On closer inspection I realise he had two stabs at it - anyone know what he thought he was going for?

Charlie Reams wrote:Less salacious version.

Less salacious than bbc.co.uk? They aren't exactly renowned for their salacity.

Michael Wallace wrote:So Mark's last play in Game 5 - was that a complete punt since he knew he'd lose otherwise?

Edit: On closer inspection I realise he had two stabs at it - anyone know what he thought he was going for?

I think invalid words aren't automatically disallowed; the opponent has to challenge them. Furthermore, in some tournaments there might be a points penalty attached to an incorrect challenge. Assuming that's the case in this tournament, this is what might have happened: Mark needed a high scoring word to win, so played PINYVOLTHIN and hoped Mikki wouldn't know it was invalid. After it was successfully challenged, Mark played PINYVILTHON hoping to convince Mikki it was a valid word and he'd just spelt it wrong the first time.

A Scrabbler could probably explain it better or correct me if I've got it wrong.

Graeme Cole wrote:

Michael Wallace wrote:So Mark's last play in Game 5 - was that a complete punt since he knew he'd lose otherwise?

Edit: On closer inspection I realise he had two stabs at it - anyone know what he thought he was going for?

I think invalid words aren't automatically disallowed; the opponent has to challenge them. Furthermore, in some tournaments there might be a points penalty attached to an incorrect challenge. Assuming that's the case in this tournament, this is what might have happened: Mark needed a high scoring word to win, so played PINYVOLTHIN and hoped Mikki wouldn't know it was invalid. After it was successfully challenged, Mark played PINYVILTHON hoping to convince Mikki it was a valid word and he'd just spelt it wrong the first time.

A Scrabbler could probably explain it better or correct me if I've got it wrong.

Well Mark knows it will get challenged, so that's not really an issue. Also in a more general situation your opponent could inadvertently set up a big scoring bonus after they challenge your guessed word off.

Scrabblers don't know that many 11 letter words, so there's an above zero chance that your guess will turn out to be a valid word.