Spoilers For Monday December 12th 2011

[James Robinson]

So, we have entered the final week of this year's Countdown in 2011, as well as the last Countdown episodes of Jeff Stelling's era as host.

These (when they're done) 672 episodes have revitalised the show, which did seem to be heading in the doldrums of sorts with no direction at all. But, this show has turned a corner and returned to a higher level of importance thanks to then partnership of Jeff & Rachel, and hopefully when Nick Hewer replaces Jeff in 4 weeks time, he will continue this upward trend.

In the meantime, let's see if we can give Jeff a good send-off with a brilliant finish to the series finals, and if the first 2 quarter-finals are anything to go by, we're in for a treat.

Our 3rd quarter-final is the battle of the non-Apterites, #3 Seed Paul "The Finchley Firestorm" Keane and the #6 Seed Dave "The Sunderland Supremo" Taylor.

Here are the stats:

Firstly, No.3 Seed Paul Keane - 8 Wins, 744 Points
Highest Score: 104 vs. Clare Nitman (8th Game)
Lowest Score: 73 vs. Claire Aizlewood (4th Game)
9's Achieved: 0/5
Total Points/Max/%: 744/996 (75%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 495/676 (73%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 189/240 (79%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 60/80 (75%)

Secondly, No.6 Seed Dave Taylor - 8 Wins, 691 Points
Highest Score: 112 vs. Peter Staniland (1st Game)
Lowest Score: 61 vs. Leo Croker (3rd Game)
9's Achieved: 2/11
Total Points/Max/%: 691/1064 (65%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 489/750 (65%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 182/234 (78%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 20/80 (25%)

Thomas Carey will be giving us his version of events in the recap later on.

[Tony Atkins]

For Jeff fans, he is on Chris Moyles' Quiz Night this evening at 10:00 pm on 4.

[Jon Corby]

For Jeff fans, he is on Chris Moyles' Quiz Night this evening at 10:00 pm on 4.

Nice one Tony, cheers for the heads-up.

[Tony Atkins]

Great game by both contestants. Shame Paul's numbers let him down. I was rubbish at the numbers
first thing in the morning too - let's hope he perked up by the afternoon!

[Matt Morrison]

I've never noticed you can see a reflection of one of the studio monitors on the set before - is that regular or just a badly-positioned monitor one-off?
I don't usually spot such boring stuff so it's quite exciting for me. See what I mean in the top-right of frame when the camera begins to pan in at 22 seconds of RUMDOREIF (round 6 i think - 23 mins in on Sky+)

[Matt Morrison]

That same round, surely Dave was thinking of HUMIDOR? Easy mistake to make based on the nature of the object in question, which I guess is why it didn't trigger with Susie either.

[Innis Carson]

Good contest, was nice to see the return of "probably the same 7".

[Andy Platt]

Dave explained afterwards in the bar that he reckons it's like a fumigator or some such

[James Robinson]

Another entertaining contest indeed.

LAPSTONE in round 1, RAGTIME in round 4, DUIKERS and SWIRLED (and WILDERS which my mum got, so a bit bad for Dave there..........) in round 9 and TAINTED in round 13.

[Graeme Cole]

I've never noticed you can see a reflection of one of the studio monitors on the set before - is that regular or just a badly-positioned monitor one-off?
I don't usually spot such boring stuff so it's quite exciting for me. See what I mean in the top-right of frame when the camera begins to pan in at 22 seconds of RUMDOREIF (round 6 i think - 23 mins in on Sky+)

I've never noticed that before.

For extra credit: can anyone spot the continuity mistake in today's episode? It's towards the end.

[James Robinson]

I've never noticed you can see a reflection of one of the studio monitors on the set before - is that regular or just a badly-positioned monitor one-off?
I don't usually spot such boring stuff so it's quite exciting for me. See what I mean in the top-right of frame when the camera begins to pan in at 22 seconds of RUMDOREIF (round 6 i think - 23 mins in on Sky+)

I've never noticed that before.

For extra credit: can anyone spot the continuity mistake in today's episode? It's towards the end.

I assume you mean that the clock hand moved slightly back at the end. It had just past 23 seconds when Dave buzzed, but at the end, it went back to just 23 seconds exactly.

[Graeme Cole]

I've never noticed you can see a reflection of one of the studio monitors on the set before - is that regular or just a badly-positioned monitor one-off?
I don't usually spot such boring stuff so it's quite exciting for me. See what I mean in the top-right of frame when the camera begins to pan in at 22 seconds of RUMDOREIF (round 6 i think - 23 mins in on Sky+)

I've never noticed that before.

For extra credit: can anyone spot the continuity mistake in today's episode? It's towards the end.

I assume you mean that the clock hand moved slightly back at the end. It had just past 23 seconds when Dave buzzed, but at the end, it went back to just 23 seconds exactly.

I *knew* you'd be the one to get it. (Actually moved forward a second, but even I'm not that much of a pedant.)

They reshot the end credits for some reason and so had to set everything back up the way it was.

[Jack Worsley]

Another good game. It's a shame that it's the last we'll see of Dave because he really is a very entertaining and likeable guy.

PLEURON in round 2 (you can't put the S on it).

1st numbers alt: (50x4+10)x2+75=495
3rd numbers alt: (100x7)/(8-6)-3=347

[Matt Morrison]

PLEURON in round 2 (you can't put the S on it).

More like PLEURALNO!!!!!

[Jon Corby]

They reshot the end credits for some reason

Perhaps they spelt somebody's name wrong.

[Mark Deeks]

You're probably wondering if Dave is as affable and awesome off the screen as he was on it.

Good news. He was. As was his enormous all-female entourage.

[Mark Deeks]

Also, in the audience, Jayne Wisniewski spotted APTERITE in round 11.

[Gavin Chipper]

That same round, surely Dave was thinking of HUMIDOR? Easy mistake to make based on the nature of the object in question, which I guess is why it didn't trigger with Susie either.

Or THERMIDOR!

[Peter Mabey]

Actually there does seem to be such a thing (thanks Google)
A cabinet, container, room, or device used to protect perfumes and colognes from light and heat. Wine coolers and mini-fridges are often used.
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fumidor