Birthday Championship Spoilers For Tuesday January 29th 2013

[James Robinson]

So, after that quite remarkable finish to yesterday's game from 2 females of yesterday, what can the men of today offer in return, I wonder..........

In this battle of the modern day semi-finalists, will it be Paul Keane of Series 65 or Neil Zussman of Series 60 who will book their place in the next round. They won't have to wait long to find out who they've got either, as that match is being played tomorrow.

Here are the stats:

Firstly, Series 65 Semi-Finalist Paul Keane - 10 Games, 9 Wins, 911 Points (Average: 91.1)
Highest Score: 104 vs. Clare Nitman (8th Game)
Lowest Score: 71 vs. Graeme Cole (Semi-Final)
9's Achieved: 1/6
Total Points/Max/%: 911/1247 (73%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 628/847 (74%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 223/300 (74%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 60/100 (60%)

Secondly, Series 60 Semi-Finalist Neil Zussman - 10 Games, 9 Wins, 928 Points (Average: 92.8 - Not Including Tie-Break Conundrum)
Highest Score: 111 vs. Anita Fairhurst (3rd Game)
Lowest Score: 81 vs. Rick Warburton (7th Game)
9's Achieved: 2/4
Total Points/Max/%: 928/1217 (76%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 650/826 (79%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 208/291 (72%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 70/100 (70%)

Because of Huddersfield playing tomorrow, me and Jack have switched recaps this week, so I'll be recapping later on.

[Adam Gillard]

Really looking forward to this one!

[Adam Gillard]

You heard it, me and Neil are going to take over :p

[Jack Worsley]

BRAZENS in round 7. Surprised DC didn't pick up on this.

[Zarte Siempre]

Maulvis in R12

[Jordan F]

Very well done Neil, no way I would have gotten the conundrum that quickly. Bad luck Paul, you two were very close throughout this match and probably could have gone either way depending on what that conundrum was

[Jack Worsley]

Another close and competitive game, played in the right spirit. Great speed on the conundrum by Neil, which I think beat everyone in the green room.

[Adam Gillard]

Well done Neil! Great turnaround and super speedy on the conundrum too. Well played too Paul; it was a very close game. Didn't you tell Nick how to pronounce your surname, Neil? Looking forward to seeing you again in the next round!

[Gavin Chipper]

Brilliant game from Neil Zussman. I can't see anyone stopping him on this form. Surely he's going to win the whole thing now.

[Jojo Apollo]

Good to see the return of Neil, well played Neil. Also well done to Paul for making it a competative contest.

[James Robinson]

A very good comeback by Neil there. Quite like the Bondian conundrum too.

ZAREBAS in round 7 and FURCATED in round 9.

[Kirk Bevins]

Another close and competitive game, played in the right spirit. Great speed on the conundrum by Neil, which I think beat everyone in the green room.

Er, speak for yourself, Worsley!

Tight game, well played gents. Was a pleasure to meet you, Paul.

[Paul Keane]

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. Still bearing the scars of Round 11 when I chose another vowel knowing I could get an A for rationed or a U for routined but brain went into freefall when the third E turned up. Thankfully it wasn't crucial and Neil's lightning quick spot of MOONRAKER was brilliant. Still it was great to be involved in the competition even if only as warm up acts for the Countdown legends who appear on Thursday and Friday this week! it was great to meet you too Kirk and to see Graham and Jack again.

[Jack Worsley]

Good to see you again too, Paul!

[Kirk Bevins]

I was thinking, I wonder how often Susie says "if anyone was thinking of x at home, it's not in"? I'm thinking of agent nouns here or UN- or RE- words here. My dad often likes to play along at home and when DC don't mention something he just assumes it's not in but obviously DC do miss stuff sometimes. I'm thinking specifically of UNCRAFTED here which my girlfriend's dad got and I had to check ODE3 to let him know it wasn't in.

[Neil Zussman]

Thanks for all the nice words! Paul had me worried for quite a while there- whilst I'd love to say I gave him a 14 point headstart deliberately to add to the drama, that wouldn't be quite true! We probably should've spotted INSULATED, so that wasn't a great start, and things went from bad to worse when I went for POTAGED (which I'd written down with a question mark beside it) rather than POTTAGE (which I'd written down without a question mark). Bizarre decision from me. Anyway, I was so relieved to get that conundrum so quickly, I wouldn't have fancied waiting 30 seconds for the clock to tick down!
It was a heck of a lot of fun to be back in the TV studio, and I'm glad it was a successful return!

Didn't you tell Nick how to pronounce your surname, Neil?

I didn't know he was going to pronounce it wrongly until the cameras were rolling! I'd obviously rather he got it right, but he's not the first to get it wrong, and he won't be the last!

[David Williams]

I was thinking, I wonder how often Susie says "if anyone was thinking of x at home, it's not in"? I'm thinking of agent nouns here or UN- or RE- words here. My dad often likes to play along at home and when DC don't mention something he just assumes it's not in but obviously DC do miss stuff sometimes. I'm thinking specifically of UNCRAFTED here which my girlfriend's dad got and I had to check ODE3 to let him know it wasn't in.

It's a fair point - I also thought of UNCRAFTED and wasn't sure - but it's a bit of an ask for her to think of words that don't exist. But if she had thought of UNCRAFTED, I agree it would be worth mentioning it.

[Kirk Bevins]

It's a fair point - I also thought of UNCRAFTED and wasn't sure - but it's a bit of an ask for her to think of words that don't exist. But if she had thought of UNCRAFTED, I agree it would be worth mentioning it.

Exactly this. Making up words is always going to be hard, which is why I mentioned RE-, UN- or agent nouns as they are the ones that could potentially be made up. I quite enjoy the DC guests who play along and ask Susie "is xyz in"?

[Michael Wallace]

I quite enjoy the DC guests who play along and ask Susie "is xyz in"?

Why would anyone think that was a word?

[David Williams]

I quite enjoy the DC guests who play along and ask Susie "is xyz in"?

Apart, of course, from those who know perfectly well it's in because they've just heard it in their earpiece. They should be consigned to the deepest circles of hell. (Come to think of it, that doesn't seem to happen as much as it used to.)

[Jon Corby]

"Am I barking up some mad tree here, or is BRACONID a word?" was a particular favourite of mine.

[Gavin Chipper]

You heard it, me and Neil are going to take over :p

Er, Mark Deeks?

[Gavin Chipper]

Weird that POTTAGE was given as a contestant beater and they went on about a mess of pottage etc. without pointing out that it means basically the same as POTAGE anyway and acting like it was a completely different thing. You'd watch that and think "So what does POTAGE mean then?'

[James Robinson]

First Round Game 8 2020 Word Update

The max would have increased by one (from 134 to 135), if played today, as there was an 8 available in Round 4, that wasn't available in 2013.

New Words Now Allowed:

R2: AFIONS, SAFING
R3: MEGAPOD, OPTATED. PAGEDOM
R4: MINCEURS (increases MAX from 7 to 8)
R7: ABRAZES
R11: ENTEROID
R12: URAMILS
R13: OTRIADS, RAJOIDS

[Mark Deeks]

You heard it, me and Neil are going to take over :p

Er, Mark Deeks?

Start a poll, it's the only way we'll know for sure and Damian will be bound by its results.

[Gavin Chipper]

You heard it, me and Neil are going to take over :p

Er, Mark Deeks?

Start a poll, it's the only way we'll know for sure and Damian will be bound by its results.

Yes. So the question will be something like "Who should be the next Countdown presenter after Nick Hewer?" and the options will be Mark Deeks, Neil Zussman and anyone else that people might nominate in the next couple of days, plus "other".

[Mark Deeks]

I'm fine with this.