COLIN X Results

Discussion and announcements relating to unofficial Countdown competitions, held online or in real life. Observation, discussion, reflection, and other stuff ending in -ion.
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Ben Wilson
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COLIN X Results

Post by Ben Wilson »

Hi everyone

The afterparty of the tenth COLIN event is in full swing but I've had to duck out early, not least because I've got an entire event to plan for tomorrow! Before I hit the sack though, there's time to update you on what happened in today's main event.

There was one dropout due to illness (which may or may not have been self-inflicted depending on who you believe) so apterous prune had to be drafted in to make up the numbers.

Before I get onto the matter of the prizewinners, thanks must go to all those who helped out on the day- to Lee Fisher for once again being the first to arrive (even before yours truly) and help set up, to Graeme Cole for again providing his IT expertise that helped make the event run silky-smooth, to Tracey, Jayne, Zarte and all those who brought along food for us to nibble on throughout the day, to Dinos Sfyris and Jack Hurst for coming up with fun mini-games for people to play on the day, and of course to my mum whose behind-the-scenes contributions are truly invaluable.

Now, the winners- several spot prizes were on offer throughout the day- the first was a nice little random prize I devised for the player whose score was closest to 250+a random number. James Robinson kindly provided the random number 76, meaning the target score was 326, and the closest to that figure were ROB FOSTER and JEN STEADMAN, who both scored 322.

As with previous years, badges commemorating various achievements were awarded. The 'conundrum god' badge was given to anyone who spotted five or more non-tiebreak conundrums throughout the day- MARK DEEKS claimed one of those badges for the second year running, along with JACK HURST (more on him later). Badges were also awarded to anyone who scored 360 or more points during the day- the table is below, it's not hard to work out who those people are.

A prize for highest losing score was awarded, and this went to THOMAS CAREY who lost despite recording a score of 77 points (which if memory serves, equals the co-event record for highest losing score).

The 'Tuff Luck' prizes went to the players who had it roughest throughout the day- for those players who lost three or more games, their losing margins were totalled and the two players with the three narrowest margins when added together both got a prize. They were GEVIN CHAPWELL (or TOBY PEREIRA if you'd prefer) with 19 points, and CHRIS MARSHALL with 15 points.

Two overachiever prizes were awarded for those players who finished highest above their predicted finishing position. JEFF CLAYTON finished 22 places above his seeding, whilst MATT MORRISON finished a whopping 27 places ahead of seedings.

The expanded player roster this year naturally led to an expanded prize budget, so prizes this year stretched down to 6th place (apologies in advance to 7th-placed Graeme Cole if prizes stretch down even further in the future).

6th place went to DAN MCCOLM, with 5 wins and a total of 359 points.

5th place went to MATT BAYFIELD, whose 5 wins, 372 points and second consecutive top 5 finish at COLIN is yet more proof that he needs to get his application in for the show asap.

4th place was DYLAN TAYLOR, notching up a highly impressive 5 wins and 376 points.

3rd, missing out on the final by the narrowest of margins was KIRK BEVINS, whose 5 wins and 379 points is actually better than the record with which he won COLIN 2010.

The top two, who would compete in the tense and nerve-wracking final, were ZARTE SIEMPRE with 5 wins and a hugely impressive 386 points (150 of which came from the last two games alone), and JACK HURST, who went unbeaten throughout the day and set a new COLIN points record of 396 (the previous record? 395, by Mark Deeks last year).

And in the final? I could be cruel and make you wait for the recap. But I won't. Jack won. Max game.

So congratulations to Jack, the tenth COLIN champion and the sixth different name on the COLIN spoon!

Now if you'll excuse me, there's a pillow with my name on it. Final results and standings are below.

1 Jack Hurst 6 6 396
2 Zarte Siempre 6 5 386
3 Kirk Bevins 6 5 379
4 Dylan Taylor 6 5 376
5 Matt Bayfield 6 5 372
6 Dan McColm 6 5 359
7 Graeme Cole 6 5 343
8 Jack Worsley 6 4 381
9 Mark Deeks 6 4 367
10 Andy Platt 6 4 347
10 Jon O'Neill 6 4 347
12 David Barnard 6 4 340
13 Rob Foster 6 4 322
14 Matt Morrison 6 4 294
15 Michelle Nevitt 6 4 290
16 Jeff Clayton 6 4 273
17 Dinos Sfyris 6 3 376
18 Jon Corby 6 3 368
19 Callum Todd 6 3 356
20 James Roper 6 3 355
21 Ryan Taylor 6 3 352
22 Paul Worsley 6 3 331
23 Jen Steadman 6 3 322
24 Tracey Mills 6 3 312
25 James Robinson 6 3 305
26 Richard Priest 6 3 304
27 Andy McGurn 6 3 291
28 Adam Dexter 6 3 275
29 Matt Conway 6 3 265
30 Phyl Styles 6 3 258
31 Suzi Player 6 3 242
32 Thomas Carey 6 2 361
33 Jonathan Wynn 6 2 309
34 Chris Marshall 6 2 286
35 Stewart Gordon 6 2 284
36 Mike Brown 6 2 276
37 Jayne Wisniewski 6 2 265
38 Philip Jarvis 6 2 262
39 Heather Styles 6 2 247
40 Dave Coulthurst 6 2 239
41 James Laverty 6 2 228
42 Lee Fisher 6 2 207
43 Lauren Hamer 6 1 303
44 Alan Young 6 1 273
45 Toby Pereira 6 1 256
46 Alan Styles 6 1 205
47 Rhys Benjamin 6 1 187
48 Apterous Prune 6 0 0

Round 1

Table 1
Mark Deeks 54 - 34 Stewart Gordon
Adam Dexter 38 - 70 Mark Deeks
Stewart Gordon 59 - 44 Adam Dexter

Table 2
Kirk Bevins 83 - 41 Richard Priest
Alan Styles 17 - 65 Kirk Bevins
Richard Priest 55 - 36 Alan Styles

Table 3
Jack Hurst 70 - 41 Ryan Taylor
Apterous Prune 0 - 72 Jack Hurst
Ryan Taylor 66 - 0 Apterous Prune

Table 4
Jack Worsley 71 - 62 Tracey Mills
Mike Brown 33 - 68 Jack Worsley
Tracey Mills 38 - 53 Mike Brown

Table 5
Dylan Taylor 60 - 18 Phyl Styles
James Laverty 10 - 70 Dylan Taylor
Phyl Styles 52 - 47 James Laverty

Table 6
Callum Todd 65 - 61 Andy McGurn
Philip Jarvis 22 - 54 Callum Todd
Andy McGurn 45 - 38 Philip Jarvis

Table 7
Jen Steadman 67 - 35 Suzi Player
Rhys Benjamin 23 - 70 Jen Steadman
Suzi Player 45 - 31 Rhys Benjamin

Table 8
Dan McColm 70 - 44 Jonathan Wynn
Lauren Hamer 45 - 66 Dan McColm
Jonathan Wynn 53 - 46 Lauren Hamer

Table 9
Jon O'Neill 71 - 67 Dinos Sfyris
Alan Young 41 - 59 Jon O'Neill
Dinos Sfyris 72 - 38 Alan Young

Table 10
Graeme Cole 60 - 28 Jayne Wisniewski
Lee Fisher 0 - 64 Graeme Cole
Jayne Wisniewski 32 - 56 Lee Fisher

Table 11
David Barnard 59 - 23 Matt Conway
Toby Pereira 40 - 57 David Barnard
Matt Conway 48 - 41 Toby Pereira

Table 12
James Robinson 70 - 29 Michelle Nevitt
Thomas Carey 47 - 57 James Robinson
Michelle Nevitt 60 - 44 Thomas Carey

Table 13
Jon Corby 81 - 50 Heather Styles
Dave Coulthurst 29 - 59 Jon Corby
Heather Styles 54 - 32 Dave Coulthurst

Table 14
Rob Foster 56 - 53 James Roper
Jeff Clayton 37 - 44 Rob Foster
James Roper 76 - 30 Jeff Clayton

Table 15
Andy Platt 61 - 71 Matt Bayfield
Paul Worsley 48 - 53 Andy Platt
Matt Bayfield 55 - 48 Paul Worsley

Table 16
Zarte Siempre 69 - 32 Chris Marshall
Matt Morrison 25 - 65 Zarte Siempre
Chris Marshall 48 - 49 Matt Morrison

Round 2

Table 1
Kirk Bevins 41 - 51 Jack Hurst
Jon Corby 57 - 65 Kirk Bevins
Jack Hurst 79 - 55 Jon Corby

Table 2
Jen Steadman 54 -*64 Dan McColm
Zarte Siempre 47 - 51 Jen Steadman
Dan McColm 53 - 55 Zarte Siempre

Table 3
Jack Worsley 49 - 82 Dylan Taylor
Jon O'Neill 54 - 72 Jack Worsley
Dylan Taylor 49 - 35 Jon O'Neill

Table 4
James Robinson 53 - 51 Mark Deeks
Graeme Cole 58 - 55 James Robinson
Mark Deeks 69 - 32 Graeme Cole

Table 5
Matt Bayfield 71 - 69 Callum Todd
David Barnard 63 - 60 Matt Bayfield
Callum Todd 70 - 45 David Barnard

Table 6
Rob Foster 59 - 48 Dinos Sfyris
Andy Platt 56 - 57 Rob Foster
Dinos Sfyris 49 - 58 Andy Platt

Table 7
Ryan Taylor 69 - 38 Andy McGurn
Heather Styles 23 - 73 Ryan Taylor
Andy McGurn 56 - 40 Heather Styles

Table 8
James Roper 45 - 55 Michelle Nevitt
Mike Brown 42 - 50 James Roper
Michelle Nevitt 60 - 52 Mike Brown

Table 9
Jonathan Wynn 43 - 44 Richard Priest
Stewart Gordon 71 - 53 Jonathan Wynn
Richard Priest 65 - 36 Stewart Gordon

Table 10
Matt Morrison 61 - 39 Matt Conway
Phyl Styles 60 - 39 Matt Morrison
Matt Conway 52 - 47 Phyl Styles

Table 11
Suzi Player 37 - 31 Lee Fisher
Tracey Mills 55 - 24 Suzi Player
Lee Fisher 25 - 62 Tracey Mills

Table 12
Paul Worsley 52 - 81 Thomas Carey
Lauren Hamer 58 - 68 Paul Worsley
Thomas Carey 66 - 56 Lauren Hamer

Table 13
Adam Dexter 56 - 45 Toby Pereira
Chris Marshall 46 - 55 Adam Dexter
Toby Pereira 27 - 62 Chris Marshall

Table 14
Dave Coulthurst 52 - 44 Jayne Wisniewski
Philip Jarvis 61 - 39 Dave Coulthurst
Jayne Wisniewski 31 - 48 Philip Jarvis

Table 15
James Laverty 45 - 26 Rhys Benjamin
Alan Styles 25 - 53 James Laverty
Rhys Benjamin 41 - 32 Alan Styles

Table 16
Alan Young 49 - 50 Jeff Clayton
Apterous Prune 0 - 74 Alan Young
Jeff Clayton 46 - 0 Apterous Prune

Round 3

Table 1
Jack Hurst 63 - 53 Dylan Taylor
Rob Foster 50 - 61 Jack Hurst
Dylan Taylor 62 - 56 Rob Foster

Table 2
Jack Worsley 73 - 43 Callum Todd
Kirk Bevins 70 - 48 Jack Worsley
Callum Todd 55 -*65 Kirk Bevins

Table 3
Ryan Taylor 63 -*73 Mark Deeks
Dan McColm 46 - 40 Ryan Taylor
Mark Deeks 60 - 70 Dan McColm

Table 4
Zarte Siempre 72 - 37 James Robinson
David Barnard 58 - 78 Zarte Siempre
James Robinson 33 - 58 David Barnard

Table 5
Graeme Cole 66 - 56 Richard Priest
Michelle Nevitt 40 - 63 Graeme Cole
Richard Priest 43 - 46 Michelle Nevitt

Table 6
Matt Bayfield 55 - 40 Jen Steadman
Jon Corby 52 - 60 Matt Bayfield
Jen Steadman 40 - 64 Jon Corby

Table 7
Thomas Carey 46 - 58 Andy Platt
James Roper 88 - 77 Thomas Carey
Andy Platt 61 - 43 James Roper

Table 8
Jon O'Neill 66 - 43 Andy McGurn
Stewart Gordon 47 - 62 Jon O'Neill
Andy McGurn 48 - 37 Stewart Gordon

Table 9
Tracey Mills 43 - 44 Adam Dexter
Phyl Styles 21 - 52 Tracey Mills
Adam Dexter 38 - 60 Phyl Styles

Table 10
Philip Jarvis 53 - 56 Jeff Clayton
Matt Conway 56 - 40 Philip Jarvis
Jeff Clayton 54 - 47 Matt Conway

Table 11
Matt Morrison 65 - 34 James Laverty
Suzi Player 45 - 55 Matt Morrison
James Laverty 39 - 56 Suzi Player

Table 12
Paul Worsley 63 - 32 Alan Young
Jonathan Wynn 44 - 52 Paul Worsley
Alan Young 39 - 72 Jonathan Wynn

Table 13
Chris Marshall 48 - 53 Mike Brown
Heather Styles 31 - 50 Chris Marshall
Mike Brown 43 - 49 Heather Styles

Table 14
Dinos Sfyris 72 - 48 Dave Coulthurst
Rhys Benjamin 33 - 68 Dinos Sfyris
Dave Coulthurst 39 - 33 Rhys Benjamin

Table 15
Lee Fisher 52 - 69 Lauren Hamer
Toby Pereira 42 - 43 Lee Fisher
Lauren Hamer 29 - 61 Toby Pereira

Table 16
Jayne Wisniewski 57 - 42 Alan Styles
Apterous Prune 0 - 73 Jayne Wisniewski
Alan Styles 53 - 0 Apterous Prune
Matt Bayfield
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by Matt Bayfield »

Ben: thank you for another fantastic weekend of unofficial Countdown competition. With the entry list and standard of play ever-growing, you should be very proud of this wonderful event you've created and nurtured. As always, I enjoyed the chance to play some folks I've not encountered before (including exciting contests against David B and Callum). I also got to renew seemingly perennial rivalries with Jon Corby and James Robinson. Thank you to all my opponents... mainly for tolerating my occasional vocal reactions to easy misses. ;-) Also thank you to everyone who helped to playtest quiz questions and audio clips for me during the lunchbreaks.

Unsurprisingly, with [brag] 9 wins out of 10, and only being beaten in one Letters round out of 60 all weekend [/brag], I'm delighted at how I played. I retired from online English play well over a year ago, so I'm rather rusty, and I definitely rode my luck at crucial moments. But unlike online play, I do still enjoy face-to-face competition, and I'll continue to attend future COLINs. Just don't be too disappointed if I don't act on your suggestion to apply for the tv show - though I do appreciate your kind words and support, Ben.

See you all next year.
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LaurenHamer
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by LaurenHamer »

Who was the only person to beat you in a letters round?

*whistles innocently*
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Graeme Cole
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by Graeme Cole »

Once again, huge thanks to Ben for giving us two great events in two days. We all know Ben puts an enormous effort into the king of all CO-events, and to do it two days running is something that's greatly appreciated by all of us. When I tell newcomers to events that if they can only go to one event in the year it should be COLIN, it's praise that's thoroughly deserved.

I thought the extra mini-event the following day was a good idea which worked really well. Ben put it best when he said that the best way of improving on something like COLIN is just to give us more of it, and I hope he'll take it as a compliment to him and his event, rather than some kind of malicious ploy to ensure he's out of energy by the end of every January, when I say that I hope he'll consider doing the same thing in future COLINs.

I just thought of something that happened in James Robinson's game with Mark Deeks, which I was hosting. I'd gone to fetch the crucial conundrum, and upon returning to the table I started on that awkward manoeuvre of putting the conundrum slip of paper on the table and covering it ready to reveal, trying to show competent watchmanship, and moving the scoresheet, number generator, broken pens and other assorted CO-debris out of the way. At some point during this familiar palaver, Mark accidentally saw the conundrum scramble prematurely, and immediately told me this. I went to fetch a replacement conundrum, and the matter wasn't mentioned again or even remembered by me until much later. It reminded me of a similar thing that happened at CoEdi in a game between me and James - Ben accidentally revealed the crucial conundrum, James and I thought he'd revealed it deliberately and we both buzzed immediately, Ben wasn't ready for the buzz so couldn't say who was first, and nor could I. We would have had a replacement conundrum, except that James, and only James, knew I'd buzzed first and said so, which gave me the win. It says a lot about our events and sense of fair play that acts of sportsmanship like these aren't even remarked upon, they're just expected.

Edit: just remembered an addendum to that CoEdi thing. It turns out that accidentally entering a game's score into the computer the wrong way round is very easily done, even if you yourself wrote the software and indeed won the game in question. This happened. Probably wouldn't even have been noticed had James not pointed it out.
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by Phyl Styles »

Lots of people have already put their thanks either here or on Facebook and we want to add ours in similar vein. Appreciated Ben throwing his hangover plans into confusion by adding us late in the day when the weather deterred us from our ornithological exploits. For going the extra mile and posting the first day's results when he was already pretty weary, and continuing to add touches of warm but dry humour to ease the flow of events - just a couple of qualities in Ben that bring out our gratitude.
Agree about the sportsmanship, friendliness and encouragement between players; I overheard someone say to a fellow contestant 'you're a lot nicer than you seem to be online', which was frank but complimentary, and reveals an apparent contrast between some online personae and their truer incarnations. Everyone has idiosyncrasies to be accommodated, and glad not to see friction in this regard.
Given the random nature of Hykeham's trains on a Sunday, the hangover event seems a good and welcome solution. Would it make sense to have both events in the South Hykeham venue, nearer the Travelodge, if that were feasible?
I would like to be able to get the puzzle solutions when I have given up trying - are these available? Thanks to those who created them, thanks to Jill, thanks to Graeme, Matt B, Jack H, thanks to all the chefs and victuallers, thanks to lift-givers, taxi-providers, fellow pool players, and sorry some of you didn't get your hoped-for darts on the Saturday.
Countdown becomes a living community at the Co-events, and its strengths and value are activated and consolidated.
Phyl and Alan
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Matt Morrison
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by Matt Morrison »

Phyl Styles wrote:I overheard someone say to a fellow contestant 'you're a lot nicer than you seem to be online', which was frank but complimentary
Ha. This was Matt Conway to me. I honestly thought I had been pretty nice on the forum of late, so I'm tempted to read back some of my recent posts.
All I do know is that if I was worthy of this praise, I can't imagine what Matt would have said to someone like Corby. Oh no, hang on, Corby is horrible in real life too.

I won't unnecessarily duplicate the existing valid thanks, I'll just add that Phyl has balls so big any man would be proud. And is very lovely all round.
And that Mark's unerring generosity when it comes to giving impromptu and repeated lifts between Travelodge and pub never fails to impress me and has made Colin markedly more comfortable for myself and Heather for three years now. And his car even has that authentic taxi smell.
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Matt Morrison
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by Matt Morrison »

The eating competition will start at 8am next year.
Phyl Styles
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by Phyl Styles »

Worth giving a bit of extra prominence to James Roper's high score of 88 (his first Co-event) - well done.
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Andy Platt
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by Andy Platt »

Matt Bayfield wrote:Thank you to all my opponents... mainly for tolerating my occasional vocal reactions to easy misses. ;-)
Well you didn't miss anything against me did you :evil:
Phyl Styles wrote:Worth giving a bit of extra prominence to James Roper's high score of 88 (his first Co-event) - well done.
There should be a prize for the person that shuffles the letters prior to the highest scoring game of the day 8-)

Cheers again Ben, awesome as ever.
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Matt Morrison wrote:The eating competition will start at 8am next year.
Who's going to take part in that one? The Hall of Fame has two legends in it at the moment. It would be interesting to see this extended.
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Mark Deeks
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by Mark Deeks »

And that Mark's unerring generosity when it comes to giving impromptu and repeated lifts between Travelodge and pub never fails to impress me and has made Colin markedly more comfortable for myself and Heather for three years now. And his car even has that authentic taxi smell.
It's my way of repaying the favours that seem to mean I never have to buy a drink all weekend. Mutual backscratching.
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He may not be liked on here, but you have to give some credit to Mark
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by Gavin Chipper »

I'm pretty sure Gevin Chapwell was playing but he's not in the results, Ben.
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by Jon Corby »

Gavin Chipper wrote:
Matt Morrison wrote:The eating competition will start at 8am next year.
Who's going to take part in that one? The Hall of Fame has two legends in it at the moment. It would be interesting to see this extended.
You're Tony Randall!
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Ben Wilson
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by Ben Wilson »

On a related note (to the eating competition), this photo is surely worthy of a caption competition?
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Matt Morrison
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by Matt Morrison »

Ben Wilson wrote:On a related note (to the eating competition), this photo is surely worthy of a caption competition?
Gevin's erection while Mark Gevin's erection Gevin's erection.
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James Robinson
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by James Robinson »

Ah, time for some results, somewhere else. :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :P :P :P
Last edited by James Robinson on Fri Jan 31, 2014 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jack Worsley
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Re: COLIN X Results

Post by Jack Worsley »

Nice recaps as ever, James, but shouldn't they be in the recaps thread? :oops: ;)
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