Grand Final Spoilers For Wednesday December 23rd 2015

James Robinson · Post by **James Robinson** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 12:05 am

So, we've reached the end of the year, and we now have our finalists for the Series 73 final. I wonder how many predicted that this would be the final when the series started back in mid-June.....

We have the #2 seed, Jonathan "The Oxford Onslaught" Wynn, who was just a point behind Thomas Carey in the rankings, who struggled past #7 seed Liam Moloney in the quarters despite leading from start to finish, and even though he lost his 135-round consecutive winning round scoring record at the start of his semi-final against #3 seed Stephen Briggs, he had crucial winning words which saw him go over the line in relative comfort, and even missing out on a possible record 147 scoreline.

And in the opposite corner is the #5 seed, Matthew "The Ealing Express" Tassier, the most recent octochamp, who seems to have saved his best performances for the finals. A fantastic win over #4 seed John Hardie in the quarter-final thanks mainly to ADDICTIVE, followed by a spectacular comeback win over #1 seed Thomas Carey in the semi-final thanks again to another nine-letter word, this time being OUTBRAVES.

Is this game going to follow suit in seedings, as Jonathan would like it, or will it be another "giant-killing" for Matthew Tassier

Statistics Corner:

Firstly, No.2 Seed Jonathan "The Oxford Onslaught" Wynn - 10 Wins, 1,146 Points. (Average: 114.6)
Highest Score: 134 vs. Stephen Briggs (Semi-Final)
Lowest Score: 90 vs. Liam Moloney (Quarter-Final)
9's Achieved: 5/8
Total Points/Max/%: 1146/1316 (87%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 746/816 (91%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 340/400 (85%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 60/100 (60%)

Secondly, No.5 Seed Matthew "The Ealing Express" Tassier - 10 Wins, 1,025 Points. (Average: 102.5)
Highest Score: 122 vs. John Hardie (Quarter-Final)
Lowest Score: 75 vs. Jim Anderson (8th Game)
9's Achieved: 4/12
Total Points/Max/%: 1025/1346 (76%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 650/859 (76%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 345/387 (89%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 30/100 (30%)

I have the great honour of doing the recap for this later on.

Gavin Chipper · Post by **Gavin Chipper** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 1:52 pm

Really looking forward to this. Based on the heats I would have said Jonathan would be clear favourite, but Matthew has really upped his game in the knockouts, avenging his defeat against John Hardie* on the way. Should be a good game.

*Remember he lost to him but was allowed back on after Corby moaned about it.

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 1:57 pm

James Robinson wrote:I wonder how many predicted that this would be the final when the series started back in mid-June.....

Probably none, chiefly because nobody had the foggiest what contestants would be taking part in the series?

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 1:59 pm

Gavin Chipper wrote:Really looking forward to this. Based on the heats I would have said Jonathan would be clear favourite, but Matthew has really upped his game in the knockouts, avenging his defeat against John Hardie* on the way. Should be a good game.

*Remember he lost to him but was allowed back on after Corby moaned about it.

lol

Agree, should be a great game.

Rhys Benjamin · Post by **Rhys Benjamin** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 3:24 pm

Not quite sure what Matt was thinking of on the WAIGED round...

2nd numbers alt: (8 x 9 - 6 - 4) x 10 - 7.

George Pryn · Post by **George Pryn** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 3:25 pm

bare excited

Gavin Chipper · Post by **Gavin Chipper** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 3:29 pm

Beaters in every round so far using the standard method but I'm not going to tell you what they are.

Gavin Chipper · Post by **Gavin Chipper** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 3:51 pm

(9×6-10/5)×9+4=472.

Before Rachel.

George Pryn · Post by **George Pryn** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 3:53 pm

Great game!!! Really good watch!!! Shame no mention of champion of champions at the end there... Maybe it never happened... Spoilers

Gavin Chipper · Post by **Gavin Chipper** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 3:55 pm

Great game by both players and a great series. Well done to both finalists. And those who have met Jonathan will know how great it is that someone so dopey (e.g. booking the hotel for the wrong day in King's Lynn) can win a series of Countdown. Excellent job!

Jojo Apollo · Post by **Jojo Apollo** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 4:02 pm

A splendid contest between two gentlemen of the game, very high standard as ever.

Many congrats Jon, a well deserved series champion, great games throughout the series

Well done Matthew on being runner-up, very very close there to taking the title ( that blasted mondials tripped me up also, must remember SALMONID.

) superb standard throughout the series especially on the numbers, well played sir.

Well done to the Countdown Team and contestants on another great series.

Jack Worsley · Post by **Jack Worsley** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 4:26 pm

Fantastic final, well played both! It was a finale that this intriguing series has deserved. I thought it was game over when Jonathan superbly spotted SALMONID but there was another surprise in store with Matthew forcing a crucial. A tough conundrum it was, too.

Congratulations to Jonathan for becoming a deserving champion. You've seen off some strong competition with some memorable performances and your letters have been superb in quite a few games. I think nerves must have got to you on the numbers today but that added to the excitement and doesn't detract from your achievement.

Commiserations, Matthew. To see off John, Tom and almost Jonathan is a fantastic effort and it makes me wonder why you didn't get a much higher octototal. You can be very proud of being runner-up in such a high quality series.

Great work as ever from the Countdown crew and I look forward to watching the CoC back in January.

Conor · Post by **Conor** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 5:03 pm

Really good final. I hadn't seen much of the series, but the finals have been top drawer. Could see it being a letters vs numbers shootout and that's how it ended up, with a very difficult conundrum.

Liked the contrast between Jonathan visibly frantically searching during the rounds and Matthew looking very calm. Salmonid and Requiem really good spots when needed

Steven M. McCann · Post by **Steven M. McCann** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 6:11 pm

Good close final, well done Jonathan, commiserations Matthew, my one criticism....... the conundrum, far too hard!
Did anyone in the audience get it? or even of heard of it before?

Jennifer Steadman · Post by **Jennifer Steadman** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 6:22 pm

Steven M. McCann wrote:Good close final, well done Jonathan, commiserations Matthew, my one criticism....... the conundrum, far too hard!
Did anyone in the audience get it? or even of heard of it before?

Completely agree with this. A few Apterites in the audience may have got it, but only because it's on Ascension (the conundrum practice bit of Apterous). I highly doubt any of the people who were likely to have spotted it had, or would ever have, heard of it prior to joining Apterous.

Johnny Canuck · Post by **Johnny Canuck** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 6:37 pm

Well done to both Jonathan on winning and Matthew on second prize. A letters vs numbers battle royale right down to the end. Hoping to see you both back for CoC XV, the 40th Birthday Championship and any and all other Ultimate Showdowns of Countdownate Destiny.

I only got that conundrum because I set it as a teaser recently. I wonder if the teaser's answerer (don't even remember whom it was now) did the same.

What was the word that Susie suggested for Z in her Origins of Words alphabet? Sounded like ZANZODDEN. She said it twice and I still didn't quite catch it.

Adam Dexter · Post by **Adam Dexter** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 6:47 pm

Alternate solve for R14 in the time:

(((9+9) × 6) + 10) x 4 = 472

James Robinson · Post by **James Robinson** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 6:54 pm

Johnny Canuck wrote:What was the word that Susie suggested for Z in her Origins of Words alphabet? Sounded like ZANZODDEN. She said it twice and I still didn't quite catch it.

The subtitles suggest it was ZAMZODDEN, although it's not in the current ODO.

Matt Morrison · Post by **Matt Morrison** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 7:04 pm

what was the con

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 7:06 pm

Congratulations Jonathan and commiserations Matthew, great final to round off a great set of finals to round off a great series.

Agree with those saying the conundrum was ridiculous though. The fuck is the point of a word nobody has heard of? It'd be hard not to sit there and be pissed off at that if I were Matthew. You could sit there for 30 minutes with unlimited guesses and still not hit it ffs.

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 7:06 pm

Matt Morrison wrote:what was the con

SHOTCRETE.

See if you can get it.

Matt Morrison · Post by **Matt Morrison** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 7:10 pm

wtf has that got to do with Colin?

my guesses are CROSHETTE COSHETTER THEOCREST something.

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 7:12 pm

Matt Morrison wrote:wtf has that got to do with Colin?

my guesses are CROSHETTE COSHETTER THEOCREST something.

Nope, keep trying.

Innis Carson · Post by **Innis Carson** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 7:20 pm

Have to say I was also a bit taken aback by the conundrum - it's not a word you could really expect people to have heard of, and it's certainly not one you could expect anyone to guess without knowing the word. However, this could obviously have worked against either player, so it shouldn't take away from an excellent contest between two great players. Very well done to Jonathan for an excellent victory against tough opposition and a well-earned vengeance of your first appearance five years ago, and very well done too to Matthew for similarly great play against equally formidable opposition and for coming within a hair's breadth of the title. The finals of this series in general must surely be a contender for the best ever in terms of the quality of the contests and players.

Matt Morrison · Post by **Matt Morrison** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 7:59 pm

Jon Corby wrote:
Matt Morrison wrote:wtf has that got to do with Colin?

my guesses are CROSHETTE COSHETTER THEOCREST something.
Nope, keep trying.

I was going to say no but instead I think we should play this out for months until I get it (or get spoilered).

TECHESORT
SORCTHETE
STETHOREC
TESTECHOR

Gavin Chipper · Post by **Gavin Chipper** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 8:28 pm

I totally agree about the conundrum, but this isn't the first conundrum we've ever had like this, and I don't remember this amount of negative reaction before. Maybe the odd comment, but this is good. Keep it up.

Matthew Tassier · Post by **Matthew Tassier** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 9:05 pm

Thanks for all the generous comments. The whole thing was a blast and I'm glad we managed to put on a decent contest for the final. Goes without saying that Jonathan was a very worthy winner and a great guy.
SHOTCRETE did ring a vague bell with me, and if I'd seen it I'm pretty sure I would have buzzed with it. Pretty obscure, sure, but not totally unreasonable for a final.

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 9:08 pm

Matt Morrison wrote:
Jon Corby wrote:
Matt Morrison wrote:wtf has that got to do with Colin?

my guesses are CROSHETTE COSHETTER THEOCREST something.
Nope, keep trying.
I was going to say no but instead I think we should play this out for months until I get it (or get spoilered).

TECHESORT
SORCTHETE
STETHOREC
TESTECHOR

No, no, no and no. Keep trying.

Heather Styles · Post by **Heather Styles** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 9:17 pm

I agree, the conundrum was hard - so hard that it could be used in building for lining tunnels and structural repairs (a clue for you, Matt!)

This was such a good, closely fought game, one in which I felt that Countdown was truly the winner. And Jonathan, of course, classy stuff

JimBentley · Post by **JimBentley** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 9:56 pm

Jon Corby wrote:
Matt Morrison wrote:
my guesses are ....
No, no, no and no. Keep trying.

It's a word I recognised as being a word when I saw it, but I'm pretty certain I would never have got it in conundrum form.

Jonathan Wynn · Post by **Jonathan Wynn** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 9:57 pm

Thanks everyone for your nice comments, was a real pleasure to take part in this series and very, very pleased to win it-it's a real honour for me to have my name on the trophy with so many great players, many of whom I am fully aware are far greater than myself, so very pleased with that.

Matthew is a great player as well as a total gent to boot so couldn't have complained whatsoever had I lost and I personally thought Matthew was pretty unfortunate not to win the whole thing if anything.It was great to be part of such a back and forth final. Regarding the conundrum I did actually know it but couldn't see it-it's actually not the easiest word to spot even if you have seen it before-ironically Johnny set it as a teaser in chat the other day and I STILL couldn't see it-that probably says more about me than the conundrum itself though!!

Anyway, I eagerly await the next series and ESPECIALLY the c of c which is going to get me nicely through January, thanks again everyone

Thomas Cappleman · Post by **Thomas Cappleman** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 11:40 pm

Great, tense final to a rather unpredictable series. Well done to both, especially Jonathan. 4 series won by returning players in a row now.

Ryan Taylor · Post by **Ryan Taylor** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 11:42 pm

The choice of conundrum today has ruined Series 73 completely for me. I was enjoying the finals but that conundrum has left me with a really sour taste and I doubt I will watch any more Countdown this year.

Matt Morrison · Post by **Matt Morrison** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 11:45 pm

CHOSERTET
HORSETECT
CTTRHEEOS
CHESTROTE
TCHORESET
HOTSCREET

Gavin Chipper · Post by **Gavin Chipper** » Thu Dec 24, 2015 12:42 am

Ryan Taylor wrote:The choice of conundrum today has ruined Series 73 completely for me. I was enjoying the finals but that conundrum has left me with a really sour taste and I doubt I will watch any more Countdown this year.

The wiki seems to be down at the moment so I can't do a proper search easily, but Jack Hurst got the conundrum MARCASITE once in a final. Why didn't people moan then? But there have also been other words that most people wouldn't have heard of - maybe in the 30th birthday thing. I'll check when the wiki is up.

Innis Carson · Post by **Innis Carson** » Thu Dec 24, 2015 1:59 am

I do remember talking with someone at the time about MARCASITE not being an ideal conundrum for the situation, as it was a high-probability 9 that the contestants (being seasoned apterites) were bound to spot very quickly, while also being a fairly obscure and non-guessable word which a typical viewer would have very little chance of spotting before being told the answer. That said, while arguably worse for the purposes of a TV show than today's conundrum, you could argue that since the actual contestants involved were virtually certain to have encountered the word MARCASITE, it was more 'fair' as an unscrambling contest (though admittedly this is something of an academic point given that both contestants in today's show have said that they were familiar with today's conundrum answer). It might also have stuck out less because the game didn't depend on it.

Sean Fletcher · Post by **Sean Fletcher** » Thu Dec 24, 2015 4:39 am

Thomas Cappleman wrote:Great, tense final to a rather unpredictable series. Well done to both, especially Jonathan. 4 series won by returning players in a row now.

Interesting. How did they all do on their first appearance?

James Robinson · Post by **James Robinson** » Thu Dec 24, 2015 8:09 am

Sean Fletcher wrote:
Thomas Cappleman wrote:Great, tense final to a rather unpredictable series. Well done to both, especially Jonathan. 4 series won by returning players in a row now.
Interesting. How did they all do on their first appearance?

All of them lost, although Jonathan's loss was certainly the cruellest of the 4, as he led for the majority of the match, only to fall apart right at the death.

http://www.c4countdown.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3891

Sean Fletcher · Post by **Sean Fletcher** » Thu Dec 24, 2015 8:20 am

James Robinson wrote:
Sean Fletcher wrote:
Thomas Cappleman wrote:Great, tense final to a rather unpredictable series. Well done to both, especially Jonathan. 4 series won by returning players in a row now.
Interesting. How did they all do on their first appearance?
All of them lost, although Jonathan's loss was certainly the cruellest of the 4, as he led for the majority of the match, only to fall apart right at the death. http://www.c4countdown.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3891

I only ask as I may go back on, or at least apply, one day. My concern is I could do worse than my first attempt

Jon Corby · Post by **Jon Corby** » Thu Dec 24, 2015 9:31 am

Matt Morrison wrote:CHOSERTET

No.

Matt Morrison wrote:HORSETECT

No.

Matt Morrison wrote:CTTRHEEOS

No.

Matt Morrison wrote:CHESTROTE

No.

Matt Morrison wrote:TCHORESET

No.

Matt Morrison wrote:HOTSCREET

No.

Ryan Taylor · Post by **Ryan Taylor** » Thu Dec 24, 2015 10:36 am

Gavin Chipper wrote: The wiki seems to be down at the moment so I can't do a proper search easily, but Jack Hurst got the conundrum MARCASITE once in a final. Why didn't people moan then?

And that's why you're still poop at the game. And parkruns.

Gavin Chipper · Post by **Gavin Chipper** » Thu Dec 24, 2015 12:19 pm

Ryan Taylor wrote:
Gavin Chipper wrote: The wiki seems to be down at the moment so I can't do a proper search easily, but Jack Hurst got the conundrum MARCASITE once in a final. Why didn't people moan then?
And that's why you're still poop at the game. And parkruns.

I'm better than you at parkruns, and although like you I'm going to refuse to watch Countdown again this year, I'll be doing two more parkruns, and on both occasions I'll set a time you could only dream of. And then I'm going to beat you at the COLIN parkrun.

Mark Murray · Post by **Mark Murray** » Thu Dec 24, 2015 6:11 pm

Congratulations Jonathan and Matthew.

Was an exciting finale to a top quality series and with the quality of contestants, you both really earned your place to get to the finals. And an exciting crucial conundrum at the end ( and not a word that I remember ever hearing of either)

Adam Gillard · Post by **Adam Gillard** » Thu Dec 24, 2015 11:43 pm

Born to Wynn! I hadn't seen anything of Matthew this series - managed to completely miss his octorun, QF and SF. Welcome to the runner-up club!

Johnny Canuck wrote:(don't even remember whom it was now)

Hypercorrection innit?

Rhys Benjamin · Post by **Rhys Benjamin** » Fri Dec 25, 2015 1:21 pm

Friend of mine claims to have heard of the conundrum answer through a friend of his who works in construction.