Spoilers for Thursday 12 January 2023 - CoC XVI, QF 1

[Philip A]

We’re down to the last 8. It’s a married couple face-off between the Cappleman-Lynes’s! The winner plays the first semi-final on Wednesday. Not to be missed.

[Gavin Chipper]

That was a pretty good game. Florence coming back from 13 behind to upset the odds. In the semi-final now so things are getting serious.

[Marc Meakin]

These conundrums are ridiculous

[Philip A]

What a shame for Sam, I think his pace faded in the home stretch and that was all it was. FWIW I’d have gone for 6 small in the last numbers round. That conundrum was a stinker as expected; one for gemologists for sure. Well played, Florence!

[Sam Cappleman-Lynes]

FWIW I’d have gone for 6 small in the last numbers round.

I haven't watched the episode yet so I don't know if it made the edit, but I explained in the studio that before the game, Florence and I had agreed to cover all the numbers selections except 1 large between us during the course of the game. Against anyone else it would have definitely been 6 small!

[Philip A]

FWIW I’d have gone for 6 small in the last numbers round.

I haven't watched the episode yet so I don't know if it made the edit, but I explained in the studio that before the game, Florence and I had agreed to cover all the numbers selections except 1 large between us during the course of the game. Against anyone else it would have definitely been 6 small!

Yep, it made the edit. Unlucky in the end, but a fantastic run nonetheless. Good luck in all you do and best wishes for the future.

[Ryan Lam]

From 16, down to eight, as we enter into the Quarter-Finals of the Championship of Champions XVI! I forgot to mention this yesterday, but I bet Colin must have had a "fun" time rushing and "teleporting" to the Countdown studio after Steph's Packed Lunch yesterday! Anyways, fast forward to 24 hours later, and look who we have in both contestant chairs on the 14th Anniversary of Rachel's debut! It is nice when a host understands the contestants well at this point and does not choose to introduce them separately, for it's a family affair with the Cappleman-Lynes together, something I bet we all wanted to see! If Florence loses later, she's going to blame her unborn baby (at the time) for kicking her ribs; and so, we shall see who's the better half! (Fun Fact: Both of them lost to the eventual Grand Champions of their Series by the exact same margin, that should say something...)

Letters: Early slip-up from Florence with alatine as Sam gets ahead with TELLINA in R2. After the first break, the husband's spot of DOTAKU in R4 made him pull ahead even further. Can she make REBOUNDS as per what she had in R5 afterwards? She does after second break with THUMBED in R10 and HAPLITES in R11 despite Sam's great spot of ALPISTE and takes the lead! (Not to mention that awkward pose by Rachel in the latter round, what was that?) Good spot from Sam afterwards with GENTOO in R13 as well as we head into the final two rounds still in crucial territory!

Numbers: 4 Large from Florence in R3 with Rachel encouraging her to "take no prisoners"! I guess CECIL wants her to show more compassion and empathy to her husband because it was too easy. 3 Large then from the husband in R6 with a not so easy way of hitting the target since no one in the Daily Chat managed to get this within 30 seconds. The wife's turn follows next in R9 and still being behind, she picks 6 Small and you're probably thinking you know where this is going by now. Goddammit, another easy target with 5! (Five factorial of course), maybe the Countdown Gods had something in mind for the both of them

I haven't watched the episode yet so I don't know if it made the edit, but I explained in the studio that before the game, Florence and I had agreed to cover all the numbers selections except 1 large between us during the course of the game. Against anyone else it would have definitely been 6 small!

What a nice ending that aired as Philip already mentioned above, with Sam sticking to his vow of that in R14 and not breaking it in front of his wife with 2 Large. As the saying goes, "All's well that Ends well", fabulous play here!

Conundrum: It all comes down to this, sadly one of them has to leave and I bet this conundrum isn't going to be easy given what we've seen in the Championship thus far. It turned out to be true and I was stuck on the original scrabble CATATHONY all the way, ugh. What an anti-climatic ending that was as someone in the Daily Chat said with no one buzzing in. Time's up and Florence (the better half as Colin had been mentioning) is declared the winner!! (However, that being said, If tomorrow's conundrum goes unsolved, it will essentially mean a wipeout this week in this section )

Unlucky Sam, thanks to your wife's comeback, while it may not have been much, that was enough to make you lose and head out of the championship and in part because of a tough conundrum too However, I'm sure the both of you had fun in this match and played to the best of your abilities. Thank you for helping Florence apply for Countdown (albeit unwittingly ) and to make her shine out a year after you did! I will forever remember your SUCCOTASH solve during your Semi-Final which made me impressed and funnily enough, I did try it once a year later as an alternative to salad! Once again, congratulations on your newborn baby and now becoming a Father of three, and may I wish your family nothing but success and happiness in the years to come!

Florence takes the first semi-final spot and I'm sure Sam will be cheering on from behind-the-scenes on Wednesday. One more match to wrap up this week, and don't miss tomorrow's episode where two relatively young contestants, Elliott and Dan face against each other!

Progress:
Preliminary 1 (02 January 2023): Florence Cappleman-Lynes (Series 84 Runner-Up) vs Leo Smith (Series 82 Semi-Finalist) (100 - 69)
Preliminary 2 (03 January 2023): Dinos Sfyris (Series 80 Grand Champion) vs Elliott Mellor (Series 80 Runner-Up) (88 - 110)
Preliminary 3 (04 January 2023): Ahmed Mohamed (Series 84 Grand Champion) vs Edward Byrne (Series 86 Runner-Up) (121 - 76)
Preliminary 4 (05 January 2023): Stu Harkness (Series 84 Semi-Finalist) vs James Haughton (Series 81 Grand Champion) (97 - 111)
Preliminary 5 (06 January 2023): Tom Stevenson (Series 86 Grand Champion) vs Adam Latchford (Series 83 Grand Champion) (95 - 97)
Preliminary 6 (09 January 2023): Martin May (Series 79 Runner-Up) vs Luke-Johnson Davies (Series 82 Grand Champion) (90 - 117)
Preliminary 7 (10 January 2023): Steve Hyde (Series 85 Semi-Finalist) vs Dan Byrom (Series 85 Grand Champion) (70 - 108)
Preliminary 8 (11 January 2023): Matt O'Connor (Series 85 Runner-Up) vs Sam Cappleman-Lynes (Series 82 Runner-Up) (78 - 101)
Quarter-Finals 1 (12 January 2023): Florence Cappleman-Lynes (Preliminary 1 Winner) vs Sam Cappleman-Lynes (Preliminary 8 Winner) (95 - 93)
Quarter-Finals 2 (13 January 2023): Elliott Mellor (Preliminary 2 Winner) vs Dan Byrom (Preliminary 7 Winner)
Quarter-Finals 3 (16 January 2023): Ahmed Mohamed (Preliminary 3 Winner) vs Luke Johnson-Davies (Preliminary 6 Winner)
Quarter-Finals 4 (17 January 2023): James Haughton (Preliminary 4 Winner) vs Adam Latchford (Preliminary 5 Winner)
Semi-Finals 1 (18 January 2023): Florence Cappleman-Lynes (Quarter-Finals 1 Winner) vs (Quarter-Finals 4 Winner)
Semi-Finals 2 (19 January 2023): (Quarter-Finals 2 Winner) vs (Quarter-Finals 3 Winner)
Championship Final (20 January 2023): (Semi-Finals 1 Winner) vs (Semi-Finals 2 Winner)

[JackHurst]

Great win for Florence. What a game!

[Toby McDonald]

Brilliant game. Great comeback Florence, and commiserations Sam.

ALLANITE in R2

R14 Alt.: (8*6+50-1)*10-75 = 895