Spoilers for Tuesday 19th September 2023 (Series 88, Heat 58)

[Philip A]

R6 alt using 49*11 (or 7 squared by 11):

(9-2)*7*(5+6)=539

R8: ANTBEARS

R9 alt: 854/7=122 so (5*10+75-5+2)*7=854

[Philip A]

Alas, I blew my maximum run on ‘confuter’ which does appear in some dictionaries, but not in Oxford Dictionaries Premium. Maybe in the future, it will get in eventually.

[Philip A]

Drama! Only the 3rd time in 22 years of 15-round Countdown have both contestants matched scores pre-Conundrum; the first two occurrences happened in separate Champion of Champions.

[Gavin Chipper]

I was hoping for a tie for 15 rounds - so close!

[Niall Cusack]

I was hoping I'd get the conundrum right this time but no dice

Glad to have made a tiny piece of history I guess and best of luck to Paul in the finals if he makes it which I'm sure he will. A really lovely fella.

[Philip A]

I was hoping I'd get the conundrum right this time but no dice

Glad to have made a tiny piece of history I guess and best of luck to Paul in the finals if he makes it which I'm sure he will. A really lovely fella.

Bad luck this time, but well played nonetheless. You’ll be back, I’m sure.

[Niall Cusack]

Cheers Philip, appreciate it

[Tom S]

Great game- defo think that you should be given a 2nd go soonish Niall irrespective of whether Paul wins 8 or not. Believe that the French version re-invites losing contestants that have played well against the champ to come back in the future at the end of their episode, so could be a potential idea...

[Toby McDonald]

Great game both! Definitely worthy of a series finals. Very unlucky Niall. The conundrum was very reminiscent of the series 52 grand final.

RICINUS in R13

R14 LNAFP: 10*10+(9-2)*6 = 142

[Ryan Lam]

What an epic game that was, double century in a Preliminary is extremely rare and this was perhaps the best episode of 2023 minus Ronan's Max Preliminary Game and CoC episodes!

Pity you Niall, I screamed "Noooo" at the screen when you had sweltering as the conundrum answer because I instantly knew the answer was wrong (although I had yet to get Wrestling which I did a few seconds afterwards) However, you fought well and this will be an episode that will be remembered for a very long time to come!

[Howie Myers]

Tough luck, Niall. Very well played by both of you!

[Niall Cusack]

Thanks all. I'll be back someday to give it another go. Might even start a #bringhimback campaign or call Paul out bare knuckle fight style for a grudge match