Spoilers for Thursday 21st December 2023 (Series 88, Semi Final 2)

[Ronan M Higginson]

Round 5 - MEGALOPS

Excellent game, very well played both. Looking forward to tomorrow

[Ryan Lam]

Finally, Channel 4 has started airing their Christmas idents during the day, wonder what took them so long, but hey, I'm not complaining, better late than never right? Speaking about Christmas lights, it's those nice displays that always wow people and yes, Rachel did mention them in one of the Series 86 Finals episodes! But, now is Series 88 and from the past, we're in the present to see if Viraj or Ben wins!

Letters: Great start with both getting OUTLIERS in R1, but just like what happened yesterday, the lower seed player pulls ahead in R2, this time it's Ben with HORSEMAN! Great effort by Ben who keeps up the pace and ties with Viraj despite the latter's commendable spot of DOGVANE in R7 during the second third! The last third, in R11, Ben gets GODETIAS again which is nice, but then in R12, he tries to risk snowday which is two separate words! The gap opens up and it's just so cruel However, a great end in R13 with OUTLINES by both, very similar to what we started today! Christmas Commendable spots I would say also goes to Viraj with GOSPEL in R5 and CANDY in R12!

Numbers: Well, just as I and probably many of us had expected, given how Viraj stumbled last Friday with 1 Large, he switches back to his familiar 6 Small tactics to start off and it does the trick! Ben misses it and gives a reflective expression on camera to take us into our first break. Ben then decides to try to throw the former off with 3 Large in R6 but with many ways to get the target, that didn't work out. Two "1"s in 6 Small in R9 equals double trouble, and to the point almost everyone on the Daily Chat instantly knew to give up after seeing the target. Same goes for both Viraj and Ben who just took a casual break and didn't try to fake solving the round (Nice try Colin for trying to bend the rules... ). Finally, on a serious note, came R14, the hardest 1 Large puzzle of the Finals thus far, and with Viraj getting a number closer to Ben, it's applause from the latter as he secures his place in the Grand Final!

Conundrum: Another conundrum referencing SUSIE Dent and asking her to DO IT, but the actual meaning of the scrabble is sinister and it's been thrown around so often in the United States for close to three years now that I reckon if you were a citizen there, you would have to be really ignorant to not know the meaning. Viraj gets this quickly to solidify his victory with no conspiracy theories involved if you know what I mean!

I predicted Viraj to win by a margin of 30 points and it was slightly closer by around 24 points partly due to the impossible R9. Unlucky Ben, if he had not risked in R12 a crucial conundrum would have occurred, but I guess it's a double-edged sword given how Viraj would have won anyway. As Colin mentioned, if there was a "Countdown Fair Play" award for this Series, you deserve it because of the way you have treated other Finalists with humility and respect, both off-screen and on-screen, and it's no wonder why you are the Head of the Maths Department where you teach. Hope your students would be inspired to join the show when they're older a few years down the road and the teapot will sit in your classroom as an testament to what someone like you can be, a true gentleman!

One more episode of 2023 to air (Yes, because the Christmas Catsdown episode will air tonight!), and whatever happens tomorrow, another young person will lift the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy and have their name inscribed on it after Ronan Higginson earlier this year. Will it be Harry who is overwhelmingly the favourite to win or will Viraj pull a shock upset and become the first #2 Seed in years to do so? The outcome has already been spoiled to several people on the Daily Chat but obviously they can't leak it out just yet. Let's find out ourselves by watching the finale together live! Don't miss the showdown between the undergraduates and no, this is not University Challenge!

Progress:
QF1 (14 December 2023): Harry Savage (#1) vs David Edwards (#8) (118 - 58)
QF2 (15 December 2023): Viraj Seelam (#2) vs Rachel Copley (#7) (103 - 59)
QF3 (18 December 2023): Ben Bazzard (#3) vs Caroline McManus (#6) (124 - 61)
QF4 (19 December 2023): Paul O'Brien (#4) vs George Baker (#5) (100 - 97)
SF1 (20 December 2023): Harry Savage (QF1 Winner) vs Paul O'Brien (QF4 Winner) (104 - 70)
SF2 (21 December 2023): Viraj Seelam (QF2 Winner) vs Ben Bazzard (QF3 Winner) (98 - 74)
GF (22 December 2023): Harry Savage (SF1 Winner) vs Viraj Seelam (SF2 Winner)

[Toby McDonald]

Congrats to Harry and Viraj for making the final. Should be a great match.

[Tracey Anne Mills]

Should be good