Say hello to Susie
-
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1269
- Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:57 pm
Say hello to Susie
If you look at the real content of the programme, Rachel may average one numbers solution a game. Susie contributes a longer word, an interesting word, a definition, an adjudication, maybe ten times a programme, and she also has her own slot of a couple of minutes. Yet at the start of the show it's "Here's the lovely Rachel Riley" "Hi Jeff" "What do you like for breakfast, Rachel?" "I like kippers, Jeff" "Well, it's time to meet the contestants". And after that all you get is "With Susie in Dictionary Corner is John Inverdale. What do you like for breakfast, John?" She's been on a thousand times and no-one's ever asked if she's good at DIY.
Say hello to Susie.
Say hello to Susie.
- Les Butterworth
- Rookie
- Posts: 47
- Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2008 11:07 am
- Location: Cheshire
- Contact:
Re: Say hello to Susie
There is a Yahoo group dedicated to Susie I was a moderator at one time in its beginning but not much activity last post 15th Jan re New Set.
Susie is a great lexi and is most definitely one of the most important people on the show and must be a very busy person as a mother and writer etc.
She could never compete with Vorders and has no chance with the lovely Rach.
But more power to her elbow says I.
Susie is a great lexi and is most definitely one of the most important people on the show and must be a very busy person as a mother and writer etc.
She could never compete with Vorders and has no chance with the lovely Rach.
But more power to her elbow says I.
- Rosemary Roberts
- Devotee
- Posts: 555
- Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 5:36 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
I do have the impression that Susie has been a bit glammed up for the new series. I notice she is wearing glossy lipstick and someone is paying more attention to her hair. But I don't suppose she makes such decisions for herself.
-
- Acolyte
- Posts: 101
- Joined: Thu Oct 16, 2008 7:13 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
Link?Les Butterworth wrote:There is a Yahoo group dedicated to Susie I was a moderator at one time in its beginning but not much activity last post 15th Jan re New Set..
- Les Butterworth
- Rookie
- Posts: 47
- Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2008 11:07 am
- Location: Cheshire
- Contact:
- Michael Wallace
- Racoonteur
- Posts: 5458
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:01 am
- Location: London
Re: Say hello to Susie
You know she's fed words, right?David Williams wrote:Susie contributes a longer word, an interesting word, a definition, an adjudication, maybe ten times a programme
-
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1269
- Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:57 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
I didn't know that. How do you know that?
I'm sure Carol did all her own numbers. There's good authority that, in the days when Michael Wylie and Damian Eadie were joint producers and there was a different lexicographer every week, words were fed to Dictionary Corner. You would certainly expect that with Susie full time, Michael gone, and Damian's duties and responsiblities greater, she needs less help and less is available. I may suspect different, but for all I know, Susie is now aided only by the celebrity and Rachel has a computer.
But that's not really the point. Even if Susie's spot was written and performed by Rick the Soundman and she only mimed it, she's still a major part of the public face of Countdown. If recognition was somehow proportionate to how much is your own work some celebrities would have to be completely ignored.
I'm sure Carol did all her own numbers. There's good authority that, in the days when Michael Wylie and Damian Eadie were joint producers and there was a different lexicographer every week, words were fed to Dictionary Corner. You would certainly expect that with Susie full time, Michael gone, and Damian's duties and responsiblities greater, she needs less help and less is available. I may suspect different, but for all I know, Susie is now aided only by the celebrity and Rachel has a computer.
But that's not really the point. Even if Susie's spot was written and performed by Rick the Soundman and she only mimed it, she's still a major part of the public face of Countdown. If recognition was somehow proportionate to how much is your own work some celebrities would have to be completely ignored.
- Charlie Reams
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9494
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:33 pm
- Location: Cambridge
- Contact:
Re: Say hello to Susie
I've seen it with my own eyes and I can tell you it's exactly as it used to be: Susie gets fed pretty much everything (her role during the round is mainly to verify the words coming from upstairs) and Rachel doesn't get any help at all. I'm not sure if she even has an earpiece, she seemed to get most of her instruction from the floor manager, but I'm not sure about that.David Williams wrote:I'm sure Carol did all her own numbers. There's good authority that, in the days when Michael Wylie and Damian Eadie were joint producers and there was a different lexicographer every week, words were fed to Dictionary Corner. You would certainly expect that with Susie full time, Michael gone, and Damian's duties and responsiblities greater, she needs less help and less is available. I may suspect different, but for all I know, Susie is now aided only by the celebrity and Rachel has a computer.
-
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1269
- Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:57 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
I'm pleased to hear that about Rachel. Early on, after she'd not spotted what I'd thought was an easy one, she got one (out of time) that seemed a lot harder. Call me a cynic, but I did wonder if it was all her own work. Let's face it, if Susie is getting help, there's no reason not to help Rachel.
As regards Susie, I do recall one period where the host (can't remember which one) sometimes asked Carol and Susie if they'd got the Teatime Teaser, and Susie seemed surprisingly poor at it. I've never been happy at the way celebrities and Susie are applauded for what isn't there own work. But she's still a major part of the programme. She was by far the most popular of all the lexicographers, recognised by actually supplanting all the rest, and her role has expanded since then.
Say hello to Susie.
As regards Susie, I do recall one period where the host (can't remember which one) sometimes asked Carol and Susie if they'd got the Teatime Teaser, and Susie seemed surprisingly poor at it. I've never been happy at the way celebrities and Susie are applauded for what isn't there own work. But she's still a major part of the programme. She was by far the most popular of all the lexicographers, recognised by actually supplanting all the rest, and her role has expanded since then.
Say hello to Susie.
- Rosemary Roberts
- Devotee
- Posts: 555
- Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 5:36 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
Susie's principal job on Countdown is not to solve the problems but to apply the rules. She is the final arbiter, which to my mind gives her a higher status than the presenter. And to carry out that role she needs to be deferred to - just a bit - even by the presenter.
Last edited by Rosemary Roberts on Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
- Rookie
- Posts: 86
- Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 12:11 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
I'm gutted.
I thought it was all Susie's own work and that she was a clever girl who swallowed dictionaries.
So do the upstairs crew type the letter combinations into a computer or are they a team of lexi's?
I thought it was all Susie's own work and that she was a clever girl who swallowed dictionaries.
So do the upstairs crew type the letter combinations into a computer or are they a team of lexi's?
- Jon O'Neill
- Ginger Ninja
- Posts: 4552
- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:45 am
- Location: London, UK
Re: Say hello to Susie
It's basically just the producer, Damian Eadie (ex-series champion) who feeds her the words. They don't use a computer.Tracey Lilly wrote:I'm gutted.
I thought it was all Susie's own work and that she was a clever girl who swallowed dictionaries.
So do the upstairs crew type the letter combinations into a computer or are they a team of lexi's?
- Charlie Reams
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9494
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:33 pm
- Location: Cambridge
- Contact:
Re: Say hello to Susie
Neither, the producer is just fucking amazing at Countdown.Tracey Lilly wrote:So do the upstairs crew type the letter combinations into a computer or are they a team of lexi's?
- Martin Gardner
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1492
- Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:57 pm
- Location: Leeds, UK
- Contact:
Re: Say hello to Susie
Yeah, I'm always about Damian being fairly anti word learning and Countmax and stuff like that, but he knows more words than anyone else I know! Apart from Stewart and Craig, perhaps. In fairness I always thought that Michael and Damian used computers to learn words, even if they didn't use them during games. There were a couple of words that were in the Oxford but not the Scrabble dictionary TWL (the name at the time) and they repeatedly missed them. I'm not saying it's actually true, I have no idea, it just seemed a coincidence at the time.Charlie Reams wrote:Neither, the producer is just fucking amazing at Countdown.Tracey Lilly wrote:So do the upstairs crew type the letter combinations into a computer or are they a team of lexi's?
If you cut a gandiseeg in half, do you get two gandiseegs or two halves of a gandiseeg?
-
- Post-apocalypse
- Posts: 13330
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:37 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
I'm not sure about higher status. They could have given the word-checking job to a computer if they wanted and I don't think it would be worthy of higher status than the presenter.Rosemary Roberts wrote:Susie's principal job on Countdown is not to solve the problems but to apply the rules. She is the final arbiter, which to my mind gives her a higher status than the presenter. And to carry out that role she needs to be deferred to - just a bit - even by the presenter.
- Rosemary Roberts
- Devotee
- Posts: 555
- Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 5:36 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
A computer as arbiter doesn't acquire status, it is merely a tool. But it is usual to dress up a person in authority, quite often literally as in the robes worn by judges and the academic gowns worn by teachers. It is important for the authority to be upheld, and that is probably one reason why Jeff is unlikely to ask Susie next week whether she got really bladdered on Valentine's Day, although I wouldn't put it past him to ask Rachel.Gavin Chipper wrote:I'm not sure about higher status. They could have given the word-checking job to a computer if they wanted and I don't think it would be worthy of higher status than the presenter.
Re: Say hello to Susie
I'm not even certain that Susie is the final judge actually - in one of Charlie's games (I think) I remember her flicking through the dictionary for (I think) an agent noun, suddenly pausing for a split second, and saying "yep that's fine". There was no way she could have actually just stopped on the correct page and located the derivative at the bottom of the main entry, so she must have been told down her earpiece. That said, in another of Charlie's games (against me), she was clearly having a discussion with the voice-in-her-earpiece about her reasoning for allowing PARDNER, and whether or not it was a banned US spelling type thing. So maybe she is. I dunno.
- Rosemary Roberts
- Devotee
- Posts: 555
- Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 5:36 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
That's not really the issue here - she is the perceived authority and as such is treated with a soupçon of respect. If Damien really has the final word - as I'm sure he does - he still will not want to match out and hold forth on camera, he just holds forth into Susie's ear and she carries the can for any bad decisions. When you come down to it, it's the traditional role: a woman's place is in the wrong.Jon Corby wrote:I'm not even certain that Susie is the final judge actually
- Neil Zussman
- Enthusiast
- Posts: 328
- Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:41 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
If a word is unambiguously in the dictionary, then there is no reason why someone cannot have just searched through the dictionary faster than Susie and whispered into her ear 'it's in' as in your first scenario. In the second case, it is possible that there was some ambiguity, and that Susie as the arbiter was needed to judge whether it should be allowed or not. Either way, it makes sense for there to just be one person who has the final say, to ensure consistency between shows.Jon Corby wrote:I'm not even certain that Susie is the final judge actually - in one of Charlie's games (I think) I remember her flicking through the dictionary for (I think) an agent noun, suddenly pausing for a split second, and saying "yep that's fine". There was no way she could have actually just stopped on the correct page and located the derivative at the bottom of the main entry, so she must have been told down her earpiece. That said, in another of Charlie's games (against me), she was clearly having a discussion with the voice-in-her-earpiece about her reasoning for allowing PARDNER, and whether or not it was a banned US spelling type thing. So maybe she is. I dunno.
I totally disagree. I much prefer the lovely Susie to CV. But that's just me. Am I right in thinking I'm in the minority?Les Butterworth wrote:She could never compete with Vorders...
-
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1269
- Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:57 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
Perhaps the biggest decision ever was the disallowing of Julian Fell's GAMBIERS. I'm sure Damian told us that was Susie, who was concerned enough to get second opinions from Oxford, so I imagine true decisions are hers. But still no-one asks her if she can dance. (I'm a day behind. I haven't caught up with Tuesday's slight yet.)
-
- Acolyte
- Posts: 101
- Joined: Thu Oct 16, 2008 7:13 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
Well, if you are, I'm in the same minority!Neil Zussman wrote:I much prefer the lovely Susie to CV. But that's just me. Am I right in thinking I'm in the minority?
- Lesley Jeavons
- Enthusiast
- Posts: 320
- Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2008 10:05 pm
- Location: Brighton, UK
Re: Say hello to Susie
Sorry Kai.Charlie Reams wrote:Neither, the producer is just fucking amazing at Countdown.Tracey Lilly wrote:So do the upstairs crew type the letter combinations into a computer or are they a team of lexi's?
Re: Say hello to Susie
To be honest, I find the forced "banter" that you tend to get on daytime TV to be boring and pointless. I'd rather it was just "I'm Jeff, this is Rachel, that's Susie and our guest, there are the contestants, lets get on with round one". On the other hand, the time it takes up lets me finish watching Whose Line is it Anyway? on Five US.
Re: Say hello to Susie
But Roxanne, the UK version is superior!
As for Dictionary Corner related hijinks, I opened the Daily Mail today (no comments please), leafed through to the sport section and found an article involving two things very close to my heart! It's about the word "meh", and Susie Dent herself says it's officially part of our language! It's very bizarre to see it written in a newspaper, a relatively formal piece of writing, however.
What do we think? Apart from the fact that you're wondering why on earth a vaguely language-related article is in the sports section- as some would say, well it is the Daily Mail!
As for Dictionary Corner related hijinks, I opened the Daily Mail today (no comments please), leafed through to the sport section and found an article involving two things very close to my heart! It's about the word "meh", and Susie Dent herself says it's officially part of our language! It's very bizarre to see it written in a newspaper, a relatively formal piece of writing, however.
What do we think? Apart from the fact that you're wondering why on earth a vaguely language-related article is in the sports section- as some would say, well it is the Daily Mail!
Re: Say hello to Susie
I would say that gaining the knowledge that suzie is fed words is the countdown equivalent of finding out that santa, the tooth fairy and the easter bunny all aren't real, at the same time.Tracey Lilly wrote:I'm gutted.
I thought it was all Susie's own work and that she was a clever girl who swallowed dictionaries.
So do the upstairs crew type the letter combinations into a computer or are they a team of lexi's?
[Going off at a tangent] It really annoys me how the general thing done when intorducing the number women (whether Coral or Rachel) is to make out that they are some sort of ultra high iq maths genius, when in truth they are just quite efficient with mental arithmatic. This just makes people think that mathematical ability is just mental arithmatic, when in reality, this is one of the least important abilities required of a very good mathematician.
If we hadn't have known about Rachel and Carols degrees in maths and engineering, then it could be plausable that neither of them know what an asmyptote is.[/Going off at a tangent]
- Ben Hunter
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1770
- Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:54 pm
- Location: S Yorks
Re: Say hello to Susie
Rachel and Carol were both introduced to viewers as arithmeticians, not mathematicians, so there's no deception going on there.JackHurst wrote:[Going off at a tangent] It really annoys me how the general thing done when intorducing the number women (whether Coral or Rachel) is to make out that they are some sort of ultra high iq maths genius, when in truth they are just quite efficient with mental arithmatic. This just makes people think that mathematical ability is just mental arithmatic, when in reality, this is one of the least important abilities required of a very good mathematician.
Re: Say hello to Susie
Fair enough, maybe its just my Granparents who seem to think that the number women are maths genii (is that the plural of genius?).Ben Hunter wrote:Rachel and Carol were both introduced to viewers as arithmeticians, not mathematicians, so there's no deception going on there.JackHurst wrote:[Going off at a tangent] It really annoys me how the general thing done when intorducing the number women (whether Coral or Rachel) is to make out that they are some sort of ultra high iq maths genius, when in truth they are just quite efficient with mental arithmatic. This just makes people think that mathematical ability is just mental arithmatic, when in reality, this is one of the least important abilities required of a very good mathematician.
Re: Say hello to Susie
If you want people to know the difference between mathematics and arithmetic, you need to start at school. That's where the two get confused, with GCSE mathematics. By and large it's only people who've seen or studied maths at university that realise you can be a competent mathematician even though your arithmetic skills are scarcely functioning, and conversely you can be an arithmetic wizard without having a clue how to do calculus on imaginary numbers.
I didn't really get the difference even after a Maths & Stats A level. Fortunately I found my way into a statistics course which had the bare minimum of mathematics - three years of trying to work with imaginary numbers would have made my head explode.
I didn't really get the difference even after a Maths & Stats A level. Fortunately I found my way into a statistics course which had the bare minimum of mathematics - three years of trying to work with imaginary numbers would have made my head explode.
- Ian Fitzpatrick
- Devotee
- Posts: 620
- Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:23 pm
- Location: Wimborne, Dorset
Re: Say hello to Susie
I've got a Maths degree and people can't understand why I am so useless at arithmetic, mental or otherwise!David Roe wrote:If you want people to know the difference between mathematics and arithmetic, you need to start at school. That's where the two get confused, with GCSE mathematics. By and large it's only people who've seen or studied maths at university that realise you can be a competent mathematician even though your arithmetic skills are scarcely functioning, and conversely you can be an arithmetic wizard without having a clue how to do calculus on imaginary numbers.
I didn't really get the difference even after a Maths & Stats A level. Fortunately I found my way into a statistics course which had the bare minimum of mathematics - three years of trying to work with imaginary numbers would have made my head explode.
I thought I was good at Countdown until I joined this forum
- Charlie Reams
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9494
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:33 pm
- Location: Cambridge
- Contact:
Re: Say hello to Susie
Only in the other sense of genius (as in a resident ghost.) The plural of genius as in clever person is geniuses.JackHurst wrote: genii (is that the plural of genius?).
- Martin Gardner
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1492
- Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:57 pm
- Location: Leeds, UK
- Contact:
Re: Say hello to Susie
I agree. When I watched Carol's dancing on Strictly, she wasn't really that bad. 22 for a first effort, there has been worse (Gary Rhodes for example). I just think she's not that popular with public, I always found her annoying which is why I stopped watching Countdown for a few months. Now it's Rachel and Jeff it's easier on the ear and the eye, so I watch everyday, usually via C4 Watch Online.Andy Thomson wrote:Well, if you are, I'm in the same minority!Neil Zussman wrote:I much prefer the lovely Susie to CV. But that's just me. Am I right in thinking I'm in the minority?
If you cut a gandiseeg in half, do you get two gandiseegs or two halves of a gandiseeg?
-
- Rookie
- Posts: 38
- Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:31 pm
- Location: Plymouth on Sea
Re: Say hello to Susie
The programme should be called Countdown with Susie Dent. Or possibly Susie Dents' Countdown. Or even the Susie Dent Show. Let's get rid of the superfluous and concentrate on what really matters.
Re: Say hello to Susie
I'm the other way around; I'm brilliant at arithmetic so when I took maths GCSE a year early and then stats the next year, I got an A and a B. Then when I took maths AS level all of the numbers went on holiday and someone stuck a load of letters and squiggles in their place, and I did so badly that I didn't get a grade.Ian Fitzpatrick wrote:I've got a Maths degree and people can't understand why I am so useless at arithmetic, mental or otherwise!David Roe wrote:If you want people to know the difference between mathematics and arithmetic, you need to start at school. That's where the two get confused, with GCSE mathematics. By and large it's only people who've seen or studied maths at university that realise you can be a competent mathematician even though your arithmetic skills are scarcely functioning, and conversely you can be an arithmetic wizard without having a clue how to do calculus on imaginary numbers.
I didn't really get the difference even after a Maths & Stats A level. Fortunately I found my way into a statistics course which had the bare minimum of mathematics - three years of trying to work with imaginary numbers would have made my head explode.
-
- Devotee
- Posts: 825
- Joined: Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:29 am
Re: Say hello to Susie
Is it just me or does Susie look a bit like Hollywood actress Jennifer Garner at times?
Re: Say hello to Susie
I dunno, I haven't seen a picture of you.Jojo Apollo wrote:Is it just me or does Susie look a bit like Hollywood actress Jennifer Garner at times?
-
- Devotee
- Posts: 825
- Joined: Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:29 am
Re: Say hello to Susie
Jon Corby wrote:I dunno, I haven't seen a picture of you.Jojo Apollo wrote:Is it just me or does Susie look a bit like Hollywood actress Jennifer Garner at times?
-
- Rookie
- Posts: 59
- Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 7:56 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
I have a GCSE in Arithmetic from age 14. Highest achievable grade was 'C', and I think the subject was abolished the following year. I did it for 'exam experience' before starting my GCSEs proper (including Maths of course). Has anyone else taken GCSE Arithmetic, or even ever known it once existed?
- Kirk Bevins
- God
- Posts: 4923
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:18 pm
- Location: York, UK
Re: Say hello to Susie
No - I wish I could take it. I think there should be a school of Countdown - in year 7 you're taught to find BENDING and solve easy 1 large problems (maybe those that get words like RAPTURING which lose the E of RAPTURE get an A*) up to year 11 where you're taught the 4 large tricks and taught how to spot AIRSPEED and REPOSADO. I'd love to teach that.Vikash Shah wrote:I have a GCSE in Arithmetic from age 14. Highest achievable grade was 'C', and I think the subject was abolished the following year. I did it for 'exam experience' before starting my GCSEs proper (including Maths of course). Has anyone else taken GCSE Arithmetic, or even ever known it once existed?
-
- Series 80 Champion
- Posts: 2707
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:07 am
- Location: Sheffield
Re: Say hello to Susie
That would be the best school ever! Between us I reckon we could put together an entire faculty.
- Charlie Reams
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9494
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:33 pm
- Location: Cambridge
- Contact:
Re: Say hello to Susie
Anyone with that much training should be spotting AIRSPEED for breakfast. More impressive would be the "no way in" words like SOUVLAKIA.Kirk Bevins wrote:No - I wish I could take it. I think there should be a school of Countdown - in year 7 you're taught to find BENDING and solve easy 1 large problems (maybe those that get words like RAPTURING which lose the E of RAPTURE get an A*) up to year 11 where you're taught the 4 large tricks and taught how to spot AIRSPEED and REPOSADO. I'd love to teach that.Vikash Shah wrote:I have a GCSE in Arithmetic from age 14. Highest achievable grade was 'C', and I think the subject was abolished the following year. I did it for 'exam experience' before starting my GCSEs proper (including Maths of course). Has anyone else taken GCSE Arithmetic, or even ever known it once existed?
- Kirk Bevins
- God
- Posts: 4923
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:18 pm
- Location: York, UK
Re: Say hello to Susie
That's like saying anyone with that much training should know 12x11 like it's for breakfast. Actually, schoolchildren don't.Charlie Reams wrote: Anyone with that much training should be spotting AIRSPEED for breakfast. More impressive would be the "no way in" words like SOUVLAKIA.
- Charlie Reams
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9494
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:33 pm
- Location: Cambridge
- Contact:
Re: Say hello to Susie
They would do if they did nothing but arithmetic all day every day. That's the kind of academy I had in mind.Kirk Bevins wrote:That's like saying anyone with that much training should know 12x11 like it's for breakfast. Actually, schoolchildren don't.Charlie Reams wrote: Anyone with that much training should be spotting AIRSPEED for breakfast. More impressive would be the "no way in" words like SOUVLAKIA.
- Kirk Bevins
- God
- Posts: 4923
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:18 pm
- Location: York, UK
Re: Say hello to Susie
OK, fair enough I suppose.Charlie Reams wrote: They would do if they did nothing but arithmetic all day every day. That's the kind of academy I had in mind.
-
- Rookie
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:17 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
If that's the case, how come i got an 8-letter word yesterday (Thurs 19th Feb, R6, CASTANET) when the maximum DC got was a 7-letter word.Michael Wallace wrote:You know she's fed words, right?David Williams wrote:Susie contributes a longer word, an interesting word, a definition, an adjudication, maybe ten times a programme
-
- Enthusiast
- Posts: 291
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:38 am
- Location: Enfield, Middlesex
- Contact:
Re: Say hello to Susie
1: DC do not always spot the maximum availableDiane Allinson wrote:If that's the case, how come i got an 8-letter word yesterday (Thurs 19th Feb, R6, CASTANET) when the maximum DC got was a 7-letter word.Michael Wallace wrote:You know she's fed words, right?David Williams wrote:Susie contributes a longer word, an interesting word, a definition, an adjudication, maybe ten times a programme
2: CASTANET is invalid as it's not specified in the ODE (only CASTANETS). For some reason, that reminds me to type up my Colin games...
-
- Rookie
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:17 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
CASTANET is in my Concise Oxford Dictionary, although it has in brackets (usu. in pl)Dan Vanniasingham wrote:1: DC do not always spot the maximum availableDiane Allinson wrote:If that's the case, how come i got an 8-letter word yesterday (Thurs 19th Feb, R6, CASTANET) when the maximum DC got was a 7-letter word.Michael Wallace wrote: You know she's fed words, right?
2: CASTANET is invalid as it's not specified in the ODE (only CASTANETS). For some reason, that reminds me to type up my Colin games...
But i did post this before reading about Damian Eadie feeding the words to Susie, i thought the implication was that her 'feeder' was computerised.
- Kirk Bevins
- God
- Posts: 4923
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:18 pm
- Location: York, UK
Re: Say hello to Susie
1) It doesn't matter if it's any other dictionary, it needs to be in the ODE2r. So many people get real words (e.g. DIAZOLE) disallowed as they're not in the Countdown word source.Diane Allinson wrote: CASTANET is in my Concise Oxford Dictionary, although it has in brackets (usu. in pl)
But i did post this before reading about Damian Eadie feeding the words to Susie, i thought the implication was that her 'feeder' was computerised.
2) No computers as far as solving numbers games or letters games go at all - just very intelligent people.
- Charlie Reams
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9494
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:33 pm
- Location: Cambridge
- Contact:
Re: Say hello to Susie
The dictionary relevant for Countdown purposes is the Oxford Dictionary of English 2nd Edition Revised. I'll leave you to ponder how the Concise can include words that the longer version does not... (Paul tells me that the two-volume Shorter Oxford English Dictionary also omits some words which are present in the ODE2r, e.g. SANGFROID, so this problem is not unique.)Diane Allinson wrote: CASTANET is in my Concise Oxford Dictionary, although it has in brackets (usu. in pl)
Re: Say hello to Susie
Can I please enroll in this Countdown school?
I'd sell my soul and all my possessions to go to a school of Countdown!
I'd sell my soul and all my possessions to go to a school of Countdown!
-
- Rookie
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:17 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
OK you guys, thank you for your explanations, guess i'll have to concede that one - and invest in a new dictionary if i'm to be a true countdowner
-
- Rookie
- Posts: 38
- Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:31 pm
- Location: Plymouth on Sea
Re: Say hello to Susie
Does Susie still wear those kinky boots. I do hope so?
-
- Devotee
- Posts: 825
- Joined: Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:29 am
Re: Say hello to Susie
Didn't she last show them at Carol's leaving do?david dawson wrote:Does Susie still wear those kinky boots. I do hope so?
-
- Post-apocalypse
- Posts: 13330
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:37 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
One thing I do find a bit bizarre about Susie is that when a word is one she doesn't know she'll read it with completely the wrong pronunciation even though it tells to how to pronounce it in the entry. And she's a lexicographer! However, I know how irrational people can be and I know how wars start so I'd just like to say how wonderful and great she is!!!*
*Was that convincing?
*Was that convincing?
-
- Rookie
- Posts: 38
- Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:31 pm
- Location: Plymouth on Sea
Re: Say hello to Susie
No.Gavin Chipper wrote:One thing I do find a bit bizarre about Susie is that when a word is one she doesn't know she'll read it with completely the wrong pronunciation even though it tells to how to pronounce it in the entry. And she's a lexicographer! However, I know how irrational people can be and I know how wars start so I'd just like to say how wonderful and great she is!!!*
*Was that convincing?
- George Jenkins
- Enthusiast
- Posts: 337
- Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:55 am
Re: Say hello to Susie
Hello David, have you declared war already?david dawson wrote:No.Gavin Chipper wrote:One thing I do find a bit bizarre about Susie is that when a word is one she doesn't know she'll read it with completely the wrong pronunciation even though it tells to how to pronounce it in the entry. And she's a lexicographer! However, I know how irrational people can be and I know how wars start so I'd just like to say how wonderful and great she is!!!*
*Was that convincing?
Re: Say hello to Susie
I think it was the three exclamation marks that gave you away. I think one would have worked
-
- Rookie
- Posts: 38
- Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:31 pm
- Location: Plymouth on Sea
Re: Say hello to Susie
No. Not in this case. It all seems to be a misunderstanding. Some people just don't recognise perfection when they see it.George Jenkins wrote: Hello David, have you declared war already?
-
- Rookie
- Posts: 91
- Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:10 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
I always thought she was an editor with a commissioning background rather than a lex. I'm very impressed if you never struggle with Clive Upton's take on IPA (as used by Oxford). I'm comfortable with most dictionary publishers' versions of IPA but I have real trouble with Upton. I think many linguists do.Gavin Chipper wrote:One thing I do find a bit bizarre about Susie is that when a word is one she doesn't know she'll read it with completely the wrong pronunciation even though it tells to how to pronounce it in the entry. And she's a lexicographer! However, I know how irrational people can be and I know how wars start so I'd just like to say how wonderful and great she is!!!*
*Was that convincing?
- George Jenkins
- Enthusiast
- Posts: 337
- Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:55 am
Re: Say hello to Susie
That's a good opening shot. I notice that you have sharpened your fangs.david dawson wrote:No. Not in this case. It all seems to be a misunderstanding. Some people just don't recognise perfection when they see it.George Jenkins wrote: Hello David, have you declared war already?
-
- Post-apocalypse
- Posts: 13330
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:37 pm
Re: Say hello to Susie
I'd probably spend a bit of time learning how to use it if it was my job!Lucy Gowers wrote:I'm very impressed if you never struggle with Clive Upton's take on IPA (as used by Oxford). I'm comfortable with most dictionary publishers' versions of IPA but I have real trouble with Upton. I think many linguists do.