c4countdown

So, after that blockbuster start to the Champion of Champions yesterday, we now have to see if the second preliminary match can follow suit.

This match is between the Series 67 runner-up Heather Styles (one-quarter of the female participants in the tournament), and the Series 68 champion (and the only unbeaten player in the whole tournament) Giles Hutchings.

Here are the stats:

Firstly, Series 67 Runner-Up Heather "The Sevenoaks Sizzler" Styles - 11 Games, 10 Wins, 979 Points (Average: 89)
Highest Score: 114 vs. Philip Jackson (1st Game)
Lowest Score: 51 vs. Paul James (Grand Final)
9's Achieved: 1/7
Total Points/Max/%: 979/1381 (71%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 676/944 (72%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 253/327 (77%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 50/110 (45%)

Secondly, Series 68 Champion Giles "The Farnham Firestorm" Hutchings - 11 Games, 11 Wins, 1,275 Points. (Average: 115.91)
Highest Score: 130 vs. Alan Flanagan (6th Game)
Lowest Score: 95 vs. Andy Platt (Grand Final)
9's Achieved: 6/9
Total Points/Max/%: 1275/1433 (89%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 793/898 (88%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 392/425 (92%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 90/110 (82%)

Join Jen for the recap later.

And after this you might want to switch over to BBC Two at about 6pm to see a Series 58 grand finalist, a Series 61 semi-finalist, a failed Countdown auditionee, and me and my dad trying to crack the Eggheads.

HOMINY for a round 2 equaller.

ROSTERED in round 4???

3rd nos alt: ((4x10)+7)x9

4th nos alt: ((50+5)x(6+6))+9

Good spirited game, well done both. Great performance Giles as ever, well done Heather for fighting to the end, very unlucky with taupes.

Is UNREALIST new? I knew that UNREALISM was in before.

Johnny Canuck wrote:Is UNREALIST new? I knew that UNREALISM was in before.

Yes - both 9s are new.

Good game. Giles was in awesome form because Heather didn't play badly. Nick doesn't wait with the conundrum does he? Heather was still moving her glass away and had to rush.

Well played, both of you. What was on the note Heather passed to Giles after the conundrum?

Graeme Cole wrote:Well played, both of you. What was on the note Heather passed to Giles after the conundrum?

And the one Giles passed back during the end credits...

Great performance, Giles! Well played to Heather too, you just came up against Giles in red hot form. I'd have been trounced there.

This game was a true masterclass from Giles - a mere three points off a max game; there was absolutely no stopping him. I hope he does well in the remainder of the championship. I don't feel I could have played better, except for not chickening ANOMIC in round 2 and being awake in round 6. To me, the decision to disallow taupes lacked logic, but it didn't matter.

I passed Giles a note saying "vvwp, gg, ty, gl in the rest" and then my phone number surrounded by little love hearts. He passed me one saying "vwp, gg, ty". I think I then passed him a picture of me boiling his pet rabbit, but I can't be sure - they cut that bit out.

Potentially hard trivia, but solvable via the wiki: Does anyone know what the two contestants in this game had in common that is not shared by any of the other contestants in the CoC (as far as I know)?

NOTE: Statements to the effect of "They both played in Episode 6279" will be punished by either lashing or stocks. Your choice.

Johnny Canuck wrote:Potentially hard trivia, but solvable via the wiki: Does anyone know what the two contestants in this game had in common that is not shared by any of the other contestants in the CoC (as far as I know)?

NOTE: Statements to the effect of "They both played in Episode 6279" will be punished by either lashing or stocks. Your choice.

Both have had parents appear on Countdown, though that's also true of me so probably not what you're looking for.

Oops, forgot it was true of you too -- that was indeed what I was going for. Seemed like an unlikely enough occurrence to not be true for almost 20% of the contestants.

There is another connection - Giles is studying at the University of Warwick, which is where I went many moons ago.

Thanks all for the kind comments! It felt great to be back in the chair (be it challenger's or champion's), and luckily one of the 9s I'd crammed into my brain the night before popped up. And a great play by Heather going for UNREALIST! I remembered OUTRAKES since when I first saw it on a word list, I thought it was a stupid new verb and hence looked it up, then found it was a noun instead.

Giles wrote:Thanks all for the kind comments! It felt great to be back in the chair (be it challenger's or champion's), and luckily one of the 9s I'd crammed into my brain the night before popped up. And a great play by Heather going for UNREALIST! I remembered OUTRAKES since when I first saw it on a word list, I thought it was a stupid new verb and hence looked it up, then found it was a noun instead.

You knew it was a noun but pronounced it like a verb anyway?