c4countdown

We're now in the Series 74 finals, but as with recent years, we are now being subjected to an unbearable gap of a week between shows after today's match.

So, we have the 2nd quarter-final as the sole offering this week, with the most recent octochamp in the #2 seed Robin "The Basingstoke Bulwark" McKay taking on the only remaining non-octochamp left in the #7 seed Sean "The Cork Crusader" Cooke.

Statistics Corner:

Firstly, No.2 Seed Robin "The Basingstoke Bulwark" McKay - 8 Wins, 888 Points. (Average: 111)
Highest Score: 129 vs. Tony Lock (1st Game)
Lowest Score: 102 vs. Kevin Dixon (2nd Game)
9's Achieved: 4/13
Total Points/Max/%: 888/1119 (79%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 565/719 (79%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 263/320 (82%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 60/80 (75%)

Secondly, No.7 Seed Sean "The Cork Crusader" Cooke - 5 Wins, 541 Points. (Average: 90.17)
Highest Score: 124 vs. Heather Armstrong (3rd Game)
Lowest Score: 63 vs. John Parke (6th Game)
9's Achieved: 2/5
Total Points/Max/%: 541/790 (68%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 362/496 (73%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 149/234 (64%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 30/60 (50%)

Richard Madeley also finishes his stint in DC this week too.

Join Sean Fletcher for the recap in a bit.

1st numbers alt: (25 - 2 - 7) x (10 + 2 + 7)

Just goes to prove 3L is the easiest selection....

I think the only beaters today were in the disaster that was round 8 - I at least got an 8 there (OUTSINGS).
FATTIES+L=FLATTIES for an alt to FLEAPITS.

GOUTINESS. Show me the money.

Congrats Robin, good luck in the SF in what may be an epic encounter.

Well done, Robin, another good performance. I know you would've got GOUTINESS if you hadn't misheard.

Thanks everyone for all your support today - it was much appreciated. I wouldn't have seen GOUTINESS as its not a word that has come up enough for me to remember it. I hope you all enjoyed today's Quarter Final.

Sean

If you're reading this, vwp on the show today mate - you're a great player and person. All the best.

Robin

Really good performance by Sean, a lot of great spots in the letters rounds.

Rob McKay wrote:I wouldn't have seen GOUTINESS as its not a word that has come up enough for me to remember it.

As a non-apterite I find that fascinating. You're actually saying that you've had this exact combination of letters on more than one occasion?

Having spent about 25 seconds re-cycling -ING, OUT-, -EST, -OUS etc, I finally tried -NESS, and thought of GOUTINESS. Now I don't suppose I've ever actually seen this word, but to an ordinary mortal it just feels like the sort of word that would be in, so I'd have gone for it. Feels desperately old-fashioned.

David Williams wrote:

Rob McKay wrote:I wouldn't have seen GOUTINESS as its not a word that has come up enough for me to remember it.

As a non-apterite I find that fascinating. You're actually saying that you've had this exact combination of letters on more than one occasion?

Having spent about 25 seconds re-cycling -ING, OUT-, -EST, -OUS etc, I finally tried -NESS, and thought of GOUTINESS. Now I don't suppose I've ever actually seen this word, but to an ordinary mortal it just feels like the sort of word that would be in, so I'd have gone for it. Feels desperately old-fashioned.

I'm a relatively new apterite but I'm with you: -NESS is an ending I always try and spotted GOUTINESS fairly quickly. Possibly Robin meant that he hadn't seen it often enough to know if it was in the dictionary rather than whether or not he would spot it. I felt it was pretty risky (maybe 70-30 against it being in). Whether I risked it or not in a quarter-final would depend on the situation.

I actually found the root rather than the ending first, since GOUTIER and GOUTIEST are fairly common maxes. I'd say I was even less certain than Tim -- probably 80% sure it wasn't in -- but I keep track of play-along scores and Robin was ahead of me, so I went all in.

It's an odd word. I can't imagine anyone ever using it in real life. It's purely a "dictionary word". But then, I've never understood how they decide which derivatives that no-one uses should be included and which shouldn't.

Edit: Actually...

Tim Down wrote:

David Williams wrote:

Rob McKay wrote:I wouldn't have seen GOUTINESS as its not a word that has come up enough for me to remember it.

As a non-apterite I find that fascinating. You're actually saying that you've had this exact combination of letters on more than one occasion?

Having spent about 25 seconds re-cycling -ING, OUT-, -EST, -OUS etc, I finally tried -NESS, and thought of GOUTINESS. Now I don't suppose I've ever actually seen this word, but to an ordinary mortal it just feels like the sort of word that would be in, so I'd have gone for it. Feels desperately old-fashioned.

I'm a relatively new apterite but I'm with you: -NESS is an ending I always try and spotted GOUTINESS fairly quickly. Possibly Robin meant that he hadn't seen it often enough to know if it was in the dictionary rather than whether or not he would spot it. I felt it was pretty risky (maybe 70-30 against it being in). Whether I risked it or not in a quarter-final would depend on the situation.

I need to see words regularly to remember them. Sometimes I do forget them but I find if I concentrate, sometimes words I haven't seen for a while just come to me - please don't accept this as me being big headed because I'm not, but it totally depends on my concentration levels how good my game can be because all apterites can have good days and bad days and its all down to concentration just how good their game will ultimately come about.