c4countdown

I wonder if something went on behind the scenes with the conundrum; can only think of one example of the conundrum already being a word before, ostensibly because of a cock-up.

PROFUNDA/PANDOURA in R5

R3 Alt.: (25*6-1)*(9-4) = 745

Rhys Benjamin wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 3:51 pm I wonder if something went on behind the scenes with the conundrum; can only think of one example of the conundrum already being a word before, ostensibly because of a cock-up.

There was the SPANGLIER/RELAPSING example, which was a cock-up, but also the GERANIUMS/MEASURING one, which I think was intentional. Some discussion is available here.

By the way that teatime teaser was a bit tenuous today:

IRONGOLD --> No iron or gold, it's all about ore. --> DROOLING

I suppose it's based on ore/awe being homophones, and if you're in awe of something you start drooling. (You don't but it's the only way this could make sense.)

Gavin Chipper wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 10:03 pm

Rhys Benjamin wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 3:51 pm I wonder if something went on behind the scenes with the conundrum; can only think of one example of the conundrum already being a word before, ostensibly because of a cock-up.

There was the SPANGLIER/RELAPSING example, which was a cock-up, but also the GERANIUMS/MEASURING one, which I think was intentional. Some discussion is available here.

There's also GANGLIONS/SINGALONG and ALLOCUTES/LACTULOSE, probably among others. These sorts of conundrum, while rarer than "normal" ones, are not horribly uncommon, especially in series finals.

Any clue where the pronunciation "ampyules" can have come from? It doesn't match with what Lexico says, and I'm not aware of any word in which 'ou' makes a 'yu' sound. I've a feeling I've heard the word mispronounced in the same way before.

Stewart Gordon wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 10:31 pm Any clue where the pronunciation "ampyules" can have come from? It doesn't match with what Lexico says, and I'm not aware of any word in which 'ou' makes a 'yu' sound. I've a feeling I've heard the word mispronounced in the same way before.

"/ˈampjuːl/" is the pronunciation of the US spelling(s) without the "o".

But in all of the examples given, the scramble is a plural and it has been established that conundrums are no longer plurals.

Rhys Benjamin wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 11:06 pm But in all of the examples given, the scramble is a plural and it has been established that conundrums are no longer plurals.

https://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_7237 - here's an example of one where the scramble wasn't a plural.

Rhys Benjamin wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 11:06 pm But in all of the examples given, the scramble is a plural and it has been established that conundrums are no longer plurals.

I would expect the policy is to never make conundrum solutions plurals (except pluralia tantum), but to count plurals nonetheless when checking that a solution is unique. But when a conundrum with multiple solutions slips through the net, either solution is accepted. But if the solution a contestant gives in this scenario happens to be a plural, is it still accepted?

Of course, the scramble isn't a valid solution even if it's a word. So this is why GERANIUMS wasn't accepted. Indeed, whenever two of the possible permutations are valid words, one of them has to be the scramble, such that the other one is the solution.

1st Numbers Alt.: ((9 + 4 - 1) x 6 x 10) + 25 = 745