Spoilers for Friday 13th January 2023 - CoC XVI QF 2
Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2023 8:52 am
Elliott Mellor vs Dan Byrom. One not to miss.
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Maybe part of Countdowns 50th celebrationsRhys Benjamin wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 9:18 pm R10 I think Dan made a mistake picking 5 vowels with that being Elliott's strength and there also being a Y in the selection. Damian once said in ZoomDown chat I needed shooting for 5 vowels + Y.
Well done Dan, bad luck Elliott. Almost certainly takes the crown away from Allan Saldanha/Charlie/Jono as "best player never to win a series", so that's a silver lining somewhat.
I suppose the next time there's a Supreme Championship that will make for a good redemption arc, so that's something we'll wait for in a few years' time, won't we?
Around every 32 series or so they have had a Supreme Championship - Series 33 & 67.5, so I have said Series 100 would be a good marker for this. If they stick to two series per year that'll be 2030.Marc Meakin wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 9:22 pmMaybe part of Countdowns 50th celebrationsRhys Benjamin wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 9:18 pm R10 I think Dan made a mistake picking 5 vowels with that being Elliott's strength and there also being a Y in the selection. Damian once said in ZoomDown chat I needed shooting for 5 vowels + Y.
Well done Dan, bad luck Elliott. Almost certainly takes the crown away from Allan Saldanha/Charlie/Jono as "best player never to win a series", so that's a silver lining somewhat.
I suppose the next time there's a Supreme Championship that will make for a good redemption arc, so that's something we'll wait for in a few years' time, won't we?
Funny you should say this. In preparation for the game, Adam had suggested to me to avoid 5 large because Elliott is good at it.Rhys Benjamin wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 9:18 pm R10 I think Dan made a mistake picking 5 vowels with that being Elliott's strength and there also being a Y in the selection.
Totally agree about the conundrums, maybe have Cecil choose between 9 - 12 letter words with the proviso it's a word we've heard ofGraeme Cole wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 1:49 am Two first-class players and a game which could easily have gone either way. Dan effectively treated it like a 14-round game with his last numbers pick, which turned out to be the right call.
My opinion: a non-obscure conundrum, even if it's solved on a buzzer race, is preferable to an obscure word that goes unsolved.
Also my opinion: ramping up the conundrum difficulty is better achieved by introducing 10, 11 and 12 letter words than by setting super-rare 9-letter words.
I still think 2018 Graeme’s view on conundrums is one of the best posts this forum has ever seen.Graeme Cole wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 1:49 amMy opinion: a non-obscure conundrum, even if it's solved on a buzzer race, is preferable to an obscure word that goes unsolved.
I'm not the greatest con player in the world and got all 4 of these just by looking at them so all 4 are instant buzzer races.Rhys Benjamin wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 11:09 amI still think 2018 Graeme’s view on conundrums is one of the best posts this forum has ever seen.Graeme Cole wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 1:49 amMy opinion: a non-obscure conundrum, even if it's solved on a buzzer race, is preferable to an obscure word that goes unsolved.
Having searched for a few of these online here are a couple of conundrums I’d have set/reused for this tournament:
MUDHUTLOO
DIANARIOT
MULTICONS
CRAMPIEST
How many of these are an instant buzzer race?
Elliott was asked whether he was holding back from a longer word after the declarations in that round and he did indeed have METASOMA - but it didn't make the edit
Yeah it an interesting argument. However you could also argue if two top players are playing you know it will be close so it could be tactics that makes the difference. This game was a prime example of that.
I think also in the long run it gets harder and harder to outwit your opponents with words you know that they don’t. If at least one of them had known DANDIACAL, that would have been very pitoval. Given their form, it could easily have gone to a tie-break conundrum as well.
I'm with Adam on the cons. I don't really have any issue with them, but I can see why people react the way that they do. It's a really high standard, so the conundrums should absolutely reflect thatAdam S Latchford wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 11:20 amI'm not the greatest con player in the world and got all 4 of these just by looking at them so all 4 are instant buzzer races.Rhys Benjamin wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 11:09 amI still think 2018 Graeme’s view on conundrums is one of the best posts this forum has ever seen.Graeme Cole wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 1:49 amMy opinion: a non-obscure conundrum, even if it's solved on a buzzer race, is preferable to an obscure word that goes unsolved.
Having searched for a few of these online here are a couple of conundrums I’d have set/reused for this tournament:
MUDHUTLOO
DIANARIOT
MULTICONS
CRAMPIEST
How many of these are an instant buzzer race?
Crampiest particularly bad since people learn falsey's.It's akin to using OUTCLEANS. If you really wants spermatic as the con, find another scramble so that somebody could fall into the falsey trap rather than just give the falsey.
For what it’s worth, solving that one from the audience was the very first thing Elliott did on Countdown.
Sam Cappleman-Lynes wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 12:28 pm Elliott was asked whether he was holding back from a longer word after the declarations in that round and he did indeed have METASOMA - but it didn't make the edit
It was later revealed in the Daily Chat that Elliott actually had METASOMA in R8, unlucky all round as that was the maximum there! After the second teaser in R10, see what happens when you go for that combination Dan? Elliott beats him as onlier is invalid! Great playing from both contestants for the most part, with a last commendable spot of SUBEDARI by Dan in R12!Dan Byrom wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 10:06 pm In preparation for the game, Adam had suggested to me to avoid 5 large because Elliott is good at it. However, in that moment, I thought it would be nice to fish for AILERON which would have been an obvious max and allow me to relax and settle down for 30secs, and even if the A didn't come, there would definitely be no 9s so I couldn't go behind, and I'm not so bad at 5 vowels myself. Of course, when the A didn't come, my mind panicked. My brain started using the time berating myself for doing what I wasn't supposed to do in picking 5 vowels instead of solving the anagrams. RELINE is a spot I must have seen dozens of times and feels an embarrassing miss but fortunately wasn't a difference-maker in the end.