Spoilers for Wednesday July 1st

[Phil Reynolds]

Alternative 1st numbers:

25 x (9 + 7) + 10 + 1

[Derek Hazell]

Obviously nobody's pinched or punched Phil yet, as he hasn't realized it's a new month. Anyway, Innis gets an early nine, which of course we all know is an acronym for Nifty Innis's Nines Excellent, or in the numbers games Nifty Innis's Numbers Excellent.

[Phil Reynolds]

TANAGER as a DC beater in that last round.

[Chris Davies]

TANAGER, rd 6.

[Chris Kirby]

DC beater in round 13.. dapsone.

[Jimmy Gough]

WP Innis.

[Chris Kirby]

Alternative last numbers solution... 10x2x(5+1)=120-2 = 118x4

[James Doohan]

Well done again Innis, your conundrums are so, so impressive

[Junaid Mubeen]

2nd numbers: (9x6x(3+3)+5)x2

Loved the pre-game interview with Innis. Smooth.

[Kirk Bevins]

Well played Innis. Another lightning conundrum. It's about time we name-dropped apterous! We need it being plugged!

[Marc Meakin]

Well played Innis. Another lightning conundrum. It's about time we name-dropped apterous! We need it being plugged!

How about slipping it in a conundrum APTEROUS+1

[Charlie Reams]

Well played Innis. Another lightning conundrum. It's about time we name-dropped apterous! We need it being plugged!

How about slipping it in a conundrum APTEROUS+1

APTEROUSM and APTEROUSD would both be fairly reasonable; APTERROUS and APTEROUSL are other options but maybe too hard.

[Malcolm James]

The reference to Hartlepool playing southampton next season may be a little unfortunate, given the events of the last couple of days.

[Chris Philpot]

Well played Innis. Another lightning conundrum. It's about time we name-dropped apterous! We need it being plugged!

How about slipping it in a conundrum APTEROUS+1

APTEROUSM and APTEROUSD would both be fairly reasonable; APTERROUS and APTEROUSL are other options but maybe too hard.

I actually found APTERROUS far easier than APTEROUSD. Horses for courses, I suppose. (And I'm hardly the best!)

[Dinos Sfyris]

Well done Innis. Another great victory

Loved the pre-game interview with Innis. Smooth.

IAWTP My favourite bit when we went to see the recording

DC beater in round 13.. dapsone.

Rich and I chatted with Innis after filming this one and I think he said he spotted it too late. MIASMA was a nice round 3 equaller. Ashamedly I missed STORIATED in the studio and would have risked TWOTONE^ in round 6, although it is a nice non-word, so is SOAPFEST^ in round 12

[Innis Carson]

Very observant people might have noticed that Martyn Brewer was wearing my shirt from today on Friday. Result of a slight wardrobe mix-up.

[Jon O'Neill]

Very observant people might have noticed that Martyn Brewer was wearing my shirt from today on Friday. Result of a slight wardrobe mix-up.

I just assumed you swapped shirts at the end.

[JackHurst]

It's been a little bit annoying to see Innis's chance of a high octo score being not jeopardised, but perhaps slightly dampened by players choosing six small when they have no chance of winning. Today was a good example. Its nice to see it when a player is within reasonable range and they want to make an advance, but when they are doing it from so far behind, i just think that all they are doing is putting the chance of a high score in danger, which is ultimately the thing which i would like to see on a show. Perhaps the last numbers was the worst, considering he had gotten nothing on the previous six small, and that he was definitely going to lose.

In regards especially to the third numbers, im not sure what to see this as. I suppose the two ends of the spectrum are a bitter opponent who wants to spoil the other players chances of getting a century. Or just someone who very fairly sees it as a chance to pick thier favourite variety of numbers regardless of the situation, because its their appearance on the show, and they want to make the most of it. I feel todays (as in wednesdays) opponent fell slightly into the first side of the spectrum.

What do any of you think?

[Rosemary Roberts]

It's been a little bit annoying to see Innis's chance of a high octo score being not jeopardised, but perhaps slightly dampened by players choosing six small when they have no chance of winning. Today was a good example. Its nice to see it when a player is within reasonable range and they want to make an advance, but when they are doing it from so far behind, i just think that all they are doing is putting the chance of a high score in danger, which is ultimately the thing which i would like to see on a show. Perhaps the last numbers was the worst, considering he had gotten nothing on the previous six small, and that he was definitely going to lose.

In regards especially to the third numbers, im not sure what to see this as. I suppose the two ends of the spectrum are a bitter opponent who wants to spoil the other players chances of getting a century. Or just someone who very fairly sees it as a chance to pick thier favourite variety of numbers regardless of the situation, because its their appearance on the show, and they want to make the most of it. I feel todays (as in wednesdays) opponent fell slightly into the first side of the spectrum.

What do any of you think?

A player who knows he is going to lose may still want to maximise his score. If he normally gets his best results with six small it seems reasonable to go for it in this situation. His primary concern is not going to be the other fellow's score.

[JackHurst]

A player who knows he is going to lose may still want to maximise his score. If he normally gets his best results with six small it seems reasonable to go for it in this situation. His primary concern is not going to be the other fellow's score.

I assume by maximising score, you mean making your score as high as possible, and not making the margin of loss as small as possible.

If the former is the case then i think you have a good point, but you might have forgotten that no player should generally get their best results in six small than in one large.

[Paul Howe]

I really don't get the idea that once someone is beaten they should just bend over and concentrate on helping their opponent to an even higher score. Perhaps they should also refrain from offering winning words if they happen to find one, and not bother trying on the conundrum?

Regardless of motivation, its their last (and probably only) appearance on the show, and they have the right to pick whatever they want.

On a happier note, congratulations on your performances so far Innis (I'm up to game 4), fabulous stuff!

[Jon Corby]

I really don't get the idea that once someone is beaten they should just bend over and concentrate on helping their opponent to an even higher score. Perhaps they should also refrain from offering winning words if they happen to find one, and not bother trying on the conundrum?

Regardless of motivation, its their last (and probably only) appearance on the show, and they have the right to pick whatever they want.

Spot on.

[Davy Affleck]

I really don't get the idea that once someone is beaten they should just bend over and concentrate on helping their opponent to an even higher score. Perhaps they should also refrain from offering winning words if they happen to find one, and not bother trying on the conundrum?

Regardless of motivation, its their last (and probably only) appearance on the show, and they have the right to pick whatever they want.

It's not all about helping the opponent to shine. Why should the "loser" roll over and get another kick in the nuts?
Should they also not buzz in for the conundrum in case they beat their opponent?
pish

[Charlie Reams]

I really don't get the idea that once someone is beaten they should just bend over and concentrate on helping their opponent to an even higher score. Perhaps they should also refrain from offering winning words if they happen to find one, and not bother trying on the conundrum?

The difference is, picking 1 large doesn't cost you anything, and most of the people at home will be more impressed with a high losing score than some elaborate 6 small method. I know this is something of a moot point because most of the contestants don't analyse the game closely enough to tell the difference, but still. I think if you've trained hard at some particular thing (like 4 large) then of course you want to have a chance to show it off even if you're about to lose, which is fair enough, but most people aren't in that position either. A good example is the guy who picked 4 large when Kirk was on for a huge score; what was the point of that? He obviously wasn't any good at 4 large, he lost the round anyway, and only succeeded in making the score 0-7 instead of a likely 10-10.

[Marc Meakin]

I really don't get the idea that once someone is beaten they should just bend over and concentrate on helping their opponent to an even higher score. Perhaps they should also refrain from offering winning words if they happen to find one, and not bother trying on the conundrum?

The difference is, picking 1 large doesn't cost you anything, and most of the people at home will be more impressed with a high losing score than some elaborate 6 small method. I know this is something of a moot point because most of the contestants don't analyse the game closely enough to tell the difference, but still. I think if you've trained hard at some particular thing (like 4 large) then of course you want to have a chance to show it off even if you're about to lose, which is fair enough, but most people aren't in that position either. A good example is the guy who picked 4 large when Kirk was on for a huge score; what was the point of that? He obviously wasn't any good at 4 large, he lost the round anyway, and only succeeded in making the score 0-7 instead of a likely 10-10.

It is just possible that contestants might want to see just how good their opponents all round game is, I sometimes do this on Apterous when I am invariably getting trounced by the big guns

Or it might just be that contestants want to make their brief stay more memorable by being a little controvertial

[Michael Wallace]

I think some people are presuming a little too much thought is put into these decisions...

[Paul Howe]

The difference is, picking 1 large doesn't cost you anything, and most of the people at home will be more impressed with a high losing score than some elaborate 6 small method. I know this is something of a moot point because most of the contestants don't analyse the game closely enough to tell the difference, but still. I think if you've trained hard at some particular thing (like 4 large) then of course you want to have a chance to show it off even if you're about to lose, which is fair enough, but most people aren't in that position either. A good example is the guy who picked 4 large when Kirk was on for a huge score; what was the point of that? He obviously wasn't any good at 4 large, he lost the round anyway, and only succeeded in making the score 0-7 instead of a likely 10-10.

Its easy to imagine someone who's just been smashed on their big day on TV trying to grab some glory for themselves by pulling off a tricky numbers and maybe taking a round off an awesome opponent. For someone with no realistic chance of an octo run, that moment might provide a great deal more satisfaction than just going for an easier 10 points. Maybe they just want the chance to do an unusual numbers game on TV. Who really knows? The point being it's their moment in the sun too, and to me it seems just as petty for us to pick apart their motivations as it is for them to make it slightly harder for their opponent in the cases where there actually is malicious intent.

I really don't get the idea that once someone is beaten they should just bend over and concentrate on helping their opponent to an even higher score. Perhaps they should also refrain from offering winning words if they happen to find one, and not bother trying on the conundrum?

Regardless of motivation, its their last (and probably only) appearance on the show, and they have the right to pick whatever they want.

It's not all about helping the opponent to shine. Why should the "loser" roll over and get another kick in the nuts?
Should they also not buzz in for the conundrum in case they beat their opponent?
pish

Yes, that's what I said!