c4countdown

Ladies and gentlemen

The first Countdown in Leicester (CoLei) tournament will take place at The Stoneycroft Hotel on Saturday 30 August, hosted by Jeff Clayton.

* Join us for an action packed day of words and numbers.
* Pit your wits against the clock - can you solve the Countdown conundrum?
* Look out for some exhibition games and see if you can win a spot prize!

Book your place now! Email Jeff at colei2008@googlemail.com before the end of June, and secure your place for only £6!

More details about the venue:
* A short walk from Leicester railway station
* Frequent bus connections to and from the venue
* Located off the A6 London Road, accessible from all major routes
* On-site car parking
* Refreshments available during the day from the hotel
* http://www.stoneycrofthotel.co.uk

I have set up a page for this event on Facebook - click here for further details.

Look forward to seeing you on 30 August.

Thanks
Jeff
--
colei2008@googlemail.com

Yay!

Woo count me in

Not sure whether I can make it now that Bolton are playing at home on this day .

Hi everyone

Thanks to those of you who have contacted me at colei2008@googlemail.com . Remember the offer of reduced price entry at £6 is available until Monday 30 June. Get in touch if you want to take advantage!

The tournament will take a "Swiss" format, not seen previously at Lincoln or Bristol, starting out with a qualifying round and progressively matching you against people of your own ability based on results through the day.

Look out for some spot prizes - you might be in with a chance of playing a words or numbers themed game against the clock, and maybe even against an opponent.

And if you have some amusing anecdotes or stories to share with us, email your suggestion to Jeff at colei2008@googlemail.com and he'll be happy to make it a part of the day.

You can post your comments either here on c4c, or on the Facebook event wall by clicking here.

Cheers
Jeff

Dammit! Would liked to have joined one of these for the 1st time but alas in Spain on hols.

I thought both COLin and COBris were run on a Swiss format?

James Hurrell wrote:Dammit! Would liked to have joined one of these for the 1st time but alas in Spain on hols.

http://www.c4countdown.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=462 is another option.

I'm undecided on COLEI as yet. I am impressed by how professional it all sounds though. Well done Jeffrey.

Thanks Jono, but I am being dragged to a wedding that day (unfortunately nowhere near Nottingham otherwise I'd try and sneak out) so will miss this one too Are there any planned after COLEI?

I'm hoping to get back home for a fortnight's hol on the evening before. I may be just to close. OK if I let you know nearer the time?

James Hurrell wrote:Thanks Jono, but I am being dragged to a wedding that day (unfortunately nowhere near Nottingham otherwise I'd try and sneak out)

Not your own wedding I hope

No, I was dragged to that one about this time last year

Oh yeah. I remember Carol asked you if you'd been practicing numbers on your honeymoon!

Boys and girls

If you have got holidays or work commitments around the time and you're not sure if you can attend, do get in touch on the email as soon as you know either way and that will help with the logistics of the event.

Just to clarify, the distinction between this and other Countdown tournaments is that there will be a qualifier at Leicester. The format will be akin to the "old" fourteen round final (LLNLLNCLLNLLNC) and the objective is to score as many points as you can, rather than risk longer words that might yield nothing.

Thanks
Jeff

Hi Jeff, I'm planning to attend COLEI. I've only been to a couple of COLIN's before and none for a couple of years, but can either get the train to Leicester or come over with the family (we lived in Leicester from 1992 to 2003 and can meet up with friends). Looking forward to it.

Hi Ross

Drop me a line at colei2008@googlemail.com with some details, and I'll tell you how you can secure your place.

Cheers
Jeff

Hello boys and girls

An open request to you all. If you're coming to Leicester at the end of August and have something extra to bring to the party, like an anecdote or a puzzle that would otherwise make for a good end-of-first-half slot on the airwaves, I'd be interested to hear from you.

You can get in touch at the usual email address; offer open to confirmed entrants aswell as those of you still thinking about it.

Thanks
Jeff

Hi all

As the date for CoLei nears on us, you still have time to contact me if you're interested in attending.

You can secure your place via PayPal or cheque - details available on request, including those of you who have already emailed to express interest in the event.

If you can get in touch within the next seven to ten days, that would be helpful as I'll have a good idea of how many players to expect and then also how to structure the tournament.

Thanks
Jeff

Can you post a list of the people you have as coming already? It's been a long time ago and can't remember if I'm on the list. I'm also quite tired.

Can we have that list, then? There hasn't been a post on this list for a while which is a bit worrying.

I'd quite like to organise another online tournament after that, unless someone else has already offered to do so.

Martin

Jeff's emailed me, as I've paid up and, at the moment there's just five of us confirmed but more have expressed an interest. Would have thought we need at least 12-15 to make it a worthwhile day, though.

For people with a long enough memory, I tried to organise a tournament in Leeds, I'd even negociated a venue, but only 4 people signed up including me myself so I cancelled it, although I think one poor bugger didn't get my initial message and paid for train tickets before finding out it was cancelled, although I did managed to get in contact with them before they physically turned up at the venue.

Martin

I remember yours Leeds event, Martin- I'd have gone along to it, too, had it gone ahead (though I admit all well and good me saying this now). I think CoLei's been hindered somewhat by close proximity to CoNot- as it stands, the Co-lendar (wahey!) is just about balanced with 2 events per year, but adding in a third could cause some disruption- remember CoRed last year? Unlikely, as the (pretty damned good) event was woefully undersupported. I'm just lucky in that with COLIN, I 'got in first' as it were.

Btw expect news on Colin '09 at CoLei.

As Ross has correctly said, there were five confirmed entrants at the time of his posting (now six) but despite this, I can assure you all that the event will go ahead.

As things stand, there will be:
- a qualifier;
- five matches;
- some exhibition games;
- a decent cooked lunch.

So even with relatively fewer players, CoLei can still offer the same things that previous tournaments have. I'm looking forward to welcoming those people who have signed up!


Jeff

I'd quite like to organise another online tournament after that, unless someone else has already offered to do so.

Martin

sort of e-CoLei

Julie T wrote:

I'd quite like to organise another online tournament after that, unless someone else has already offered to do so.

Martin

sort of e-CoLei

Ha, very good.

Jeff Clayton wrote:As Ross has correctly said, there were five confirmed entrants at the time of his posting (now six) but despite this, I can assure you all that the event will go ahead.

I thought that with these events, people usually leave it till the last minute to sign up.

Joseph Bolas wrote:

Jeff Clayton wrote:As Ross has correctly said, there were five confirmed entrants at the time of his posting (now six) but despite this, I can assure you all that the event will go ahead.

I thought that with these events, people usually leave it till the last minute to sign up.

One of the reasons why that with Scrabble tournaments there's a final entry date that's in advance of the tournament, it's a nightmare if you've got 60 players then two days before it becomes 61 (i.e. an odd number, Scrabble is played in twos). I know in the French World Scrabble Championship, the host country gets an extra place if the number of players is odd.

Martin

Martin Gardner wrote:One of the reasons why that with Scrabble tournaments there's a final entry date that's in advance of the tournament, it's a nightmare if you've got 60 players then two days before it becomes 61 (i.e. an odd number, Scrabble is played in twos). I know in the French World Scrabble Championship, the host country gets an extra place if the number of players is odd.

Martin

Normally if there are an odd number at COBRIS, then one table will have 3 players and its normally the highest 2 scores who get the wins for the game. Not sure if it would be the same at COLIN/COLEI etc though.

Joseph Bolas wrote:Normally if there are an odd number at COBRIS

If there is?

Anyway with Countdown isn't it usually three to a table, i.e. one to host and the other two to play. That's what we did at Colin 2005.

Martin

Martin Gardner wrote:

Joseph Bolas wrote:Normally if there are an odd number at COBRIS

If there is?

That is what I meant , my grammar is bad

Martin Gardner wrote:Anyway with Countdown isn't it usually three to a table, i.e. one to host and the other two to play. That's what we did at Colin 2005.

That's the situation with COLIN, but as COBRIS (and COLEI too I think) have games where everyone plays with the same letters ("Swiss Tournaments" I think the term is), you don't need the 3rd person to host, so its just tables of two then.

Joseph Bolas wrote:That's the situation with COLIN, but as COBRIS (and COLEI too I think) have games where everyone plays with the same letters ("Swiss Tournaments" I think the term is), you don't need the 3rd person to host, so its just tables of two then.

That's really called duplicate as in duplicate bridge (etc) and yes I can see why you wouldn't need a third player with that system, although I find the three-to-a-table quite cosy.

Martin Gardner wrote:

Joseph Bolas wrote:That's the situation with COLIN, but as COBRIS (and COLEI too I think) have games where everyone plays with the same letters ("Swiss Tournaments" I think the term is), you don't need the 3rd person to host, so its just tables of two then.

That's really called duplicate as in duplicate bridge (etc) and yes I can see why you wouldn't need a third player with that system, although I find the three-to-a-table quite cosy.

As long as I can socialise and have a laugh with the people on the same table, I myself don't mind if it's 2 or 3 to a table.

That's the situation with COLIN, but as COBRIS (and COLEI too I think) have games where everyone plays with the same letters ("Swiss Tournaments" I think the term is), you don't need the 3rd person to host, so its just tables of two then.

Swiss tournament is nothing to do with whether everyone plays with the same letters or not. Swiss tournament means, put simply, that players are paired on the basis of same number of wins so far. It's a popular format for chess tournaments. See the Wikipedia page.

The format used at COLIN is a variant of the Swiss format in which players are put together in 3s instead of 2s.

Stewart

Hi all

Registration for CoLei is now closed.

The nine registered players are:

Ross Allatt
Kirk Bevins
Mike Brown
Stewart Gordon
Karen Pearson
Richard Priest
Dinos Syfris
Mark Tournoff
Ben Wilson

Full details will be with you in an email shortly.

Thanks
Jeff

I would like to come to one of these in the future but I've just had a month's holiday in France and I am 1) knackered and 2) skint, so no now's not the best time.

Martin

That's a strong selection of players considering the lack of entries! There'll definitely be a worthy winner - good luck to all the entrants (and Jeff).

Nine?

I thought that said eight before?

Joseph Bolas wrote:Nine?

I thought that said eight before?

It changed as he had missed Tournoff off the list. Maybe I'll get my due revenge on him.

Good luck to everybody tomorrow. I wish I was able to come, but having only just got back home a few minutes ago after a couple of weeks away, it's not really possible this time. Hope it goes well, and I look forward to reading about the day.

Kirk Bevins wrote:

Joseph Bolas wrote:Nine?

I thought that said eight before?

It changed as he had missed Tournoff off the list. Maybe I'll get my due revenge on him.

Thank you for clearing that up. I thought I misread it before (maybe I am losing my mind ).

Howard Somerset wrote:Good luck to everybody tomorrow. I wish I was able to come, but having only just got back home a few minutes ago after a couple of weeks away, it's not really possible this time. Hope it goes well, and I look forward to reading about the day.

Good luck to all (however many it is) who are going to COLEI tomorrow.

I know who I am rooting for to win

Joseph Bolas wrote:I know who I am rooting for to win

Me?

Howard Somerset wrote:Good luck to everybody tomorrow. I look forward to reading about the day.

Seriously though, I echo those sentiments and look forward to seeing everybody there. Will undoubtedly post some recaps for absentees to have a butcher's hook.

Dinos

Yeah Dinos, look forward to meeting you and the others tomorrow. I've watched the programmes this week for the first time in ages so I'm less rusty than I was but fairly certain (and comfortable!) with the fact I'll be mid to low table!

Good luck to all tomorrow - I'll be paying keen attention to the results.

Sorry I couldn't make it - I'm off to Amsterdam next week so finances are tight and I can't really spare the 50 quid or so it will cost me all in.

Have fun everyone!

Just a quick note on getting back to thank Jeff again for a superbly organised day and for all other competitors for making it so enjoyable. If I get my act together, might be able to post some partial recaps (ie some details might be missing) in due course.

Ditto. Well done Jeff for organising such a great CO event and to Mark for winning in a nail-biting finale against Kirk. I especially enjoyed the little duel rounds between games and the prizes. I'm thrilled to bits with my prize: The Des O'Connor Greatest Hits Collection which I'm currently listening to. Its erm.... unlike anything else I've ever heard Had a great day and enjoyed seeing everyone. Hope you all got home okay. Expect a recap of one of the games in a thread near you... (tomorrow when I can be bothered!)

Dinos

Echoing Ross's and Dinos's statements, CoLei today was brilliant fun- great games, great company, great food too. Congratulations to Mark on an impressive 4/4 record, and commiserations Kirk for victory being snatched away at the final second YET again... you will win someday.

Would say 'roll on the next co- event' but I'm going to give myself enough free publicity in the days and weeks to come. In the meantime, many, many thanks to Jeff for a fantastic day!

Yeah, thanks Jeff - I really enjoyed the day and the company - it was extremely well run. Congrats to Mark who just pipped me at the very final hurdle - yet again. It's getting ridiculous now! Anyway I'll put a review of that game on here as soon as apterous/recap writer is back up!!

Well played all.

Another great event, despite the low turnout. And another 'well done' and yet more thanks to Jeff for the smooth organization.

It was good to see everyone again, and nice to meet Karen for the first time, and Ross for the first time in a long time!

And as I know you're all on the edge of your seats following the discussion of the Vanuatuan currency, there are currently 180.963 to the pound...

I'll echo what everyone else has said. It was a great day. Lovely to meet some of you at last. And Jeff did a brilliant job organising it and I think we all really appreciated the vast amount of hard work he must have out into it. Thanks Jeff.

And, even better, I didn't come last!!!

Just noticed this morning that one of Dinos's conundrums (SPUDMONEY) was one of yesterday's puzzles on the 2008 calendar - coincidence or not? I think we should be told!!

No accident mate. Was a test to see how many people use their calendars!

To echo everyone else's comments - great day, very well organised, fantastic job Jeff. Great to see familiar faces again and meet some new ones too. Sorry I arrived late, will try not to let it happen again.

Amazing standard of play all round, I felt like I had to bust a gut just to keep up with everyone let alone win any games.

When Karen lost to Jon Corby in the COOT Plate I said on the forum her day would come, and I sincerely hoped it would. And it has. But I didn't want it to be against me....

Thanks again to Jeff for organising a great day. There were certainly some exciting games. Well done to Kirk on another really hard fought game. I was very pleased with my prize, but not as delighted as Sue, for whom Sour Cream and Onion is her favourite flavour of Pringles! See you all at COLIN if not before!

Mark

My thanks to the nine of you for coming along on Saturday and your kind comments on here.

What a day it was - some fantastic games, nine-letter words and quirky numbers solutions all in the mix.

The tournament ran as follows:
- 14 round qualifier, seedings drawn up based on points scored;
- Players split into three groups of three, to each play two and watch a third;
- Groups recast, ready for finals groups A, B and C;
- A further two games played / third game watched;
- Final standings drawn up based on overall number of games won and then points scored.


Qualifier

Warm-up:

i. R U T Y O I P A L

ii. R S O M A E T B D

iii. 100 25 4 8 9 10 -- 265


Main rounds:

i. T A G L A V E O C

ii. L A M B O I R D E

iii. 6 4 100 4 1 5 -- 838

iv. B E R Y T U N A C

v. S C N K I M U E T

vi. 4 50 6 100 5 10 -- 677

vii. Conundrum:
A R T E C H L A D

viii. K H I U A V X T U

ix. D E U R T O G R S

x. 7 7 9 3 4 8 -- 665

xi. L R K C A E E M F

xii. R S T O I D E W U

xiii. 6 50 25 2 75 3 -- 951

xiv. Conundrum:
G R R I M I R O N

--

Maximum 137.

Seedings:
1) Mark Tournoff 123
2) Kirk Bevins 113
3) Richard Priest 103
4) Stewart Gordon 99
5) Dinos Syfris 99 (Stewart found three 8-letter words to Dinos' two)
6) Ross Allatt 98
7) Ben Wilson 96
8) Mike Brown 85
9) Karen Pearson 79
___________________________

->
Group A: Mark Tournoff (1), Stewart Gordon (4), Ben Wilson (7).
Group B: Kirk Bevins (2), Dinos Syfris (5), Mike Brown (8).
Group C: Richard Priest (3), Ross Allatt (6), Karen Pearson (9).
___________________________


Game 1

i. R E N R I A R L Q

ii. T T C A O O N E A

iii. G R O A L S I R E

iv. 3 10 75 25 4 50 -- 258

v. S S M S P E E U C

vi. S M T I U I G S U

vii. C D S A A U P N E

viii. 10 4 4 7 7 1 -- 499

ix. Conundrum:
H I L L Y P E A T

Mark Tournoff 60 - 28 Ben Wilson
Kirk Bevins 65 - 34 Mike Brown
Ross Allatt 47 - 40 Richard Priest

___________________________

Game 2

i. S N L A L I U D O

ii. R N O O T N O O U

iii. M T H E U E V G A

iv. 10 7 5 2 3 10 -- 283

v. N I A N D E C N V

vi. S U L R E T A T E

vii. T C N U I O D T A

viii. 8 10 75 25 100 50 -- 658

ix. Conundrum:
F O R G E D H A T

x. Tie-break conundrum:
C O I N T A I N T

xi. Tie-break conundrum:
F L E E T C R E D

Stewart Gordon 21 - 64 Mark Tournoff
Dinos Syfris 47 - 57 Mike Brown
Ross Allatt 54 - 31 Karen Pearson

___________________________

Game 3

i. Q E L V E E I T P

ii. R D E O T L O R S

iii. N D R S I E E R S

iv. 6 2 75 100 50 25 -- 606

v. T S L O O E T A R

vi. T S S L O E I L H

vii. B E R E L D I M O

viii. 1 4 7 75 8 25 -- 129

ix. Conundrum:
L A R F A S I N G

x. Tie-break conundrum:
S T A R T L A N E

xi. Tie-break conundrum:
L A T C H R L A W

Stewart Gordon 71 - 74 Ben Wilson
Dinos Syfris 82 - 72 Kirk Bevins
Richard Priest 71 - 81 Karen Pearson

___________________________

Scores after preliminary stages:

1. Mark Tournoff (1) - 2 wins, 124 points
2. Ross Allatt (6) - 2 wins, 101 points
3. Kirk Bevins (2) - 1 win, 137 points
4. Dinos Syfris (5) - 1 win, 129 points
5. Karen Pearson (9) - 1 win, 112 points
6. Ben Wilson (7) - 1 win, 102 points
7. Mike Brown (8) - 1 win, 91 points
8. Richard Priest (3) - 0 wins, 111 points
9. Stewart Gordon (4) - 0 wins, 92 points.

___________________________

Groups for final stages:

A: Mark Tournoff (1), Ross Allatt (6), Kirk Bevins (2).
B: Dinos Syfris (5), Karen Pearson (9), Ben Wilson (7).
C: Mike Brown (8), Richard Priest (3), Stewart Gordon (4).

___________________________


Game 4

i. H H R V U E I R L

ii. S Z M O A B I N E

iii. L P E T N N I E A

iv. 5 10 75 50 25 100 -- 584

v. L I N O L I D S I

vi. S V W E I U R G U

vii. T T M I E E L I P

viii. 10 10 75 25 1 4 -- 799

ix. Conundrum:
M U L T I C A N E

A: Ross Allatt 35 - 65 Kirk Bevins
B: Dinos Syfris 45 - 40 Karen Pearson
C: Stewart Gordon 44 - 30 Mike Brown

___________________________


Game 5

i. R C V E I E S T S

ii. U A N M I V N E T

iii. M P S E I I R S U

iv. 1 7 75 2 4 9 -- 422

v. V G V S E A I S F

vi. M B E E N U L N A

vii. N U M I D A G R U

viii. 25 2 7 3 75 50 -- 792

ix. Conundrum:
B L A C K L I C E

A: Ross Allatt 45 - 50 Mark Tournoff
B: Dinos Syfris 40 - 61 Ben Wilson
C: Stewart Gordon 44 - 32 Richard Priest

___________________________


Game 6

i. P V B E U E R T T

ii. U N D E M L A C I

iii. Q N F L E I E V N

iv. 4 6 3 5 10 2 -- 186

v. A D E P O L D P S

vi. E O I Z M H F I P

vii. G R T L A U I A E

viii. 2 6 100 4 3 25 -- 391

ix. Conundrum:
I M D E M I S A X

A: Kirk Bevins 64 - 65 Mark Tournoff
B: Ben Wilson 74 - 66 Karen Pearson
C: Richard Priest 70 - 72 Mike Brown

___________________________

Final standings:

1. Mark Tournoff (1/A) - 4 wins, 239 points
2. Ben Wilson (7/B) - 3 wins, 237 points
3. Kirk Bevins (2/A) - 2 wins, 266 points
4. Dinos Syfris (5/B) - 2 wins, 214 points
5. Mike Brown (8/C) - 2 wins, 193 points
6. Ross Allatt (6/A) - 2 wins, 181 points
7. Richard Priest (3/C) - 1 win, 233 points
8. Karen Pearson (9/B) - 1 win, 218 points
9. Stewart Gordon (4/C) - 1 win, 180 points.

___________________________

Jeff Clayton wrote: Game 5

A: Ross Allatt 45 - 50 Mark Tournoff
B: Dinos Syfris 40 - 61 Ben Wilson
C: Stewart Gordon 44 - 32 Richard Priest

Sorry to correct you, Jeff, but the result of game C was 44-52. Nice summary of all the goings-on, though.

Now that we're all familiar with the concept of the Duel, I thought you might like this little gem on YouTube as a little souvenir.

It's one of those mental arithmetic types. But even if you don't follow the French being spoken, all you need is the equation as shown on your screen, plus the fact that he gets it right:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K38uxncqhzc

Bon appétit !

Jeff

Jeff Clayton wrote:Now that we're all familiar with the concept of the Duel, I thought you might like this little gem on YouTube as a little souvenir.

It's one of those mental arithmetic types. But even if you don't follow the French being spoken, all you need is the equation as shown on your screen, plus the fact that he gets it right:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K38uxncqhzc

Bon appétit !

Jeff

That was quality!