Spoilers For Thursday September 29th 2011

[James Robinson]

So, Jayne has made it to half-octcohampdom by the skin of her teeth after yesterday's tough battle with Sydney.

Can she regain her top form and make it 5 out of 5

Join me later for the Robinson Recap to see if she can.

[Andy Platt]

That one was ground out a bit, not up to her usual high standard.

Selections were very pleasant in parts with six eights available... got cognates (rd 2), dialects (4), landties (6), reloaded (7), and magister (11) personally.

Anyone get the conundrum though? I was miles off it.

[Jack Worsley]

Good contest today, with the letters selections a lot better than yesterday.

LANDTIES in round 6, RELOADED in round 7. Also, is TONNAGES allowable? DC only mentioned TONNAGE today but I'm sure I've seen it allowed before.

3rd numbers alt: (75-3)x5-10=350

[James Robinson]

Also, is TONNAGES allowable? DC only mentioned TONNAGE today but I'm sure I've seen it allowed before.

It's one of those debatable ones. In S61, it was disallowed after Susie looked it up, but not long before that she allowed it, while using the same dictionary..............

Anyone get the conundrum though? I was miles off it.

Come on mate, that was easy.

OK not THAT easy, although it only took me 5 seconds to get it, about the same time it took me to get yesterday's shockingly

EMPORIA and VAMPIER in round 3, DENTINAL in round 6, STERIGMA in round 11.

2nd Numbers Alt. (((8 x 4) + 50 - 3) x 10) + 4 = 794

[Keith Bennett]

Anyone get the conundrum though? I was miles off it.

I hope Adam got it! Nobody in the audience had any idea.

Before the show Rachel had presented Caleb (sp?) with a birthday present from the crew - a lovely gesture. As Jeff said, he's an audience regular; not sure exactly what his condition is, possibly cerebal palsy. But apparently it's a 4 hour drive to get there whenever his father brings him. So I guess the crew took the opportunity to let him have his moment and earn a mug to take home too.

Having seen CV in action some years ago I have to say RR comes across as a much more genuine and approachable person; hope she stays that way. In fact the whole thing felt a lot more relaxed than in the RW/CV days. Get the feeling now that they really do see the show as being more about the contestants than the presenters.

Long may it continue.

[Mark James]

Anyone get the conundrum though? I was miles off it.

I got it fairly quickly and I'm shit at conundrums.

[Andy McGurn]

Anyone get the conundrum though? I was miles off it.

I hope Adam got it! Nobody in the audience had any idea.

Before the show Rachel had presented Caleb (sp?) with a birthday present from the crew - a lovely gesture. As Jeff said, he's an audience regular; not sure exactly what his condition is, possibly cerebal palsy. But apparently it's a 4 hour drive to get there whenever his father brings him. So I guess the crew took the opportunity to let him have his moment and earn a mug to take home too.

Having seen CV in action some years ago I have to say RR comes across as a much more genuine and approachable person; hope she stays that way. In fact the whole thing felt a lot more relaxed than in the RW/CV days. Get the feeling now that they really do see the show as being more about the contestants than the presenters.

Long may it continue.

Really nice comments Keith but I fear you might be giving Tony some ammunition here

[Keith Bennett]

I must admit in revealing what went on in the studio I was a bit worried people might think I've been on the Atkins diet....

[Richard Priest]

Anyone get the conundrum though? I was miles off it.

I got it after a few seconds

Bit up and down from Jayne today although she beat me with COGNATES

[Graeme Cole]

Also, is TONNAGES allowable? DC only mentioned TONNAGE today but I'm sure I've seen it allowed before.

It's one of those debatable ones. In S61, it was disallowed after Susie looked it up, but not long before that she allowed it, while using the same dictionary..............

tonnage noun [mass noun] weight in tons, especially of cargo or freight: road convoys carry more tonnage; the size or carrying capacity of a ship measured in tons; shipping considered in terms of total carrying capacity: the European Community's total tonnage.

It's a mass noun, and it doesn't seem to fall into any of the categories of mass noun you can pluralise. However, if you're using it to refer to the carrying capacity of a ship, I think it's perfectly valid to say that two ships have two different tonnages, just the same as saying they have two different capacities.

Wouldn't like to be in the position of having to decide whether to declare it, though.

[Phil Reynolds]

I think it's perfectly valid to say that two ships have two different tonnages

Sounds familiar.

[David Williams]

tonnage noun [mass noun] weight in tons, especially of cargo or freight: road convoys carry more tonnage; the size or carrying capacity of a ship measured in tons; shipping considered in terms of total carrying capacity: the European Community's total tonnage.

It's a mass noun, and it doesn't seem to fall into any of the categories of mass noun you can pluralise. However, if you're using it to refer to the carrying capacity of a ship, I think it's perfectly valid to say that two ships have two different tonnages, just the same as saying they have two different capacities.

Personally I'd agree with that, but the implication of the ODE is that the correct expression is simply that two ships have different tonnage. For two ships to have different tonnages each of them would have to have a tonnage, which would make it a count noun.

[David Williams]

Might just mention that I'd have gone for TONNAGES (couldn't remember what a COGNATE was), GIRLIER and QUINZES (it's QUATORZES I was thinking of).