c4countdown

So, we have reached the last 16 of this absolutely phenomenal tournament, which means that there's only 3 weeks to go.

But, we it does mean that we do have the crème de la crème remaining, so that hopefully means plenty of centuries, plenty of 9's, plenty of super cool words and hopefully plenty of entertainment then.

Our first Round 2 match today is a battle of 2 recent contestants, Series 63's Tom Rowell, and fresh from his nail-biting win on Friday, the Series 66 runner-up, Jonathan Rawlinson.

Here are the stats:

Firstly, Series 63 Quarter-Finalist Tom Rowell - 10 Games, 9 Wins, 933 Points (Average: 93.30)
Highest Score: 109 vs. Joan Wright (7th Game)
Lowest Score: 67 vs. Daniel Pati (Quarter-Final)
9's Achieved: 1/4
Total Points/Max/%: 933/1219 (77%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 641/825 (78%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 252/294 (86%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 40/100 (40%)

Secondly, Series 66 Runner-Up Jonathan Rawlinson - 13 Games, 12 Wins, 1,321 Points (Average: 101.62 - Not Including Tie-Break Conundrum)
Highest Score: 120 vs. Stewart Calver (3rd Game)
Lowest Score: 70 vs. Jack Worsley (Grand Final)
9's Achieved: 3/5
Total Points/Max/%: 1321/1581 (84%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 895/1064 (84%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 316/387 (82%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 110/130 (85%)

Graeme will be around with the recap later.

Did anyone actually get the boulders/brass connection?

When we were in the audience someone suggested you can be as bold as brass, but that's pretty tenuous

CANOROUS as a beater in R12

Well done Jonathan, unlucky on not going for OCEANSIDE, but you did very well, on not much of a break from your last game either. Commiserations to Tom, that was a great conundrum solve, and you kept up with Jonathan on many of the rounds.

Actually, this was the start of a new recording block, Jordan, so he got some rest. Very well played by both players.

GEOPARK as an alt. in the PERGOLA round.

Last numbers: (100+5)x7+75-50/25 = 808

Well done Jonathan, commiserations Tom.

Just wondered why Tom chose a vowel for the last letter in round 1?

The selection was ISOLATED up to that point, had you gone for a consonant you could have had these possible nines:

C for DISLOCATE
N for DELATIONS
R for IDOLATERS and STEROIDAL
T for TOTALISED
U for OUTSAILED and
V for DOVETAILS

The next consonant up was an N !! Perhaps it was a tactical ploy not to let Jonanthan in for an early 9 !?!?

Mauro

szodiac wrote:Perhaps it was a tactical ploy not to let Jonanthan in for an early 9 !?!?

I think this is clearly the only plausible explanation.

Andy Platt wrote:When we were in the audience someone suggested you can be as bold as brass, but that's pretty tenuous

It's definitely the link, though.

szodiac wrote:Well done Jonathan, commiserations Tom.

Just wondered why Tom chose a vowel for the last letter in round 1?

The selection was ISOLATED up to that point, had you gone for a consonant you could have had these possible nines:

C for DISLOCATE
N for DELATIONS
R for IDOLATERS and STEROIDAL
T for TOTALISED
U for OUTSAILED and
V for DOVETAILS

The next consonant up was an N !! Perhaps it was a tactical ploy not to let Jonanthan in for an early 9 !?!?

Mauro

U is a consonant? And Tom had probably spotted ISOLATED out of the first 8 so tried to protect it rather than risk an obscure yet high-probability nine coming up.

Tom and Jonathan are both good enough to get all of those 9s even with TV pressure, and total points don't count for anything, so the debate doesn't really matter either way to be honest.

Has anybody actually been given a second teapot? Nick keeps promising them, but I thought they were only for people who hadn't had one before.

Surprised no one got 808 to be honest. I got it within the first 5 seconds.

Conor is right- I spotted DIASTOLE and plumped for a vowel, JR is much better than me at spotting 9s.

Got to say well played to Jonathan he put me under pressure which forced a few mistakes and risks. Was glad in the end to get the conundrum and save a bit of pride. Generally i was so happy to be taking part anything other than that was a bonus so I was happy with my one win

Good Luck to JR in the 1/4 final

Jordan F wrote:Commiserations to Tom, that was a great conundrum solve

Unusually for me, I also got the conundrum straight away. SLAPHEAD + T became imprinted in my mind from my audition in July 2001. From a mix of those letters at that time, I got Asphalt (but missed the "ed") whilst someone else got Slaphead.

Well done to Jonathan on another good win.

Can I also say that I love Andy Platt's new avatar. Much better than the previous "bellhead". Well done to the photographer on the new one.

Well played again Jonathan. Tom, I thought you would be closer than that as you stood out for me as grossly underrated on the predictor thing, but the speedy conundrum solve was a nice consolation, as you said. Getting in to the latter stages now!

Rhys Benjamin wrote:Surprised no one got 808 to be honest. I got it within the first 5 seconds.

One of the 30% or so of 4 large that you get!

Gavin Chipper wrote:

Rhys Benjamin wrote:Surprised no one got 808 to be honest. I got it within the first 5 seconds.

One of the 30% or so of 4 large that you get!

Gavin Chipper wrote:

Rhys Benjamin wrote:Surprised no one got 808 to be honest. I got it within the first 5 seconds.

One of the 30% or so of 4 large that you get!

Oh right. Was he being serious? I thought it was very tough and only managed 807 (as did Rachel).

I got it at the time, was unbearably smug about it for the rest of the day, and then missed it today.

Innis Carson wrote:I got it at the time, was unbearably smug about it for the rest of the day, and then missed it today.

Ah yes I remember this...although I don't remember you being smug!

Kirk Bevins wrote:

Gavin Chipper wrote:

Rhys Benjamin wrote:Surprised no one got 808 to be honest. I got it within the first 5 seconds.

One of the 30% or so of 4 large that you get!

Oh right. Was he being serious? I thought it was very tough and only managed 807 (as did Rachel).

I assumed he was being serious. I mean I actually got it too, and I'm no 4 large specialist. With 4 large it's often a matter of happening to pick the right way. It wasn't a method that involved complicated trickery so I can believe Rhys got it.

Gavin Chipper wrote:I assumed he was being serious. I mean I actually got it too, and I'm no 4 large specialist. With 4 large it's often a matter of happening to pick the right way. It wasn't a method that involved complicated trickery so I can believe Rhys got it.

Completely agree here, although had I spotted it I wouldn't say that "I can't believe nobody got it" as I'd realise it's not that straightforward if, as you say, look down a different route, which is clearly what everyone (including me) did.

Is it OK to be surprised neither of them got 807?

Conor wrote: ↑Mon Feb 11, 2013 4:07 pm

Andy Platt wrote:When we were in the audience someone suggested you can be as bold as brass, but that's pretty tenuous

It's definitely the link, though.

Wasn't even that tenuous. As far as the teatime teasers go, this wasn't at the more obscure end.

David Williams wrote: ↑Wed Feb 13, 2013 5:17 pm Is it OK to be surprised neither of them got 807?

Well Rachel told them it was piss easy to get 807 (or words to that effect) so she thought they were being stupid. I got 807 today, although it appears I got 808 7 years ago.

I just came here to correct Ken Bruce's arithmetic seven years on. £25 * 52 is £1,300, not £1,560.

Or perhaps another £5 a week got lost in editing?

Second Round Game 1 2020 Word Update

The max would have increased by TWELVE (from 128 to 140), if played today, as there were 8's available in Round 9, and a NINE available in Round 8, that weren't available in 2013.

New Words Now Allowed:

R7: USAGERS
R8: PLATINITE (increases MAX from 8 to 18!!!)
R9: POUNDMAN, ROUNDMAN, UNPARDON (increases MAX from 6 to 8)
R12: ROWELED

Amazed CORONAS was left in.

Rhys Benjamin wrote: ↑Sun Jun 14, 2020 10:25 pm Amazed CORONAS was left in.

Amazed? Really? So they should have bleeped it out as if it was highly offensive? Or pulled the whole programme? Presumably when everyone else thought people who stopped buying Corona beer were idiots, you were amazed that anyone was still buying it at all.

David Williams wrote: ↑Sun Jun 14, 2020 11:05 pm

Rhys Benjamin wrote: ↑Sun Jun 14, 2020 10:25 pm Amazed CORONAS was left in.

Amazed? Really? So they should have bleeped it out as if it was highly offensive? Or pulled the whole programme? Presumably when everyone else thought people who stopped buying Corona beer were idiots, you were amazed that anyone was still buying it at all.

I'm not one of those people. Quite the opposite in fact, I know how ridiculous these people can be. Jenny Ryan said that there was lots of Covidiots who thought Beat The Chasers was breaking lockdown.