c4countdown

So, we're about to end another brilliant, and it's fair to say, memorable week on Countdown, and this game is definitely going to be one of the most exciting and unpredictable matches to date.

This "Battle of the Champions", as I have christened it, is between the Series 61 champion, Chris Davies and the Series 58 champion, David O'Donnell.

These statistics below seem to prove my point.

Here are the stats:

Firstly, Series 61 Champion Chris Davies - 13 Games, 12 Wins, 1,404 Points (Average: 108)
Highest Score: 139 vs. Ross Mackenzie (5th Game)
Lowest Score: 77 vs. Kirk Bevins (Special Game)
9's Achieved: 6/7
Total Points/Max/%: 1404/1628 (86%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 994/1108 (90%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 310/390 (79%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 100/130 (77%)

Secondly, Series 58 Champion & CoC XIII Quarter-Finalist David O'Donnell - 14 Games, 13 Wins, 1,480 Points (Average: 105.71)
Highest Score: 122 vs. Ian Browning (7th Game)
Lowest Score: 91 vs. Richard Priest (Grand Final)
9's Achieved: 2/6
Total Points/Max/%: 1480/1727 (86%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 1012/1173 (86%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 378/414 (91%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 90/140 (64%)

Join Heather later for the recap of what could be a super memorable match

FUUUUUUCK YEEEEEAH!!!!!!!!

(actually I'm not interested)

Matthew Green wrote:FUUUUUUCK YEEEEEAH!!!!!!!!

(actually I'm not interested)

Lol. Actually, it'll likely be rubbish now that I've said that anyway.

Good lord. That is all.

...that ending. Made especially more dramatic by the fact that I think David honestly thought it was wrong. Very very well done to him. And I said this before to somebody else, but it pains me that Chris had to lose, especially when he scored 117, but that's what happens when you have two strong players. Is the highest combined score amongst two players even without the tiebreak conundrum?

I got 566 on the last numbers by doing (100-75) x 25 - 50 - (10-1)

WOWWW!!!! What a tremendous game, very well played lads, brilliant standard and great entertainment. Best game of the tourn so far.

Great game, great words, great finish. Well done both.

Deja vu: The second conundrum came up as a question in One versus A Hundred on Challenge about an hour beforehand. But the presenter offered the incorrect definition: study of Greta Garbo.

Mauro

Wow! Wow! Wow! 117 as a losing score is just crazy.

ROMANIZED as an alt 9 to randomize

3rd Numbers game:
10-(100/50)=8. 8x(75-1)=592. 592-25 = 567.

Fantastic game, very well played to both of you! The atmosphere during the two conundrums was extremely tense in the studio and I could still feel the tension watching it back today. One of the best games ever! Quality conundrum spot from David - I got as far as -OLOGY and stopped there - but also well played to Chris who will still go down as an all-time great. Losing with 117 must be tough to take.

Jordan, Mark Tournoff's 124-117 over Matthew Shore is the highest ever, unless you count the tiebreak in today's game. 117 equals the highest ever losing score.

Wow! What an absolutely brilliant game. The tension at the end was almost palpable. Great play lads - and great entertainment for the neutral viewer.

Fantastic game chaps! For some reason I never envisaged Chris losing this one so when David buzzed I thought you were gonna guess something ludicrous. Which you did. But it was right. I had Chris down as a firm favourite and I could see him beating that Hurst child too. Shame to lose Chris but well done to David all the same and it is now up to you to put out the baddie!

I think when I was in the audience this game was my favourite, at least of the tournament so far, if not the whole thing.

Wonderful stuff.

Incredible game. Many, many congratulations to both players. Two of my favourites and a shame one of you had to lose out. I'd say this was possibly David's finest game to date. Can't wait for your next game. What a brilliant level of competition. Wish I'd been ther to witness in person.

Really enjoyed watching that (again). Brilliant from both of you. MALAMUTE has to be in the Kirk Bevins Best Word competition. Needless to say, everyone watching from the green room was going fucking ape.

This might be my favourite game so far. Ever. I didn't sleep at all the night before recording and so completely crashed during Jack vs Chris (sorry guys), but this game brought me alive again. MALAMUTE and QUANTICS had almost everyone (everyone?) in the green room beaten, and there was such a sense of nervousness about the game which suggested anything could happen. When David declared in round 4 I feared Chris would have CORNERED and then control the game, but QUANTICS was an awesome counterpunch (it's a highish probability maths word and I've never heard of it, so what have I done with my life?). Very bad luck on the conundrum Chris, I'd done a conundrum attackjust a couple of days before and on the same conundrum guessed pargetman. And yeah, was nowhere near GARBOLOGY, just terrific.

Superb game! One of the finest ever. Genuinely gutted to see Chris bow out so early, he is a true champ.

Great to see David keeping our wee island in the running! The last Northern Irishman to face Jack, well, let's not talk about that...

In front of the cameras I'd no doubt have lost by fifty points again, but at home I was celebrating sneaking a hollow 'victory' with GARBOLOGY. Until I discovered that OGGIES isn't in. I demand a new dictionary. Awesome stuff, guys.

Really enjoyed that game! Well done to both of you

Awesome game to watch in the studio and an awesome game to watch back today. Me and Innis have to somehow follow that! Thanks for the pressure guys!

Thanks all for the nice comments. I agree the better player lost. Chris was an absolute gentleman and MALAMUTE was astonishing. I'll not type anything more in case I give away a spoiler. For the moment I'm ruing missed words but I know this feeling dissipates with the fullness of time.

Best episode so far! Great performance by DoD to beat Chris, who on the day I feel like nerves got the better of. It's a shame to see yet another familiar face out of the competition, especially as Chris is the series champion of arguably the best series ever.

I think BAGOGLORY is one of the best conundrums I've seen on the show. No doubt it was saved for this situation, where it becomes a game of nerve over a game of quick reactions. Both players probably spotted a few possible answers ending in OLOGY, and it took balls for one of them to buzz first and guess. Love how Davids head pops up a couple of seconds before he buzzes. You can tell he has just spotted it and it deliberating if he should buzz or not. Brilliant!

WHAT A MATCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

The best 10 games of all time are pretty much solely in this series, and even now, there'll probably be some super awesome games to come in these last 2 weeks.

Kudos to both Chris and David for a truly awesome match. I'm more than happy to say that I was truly trounced in this match.

A combined score of 244 (including the tie-break) is truly spectacular in any match, but in this sort of match is truly extraordinary

David, your quarter-final with Jack should be another cracker in the making!!!

I think I need a rest now, that's quite a lot of excitement for one week

Cheers for the comments guys. My initial reaction to losing was largely relief as I'd really started to wonder if I handle any more games - the nerves were killing me in this one. The disappointment truly set in about a day later! I did consider GARBOLOGY but I was sure it wouldn't be right so I kept looking - well done to David for going for it!
David - you're also a true gent. I felt that there was a really nice spirit throughout this game.

Many thanks to Damian and the whole team for having me take part in this tournament. It's been an honour. Looking forward to Innis vs Kirk now.

best game ever for me. dod very lucky he studied his GRAB stems.

I was sitting pretty smugly on LEMMATA, and then bam, Chris gets MALAMUTE. Brilliant spot. It's a shame to lose Chris before we get to the final stages, but David did very well to beat him today. Congratulations to both of you on giving us one of the greatest games to watch.

JackHurst wrote:I think BAGOGLORY is one of the best conundrums I've seen on the show. No doubt it was saved for this situation

Thanks, Jack. Indeed, trying to outfox you bastards and create some tension for the viewers at home was probably the hardest challenge i've ever faced, but seeing them miss the first one, then the drama of BAGOGLORY unfold was really satisfying. I can't begin to guess how much effort went into it but suffice to say it'll probably lead to an early grave.

Fantastic show today, 2 of our favourite contestants ever and such amazing skill and sportsmanship.

Cheers for the kind words Chris, but the thanks are all ours matey. You were fantastic and again, for the sake of repetition, i can't thank everyone enough for stepping up to the plate and taking part. 30 years is a long time, but it's safe to say that between everyone, we've made the best shows ever. It's weird that there's no shame in losing, but at the same time, the winner has a feeling of 'oh shit' when they realise who their next opponent is.

Amazing stuff today. Proud of you both.

Oh, I also laughed at the 'I heard he's pretty desperate' bit at the end David - not sure how that will have been interpreted! (is desperate a synonym for bad anywhere other than Northern Ireland?)

As has been said numerous times, definitely an all-time great game.

Chris along with Ed have probably been the biggest-name casualties so far.

Someone gave away after an earlier game that the RANDOMIZE selection was going to come up again, and there it was.

Have to echo the comments that GARBOLOGY was an excellent conundrum for this game - it created a scenario very different to the standard buzzer race, and one that was a fitting ending to a contest as tense and exciting as this. Of course it must have made the result even more of a blow for Chris, who had GARBOLOGY in mind for a long time before David buzzed (as I'm sure David did too), but he still managed to be exceptionally gracious and sporting both on-camera and off, and he deserves a lot of credit for that. David's spirit was equally wonderful, and it added another layer of enjoyment on top of what was already a fantastic game to watch. Huge congrats to both of you, if you hadn't already sealed your places in the all-time Countdown hall of fame, you certainly have now.

Chris, you have now been the compelling protagonist in possibly the best win of all time, and definitely the best loss of all time. That might be the best legacy anyone's ever gotten. Wear it with pride.

JackHurst wrote:I think BAGOGLORY is one of the best conundrums I've seen on the show.

Yeah, but an honorary mention should go to PENTAGRAM as well - seems like a fairly straightforward one (well, once the answer was revealed!) but I wonder if Chris & David made it harder for themselves by overthinking it. I was left wondering if they would have gobbled it up in a heats game or even a regular letters round. Fantastic game though and again played in a great spirit - I thought the writing was on the wall for David once Chris had pulled MALAMUTE out (brilliant) and particularly when he then declared 7 in the CORNERED round, but QUANTICS was great. Have to say I really expected Chris to win this one though, even once it came down to conundrums. So congratulations Doddy, but commiserations Chris, although as others have said, plenty to be very proud of.

Great show, loved it. And nothing for me to get obnoxiously righteous about. Oh wait...

Andy Platt wrote:I think when I was in the audience this game was my favourite, at least of the tournament so far, if not the whole thing.

This'll do. Spoiler ffs I mean, you're not explicitly saying anything, but can't you see that you are still passing comment about games that haven't been broadcast yet? Zip it

Gavin Chipper wrote:As has been said numerous times, definitely an all-time great game.

Chris along with Ed have probably been the biggest-name casualties so far.

Don't forget Corby.

This is one of the reasons why I decided not to find out any more results after I filmed as I wanted it to be a surprise with the results! Just managed to watch this game and what an amazing game it was! Hats off to the two of you for producing such a great match. Commiserations to Chris and hats of to you Dave for winning - if you knock out a beast like Chris that just confirms that I really did lose to a top top player. MALAMUTE and QUANTICS were both brilliant spots.

I hope you and Jack produced another top draw game in your quarter final and will watch that one with baited breath!

JackHurst wrote:

Gavin Chipper wrote:As has been said numerous times, definitely an all-time great game.

Chris along with Ed have probably been the biggest-name casualties so far.

Don't forget Corby.

Interestingly both of these players (not Corby) actually drew over 15 rounds and it took a tie-break to beat them.

Gavin Chipper wrote:

JackHurst wrote:

Gavin Chipper wrote:As has been said numerous times, definitely an all-time great game.

Chris along with Ed have probably been the biggest-name casualties so far.

Don't forget Corby.

Interestingly both of these players (not Corby) actually drew over 15 rounds and it took a tie-break to beat them.

I haven't actually been beaten in this tournament

I disagree Jon, I thought I was being pretty ambiguous, but apologies nevertheless for not phrasing it differently.

Andy Platt wrote:I disagree Jon, I thought I was being pretty ambiguous, but apologies nevertheless for not phrasing it differently.

It's happened more than once that someone who's competed or been in the audience has unintentionally given hints of what's to come. Always best to pretend that the future hasn't happened yet.

What future?
(see I'm learning)

Andy Platt wrote:I disagree Jon, I thought I was being pretty ambiguous, but apologies nevertheless for not phrasing it differently.

When people watched my semi final against Neil Zussman someone said "best game of the series". This person was in the audience and had seen both semis and the final. This spoiled (unintentionally) that the second semi and final weren't as dramatic, probably as they weren't crucial conundrums.

As Corby said, avoid saying anything about future games as people may read something into it.

Remarkably the rest of the tournament contains no crucials. Eat that shit for spoilers.

I said that Andy didn't say anything specifically, but as Brian & Kirk said, it's easy to do so on occasion without realising. You just have to completely forget that you have seen any unbroadcast games when posting. I mean, most of us would obviously guess that several of the ten remaining games would go to crucials, but me guessing that and Jack saying "remarkably the rest of the tournament contains no crucials" when he knows the results of the games are two very different things. See here, here and here for "accidental" spoilers.

Anyway, it's best if nobody says anything even in response to this. I guess I invited all this discussion by mentioning it in the first place

My dad does it all the time with sporting events that I watch later-than-live. I tell him not to say anything but he just can't help himself. I remember a few years back I was watching a Wimbledon match (might have been a final that dragged on to the Monday) after work, and my dad rang me while I was watching the recording. "Don't say anything about the tennis!" I said, to which he replied "oh, I can't spoil it anyway because they're not playing at the moment, it's raining again". It therefore wasn't a huge shock when Nadal failed to win any of the match points he subsequently had before it started raining

Jon Corby wrote:here

Chuckled when I read the opening line, and then looked down to realise I'd already been there 3 and a half years ago.

What an incredible game! Congratulations to both Chris and David for playing so well. Great nerve to go for it on the second conundrum, David; Chris was probably all but ready to buzz, having had a go at the previous conundrum even though he didn't think it was right. David, this tournament is the first I've seen of you on Countdown, and I'm really enjoying your personality and your witty quips (like the "convinced" one). Commiserations Chris, but as others have said, if you're going to bow out of the tournament, that's quite a brilliant game to do it with!

I also want to echo the praise for Damian's conundrum setting; I didn't solve PENTAGRAM and wasn't 100% sure on GARBOLOGY. Now going to watch the probably-not-quite-as-good Innis vs Kirk game (thanks for the implied spoiler, Andy).

Having rewatched this, I was a bit surprised that they missed both CORNERED and UNRAILED, but it seems that UNRAILED wasn't valid at the time.

Matt Morrison wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2013 10:24 pm best game ever for me. dod very lucky he studied his GRAB stems.

This deserved more. Quite an old joke now, but no-one forgets Chris Maudsley getting GARBA because it's GRAB + A. I'm not sure where any original discussion might be, but I found this and also just searching on c4c finds stuff.

Jon Corby wrote: ↑Sat Feb 16, 2013 9:29 am Great show, loved it. And nothing for me to get obnoxiously righteous about. Oh wait...

Andy Platt wrote:I think when I was in the audience this game was my favourite, at least of the tournament so far, if not the whole thing.

This'll do. Spoiler ffs I mean, you're not explicitly saying anything, but can't you see that you are still passing comment about games that haven't been broadcast yet? Zip it

The discussion of spoilers in this thread was interesting, but:

David O'Donnell wrote: ↑Fri Feb 15, 2013 8:40 pm Thanks all for the nice comments. I agree the better player lost. Chris was an absolute gentleman and MALAMUTE was astonishing. I'll not type anything more in case I give away a spoiler.

Sure.

For the moment I'm ruing missed words but I know this feeling dissipates with the fullness of time.

I did actually notice this at the time but for some reason didn't say anything (one of my big regrets in life). You don't rue missed words in a game you won, especially weeks or months later (as this would have been recorded quite a while before it was shown). No - these missed words clearly do not belong to this game. This is the biggest spoiler of the lot. DoD is saying here "I DID NOT WIN THE TOURNAMENT!"

Top work Gevin. Thanks for the love on the GRAB.

But yeah, I'm not sure where the original discussion has gone? It's funny how the brain works. I 100% thought it was on C4C and it was Kate Richardson.

Matt Morrison wrote: ↑Mon Feb 18, 2013 11:09 am

Jon Corby wrote:here

Chuckled when I read the opening line, and then looked down to realise I'd already been there 3 and a half years ago.

Clicked the link and laughed again, before remembering I'd only clicked the link to remind myself why I'd laughed again when I made the comment after clicking it on and laughing again previously, having laughed at it immediately upon first reading it.

As someone who cares about your welfare, it's kinda upsetting watching you fall apart in real time like that.

Second Round Game 5 2020 Word Update

The max would have increased by TWELVE (from 140 to 152), if played today, as there was a 7 available in Round 6, an 8 available in Round 1, and a 9 available in Round 9, that weren't available in 2013.

New Words Now Allowed:

R1: UNRAILED (increases MAX from 7 to 8)
R3: OXIES, SEGOS
R4: CENTRODE
R6: AKETONS (increases MAX from 6 to 7)
R8: FLOWIER
R9: PARVITUDE (increases MAX from 8 to 18!!!)