c4countdown

So, thanks to a curtailed series and horse racing scheduling conflicts, the Series 68 finals are beginning and ending on the same day of the week.

Glen Webb would have qualified as No.5 Seed if the old yes/no question had been asked, but we're in the modern era, so we'll see him in 17 days time instead.

And in case you haven't heard or read, the person who would've been No.5 Seed, Rachael Moran, has withdrawn due to personal reasons, so Peter Fenton has moved up from No.10 to No.8 Seed in double-quick time.

But, he's up against the points record holder and No.1 Seed Giles Hutchings, so I'm not sure he'll be that happy about coming into the finals now.

But, he is the first person since the Series 36 pair of Roger Green and Malcolm Fairy to reach the finals with just 2 wins.

Here are the stats:

Firstly, No.1 Seed Giles "The Farnham Firestorm" Hutchings - 8 Wins, 965 Points. (Average: 120.63)
Highest Score: 130 vs. Alan Flanagan (6th Game)
Lowest Score: 111 vs. Nick Holland (8th Game)
9's Achieved: 6/8
Total Points/Max/%: 965/1060 (91%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 609/669 (91%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 286/311 (92%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 70/80 (88%)

Secondly, No.8 Seed Peter "The Leeds Limper Over The Line" Fenton - 2 Wins, 262 Points. (Average: 87.33)
Highest Score: 93 vs. Eric Uphoff (2nd Game)
Lowest Score: 80 vs. Jean Wright (3rd Game)
9's Achieved: 1/1
Total Points/Max/%: 262/378 (69%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 164/258 (64%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 98/120 (82%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 0/30 (0%)

Join **insert name here** for the recap later.

Want me to do it? Got late shift in work tho so it will be like well late

I could bring back the recap made in the United States for a reappearance too if you're not up to it Andy, let me know.

COOLIES for an alt. in round 2.

It would be nice of Andy does it as he was sitting in the row behind me in audience, with the Sam and the other finalists,
and could give some of the ambience.

DOPESTER is the interesting 8 in R7, but I got boring SPROUTED.

Some of the best fishing this series in R10, apart from those by Andy Platt. We were all shocked in the audience
when Giles failed to spot either 9. Suddenly the game was close! Certainly Peter "put on the gas".

Despite Ms Dent not seeing another 8 in R11 there is one which no doubt Jack will get...

That was a fun first game. Well done to Giles, kept your composure even when Peter caught up, I believe he still had a 13-maxer even with those two rounds lost to Peter. And very unlucky to Peter, certainly put up a hell of a fight, I can only imagine all of the apterites gasps when you got the 9 and butties, and I think you cement yourself as one of the strongest 8 seeds in some time.

I congratulated the players for a cracking game on the day. Let's hope the other quarters are as interesting!

Tony Atkins wrote:Despite Ms Dent not seeing another 8 in R11 there is one which no doubt Jack will get...

MESOCARP? I would have gone for COMPARES though.

Well done Giles on holding your nerve late on and the conundrum speed was amazing. Very brave effort from Peter too, taking it to the final two rounds is no mean feat against Giles. I'm sure you'd have beaten a lot of the other finalists with that performance.

People have often said in the past that 1 v 8 seeds are normally non-events in terms of a contest but the last three have all been fairly close.

What a game for the neutral! Usually best at the numbers I was even sitting here with Peter's 9 that Giles missed and my gasp was probably as loud as the audience's - together with the ooh's when Cecil delivered his final target! Love how Rachel encourages the tension too. Brilliant.

Tony Atkins wrote:It would be nice of Andy does it as he was sitting in the row behind me in audience, with the Sam and the other finalists,
and could give some of the ambience.

Agreed, it's yours, AP.

3 14-maxers in a row for me (This time it was the conundrum that was my beating, although I thought it was COMMOTION, until I realised during the pause that there were 2 N's. )

This was one of the best 1v8 games I can ever remember! Hope it bodes well for the rest of the finals.

James Robinson wrote: although I thought it was COMMOTION, until I realised during the pause that there were 2 N's. )

Same for me.

Fantastic first quarter final. Well done to both players!

Martin Long wrote:

James Robinson wrote: although I thought it was COMMOTION, until I realised during the pause that there were 2 N's. )

Same for me.

Fantastic first quarter final. Well done to both players!

And me - though I did get it between shouting COMMOTION at the telly loudly, and Giles actually giving his answer. I still gave it to Giles though. I'm nice like that.

Lol, the conundrum was weird, I think we all did the same in the audience. I'd have buzzed at a similar time to Giles but from the comfort of the audience realised it was MONOTONIC just after (I reckon if actually in the game I might not have had the same clear presence of mind)

Can't remember if Giles said he thought it was COMMOTION too at first? (where is he to comment?)
That might have arguably been Damian's idea behind the conundrum, like a nerve test or something.

Well done chaps very good game.

I thought it was COMMOTION too.

Well I for one didn't think it was COMMOTION. I didn't get the answer, but still, that's something.

Congrats to both Giles and Peter, you both did great, and it was a very exciting contest to watch. Even with the disappointing lack of hair flips.

Thanks for all the positive comments I wasn't feeling particularly confident before the show and certainly wasn't about 4 rounds in but I am glad to have posted a respectable score and to hear that people enjoyed watching it at home.

Very big well done to Giles though who played a really good game, although I know he was kicking himself a bit after the show for missing the 9 and for not risking BUTTIES in round 13 (a small victory for Northerners I thought ).

It was a slight shame (for me at least) that the last numbers was so easy as it would have been good to at least make it a bit more interesting. However, I have to say that Giles seems to cope with any pressure very well, so I doubt it would have made that much difference, especially given his speed on the conundrums.

Despite losing, it was great to be involved in the finals and was worth taking part just to be able to watch the other quarters, semis and final

Philip Wilson wrote:What a game for the neutral! Usually best at the numbers I was even sitting here with Peter's 9 that Giles missed and my gasp was probably as loud as the audience's - together with the ooh's when Cecil delivered his final target! Love how Rachel encourages the tension too. Brilliant.

Well, there's zero point relying on Nick to create tension and add knowledge and the odd historical fact about the show or contestants (unless it's written for him), thank God Rachel either realises or is told to do so!

I suppose I should add my thoughts to this then

For some reason I thought that SEDATION with another T wouldn't stem at all, so I was staring at SEDATION for the whole 30s. I hate double T nines. Then in R13 I had BUTTIES written down, but thought it was too much of a slang word to be in the dictionary. I forgot it meant a food thing.

CECIL was rather nice regarding the 4L targets, then on the conundrum I remember COMMOTION and MONOTONIC as a pair and when I saw the double N I buzzed with MONOTONIC in mind. How close I was to maxing that game...

CECIL, you naughty boy! I have to admit that this was the first time I've seen Peter on the show. Well done for giving the highest scoring octochamp ever a real run for his money! Some decent spots from Giles (notwithstanding a couple of nervy decisions (BUTTIES / OVERHEAR) under the spotlight!) saw him through in the end. Some novel pronunciations of COELOM ("seal 'em") from Giles and Susie (I wish she'd read the pronunciation guidelines, which are at the bottom of every page) too! That was quite exciting when Peter got the unanswered 9, made for a good finish, which CECIL kind of ruined. Annoyingly the YouTube preview picture showed Giles with a 57-34 lead, which was a big spoiler, but then Peter made an excellent comeback anyway to let YouTube off the hook a bit!

As regards the conundrum, I also thought COMMOTION initially, only to realise it was MONOTONIC a fraction of a second later. I probably would have buzzed thinking it was COMMOTION though.