Second series ever to have 3 contestants with totals above 900. None of these last 7 games to be missed.
Good contest with Tom taking a round off Patrick; a very difficult 6 small but otherwise some friendly selections.
Conundrum was pitched right for a first quarter-final.
Spoilers for Thursday 18th June 2026 - S94 QF1
Moderator: James Robinson
Spoilers for Thursday 18th June 2026 - S94 QF1
Series 78 Runner-up
-
John Garcia
- Enthusiast
- Posts: 416
- Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2011 6:45 pm
Re: Spoilers for Thursday 18th June 2026 - S94 QF1
I thought conundrum was a bit easy. Can't see anyone beating Patrick.
Re: Spoilers for Thursday 18th June 2026 - S94 QF1
Here we go, this is the Series for the ages as Colin mentioned, and arguably, everyone can say this is the strongest Series since Series 69 back in 2013, with three players having an Octochamp score of 900 and above. But, let us also acknowledge the rest of the players too who made it and are here to battle it out for the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy (in which, if you recall our Series 92 Grand Champion Jase Cullen accidentally dropped the lid 
, looks glued up and fixed) and all ready to be presented to the next person. Shoutout to the Countdown team too for changing the Teatime Teasers to fit the Finals with the trophy being prominently displayed, one can only wonder if this is permanent and if so, how the Christmas TTTs will look like in half a year from now. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves as we introduce…no wait, this doesn’t need an Introduction by now because it’s a rematch! On one hand, “The Gazelle, Fastest Octo-Conundrum Solver in History and well enough to scare his former victor James Judge if he’s watching” Patrick Thompson is back (with the same shirt?! 
How many times has he worn this already, hmm…) alongside with “Probably sweating nervously and getting mini heart-attacks to see if someone would overthrow him last week” Tom Bashford albeit on opposite sides. I bet the latter must be surprised that he’s here facing the same person, so shake of the hands, let’s go!
First Third: What an opener with the first round with both spotting DENIGRATE, and Patrick takes the lead in R2 with IMPLANTS, with DC chiming in with the nice spot on MAINTOPS. You don’t have to guess what Patrick wants in R3 do you by now? 4 Large it is and if you noticed by now that if on-camera he looks relaxed, doesn’t have a pen in his hands and looks back at the clock, that’s his codeword of saying “I got it”
. Unfortunately, Tom doesn’t and the gap widens (he did mention he had a wacky solution in mind in the Daily Chat but would have gotten it way out of time)!
Second Third: On with the game after the nice change in graphics for the Finals, and wow, that dizzying spot by Tom with BUNIONS in R5 is nothing short of excellent given also his nice style of clothing, maybe that helped him here, who knows
! I also don’t have to guess what he wants next, 6 Small and both get one away with Rachel having to do some work on a tough set for sure! At least CECIL is giving the challenge we want! On with the game and it’s those one-letter difference in terms of the words that’s making Patrick climb even higher. Here comes the next 4 Large puzzle in R9, easy only if you see 248 × 4 and if you know it’s impossible. Unlucky to Tom as Patrick gets the best possible solution! 
Last Third: A GENEROUS round of letters in R10 follows after a nice Teatime Teaser THUMBNAIL for a Finals video (if ever). But unfortunately, afterwards, it’s just Tom PLAGUED with bad luck as Patrick GRAPPLED his way through the next two rounds, not to mention ovator isn’t valid in the dictionary. However, some light in R13 with Tom spotting COTERIE to match Patrick's COTTIER. One last 6 Small Numbers, and CECIL goes easy on both, which to be fair, I won’t complain even though the standard's obviously too easy for a Finals match. In comes the conundrum, and everyone now watches with baited breath to see how fast Patrick can get this first "fiendish" scrabble. Speaking of which, if it HAS LYRICS, then my guess is the buzzer from C1 would say "Ring" on the script Patrick does just that in 1.25s and I literally dropped my pen and gasped he was right . I was simply no match for him in terms of the timing even though I eventually would have got the answer. He's so fast to the point Brett Davids our Series 92 Runner-Up already challenged him that if he buzzes in before Patrick does should he encounter him in CoC XVII, he wants to see his reaction and face when it happens
I predicted the margin would be anywhere between 35 to 40 points here similar to what happened back on 29 April. Unfortunately it was way wider at 54 points and I guess it must have been the nerves for Tom. I do feel sorry for him that the rematch didn't turn out the way him and I'm sure most of us expected, but his presence will be continued to be felt for ages to come especially since he's a regular contributor to our Daily Chat. He's the first person to get into a Series Finals with only four wins in a very, very long time (I don't think anyone has done so since I watched daily from 2017 onwards, maybe someone would like to get a record of who's the last person that has done so?), and I'm sure that he didn't leave the studio disappointed the second time round, knowing that the outcome was very likely going to be the same, so he just gave it his best. It's great to see our community leave posts of affirmation of his appearance, his shirts (I wish I could give ten points just like Brett! ) and the game today, even to the point Patrick acknowledged Tom's post that this was his best game out of a possible 11 too, so well done Tom and see you around in the Daily Chat when you're free!
The next battle is going to be interesting, because it's the Final and First Octochamp of this Series facing each other! Talk about fate! WiIll it be "Pro Rubiks Cube Solver who's probably going to put one in his pocket to give him good luck" Charlie Harrison or "All-Rounder Global Educator and Headteacher who set the grounds for a Strong Series" Megel Barker that will head into another match next week?
Progress:
QF1 (18 June 2026): Patrick Thompson (#1) vs Tom Bashford (#8) (118 - 64)
QF2 (19 June 2026): Charlie Harrison (#2) vs Megel Barker (#7)
QF3 (22 June 2026): Luke Selway (#3) vs Callum Ridley (#6)
QF4 (23 June 2026): Daniel Face (#4) vs Ian Kinsella (#5)
SF1 (24 June 2026): Patrick Thompson (QF1 Winner) vs (QF4 Winner)
SF2 (25 June 2026): (QF2 Winner) vs (QF3 Winner)
GF (26 June 2026): (SF1 Winner) vs (SF2 Winner)
, looks glued up and fixed) and all ready to be presented to the next person. Shoutout to the Countdown team too for changing the Teatime Teasers to fit the Finals with the trophy being prominently displayed, one can only wonder if this is permanent and if so, how the Christmas TTTs will look like in half a year from now. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves as we introduce…no wait, this doesn’t need an Introduction by now because it’s a rematch! On one hand, “The Gazelle, Fastest Octo-Conundrum Solver in History and well enough to scare his former victor James Judge if he’s watching” Patrick Thompson is back (with the same shirt?! How many times has he worn this already, hmm…) alongside with “Probably sweating nervously and getting mini heart-attacks to see if someone would overthrow him last week” Tom Bashford albeit on opposite sides. I bet the latter must be surprised that he’s here facing the same person, so shake of the hands, let’s go!First Third: What an opener with the first round with both spotting DENIGRATE, and Patrick takes the lead in R2 with IMPLANTS, with DC chiming in with the nice spot on MAINTOPS. You don’t have to guess what Patrick wants in R3 do you by now? 4 Large it is and if you noticed by now that if on-camera he looks relaxed, doesn’t have a pen in his hands and looks back at the clock, that’s his codeword of saying “I got it”
. Unfortunately, Tom doesn’t and the gap widens (he did mention he had a wacky solution in mind in the Daily Chat but would have gotten it way out of time)! Second Third: On with the game after the nice change in graphics for the Finals, and wow, that dizzying spot by Tom with BUNIONS in R5 is nothing short of excellent given also his nice style of clothing, maybe that helped him here, who knows
! I also don’t have to guess what he wants next, 6 Small and both get one away with Rachel having to do some work on a tough set for sure! At least CECIL is giving the challenge we want! On with the game and it’s those one-letter difference in terms of the words that’s making Patrick climb even higher. Here comes the next 4 Large puzzle in R9, easy only if you see 248 × 4 and if you know it’s impossible. Unlucky to Tom as Patrick gets the best possible solution! Last Third: A GENEROUS round of letters in R10 follows after a nice Teatime Teaser THUMBNAIL for a Finals video (if ever). But unfortunately, afterwards, it’s just Tom PLAGUED with bad luck as Patrick GRAPPLED his way through the next two rounds, not to mention ovator isn’t valid in the dictionary. However, some light in R13 with Tom spotting COTERIE to match Patrick's COTTIER. One last 6 Small Numbers, and CECIL goes easy on both, which to be fair, I won’t complain even though the standard's obviously too easy for a Finals match. In comes the conundrum, and everyone now watches with baited breath to see how fast Patrick can get this first "fiendish" scrabble. Speaking of which, if it HAS LYRICS, then my guess is the buzzer from C1 would say "Ring" on the script
Patrick does just that in 1.25s and I literally dropped my pen and gasped he was right . I was simply no match for him in terms of the timing even though I eventually would have got the answer. He's so fast to the point Brett Davids our Series 92 Runner-Up already challenged him that if he buzzes in before Patrick does should he encounter him in CoC XVII, he wants to see his reaction and face when it happens I predicted the margin would be anywhere between 35 to 40 points here similar to what happened back on 29 April. Unfortunately it was way wider at 54 points and I guess it must have been the nerves for Tom. I do feel sorry for him that the rematch didn't turn out the way him and I'm sure most of us expected, but his presence will be continued to be felt for ages to come especially since he's a regular contributor to our Daily Chat. He's the first person to get into a Series Finals with only four wins in a very, very long time (I don't think anyone has done so since I watched daily from 2017 onwards, maybe someone would like to get a record of who's the last person that has done so?), and I'm sure that he didn't leave the studio disappointed the second time round, knowing that the outcome was very likely going to be the same, so he just gave it his best. It's great to see our community leave posts of affirmation of his appearance, his shirts (I wish I could give ten points just like Brett!
) and the game today, even to the point Patrick acknowledged Tom's post that this was his best game out of a possible 11 too, so well done Tom and see you around in the Daily Chat when you're free!The next battle is going to be interesting, because it's the Final and First Octochamp of this Series facing each other! Talk about fate! WiIll it be "Pro Rubiks Cube Solver who's probably going to put one in his pocket to give him good luck" Charlie Harrison or "All-Rounder Global Educator and Headteacher who set the grounds for a Strong Series" Megel Barker that will head into another match next week?
Progress:
QF1 (18 June 2026): Patrick Thompson (#1) vs Tom Bashford (#8) (118 - 64)
QF2 (19 June 2026): Charlie Harrison (#2) vs Megel Barker (#7)
QF3 (22 June 2026): Luke Selway (#3) vs Callum Ridley (#6)
QF4 (23 June 2026): Daniel Face (#4) vs Ian Kinsella (#5)
SF1 (24 June 2026): Patrick Thompson (QF1 Winner) vs (QF4 Winner)
SF2 (25 June 2026): (QF2 Winner) vs (QF3 Winner)
GF (26 June 2026): (SF1 Winner) vs (SF2 Winner)