Search found 2001 matches

by Graeme Cole
Thu Mar 07, 2024 1:14 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Should I be worried?
Replies: 6
Views: 381

Re: Should I be worried?

I've opened an Apterous ticket. It seems strange to raise tickets on Apterous for things related to C4C, but precedent exists.
by Graeme Cole
Thu Mar 07, 2024 12:57 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Should I be worried?
Replies: 6
Views: 381

Re: Should I be worried?

c4countdown.co.uk still uses unencrypted HTTP rather than HTTPS. I suspect this has always been the case and we've only just noticed.

I think C4C ought to have HTTPS and an SSL certificate like Apterous and most other websites do nowadays. AFAIK Charlie controls the domain so only he can set that up.
by Graeme Cole
Sat Mar 02, 2024 10:35 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

Obviously we know about Maus's record for the shortest time to solve all 8 conundrums, but what is the record for 7/7, 6/6, 5/5, etc.? (And I suppose, 9/9, 10/10, etc., if it has been done) I've noticed Matthew Jenkins managed to solve 4/4 in 8.25, which must be up there? People who solved all the ...
by Graeme Cole
Sat Mar 02, 2024 6:28 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

In today's episode a contestant scored points by declaring 99 in a numbers round. Has this ever happened before? No. That's the first time a player has scored points with a declaration of less than 100. At the other end, there have been 22 scoring declarations of 1000, but only one scoring declarat...
by Graeme Cole
Sat Mar 02, 2024 6:22 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

Has anyone ever won a game without making a declaration in any of the numbers rounds? (question inspired by Monday's game in which Caroline only declared in 1 of the 4 rounds) Obviously this happened quite a few times in the 9-round format when there were only two numbers rounds, but if we restrict...
by Graeme Cole
Sat Mar 02, 2024 6:12 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

Tom S wrote: Sun Oct 01, 2023 9:32 am Which day has had the most series champs appear over the years?
Could you elaborate? Day of the year or day of the week? And by "appear" do you mean their first game, or all games?
by Graeme Cole
Sat Mar 02, 2024 6:09 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

Apropos of nothing, what is the smallest number vowels ever picked by an Octochamp across their entire octorun? Has anyone managed a perfect 120? In the modern 15-rounder, an octochamp picks 40 letters rounds, so the number of vowels they pick will be between 120 and 200. In the old 15-rounder, C1 ...
by Graeme Cole
Sat Mar 02, 2024 5:18 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

Since it's origin up to Series 87, what's the percentage of contestants/finalists/champions that are Apterites? Curious of how much Apterous has had an absolute grasp on the community? I can't answer all of this one because there's no way to know, for every contestant, whether they actually played ...
by Graeme Cole
Mon Feb 26, 2024 7:51 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-Event Suggestion Box
Replies: 137
Views: 12567

Re: Co-Event Suggestion Box

I'm curious to hear from hosts (and Graeme) if atropine had a feature where you can mark a player as a an inexperienced/slow hosts and for R1 the draw avoid clustering such players together do you think it would help to keep things running smoothly? Funny you should mention this, because I've alrea...
by Graeme Cole
Sun Feb 25, 2024 4:08 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-Event Suggestion Box
Replies: 137
Views: 12567

Re: Co-Event Suggestion Box

I don't tend to really play along as host. I'll glance at the letters and might spend a few seconds on the numbers but if I don't solve it I leave it to watch the time. Also has this been said - as host, don't write the letters down on the scoresheet until the time starts. You don't need to interru...
by Graeme Cole
Mon Jan 29, 2024 4:19 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: COLIN XIX- Countdown in Lincoln, 27-28 January 2024
Replies: 44
Views: 16828

Re: COLIN XIX- Countdown in Lincoln, 27-28 January 2024

But a great weekend all round, and it was good to get access to the rugby club place on the Saturday night. Though I think they could make their door look more like a door you're supposed to go in through rather than some back door to the dungeon. Yes, I think the social club was an improvement. I ...
by Graeme Cole
Mon Jan 29, 2024 4:18 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-Event Suggestion Box
Replies: 137
Views: 12567

Re: Co-Event Suggestion Box

Following from this post ... If I had one small suggestion, it would be that if there are table numbers, it's best to have them explicitly labelled rather than people having to infer them from the set numbers on the lids of the letters/numbers boxes, which are generally harder to find with the lids ...
by Graeme Cole
Mon Jan 29, 2024 4:09 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: COLIN XIX- Countdown in Lincoln, 27-28 January 2024
Replies: 44
Views: 16828

Re: COLIN XIX- Countdown in Lincoln, 27-28 January 2024

Yeah thanks again Ben. I'll second everything GC said. Much better atmosphere at the social club than the fox and hounds, but I don't think we'd even be able to describe the food as "ok" this time I didn't eat at the social club. Are you saying the food there was better than OK or worse t...
by Graeme Cole
Sat Jan 20, 2024 11:05 am
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-event dictionary
Replies: 34
Views: 3680

Re: Co-event dictionary

I was just alerted to this thread on Apterous: https://www.apterous.org/ticket_view.php?ticket=6867 I also agree with the sentiment that Co-Events should be played with the most up to date dictionaries available, however the practicalities of asking for this on apterous at 7 days notice are very qu...
by Graeme Cole
Thu Dec 07, 2023 11:58 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Unpopular opinions you genuinely hold
Replies: 242
Views: 30312

Re: Unpopular opinions you genuinely hold

The generations like Gen X, millennials etc., are arbitrary, confusing and ultimately just stupid. It makes no real sense to say that you are in the same generation as someone because you fall the right side of some arbitrary boundary. You might be in a "different generation" to someone b...
by Graeme Cole
Wed Dec 06, 2023 1:24 am
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-event lunch arrangements
Replies: 20
Views: 3193

Re: Co-event lunch arrangements

I prefer option 5 - just buy or take your own. It's really rare for an event not to be within easy walking distance of a supermarket or similar sandwich-vending emporium. The problem with options 3 and 4 is that in the past people have gone to a cafe or pub for lunch and got stuck there waiting ages...
by Graeme Cole
Mon Dec 04, 2023 1:34 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Unpopular opinions you genuinely hold
Replies: 242
Views: 30312

Re: Unpopular opinions you genuinely hold

The whole digitisation of services has gone too far, and is really just the result of high-ups being lazy and not wanting to do any work or employ anyone. This applies to things such as car parks where you have to pay using your phone, anywhere that insists you download an app in order to use a ser...
by Graeme Cole
Sat Dec 02, 2023 1:48 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 29th November 2023 (Series 88, Heat 109)
Replies: 11
Views: 2424

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 29th November 2023 (Series 88, Heat 109)

Did its reintroduction coincide with the new numbers generator? If you mean the "new" display, that came after the old 7-segment one, no. That was introduced at the same time Countdown moved from Granada to MediaCity in 2013 . It's possible that 100 became a valid target at this point and...
by Graeme Cole
Sat Dec 02, 2023 1:13 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 29th November 2023 (Series 88, Heat 109)
Replies: 11
Views: 2424

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 29th November 2023 (Series 88, Heat 109)

Is there an Ask Graeme here? When there were two numbers games per show you'd expect it to come up every 450 shows on average - and up to 1996 it did. Now you'd expect it to come up every 225 shows, and it doesn't. Not even close. If we look at all episodes since 100 appeared as a target in 2016, t...
by Graeme Cole
Sat Dec 02, 2023 12:49 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 29th November 2023 (Series 88, Heat 109)
Replies: 11
Views: 2424

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 29th November 2023 (Series 88, Heat 109)

100 has come up several times as a target. The whole 101 thing is a myth. Only a really long time ago and in relatively recent history. Here are all the times 100 has appeared as a target... https://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_877 (1989) https://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_1268 (1992) https://wiki.apte...
by Graeme Cole
Wed Nov 29, 2023 7:20 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: You Are The Ref
Replies: 345
Views: 146828

Re: You Are The Ref

You're at a co:event. This is a co:event. It's not Countdown. It's not apterous. It's a co:event. So you're at a co:event and it's Bristol style. Conundrum time. It's a crucial conundrum. Pretty important game in the context of the day too. Both players buzz at around about the same time, although ...
by Graeme Cole
Tue Nov 28, 2023 12:43 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-Event Suggestion Box
Replies: 137
Views: 12567

Re: Co-Event Suggestion Box

Callum Todd wrote: Tue Nov 28, 2023 12:31 pm (probably Graeme, as it sounds such a sensible idea)
It's an interesting suggestion but I don't remember making it, so I don't think I can take the credit for it.
by Graeme Cole
Tue Nov 28, 2023 11:24 am
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-Event Suggestion Box
Replies: 137
Views: 12567

Re: Co-Event Suggestion Box

it's important that the small numbers are revealed before the larges. Particularly in 4 large this distinction is significant. 100% agreed. I also have a strong preference for larges always being on the left, as that's the canonical way of seeing them, and I never write them down. Frankly, it's an ...
by Graeme Cole
Tue Nov 28, 2023 10:52 am
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-Event Suggestion Box
Replies: 137
Views: 12567

Re: Co-Event Suggestion Box

On writing the numbers down, how much time should there be and when does it become "extra"? It can be quite awkward watching the numbers come up quickly and then having to write them down (backwards, because of the weird Countdown tradition from decades on the television) and a bit of tim...
by Graeme Cole
Tue Nov 28, 2023 10:43 am
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-Event Suggestion Box
Replies: 137
Views: 12567

Re: Co-Event Suggestion Box

1) Extra Time for Writing Numbers Down: Should a player be given considerable extra time to write the numbers down before revealing the target? This deviation from the show's format happened for Tim on Saturday. It inadvertently provides extra thinking time for everyone. In games like 6 small, this...
by Graeme Cole
Tue Nov 28, 2023 12:26 am
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-Event Suggestion Box
Replies: 137
Views: 12567

Re: Co-Event Suggestion Box

Written as a separate post as I think this one's important enough to deserve it. I was disappointed to hear recently that someone who used to come to events no longer does, because of certain people and their continued disrespect of boundaries. It's a tiny minority, but it's always the same men's na...
by Graeme Cole
Mon Nov 27, 2023 11:46 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-Event Suggestion Box
Replies: 137
Views: 12567

Co-Event Suggestion Box

Here's a thread for everyone's suggestions on how co-events could be improved. Naturally people normally post these in the thread corresponding to the most recent co-event, because the improvement they thought of is fresh in their mind. However, to avoid these looking like criticisms of one specific...
by Graeme Cole
Sun Nov 26, 2023 10:33 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: FOCAL Finals and MK Open - 25th November 2023
Replies: 48
Views: 16622

Re: FOCAL Finals and MK Open - 25th November 2023

*Graeme Cole once said that in his experience it's the onion, but I think he must hang out with a statistically anomalous bunch of people. Last night I went for a curry with seven other people from this social group, and guess what, the onions got used up first. Basically you're calling this forum ...
by Graeme Cole
Sun Nov 26, 2023 5:47 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Letter Shuffling Algorithms
Replies: 15
Views: 7009

Re: Letter Shuffling Algorithms

Bumping this - the tool that was used for hosting the finals yesterday implemented "algorithm 2" as outlined by Jack (although with 9 or 15 rounders (code bugs excepted!) we're never going to get near the end of the pack so algorithm 1 is probably fine!) I think it felt about right - ther...
by Graeme Cole
Sun Nov 26, 2023 4:31 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: What's the minimum time you have to be resident in the British Isles in order to qualify for Countdown?
Replies: 52
Views: 6475

Re: What's the minimum time you have to be resident in the British Isles in order to qualify for Countdown?

I was going to say the exact same thing. Being a contestant on a TV show, fun though it is, is not worth giving up your job for.
by Graeme Cole
Sun Nov 26, 2023 2:06 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: The Countdown Android App is now out!
Replies: 153
Views: 28544

Re: The Countdown Android App is now out!

Yesterday, Phil Stanton mentioned to me that when the app asks you to pick your numbers, the "Random" button never picks 6 small. I can reproduce this. I've just played four 10xN games, pressing the Random pick button every time, and in 40 numbers rounds I didn't get a single 6 small. This...
by Graeme Cole
Tue Nov 21, 2023 12:25 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Unpopular opinions you genuinely hold
Replies: 242
Views: 30312

Re: Unpopular opinions you genuinely hold

Marc Meakin wrote: Mon Nov 20, 2023 2:40 pm I will refer to people by their chosen name and not their pronouns
What, you never use the words "him", "her" or "them" to refer to someone?
by Graeme Cole
Tue Nov 21, 2023 12:18 am
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: FOCAL Finals and MK Open - 25th November 2023
Replies: 48
Views: 16622

Re: FOCAL Finals and MK Open - 25th November 2023

Unfortunately the venue have set a capacity which we've met (actually we went over and have had to reject a couple). However Beachy has made alternate meal plans so worth messaging him. Ofc anyone else is welcome to join us for the karaoke (up until 10pm) Ok no worries cheers for the info Hey Dan. ...
by Graeme Cole
Wed Nov 15, 2023 7:32 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Track and Field (and Road) Athletics
Replies: 252
Views: 49378

Re: Track and Field (and Road) Athletics

Joasia Zakrzewski banned for 12 months for using car in race Stories like this are always hilarious, but what makes this especially noteworthy is she still only came third. Presumably this was to the great amusement of the two who finished ahead of her, who now brag about having beaten every other ...
by Graeme Cole
Sat Oct 14, 2023 12:10 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

Do you have a quick way to produce a list of teapot owners, who won their first game by <10 points, and solved one of the numbers rounds in the same way as their opponent after declaring second? https://twitter.com/fesshole/status/1710798417805394113?t=SmwfDZeMD38Yg7KOX8EnYw&s=19 Skipping ahead...
by Graeme Cole
Sat Oct 14, 2023 10:58 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: You Are The Ref
Replies: 345
Views: 146828

Re: You Are The Ref

C2 leads C1 by 15 points going into the last letters game. C1 declares a 9. C2 then declares a risky 9. C1's word is just the letters spelt out as they are in the selection and disallowed. C2's word is a valid 8 with an S on the end - plausible but disallowed. The lead remains at 15 points. C1 then...
by Graeme Cole
Tue Sep 12, 2023 11:56 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Joke Items
Replies: 250
Views: 82481

Re: Joke Items

"Click and collect". What's the point of it? Who's using it? There are two main ways to buy something. You could go to an actual bricks-and-mortar shop, and get it the same day but have the inconvenience of having to go all the way to the shop. Alternatively, you could order it from a webs...
by Graeme Cole
Tue Sep 12, 2023 11:11 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday 11th September 2023 (Series 88, Heat 52)
Replies: 4
Views: 989

Re: Spoilers for Monday 11th September 2023 (Series 88, Heat 52)

Gavin Chipper wrote: Tue Sep 12, 2023 8:00 am No hidable.
HOBNAILED
by Graeme Cole
Tue Aug 15, 2023 5:03 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Tuesday 15th August 2023 (Series 88, Heat 33)
Replies: 27
Views: 3264

Re: Spoilers for Tuesday 15th August 2023 (Series 88, Heat 33)

Matey taking the piss. Suggest the wiki write-up kept to the minimum - don't give him the attention he's clearly after. What a tosser. I've seen a couple of people suggest this was a deliberately low score to seek attention, but what makes you so sure of that? Having watched the episode, all I can ...
by Graeme Cole
Thu Jul 27, 2023 6:56 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Big Ben
Replies: 25
Views: 4280

Re: Big Ben

Incredible that they put so much effort into reproducing Big Ben's iconic clock face, then they put a 7 in the 6 position.
by Graeme Cole
Sat Jul 22, 2023 9:16 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: What is your preferred format for co-events?
Replies: 6
Views: 1943

Re: What is your preferred format for co-events?

I do get why some people like the divisions format as more people can win prizes not just those at the top of the tree, but IMO the big problem with the divisions format is that your final position is largely determined by how you perform solely in the first half of the day. Take the recent CO:NUT ...
by Graeme Cole
Sun Jul 02, 2023 6:06 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

What are the chances of a 'Golden Game', on Apto or elsewhere? Standard 15-player finds a nine in each round, along with all numbers, and the con. This hypothetical game would have a score of 230. Statisically, what are the chances? I imagine there's not a lot, but is there anything the player coul...
by Graeme Cole
Sun Jul 02, 2023 5:57 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

Rita Meston scored in all 10 letters rounds on 14th March 2023, despite only finding the longest available word in two of them. Has anyone ever scored in every letters round without finding any maxes in the 15-round era? The following seven players have all played a modern 15-rounder in which they ...
by Graeme Cole
Sun Jul 02, 2023 5:39 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

6 small: 2650 1 large: 22055 2 large: 4637 3 large: 958 4 large: 1361 This is extracted from a post on numbers success by pick, and is the closest thing I can find to "how often each selection has been picked". So yeah, how often has each selection been picked, and is that possible as a m...
by Graeme Cole
Sun Jul 02, 2023 5:30 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

I noticed that the vast majority of John Hastings's games went to crucial conundrums on his way to running up Series 42. Is 70% a record for games that went to a crucial with contestants with, say, more than 2 games? (If you discount Hastings's non-crucial 14-round final, it's 7/9 in terms of 9-rou...
by Graeme Cole
Sun Jul 02, 2023 5:12 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

What's the longest we've gone without an E? Consecutive non-E letters and consecutive non-E vowels. (Not time because that would just be a holiday or something.) I don't think it's too spoilerific to say that today we had four consecutive rounds with no E. 42 letters including 16 vowels, if I've co...
by Graeme Cole
Sun Jul 02, 2023 4:49 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

What's the biggest points difference between two Octochamps A and B where A got a higher octo total than B, but B had a better % of available points scored in their octo run? Luke Boynton scored 1032/1149 (89.8%) but Ed McCullagh scored 896/979 (91.5%). This is the biggest octotal difference I can ...
by Graeme Cole
Sun Jul 02, 2023 4:23 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

I've been having this question in my head and thinking about where to post it, and I think here might be a good spot. I've been using WebRack a lot to host weekly games in my Discord and it's been great fun. Recently though I've been introducing some of the variants that Apterous has through WebRac...
by Graeme Cole
Sun Jul 02, 2023 4:10 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

Based on the standard letter distributions mentioned earlier in this thread (you can just pick the most recent one, and ignore the effects of shuffling), what is the least likely 9-letter word that has been available in a selection at least once? What is the least likely 9 that has actually been sp...
by Graeme Cole
Sun Jul 02, 2023 4:08 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 682580

Re: Ask Graeme?

Graeme, what is the average max length for letters rounds in the modern 15Rer? And is there much of a difference in the ave maxes between 3/4/5 vowel selections? The mean average max length for letters rounds is 7.46. This covers 20,890 rounds from the start of the modern 15-rounder to the end of s...
by Graeme Cole
Fri Jun 09, 2023 8:05 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday 9th June 2023 (Series 87, Heat 100)
Replies: 7
Views: 1033

Re: Spoilers for Friday 9th June 2023 (Series 87, Heat 100)

When I watch it, all I can see is C2 getting the right answer then being told it's wrong. Maybe there was more discussion or clarification we didn't see? When a contestant says something which sounds like both the correct answer and some made-up word in neither the dictionary nor the selection, it s...
by Graeme Cole
Thu Jun 08, 2023 7:38 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Thursday 8th June 2023 (Series 87, Heat 99)
Replies: 4
Views: 707

Re: Spoilers for Thursday 8th June 2023 (Series 87, Heat 99)

Is Graham the first returnee to have had the same guest as last time? Junaid Mubeen had Barry Cryer as DC guest in two different series. Zarte also had Jon Culshaw twice - in the prelims of his first series, and the latter stages of his COC victory. Kirk Bevins had Dr Phil Hammond as a guest in his...
by Graeme Cole
Wed Jun 07, 2023 10:29 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 7th June 2023 (Series 87, Heat 98)
Replies: 11
Views: 1285

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 7th June 2023 (Series 87, Heat 98)

Unlucky Adam, that could have gone either way. Glad you'll be back for the finals. Good to see Graham get the teapot though, and Colin playing up the whole thing about a certain pasta dish and history repeating itself in multiple ways. It seems appropriate to mention that on this occasion Graham got...
by Graeme Cole
Thu Jun 01, 2023 6:05 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Questions you've always wanted answered
Replies: 1609
Views: 623934

Re: Questions you've always wanted answered

Mark Deeks wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 12:23 pm Seems like he missed an obvious trick, though. Coulda been the ubiquitous one with a bit more forethought. Silly Gary.
Fortunately for him there was one thing Andy Celsius didn't think of.
by Graeme Cole
Tue May 23, 2023 11:29 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Tuesday 23rd May 2023 (Series 87, Heat 87)
Replies: 15
Views: 1450

Re: Spoilers for Tuesday 23rd May 2023 (Series 87, Heat 87)

Let the Hurricane roll on!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Ubergeek question: Has any max game ever actually been confirmed on screen to have been a max game? I could see them doing this for some of the newer ones. Kirk's max game in the 30th Birthday Championship was announced by Nick Hewer at the time but t...
by Graeme Cole
Tue May 23, 2023 10:14 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday 22nd May 2023 (Series 87, Heat 86)
Replies: 9
Views: 1151

Re: Spoilers for Monday 22nd May 2023 (Series 87, Heat 86)

Gavin Chipper wrote: Tue May 23, 2023 9:25 am Interesting stat Graeme. I bet you've been sitting on this for a while.
Improbably enough, no. By a happy coincidence I only thought to work it out last night.
by Graeme Cole
Mon May 22, 2023 11:51 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday 22nd May 2023 (Series 87, Heat 86)
Replies: 9
Views: 1151

Re: Spoilers for Monday 22nd May 2023 (Series 87, Heat 86)

As of today's episode, 8,164 episodes of Countdown have been broadcast. Naturally there are significant caveats to this number* because there are so many ways to define what counts as an "episode", but for everything before the current series I've gone with "if it has an entry in my d...
by Graeme Cole
Sat May 20, 2023 12:59 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Politics in General
Replies: 1592
Views: 1635440

Re: Politics in General

It's like the famous saying says (I'm probably paraphrasing here) "I might not agree with what you are saying but will fight to the death for your right to say it" Voltaire When I spoke at the Oxford Union last year about the alarming recent popularity of people filming things vertically ...
by Graeme Cole
Mon Mar 13, 2023 10:26 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday 13th March 2023 (Series 87, Heat 36)
Replies: 10
Views: 1119

Re: Spoilers for Monday 13th March 2023 (Series 87, Heat 36)

Johnny Canuck wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 8:43 pm It's -OUR here too, guys
I did wonder what he was talking about here. The hyphen makes it clear.
by Graeme Cole
Sat Mar 11, 2023 1:32 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Politics in General
Replies: 1592
Views: 1635440

Re: Politics in General

Andrew Neil never called the Government Nazis Nor did Gary Lineker. This is what he said, here and here : Good heavens, this is beyond awful. This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I...