c4countdown

Gary Male

(Why did I start reviewing these? Oh yeah, punishment for injecting babies with arse-aids in a previous life. Curse you, reincarnation!) From 2000 we have the first generation of handheld Countdown games. Built by Lexibook and endorsed by the OUP, you'd expect it to hold the whole of the NODE. And i...

Gary Male

I got 8 perfect games in a row during Jono's octochamp run, but haven't won a round since.

Gary Male

In my QF Series 53 with Richard Heald, we "halved" all eleven letters rounds. I'm way too lazy to know if this is unique, but it certainly can't have happened that often. http://www.apterous.org/cdb/game.php?game=499 It happened in my first appearance, against Andy Crompton. http://www.co...

Gary Male

Hmm, pretty tenuous but I picked every type of numbers game (including a Carol's choice) and declared 300 away as a genuine attempt at a game.

Gary Male

Speaking to Jon Corby at Colin jolted my memory as to the series of Countdown game reviews I started writing. Several years and 5 world-class psychiatrists later I think the ZX Spectrum version is finally out of my system. So where better to go next than the 1994 MS-DOS version from Lockton Software...

Gary Male

1. Dan cracks sum too (3, 3) 2. Live with reason for this reason (7) 3. High class magazine article on boy, unknown (3, 4) 4. Nothings, they whisper sweet nothings (5) 5. These will make mother-in-law several tonnes light (4, 4) 1. AND ALL 2. BECAUSE 3. THE LADY 4. LOVES 5. MILK TRAY Hate to be pic...

Gary Male

Oh, I see! Very nice. I'm really not the right person to give the rest of the answers. We probably need a mystery man surruptitiously delivering them.

Gary Male

Oh! I saw this thread in Active Topics, read the first post, thought oooh, that sounds like fun, went away and wrote a load of crossword clues, then came back and finally noticed the date... Ah well. I've written some crossword clues, for whoever wants to play: 1. Dan cracks sum too (3, 3) 2. Live ...

Gary Male

Oh, and Beat the Star with Vernon Kay for one of ITV's current shows. Duel with Nick Hancock was pretty good but that probably won't come back. And it was a rolling format so may not count. Who could forget Grand Slam? Apart from most people in this thread. ;) It's a good job there's no Countdown co...

Gary Male

Great day, good to see so many new faces. Apologies to anyone who I may have accidentally infected with bird flu. Or something.

Gary Male

Beat the Teacher was pretty much the best noughts and crosses variant, I think.

Gary Male

Neil Zussman wrote: I always knew Manchester was a strange place (not that I wish to offend any Mancunians, of course).

As John Shuttleworth sang, "You're like Manchester, you've got Strangeways"

Gary Male

Anyone have a good link to a quick guide to the shorthand of cryptic clues? I know "in" tends to mean a word inside another word, and that's about all I know. You could do a lot worse than read http://www.biddlecombe.demon.co.uk/yagcc/ or http://www3.sympatico.ca/tagies/cryptics/solvinggu...

Gary Male

Yes, I'll more than likely only delete posts if there's a clear accidental double-post. There's nothing like responding to a deleted post to confuse people. Back on topic, quite a nice set of clues. There is one clue I'm not really happy with but won't elaborate until next week. Overall very good th...

Gary Male

Or ask a forum moderator nicely. It's deleted now.

Gary Male

But over 6 games, one of which Kasparov made a blunder effectively ending the game before it even got going, is that really enough games to show Deep Blue wasn't going to make any "bug moves"? Maybe over 12 or 18 games it would have shown some but there's no real reason the various weights...

Gary Male

It's the nature of the elite chess players to have a dose of paranoia. Given that the programming was to "learn" as much as possible by studying thousands of top-class games and work out the positional qualities leading to its own move weightings instead of the old mangrabbing, I don't thi...

Gary Male

Ben Hunter wrote:
rubsley wrote:Good to hear from someone who doesn't hate me! lol
Don't worry about it, this is the forum where a lad who jokingly declares a number that's roughly 300 away from the target gets labeled 'a cock' for not taking the institution seriously enough.

There's nothing wrong with declaring 300 away.

Gary Male

I do part of the MCing for the Lincolnshire youth darts team. Good fun, especially when getting to shout out "ooooooone huuuundred and eiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighty"

Gary Male

The earliest UK #1 Single that is a valid niner is "Dreamboat" by Alma Colgan, 2 weeks from 15th July 1955. And if I get really bored tomorrow I may go through the rest.

Gary Male

I've now fully adjusted to the new lineup, which is a miracle in itself given that people with autism and Asperger's dislike change...... Jeff is waaaaaaaay better than DO'C. The puns Jeff's used since he started........ dear oh dear........ :twisted: :mrgreen: I'd argue with those puns that have b...

Gary Male

Good Evening Rockall! Unless that doesn't count (which it shouldn't)

Gary Male

At the risk of sounding like Kirk, I'll have to declare myself out due to darts commitments.

Gary Male

And we have a frontrunner for best look of anguish during a conundrum in 2009

Gary Male

Martin Gardner wrote:I do! FACETIOUS, and if you want to count the Y as a vowel as well, FACETIOUSLY!

Sorry if I spoiled this for everyone.

It's not a spoiler at all, as there's an 8 in Chambers. I have heard this before so I won't reveal all just yet.

Gary Male · Re: Spoilers for Thursday 15 Jan 2009 (CoC Heat 4) 25*10+75+2

25*10+75+2

Gary Male

It looks like this poll is one-sided, so I'll create the new subforum in the next few days. However it would be useful to move all the existing topics on the subject into this new forum, so I would like someone to trawl through all the old topics and send me a list of what should be moved. In retur...

Gary Male

Or, use it as an excuse to go out and not really be recovered enough to post until today. Never again.

Gary Male

All of which just serves to confirm that the mass noun tag is a good idea poorly implemented. If anyone from OUP ever reads this, please give us a pluralisable mass noun tag!

Gary Male

I had GRANITES disallowed , but Soosbury Rules lists is as acceptable. In the ODE2r GRANITES is explicitly stated at the start of the book as one of the mass nouns that can take a plural. But television doesn't really follow that. Probably best to leave it and just offer ANGRIEST or something next ...

Gary Male

Jason Larsen wrote: One of my old math teachers said, "You should never put a 0 in front of a number." She was absolutely right!

Try telling that to James Bond

Gary Male

After seeing it disallowed in quite a few games recently on Apterous, MOHAIRS yay or nay? It's listed as a fabric, so logically should be allowed the plural? Plus the entry strongly suggests that their are different types of mohair.

Gary Male

Very happy to get BALDRIC yesterday, after spending what felt like an eternity between going for that or sticking a K on the end. I'm glad I stuck. If only my conundruming was better.

Gary Male

SKIMMINGTON has a certain charm to it - a procession made through a village intended to bring ridicule on and make an example of a nagging wife or unfaithful husband.

Gary Male

Thanks Charlie, and everyone who played for a great evening.

Gary Male

Let's call it an 18-way tie

Gary Male

Ballsed up for me as well

Gary Male

Carling n. One of the short timbers running fore and aft that connect the transverse beams supporting the deck of a ship. Whether it's allowed is another matter however. It was listed as a variation of CARLINE (2) in the ODE 2 (as was carlin), removed for the ODE2r. The biographical entry for Will ...

Gary Male

Charlie Reams wrote:Monday 22 December sees the advent of APTOBASH.

Charlie Reams wrote: Roll-up, roll-up, register here! Entry closes at 23:59 on Sunday 28 December.

That's the whole of 20th century physics completely fucked then.

(Sorry Kai).

Gary Male

Nice explanation of the portmanteau. And for some reason I knew the meaning of sealpoint. Can't think why though, it's not a word that I've used...

Good stuff.

Gary Male

Is it me? Oh, wait...

Gary Male

Twenty20 is the spawn of the devil, and should not be entertained under any circumstances. It's like playing snooker on a 6 feet table with 3 reds. Ahem.

I'm in.

Gary Male

I'm not playing this game, so I won't provide a link to the song.

Gary Male

Texas Hold'em Goatdown: Several people occupy a table, each is handed three letters that they keep hidden from the other players. Bets are placed. Then four letters are laid out on the table. Bets are placed again. Then the eighth and ninth letters are laid out, with betting taking place after each...

Gary Male

Top work, congratulations

Gary Male

As has been said, start off with tabloids then move on to the Express or maybe the Mail, depending on preference. I spent many hours on buses in the late 90s with nothing to do other than stare at the crosswords. Look at the solution, then see what you missed and remember what the small words and si...

Gary Male

Charlie Reams wrote:I was trying to think of an electronics-related clue. The best I can come up with is:

A. (amplitude): repeater! (5)

AGAIN

To seal, I must be taken in by ham storage device (9)

Gary Male

Good stuff. DIVERS is also listed as a literary term in Chambers and Collins, so it looks sound to me. Contemptuous Mr. Harris returns (6) Five iron mother's turn to the left (6) Greek character found in lower labyrinth? (8) Is the latter MINOTAUR? TAU is a greek letter and MINOR being "lower&...

Gary Male

Are we anywhere near stage 2 yet?

Gary Male

Good stuff. DIVERS is also listed as a literary term in Chambers and Collins, so it looks sound to me.

Contemptuous Mr. Harris returns (6)
Five iron mother's turn to the left (6)
Greek character found in lower labyrinth? (8)

Gary Male

Robot confused Corby? Good! (6) CYBORG :) I thought you'd get that one :) Without wanting to give too much away, PESTO MILANESE is thinking along the right lines (and I wish I'd been clever enough to see pesto milanese could be made from 13 of the letters). No Spaniels or pasties involved, sadly.

Gary Male

Yes Kirk, NEED is right. D for daughter (it's in Chambers as an acceptible abbreviation), and with NEE first (first has to be included to make the components go in the right order

) to make NEED

Gary Male

A few more to be going on with

Order Len's hot meat pies but get this? (15, 2 words)
Robot confused Corby? Good! (6)
Rod's with a new daughter... (4)
...require daughter to be born first (4)

Gary Male

How do you know they are lying? BUT there are some on here who could win the Euro Millions Lottery next week but would still be pissed off 24hrs later. I'd still be pissed 24 hours later but I don't think that's what you meant. You'd be pissed 24 hours before! Good to see that the new pairing is ta...

Gary Male

False. The clock has 1 hand, and it's not the ankles.

Gary Male

If they don't want someone who dances badly in the contest, then don't invite people to take part who dance badly. The public gets what the public wants.

Gary Male

Yep. Maybe they should just allow hyphenated words (ignoring the hyphen like they ignore accents.) I can't think of any disastrous consequences of that but there might be a few oddities introduced. If only Julian were here :( My first thought is that you might want to limit it to only one hyphen, t...

Gary Male

I always thought there were 10 types of people. Those that understand ternary, those that don't, and those that get it confused with binary.

Gary Male

I don't know of anyone with the correct dictionary for this series, so I figured it was easier to leave everything in and delete the dubious ones later. Of course there might also be words in the old dictionary but not in the new one that would win the round but get overlooked. I'd venture that the...

Gary Male

VERONAL is just listed as "n. a sedative drug, a derivative of barbituric acid" in COD9 so there would have been no reason to disallow VERONALS according to that dictionary. The joys of a book without the mass noun tag...

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