Search found 316 matches

by Stewart Gordon
Wed Mar 13, 2024 12:21 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 6th March 2024 (Series 89, Heat 47)
Replies: 1
Views: 199

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 6th March 2024 (Series 89, Heat 47)

Why is ETHANOLS valid? Simply because the dictionary lists ETHANOL as a noun and doesn't explicitly label it as a mass noun? That's weird.

When I went to school, ethanol was one specific chemical compound - there were never different varieties of it.
by Stewart Gordon
Tue Feb 13, 2024 1:12 am
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co:Durham 2024
Replies: 4
Views: 9427

Re: Co:Durham 2024

That puts me out of it. :(

Hopefully there'll be a next time....
by Stewart Gordon
Tue Feb 13, 2024 1:02 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday 2nd February 2024 (Series 89, Heat 24)
Replies: 0
Views: 258

Spoilers for Friday 2nd February 2024 (Series 89, Heat 24)

I'm pretty sure the true meaning of "Hobson's choice" is a "this or nothing" choice, rather than literally no choice at all. According to what I was taught, Mr Hobson himself is reputed to have said to his customers something like, "You're having the horse nearest the stable...
by Stewart Gordon
Wed Feb 07, 2024 11:42 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Tuesday 30th January 2024 (Series 89, Heat 21)
Replies: 3
Views: 533

Re: Spoilers for Tuesday 30th January 2024 (Series 89, Heat 21)

I think the problem with the first numbers round was not so much too many even numbers as too many powers of 2, such that you couldn't divide them to get an odd number.
by Stewart Gordon
Wed Feb 07, 2024 11:32 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: National COLIN Day
Replies: 2
Views: 359

National COLIN Day

When Mr Murray told us on 29 Jan that it's National Colin Day, one of the first things I wondered is whether this has anything to do with the 'name days' celebrated in some religious traditions. Of course, the other thing I noticed quite quickly is that it's at the time of year that COLIN is held. I...
by Stewart Gordon
Fri Jan 26, 2024 1:53 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Thursday 18th January 2024 (Series 89, Heat 13)
Replies: 2
Views: 713

Re: Spoilers for Thursday 18th January 2024 (Series 89, Heat 13)

A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. A hinny is the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey.

Strangely, the Road Traffic Act considers a mule, but not a hinny, to be an animal.
by Stewart Gordon
Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:51 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Thursday 4th January 2024 (Series 89, Heat 3)
Replies: 1
Views: 370

Spoilers for Thursday 4th January 2024 (Series 89, Heat 3)

My method for the last numbers game (seen only just within the time):
75 × 3 + 7 + 100 ÷ 50 − 25

Not sure whether Rachel was just showing off....
by Stewart Gordon
Sat Dec 23, 2023 10:58 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-event lunch arrangements
Replies: 20
Views: 3193

Re: Co-event lunch arrangements

Marc Meakin wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2023 5:51 pm
Stewart Gordon wrote: Sat Dec 16, 2023 3:10 pm
Marc Meakin wrote: Wed Dec 06, 2023 9:24 pmIf lunch is provided the downside is the catering cost will up the entry fee or any prize fund
Huh? How do you mean it will up any prize fund?
If lunch is provided then the cost of providing the lunch will affect any prize pot surely
Affect, yes, but up? How?
by Stewart Gordon
Sat Dec 16, 2023 3:10 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-event lunch arrangements
Replies: 20
Views: 3193

Re: Co-event lunch arrangements

Marc Meakin wrote: Wed Dec 06, 2023 9:24 pm If lunch is provided the downside is the catering cost will up the entry fee or any prize fund
Huh? How do you mean it will up any prize fund?
by Stewart Gordon
Sat Dec 16, 2023 3:01 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-Event Suggestion Box
Replies: 137
Views: 12566

Re: Co-Event Suggestion Box

As TCap says, get the players to look away if need be. Put the conundrum in the right orientation on the table and cover it with an object other than your hand. Something like a phone works well. Don't have the object physically touching the conundrum paper though. Place one edge of the phone in fr...
by Stewart Gordon
Sat Dec 16, 2023 2:55 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-Event Suggestion Box
Replies: 137
Views: 12566

Re: Co-Event Suggestion Box

Does anybody have some low effort high impact suggestions for reducing the % of botched printed conundrum reveals? I had a botched conundrum given to me in at least 5/8 of the events I attended in 2023 which had paper conundrums. Reasons for botched conundrums reveals could be any of (but not limit...
by Stewart Gordon
Wed Dec 06, 2023 1:35 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-event lunch arrangements
Replies: 20
Views: 3193

Re: Co-event lunch arrangements

We've had two events recently with lunches organised - Edinburgh where the bridge club had lovely sandwiches, soup and cakes, and Newcastle where there was a cafe where we pre-ordered. That's good to know - shame I didn't manage to make it to those two events. Both were great (for someone with no s...
by Stewart Gordon
Wed Dec 06, 2023 12:29 am
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-event lunch arrangements
Replies: 20
Views: 3193

Co-event lunch arrangements

Over the years, these have varied from event to event. Different arrangements I can remember are: something served to us from an on-site kitchen (mainly at Ben's early events) an on-site buffet lunch making use of restaurant facilities at the venue going together somewhere down the road to get somet...
by Stewart Gordon
Tue Dec 05, 2023 11:54 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-Event Suggestion Box
Replies: 137
Views: 12566

Re: Co-Event Suggestion Box

Should be noted that on number ordering, it's only since Rachel took over that the large numbers have always been on the left. Carol always did it in reverse order of how the contestant said it (which I personally prefer) so there are several examples of large numbers NOT being in the middle. Off t...
by Stewart Gordon
Tue Dec 05, 2023 5:01 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co-Event Suggestion Box
Replies: 137
Views: 12566

Re: Co-Event Suggestion Box

During the final, either display the scores or announce them after every round . There's really no excuse for not doing this. This brings me to my next point: Always have the letters and numbers in clear view, be it on a screen or on a board. It defeats the whole point of having a final if people c...
by Stewart Gordon
Tue Dec 05, 2023 3:21 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Co:Durham 2024
Replies: 4
Views: 9427

Re: Co:Durham 2024

I'd love to come but am not sure at the moment – I have potentially a lot of travelling to do in July! Have you got enough of your fancy letters/numbers boards to go round?
by Stewart Gordon
Sat Oct 21, 2023 5:38 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Religion
Replies: 548
Views: 140470

Re: Religion

Back in Methuselah's time, 100 was probably considered young. Didn't it turn out Methuselah's age was actually given in months? Hmm. It seems virtually all translations give it as 969 years. Looking at those on Bible Gateway , it seems the only exceptions are: * GNT states "years" for tim...
by Stewart Gordon
Fri Oct 20, 2023 7:11 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday 9th October 2023 (Series 88, Heat 72)
Replies: 7
Views: 1199

Re: Spoilers for Monday 9th October 2023 (Series 88, Heat 72)

Could be that it’s considered a common expression Considered by whom? To me, it's neither common nor an expression. and it’s not a new word? So what? Newness and obscurity have little to do with each other. Way back in the Series 7 final, no definition of ATTABOY was given then either so not the fi...
by Stewart Gordon
Thu Oct 19, 2023 10:09 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday 9th October 2023 (Series 88, Heat 72)
Replies: 7
Views: 1199

Re: Spoilers for Monday 9th October 2023 (Series 88, Heat 72)

Philip A wrote: Thu Oct 19, 2023 9:23 pm
Stewart Gordon wrote: Thu Oct 19, 2023 9:11 pm No definition of ATTABOY was given. This is bizarre.
Why is it bizarre?
Because normally when DC give a word people are likely to be unfamiliar with, they do give one, of course.
by Stewart Gordon
Thu Oct 19, 2023 9:14 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Religion
Replies: 548
Views: 140470

Re: Religion

Marc Meakin wrote: Thu Oct 19, 2023 2:25 amIm starting to wonder if this generation will be the last to reach old age
Probably not, because the definition of "old age" will change to reflect the age people are generally living to.

Back in Methuselah's time, 100 was probably considered young.
by Stewart Gordon
Thu Oct 19, 2023 9:11 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday 9th October 2023 (Series 88, Heat 72)
Replies: 7
Views: 1199

Re: Spoilers for Monday 9th October 2023 (Series 88, Heat 72)

No definition of ATTABOY was given. This is bizarre.
by Stewart Gordon
Tue Oct 17, 2023 12:38 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Tuesday 3rd October 2023 (Series 88, Heat 68)
Replies: 6
Views: 961

Re: Spoilers for Tuesday 3rd October 2023 (Series 88, Heat 68)

Sam Cappleman-Lynes wrote: Tue Oct 17, 2023 9:25 amHere are all the U-less Q words of 9 letters or more:

ACQHIRING
MGQASHIYO
MGQASHIYOS
MQHASHIYO
MQHASHIYOS
NASTALIQS
NOTARIQON
NOTARIQONS
By "all" do you mean "all in the Countdown dictionary" or "all in the English language as a whole"?
by Stewart Gordon
Tue Oct 17, 2023 8:20 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Tuesday 3rd October 2023 (Series 88, Heat 68)
Replies: 6
Views: 961

Spoilers for Tuesday 3rd October 2023 (Series 88, Heat 68)

Not sure why this hadn't been started already.

"There will not be back-to-back nines from Flo-Glo, because we've got a Q, no U at all."

Has this actually been confirmed, that there are no 9-letter Q-without-U words in the dictionary?
by Stewart Gordon
Mon Sep 04, 2023 12:23 am
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)

I'm surprised nobody got 515 by what seems to me the most intuitive method. I saw it within the time.

((9 + 1) × (8 + 2) + 3) × 5
by Stewart Gordon
Sun Aug 20, 2023 12:43 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Countdown ELO Ratings
Replies: 23
Views: 4602

Re: Countdown ELO Ratings

I've produced a list of ELO ratings for Countdown players based on real life games. This accounts for games from Television and games from Co-Events. I used all games that I could find. Top 25 Players v0.0.3 Where can the rest of us find out our ratings? FAQs What does this stand for?
by Stewart Gordon
Tue Jun 27, 2023 2:09 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday 7th April 2023 (Series 87, Heat 55
Replies: 12
Views: 1281

Re: Spoilers for Friday 7th April 2023 (Series 87, Heat 55

Philip A wrote: Sun Apr 30, 2023 1:58 pm Exclamations take plurals if they exist as a noun, otherwise the plural isn’t valid.
That isn't an exclamation taking a plural at all. It's a noun taking a plural.
by Stewart Gordon
Tue Jun 27, 2023 2:08 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday 7th April 2023 (Series 87, Heat 55
Replies: 12
Views: 1281

Re: Spoilers for Friday 7th April 2023 (Series 87, Heat 55

(As an aside, I'm puzzled at why IC isn't valid. I get the impression that Roman numerals derive from a way of marking tally sticks, whereby 17 would be IIIIVIIIIXIIIIVII, shortened to XVII. Furthermore, apparently 'subtractive' notation is actually ordinal in origin (IX meaning "the I just be...
by Stewart Gordon
Sun Jun 11, 2023 10:28 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday 2nd June 2023 (Series 87, Heat 95)
Replies: 1
Views: 387

Re: Spoilers for Friday 2nd June 2023 (Series 87, Heat 95)

I know of UPDATION from my Indian colleagues. Essentially, the pattern of other verbs ending in -ATE has been applied, although the morpheme is actually DATE.

But ... "we would normally call it UPDATING, as a noun"? Really? My experience is that the noun is normally UPDATE.
by Stewart Gordon
Sat Apr 29, 2023 9:16 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday 7th April 2023 (Series 87, Heat 55
Replies: 12
Views: 1281

Re: Spoilers for Friday 7th April 2023 (Series 87, Heat 55

Interesting story about the 99. I recall it being covered on Balderdash and Piffle (presented by Victoria Coren as she was known back then - now best known for doing Only Connect), if I remember correctly. One of the ideas mentioned on that programme is of "IC", for "ice cream", ...
by Stewart Gordon
Sat Apr 29, 2023 8:53 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday 7th April 2023 (Series 87, Heat 55
Replies: 12
Views: 1281

Re: Spoilers for Friday 7th April 2023 (Series 87, Heat 55

What Susie said about MATIES didn't make sense. "You can spell it EY, in the singular, MATEY, or [same] without the Y, and the regular plural for that is IES." MATEY can also be spelt MATE, for which the plural is IES? (The subtitles said "matie" but this didn't factor into what ...
by Stewart Gordon
Sun Apr 09, 2023 1:58 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: spoilers Thursday 16th March
Replies: 3
Views: 656

Re: spoilers Thursday 16th March

Another interesting and enigmatic thing: the genus of the giant panda is Ailuropoda , literally meaning "cat foot". Ailurophobia is the fear of cats. However, Ailuridae isn't the cat family, but a family whose sole surviving species is the red panda! This makes me wonder what is the common...
by Stewart Gordon
Sat Apr 08, 2023 6:21 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: spoilers Thursday 16th March
Replies: 3
Views: 656

Re: spoilers Thursday 16th March

An interesting talk from Susie about pandas, but I'm inclined to question its factual accuracy. For a while I've wondered which is the true panda. Susie implied that it's the giant panda. However, multiple sources give the impression that it's actually the red one. Indeed, "giant" implies ...
by Stewart Gordon
Thu Apr 06, 2023 8:55 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Tuesday 4th April 2023 (Series 87, Heat 52)
Replies: 5
Views: 612

Re: Spoilers for Tuesday 4th April 2023 (Series 87, Heat 52)

Interestingly, you can slot an M in GERANIUM for GERMANIUM. Didn’t know that. Alex upped his numbers from last time. I was shocked that nobody in the studio spotted GERMANIUM, even more so given that the remaining M was directly below the A (IIRC) when GERANIUM was put up on the board. TBF, germani...
by Stewart Gordon
Thu Apr 06, 2023 6:13 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Tuesday 4th April 2023 (Series 87, Heat 52)
Replies: 5
Views: 612

Re: Spoilers for Tuesday 4th April 2023 (Series 87, Heat 52)

Philip A wrote: Wed Apr 05, 2023 9:22 am Interestingly, you can slot an M in GERANIUM for GERMANIUM. Didn’t know that.

Alex upped his numbers from last time.
I was shocked that nobody in the studio spotted GERMANIUM, even more so given that the remaining M was directly below the A (IIRC) when GERANIUM was put up on the board.
by Stewart Gordon
Tue Feb 28, 2023 11:42 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday 10th February 2023 (Series 87, Heat 15)
Replies: 9
Views: 1241

Re: Spoilers for Friday 10th February 2023 (Series 87, Heat 15)

"You have to be a donator, not a donater."

I always thought the word was DONOR.
by Stewart Gordon
Wed Jan 18, 2023 12:08 am
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: FOCAL website down
Replies: 5
Views: 1694

FOCAL website down

The last few times I've tried to access the FOCAL website, it's been down. Hmm. We’re having trouble finding that site. We can’t connect to the server at focalcountdown.co.uk. If you entered the right address, you can: Try again later Check your network connection Check that Firefox has permission t...
by Stewart Gordon
Thu Dec 15, 2022 11:04 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Religion
Replies: 548
Views: 140470

Re: Religion

That's the way I interpreted it. But what's the Bible reference? And what translation are you using? This is one of the starkest examples. You can choose whichever translation you like on that website. But in order to interpret "as he lieth with a woman", you need a pre-established norm. ...
by Stewart Gordon
Thu Dec 15, 2022 11:01 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday 28 November 2022 (Series 86, Heat 116)
Replies: 26
Views: 2760

Re: Spoilers for Monday 28 November 2022 (Series 86, Heat 116)

Philip A wrote: Sat Dec 10, 2022 12:41 pm Yeah, INERTIAL describes forces of which the bodies (i.e. objects) are at rest or in a straight motion.
When I went to school, the term referred to the absence of any forces acting on an object, thereby causing an absence of change in the object's velocity.
by Stewart Gordon
Sat Dec 10, 2022 10:18 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Religion
Replies: 548
Views: 140470

Re: Religion

E.g. "the bible says it is wrong for two men to have sexual relations together" is an 'is' statement that is scientifically true. No it's not. I'm pretty sure that Callum means that it is (scientifically) true that the bible says it! That's the way I interpreted it. But what's the Bible r...
by Stewart Gordon
Sat Dec 10, 2022 10:15 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday 28 November 2022 (Series 86, Heat 116)
Replies: 26
Views: 2760

Re: Spoilers for Monday 28 November 2022 (Series 86, Heat 116)

The definition Susie gave for INERTIAL is puzzling. How can a force be at rest?
by Stewart Gordon
Thu Oct 13, 2022 11:19 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 21 September 2022 (Series 86, Heat 67)
Replies: 2
Views: 469

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 21 September 2022 (Series 86, Heat 67)

Susie got her French in a bit of a muddle. "L'oeuf" means "the egg" not "an egg".
by Stewart Gordon
Tue Oct 04, 2022 8:51 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 7 September 2022 (Series 86, Heat 58)
Replies: 10
Views: 951

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 7 September 2022 (Series 86, Heat 58)

This is weird: I got the second TTT from the clue, but not in the intended way. Rather, it led me to "liar", and then when I looked at the remaining letters the solution fell into place.
by Stewart Gordon
Sat Oct 01, 2022 4:53 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday 5 September 2022 (Series 86, Heat 56)
Replies: 8
Views: 804

Re: Spoilers for Monday 5 September 2022 (Series 86, Heat 56)

Am I the first to notice that Colin got Freddie Mercury's YOB 40 years out?
by Stewart Gordon
Wed Aug 10, 2022 6:39 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Thursday 14 July 2022 - Colin Murray returns
Replies: 17
Views: 1558

Re: Spoilers for Thursday 14 July 2022 - Colin Murray returns

I'm surprised DC's round 5 offering was said/displayed without any censorship.

Susie says it's not an insult to anybody. But you could argue that it is an insult to those who actually do wet the bed after ingesting dandelion juice.
by Stewart Gordon
Wed Aug 10, 2022 6:32 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: How do I know if my word is valid?
Replies: 57
Views: 59417

Re: How do I know if my word is valid?

Rule of thumb here is if a cheese is named after a place, it would be capitalised; names of places are proper nouns after all. Whereas, if a noun describing a type of cheese is derived from another word, it would be lower-case; feta is from the Greek word ‘pheta’; crowdie or crowdy is derived from ...
by Stewart Gordon
Thu Jul 28, 2022 1:48 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday 11 July 2022 (Series 86, Heat 16)
Replies: 2
Views: 487

Re: Spoilers for Monday 11 July 2022 (Series 86, Heat 16)

Susie explains "midwife" as "a woman who was with the mother as she was giving birth". I would have expected better from Susie. Because it means "with woman", a man doing the same job would still be a midwife. I've seen this explicitly pointed out in a few places. Indee...
by Stewart Gordon
Thu Jul 28, 2022 1:44 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: How do I know if my word is valid?
Replies: 57
Views: 59417

Re: How do I know if my word is valid?

Recently I was looking to see what cheeses are capitalised. Brie, Caerphilly, Camembert, Cheddar, Double Gloucester, Edam, Emmental, Gruyère, Jarlsberg, Parmesan, Red Leicester, Roquefort and Stilton are all capitalised according to Lexico. The only ones I've found that aren't are feta and pecorino....
by Stewart Gordon
Mon May 23, 2022 9:37 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday 16th May 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 96)
Replies: 13
Views: 1318

Re: Spoilers for Monday 16 May 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 96)

"I'm going to start with the carat as in 13-carat gold. Um, it's a unit of weight that is used to measure gold, and also gemstones, such as the diamond." No, Susie, the carat used with gold is a unit of purity. OTOH, the carat used with gemstones is a unit of weight (or more precisely, mas...
by Stewart Gordon
Sun May 22, 2022 7:59 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Celebrity Countdown - Tuesday 19th November 2019
Replies: 13
Views: 6071

Re: Spoilers for Celebrity Countdown - Tuesday 19th November 2019

It may be your (and my) opinion that you can't pluralise an exclamation, but the point at issue is where this is laid down. It doesn't need to be. There would need to be a rule somewhere to say that you can pluralise exclamations. Why would all the (part of speech, inflection) combinations that are...
by Stewart Gordon
Sat Apr 30, 2022 9:44 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 27th April 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 83)
Replies: 2
Views: 519

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 27 April 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 83)

"What we're doing, when we write a sentence, is again, summarising our opinion."

So if the content between a capital letter and a fullstop is a statement of fact, it isn't a sentence?
by Stewart Gordon
Wed Apr 20, 2022 10:09 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday 21st May 2021 (Series 83, Preliminary 100)
Replies: 5
Views: 1435

Re: Spoilers for Friday 21st May 2021 (Series 83, Preliminary 100)

I wa surprised to discover that UNSLEPT ( r 12) doesn't appear in Lexico. I would have thought that a bed could be unslept in. It's more (un) slept-in than unslept in. Because you don't unsleep. You also don't unwrite or unread. But something can be unwritten or unreadable. But I would guess the is...
by Stewart Gordon
Sat Feb 12, 2022 1:19 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Friday 11th February (Series 85, Prelim 30)
Replies: 8
Views: 1096

Re: Spoilers for Friday 11 February (Series 85, Prelim 30)

One TRIANGLED is one.
Two TRIANGLED is three.
Three TRIANGLED is six.
Four TRIANGLED is ten.
...

Apparently not according to Lexico. :(
by Stewart Gordon
Fri Feb 04, 2022 12:09 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Thursday 27th January 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 19)
Replies: 19
Views: 2036

Re: Spoilers for Thursday 27 January 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 19)

Gavin Chipper wrote: Sat Jan 29, 2022 7:23 am
Howie Myers wrote: Sat Jan 29, 2022 6:52 am
Stewart Gordon wrote: Thu Jan 27, 2022 11:39 pm I'd heard before that Mozart started composing at 4.
Apparently he only got home from school around 4, so it must have been around 4:30....
Back then, that's when Countdown was on, so I doubt it.
Has Countdown been going on that long now?
by Stewart Gordon
Fri Feb 04, 2022 12:08 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Thursday 3rd February 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 24)
Replies: 5
Views: 719

Re: Spoilers for Thursday 3 February 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 24)

When I went to school, the whole point of the abdominal thrust was to be a last-resort action when backslaps fail to work.
by Stewart Gordon
Thu Jan 27, 2022 11:39 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Thursday 27th January 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 19)
Replies: 19
Views: 2036

Re: Spoilers for Thursday 27 January 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 19)

I'd heard before that Mozart started composing at 4.
by Stewart Gordon
Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:02 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday 17th January 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 11)
Replies: 10
Views: 1016

Re: Spoilers for Monday 17 January 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 11)

https://www.lexico.com/definition/mileage She actually said that she was looking to see if the dictionary gave any examples of MILEAGES. Maybe she should have had a look at this, which has the plural in each of the first ten More Example Sentences. The definition is puzzling. "A number of mile...
by Stewart Gordon
Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:10 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday 17th January 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 11)
Replies: 10
Views: 1016

Re: Spoilers for Monday 17 January 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 11)

Dan gave /kəmpˈɒzɪt/. OTOH, COMPOSITE is /ˈkɒmpəzɪt/. So it would appear that Dan was not misspelling COMPOSITE, but trying COMPOSIT as a distinct word. I saw it and thought along the same lines. The PNG spec uses COMPOSITED, and it seemed to me it probably came from a verb COMPOSIT, related to DEPO...
by Stewart Gordon
Thu Jan 13, 2022 12:13 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Wednesday 12th January 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 8)
Replies: 4
Views: 650

Re: Spoilers for Wednesday 12 January 2022 (Series 85, Prelim 8)

Susie commented to the effect that LICENSE is an acceptable variant spelling of LICENCE.

It seems she was confused. LICENCE is the noun and LICENSE is the verb.

Though I've since discovered that Lexico also gives LICENCE as an acceptable variant spelling of the verb. Weird.