c4countdown

Phil H

Artistry isn't it? That's the word I was looking for! Thanks. I stand by my comment about Countdown/Scrabble/Chess vs. Football/snooker/martial arts in these terms. Countdown, Scrabble and Chess are effectively turn-based games (I know Countdown's 'turns' occur simultaneously, the conundrum especia...

Phil H

To a large extent, the factors that might be considered to make Countdown less worthy of respect are the things I like about it. Compared with Scrabble, participation levels are much lower, prizes are (I'm guessing) relatively trivial, and games are far shorter, making the element of luck greater (t...

Phil H

Unsurprisingly, Feargal Delaney was indeed Irish - I recall watching his game while on holiday in Ireland. Likewise Gary McEnaney, who filmed on the same day as me.

However, I'm fairly sure Wayne McSorley, who beat Matty Artell, had an English accent.

Phil H

Very good shout I think, David. On a more mundane note, I think Norm Ahmad might have been the Apterite with the highest rating at the time (1550-1600 iirc) not to make the series finals since I joined in 2015. Anyone know if Matt Croy or anyone else before Norm would have been higher? (I assume Zar...

Phil H

Tiger Lily Hutchence/Geldof was another which surprised me, at least.

Phil H

I'm surprised not to have heard David Lammy mentioned yet. I don't feel I know enough about him to champion him, but he's certainly impressed me on occasion. Then again, I have my doubts about whether an apparently pro-Brexit electorate would ever elect a black Prime Minister, and Labour might have ...

Phil H

A bit like Jen, I've got rid of a decent number in my time and have only regretted one or two. I haven't thought much about the getting it down to 100 thing, but I don't think I'd find it too difficult. For those who say they never unfriend, how have you managed to avoid ever friending someone who ...

Phil H

A bit like Jen, I've got rid of a decent number in my time and have only regretted one or two. I haven't thought much about the getting it down to 100 thing, but I don't think I'd find it too difficult. For those who say they never unfriend, how have you managed to avoid ever friending someone who ...

Phil H

Also - even on here, I may be the only person for whom the aesthetic appeal of my current total number is a factor. Last night I was going to get rid of someone who I knew had closed her old profile and started a new one, especially as I prefer the number 225 to 226, but decided against it because I...

Phil H

A bit like Jen, I've got rid of a decent number in my time and have only regretted one or two. I haven't thought much about the getting it down to 100 thing, but I don't think I'd find it too difficult. For those who say they never unfriend, how have you managed to avoid ever friending someone who t...

Phil H

I take out a handful now and again where it seems that the elastic has stretched too thin, or I can't even remember how I know them. Pretty rare though, usually old korfballers. Interesting to see when people unfriend me, although I don't think it's happened for a year or two. Do you have a way of ...

Phil H

Virginia Roberts/Giuffre/Roberts-Giuffre/Roberts Giuffre has emerged as a contender.

Phil H

I don't know why so many people seem to poo-poo the relevance of rolling ratings. I mean, it suits me in a way, because according to ProRanks I was better than Conor or Kirk the last time I looked, but clearly that's bollocks.

Phil H

Dan Byrom wrote: ↑Tue Sep 24, 2019 11:49 am

Ok that'll do for now. Well done if you made it this far!

Fair play for taking the time to write all this and being a gent about it throughout. In a way I don't want to challenge it, but I may yet come back and do so...

Phil H

Quite a few of my 100 least favourite songs in there

Phil H

Would Mr Eadie be willing to reveal what proportion of Countdown applicants fail the audition?

And how come the postal address is still in Leeds?

Phil H

I do think that Junaid writing PBUH every time he mentioned Mohammed was ridiculous and about as sycophantic as you can get. Surely it loses its effect if you abbreviate it anyway and shows you're not committed to it - like it's just an afterthought. Do it properly or not at all! Would it have been...

Phil H

Probably the 'checkmate' moment in my ceasing to be a Christian was reading a site called "Why Won't God Heal Amputees?" I too have spent a long time in church and come across people who seem to have overcome addictions and other mental health problems, or even experienced improvements in ...

Phil H

UK
France
Ireland
Spain
Greece
Italy
Kenya
USA
The Netherlands
Germany
Portugal
Cote d'Ivoire

Fuck, is that all?

Phil H

What's the average margin in QF1? 50 points? I actually think Seed 8 might score higher against Elliott than some other Seed 1s. You might lose one or two more letters games, but you'd hope for 40 points in the numbers games. If you get a maximum you score points no matter how good your opponent is...

Phil H

Most crucially, here are the top 10 players when arranged by percentage max achieved:- #1. [S69] Jen S. (952) = Max of 1024 [93%] #2. [S69] Dylan T. (974) = Max of 1050 [93%] #3. [S57] Craig B. (907) = Max of 987 [92%] #4. [S71] Dan McC. (942) = Max of 1026 [92%] #5. [S63] Jack H. (946) = Max of 10...

Phil H

See below. In a way, it's not surprising, but in another way, it only hits home when you see it in black and white: Elliott got 97.5% of the available max, further ahead of the previous best than it was ahead of the previous 10th place.

(Forgive my inability to use the quote function.)

Phil H

We'll have to wait at least until Elliott (I assume) duly wins his series before deciding where he fits in, but in terms of "best", if not "greatest", surely only Conor's 30BC form compares to what we've just seen.

Phil H

Fewest points dropped in an octorun: 26 so far. Jen dropped 72. This is perhaps the most ridiculous of the records. Fucking hell. I assume he didn't drop many today , so I withdraw my comment about the maxes being the most impressive record. I'm also now confused as to who obviously didn't make it ...

Phil H

Will there be an audible reaction from the audience when* he surpasses 974 and/or 1000, I wonder? (*Barring Elvis and Lord Lucan riding into the studio on Shergar, that is.)

Someone who knows Dylan better than me should edit his wiki to rub in the fact that his record no longer stands to this day.

Phil H

I associate Moonies with a religious cult whose heyday was maybe in the 1980s...

Phil H

Still, if it had turned out to be the difference between a max game and not... Anyway, all's well that ends well.

Phil H

Beat Elliott to the conundrum today! But seriously, another great game and another unlucky opponent. Got that all-important last numbers though! The conundrum originally wasn't this and the slowness was in part due to me being a bit flustered by a bit of controversy. It was originally MOUSEFLLY, an...

Phil H

Fucking amazing. As stupid as it sounds, yesterday was a weak game by his standards, but that's him right back on track.

Phil H

On the wiki: "Furthermore, his score was the highest ever achieved by just spotting three nine-letter words."

Surely this is redundant unless it also applies to Apterous?

(If I was on any other site, I'd apologise for my pedantry, but it hardly seems necessary here!)

Phil H

Thomas Carey wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2019 12:57 pm I was in the studio Elliott losses 230-220 to andy sc in this one x

Phil H

An average of 117 for Elliott in his remaining games would do it.

The balance of probabilities may now be in his favour...

Phil H

Why is inserting photos too hard for anyone with a rating under 1700?

Phil H

https://media.makeameme.org/created/thi ... 5ce319.jpg

Phil H

Well, I guess most people felt sorry for John, as I did - until he picked 3 large in the penultimate round. What was he playing at? OK, I appreciate he almost certainly didn't know the record was in reach, but it must have been obvious that Elliot was on for a fantastic score. Why potentially make ...

Phil H

That's twice recently I've thought Nick's been patronising as hell - almost taking credit for Katie's (supposedly) transformed self-confidence!

Phil H

Oh, and done a thorough rekkie of both the main Liverpool stadia (without breaching either entrance).

Phil H

Since I last contributed I've added St Mirren Park (for Scotland v Portugal u17s), Fleet Grounds (Rosyth F.C.) and Stadio Pierluigi Penezo (Venezia F.C.) Next up, Roazhon Park (Stade Rennais/FC Rennes) for the women's World Cup.

Phil H

I only saw the last five rounds or so, but Nick calling Asset a 'remarkable young man' for having left home and learned English so well was cringey as hell. For all I know he could have been using English all his life.

Phil H

The proportion of underweight people (of which I am one) seems far higher in Countdown circles than in the general population. Why's that?

Phil H

One of my favourite games not involving an Apterite for a long time - two likeable contestants and some good stuff from both of them.

(Edit: I wish the early morning repeat would go back to only being a day behind, though.)

Phil H

I noticed Innis was credited as a researcher for the Christmas edition of University Challenge - is this new?

Phil H

I think the accidental drowning figures might be a red herring. Are people who injure themselves in skiing accidents always worse at skiing than the average person? Sometimes I might be happy to swim on the beach or in an outdoor pool on holiday, but to do it as a way of keeping fit in an indoor poo...

Phil H

Stolen from another poster on another forum. "Attempts of proof are frequently met with obdurate denials. Take a look at the denial of the tobacco companies regarding the demonstrations that their products caused cancer as an example. It is abundantly clear that deniers will not readily admit t...

Phil H

C'est La Vie (original title: Le Sens De La Fete) 6/10
BlacKKKlansman 7/10
The Miseducation of Cameron Post 8/10

Phil H

Our assembly, which sits in Stormont has been vacant for well over a year. Again, I imagine if that was the Scots, it might get more coverage. [/b] It is always refreshing to see counter-evidence to many Scots' belief that they are the single most put-upon group of people in the UK, Western Europe,...

Phil H

Jennifer Steadman wrote: ↑Sat Jul 21, 2018 7:51 pm First in English [Lit]

Snap, and bang goes my theory/excuse that all the best Countdowners are mathematicians and scientists.

Phil H

[/quote] The NBA is cool. It has dominant market share in fashion, music and culture. To massively oversimplify this and drizzle it in bias (and I'm a football fan), football culture is knuckle dragging neanderthals with tribalism and jingoism that occasionally give way to violence and racism. Baske...

Phil H

Mark Deeks wrote: ↑Sun Aug 05, 2018 10:42 am
- Culture-wise, basketball shits on football, and indeed all sports. The NBA is extremely good at this.

How do you mean 'culture-wise', and what in that respect does basketball do better?

Phil H

Re: the Olympics, am I imagining an instance where the Russians achieved a shock victory over the Americans when they were close to their peak? If you are asking people what they feel is an issue, and a lot of them say the high scoring, I think that has to be taken seriously. Not many of us would pr...

Phil H

Interesting topic and I think a lot of what I'd have said has been covered already. I may be misremembering because I was 10-14 at the time, but it seemed to me that interest in the UK did rise a little when we had the American 'dream team' playing in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. You also had Michael...

Phil H

Don't Facebook-stalk Jodine like I did, because you might find spoilers.

Phil H

I wondered why nobody else was wondering about the last series to have been won on a crucial, but I see now that the game in question is pretty well-kent.

Phil H

Tomorrow's game looks like it could be quite close - looking forward to that.

Phil H

Unless I'm very much mistaken, Zarte has only been beaten in one round so far (the conundrum against Philip).

Has anyone ever equalled or bettered that during an octorun?

(Edit: Dylan was only beaten in one round, although he failed to score in a further four.)

Phil H

I wasn't 100% paying attention at the time but I didn't quite get why some people (presumably) think this journalistic 'trick' is worth paying today's challenger for.

Phil H

Brett Davids wrote: ↑Fri Mar 02, 2018 3:49 pm Anchoveta? Someone really didn’t want Zarte breaking any records...

Aye, how much did Dylan pay Damian for that one!

Phil H

Zarte Siempre wrote: ↑Thu Mar 01, 2018 3:19 pm
My heart couldn't take THIS game, fuck off with your crucials

You looked like you were fairly panicking

Phil H

Superb stuff. An argument against prioritising wins over points?

Phil H

Let's not forget Carol did 28 years. So last night in a quiz, we had the question "what year did Carol Vorderman quit Countdown?". I remembered you posting about 28 years and figured it therefore had to be 2010. We thus got this question wrong and lost on a tiebreak. You owe me £51. I see...

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