c4countdown

Martin Smith

I'm a bit younger than you, so when I reach 65 a jetpack will also have a built in MP3 player and hearing aid.

Martin Smith

Presumably, we all love Countdown, however there must be things about it which irritate at times. I'm pretty sure all of these have been mentioned on the forum before. Just to reiterate, I don't personally dislike all of these things, but it'd be interesting to see what the C4C crowd (which is perha...

Martin Smith

My tip is Brazil, as they've got most of the style of the classic teams, but so much more substance under Dunga. He's instilled a real discipline and concentration into them. Spain, England and Italy are among the ther obvious favourites, wheareas another half a dozen teams (especially the Netherlan...

Martin Smith

Since cheese naturally cleans your teeth, and most people probably like it more than apricots, maybe someone should make a toothpaste which contains small amounts of cheese? I hate the taste of artificial sweeteners too, and find that most of them send me to the toilet pretty quickly. Sugar-free Tes...

Martin Smith

Music: Power ballads and especially Bon Jovi, plus Weird Al Yankovic TV: Family Guy (very guilty, because artistically it's a crude Simpsons clone with virtually no ideas of its own, but somehow you do laugh at it), Mock the Week (same, except replace Simpsons with Have I Got News For You and add th...

Martin Smith

I got 11, although I suspect that a few hours' study beforehand could have helped. I'd agree that a few of the questions are either irrevelent or too fussy. Surely choosing the century in which women could divorce their husbands is more worthwhile than the exact year? Is that religion question reall...

Martin Smith

Joanne, will you marry me?

Martin Smith

Amanda tells of her time as the woman in the Scottish Widows ads, where they never filmed in Scotland. :o I take it you're surprised that Amanda isn't Scottish or a widow either? Incidentally, Scottish Widows originally was set up to support widows of manual workers in Scotland, but has diversified...

Martin Smith

My stated favourite book (To Kill a Mockingbird) was just the first acclaimed classic fiction I could think of. I hardly ever read fiction, but you can't say your favourite book is a history of Dutch football which touches on history, geography, art, culture and occasionally football, can you? I was...

Martin Smith

Derek Hazell wrote:subtle and emotional

Would autistics appreciate it though?

Martin Smith

Get your daughter to be a contestant. She's got six years to break the record as the youngest ever.

Martin Smith

Any ethnicity that's given us Einstein, Freud, Dylan, Larry David and Howard Wolowitz among others, despite spending almost their entire history as someone else's punchbag, has to be doing something right.

Martin Smith

Luckily I had the foresight to buy my PC a few weeks before Vista was released. Windows 7 seems to ahve had better reviews and my PC should be up to it, so I might give it a go. really ought to try Linux Ubuntu first, I just haven't got around to it.

Martin Smith

Another one I've just remembered from a description of Pheonix Nights (the italics are mine, in case it's too subtle for anyone.

'Former stand-up comic Peter Kay plays a wheelchair-bound nightclub owner....'

Martin Smith

I still think the Wrong Guy incident takes some beating. Another one I remember was the caption "extreme right Conservative party member" appearing on screen during a news report, leading the presenter to explain that 'extreme right' was intended as a camera instruction - although this bei...

Martin Smith

Charlie Reams wrote:
Jason Larsen wrote: maybe she could be a homicide detective, so I'm sure she'd enjoy that.

Or maybe she could become an actress and play a homicide detective who uses mathematical skills in algebra, calculus etc to solve crimes. Kinda The Mentalist meets The Big Bang Theory.

Martin Smith

I guess C4C users aren't a typical cross-section of Countdown viewers - being younger than average we're less likely to appreciate opera. Or smugly-delivered anecdotes which amount to little more than cues to sing. Personally I skimmed through all her interludes after Monday, but I know many dislike...

Martin Smith

I take it someone in the production team is a big snooker fan? We've already had Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis this year. Have there ever been any motorsport figures on the show? Martin Brundle or Eddie Irvine could be good.

Liam Gallagher's a known fan who's free now too....

Martin Smith

Good luck. If I see you on Apterous I'll give you a game.

Martin Smith

I come from a background where swearing was completely discouraged - in fact, I was once banend from buying a magazine due to its use of swear words and my copying of them (we're not even talking Viz or the f word here). Perhaps as a result, I went through a phase of swearing a lot, although usually...

Martin Smith

Paris St. Germain nil

Martin Smith

I'm hardly ever in when it's on, so I usually Sky+ it. I often cook/eat/wash up while it's on 9the beatuy of having an open-plan flat). I usually watch it live on Thursday though, which is quite handy as I go to Scrabble club that evening, so it's like a warmup. Incidentally, does Sky+ have a LOT of...

Martin Smith

Ah, now we're onto something Rosemary. There's a lot wrong with the school system at the moment, and a lot of it seems to be designed to limit maximum achievement in order to achieve 'equality'. The effects of this much be hugely damaging. Education has to be about maximising a person's potential fo...

Martin Smith

One obvious problem with home-schooling as a phenomenon is that it simply isn't an option for all parents. Realistically you need two parents - one to earn a living and one to teach the children. The teaching parent will not only need to be knowledgable about a wide range of subjects, and have enoug...

Martin Smith

A lot of it comes down to free will. The percentage of Muslims who blow themselves up or fly planes into buildings, and of Christians who burnt witches or rant in the street is minute compared to those who simply life a normal productive life. Religious people are over-represented in charitable work...

Martin Smith

I'm really wary of the idea of home-schooling. Have any studies been done as to its outcomes - whether home-schooled kids are successful in university, careers and socially once they reach adulthood? Do they end up closer to their parents, and with views closer to those of their parents? Are there e...

Martin Smith

I couldn't resist the temptation to vote for the Ross County footballer, but my real answer would probably be Dickie Bird. Bonus point for anyone who knows his real name without looking it up on Wikipedia.

Martin Smith

Nice editing Gareth. But surely an anti-sex upbringing is an anti-AIDS upbringing?

Martin Smith

I knew SOMEONE would say 'Carol' eventually. Good play on PREHEAT there Jeffrey, I didn't see it.

Martin Smith

I got 38, although I suspect that I subconsciously gave the Autistic answer to a few questions. A combination of my dyspraxia, Catholic upbringing / restrictive parents and childhood medical problems have probably weakened my social skills to a point where I come up higher than I am on this.

Martin Smith

I'm not convinced that CONTEMN is a better Scrabble word than GLOTTIS or DILUENT, I've never come across any of those in life or games. I think I only lost this one on REPLICATE, I spotted ORALIST, SPREADS and MASONED (surprised I didn't spot it as the almost-cliché DAEMONS though). I'm sure Jeffrey...

Martin Smith

Good luck Annie. I think a 2 1/2 week gap between recording and broadcast is quite short, mine was more like 7 weeks.

Martin Smith

Do you find that you get more Scrabble-related publicity and attention due to your Countdown success? I bet a lot of your opponents are extra-keen to beat you as a result of it?

Martin Smith

Does it matter whether someone bowling is 'athletic'? It's not as if we'll see her in action. Still, good for someone to be doing something charitable.

Martin Smith

I've never been to America or Australia, both of which I'd like to see for different reasons. My choice of album to try would probably be rap or hip-hop, just to see if my negative conceptions are accurate (I quite like some OutKast and Kanye West, mainly because they lack the language/mysogyny/viol...

Martin Smith

I wonder how different that list is from those in the 80s? I hardly know anyone with any of those names.

Martin Smith

Not sure what message 'Undiscovered' by James Morrison would send out, but it's the one that comes to mind.

Martin Smith

This happened the day before I was on, and was mentioned by the previous days's returning champion. I was slightly disappointed when I saw the episode on TV, a) because the gaffe was cut, and b) because I expected her to be better-looking.

Martin Smith

The next one you do should be Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory. The combination of his snootiness, obscure word use and lack of social refinements could be hysterical.

Martin Smith

My relationship with religion has always been difficult. I was raised in a Catholic household, although my dad isn't from a Catholic background and only converted shortly before my parents divorced (ironically). I did believe it all as a kid, but without really questioning it, but in my teens I drif...

Martin Smith

I was hoping for a final vowel for VOLITION.

Martin Smith

Anne Robinson would have been the most interesting host. She coudl've treated the contestants as though they were playing a game of skill, rather than a guessing game.

Martin Smith

I usually play in the B division, where I'm usually near the bottom - and I think the two tournaments I've played in are relatively weak events. My club average is around 385, but that's complicated by a handicapping system whereby a player whose average is 25 points lower than their opponent gets a...

Martin Smith

The improvisation aspect sets it apart from just about any other family-based sitcom, as the kids are so much more natural. One highlight was the girl's attitude to their new-agey flaky aunt Angela. The scene when they're in the car trying to come up with the biggest lie they can (to deglamourise ly...

Martin Smith

"excellent documentary". 9pm BBC3. Something looks very wrong about having 'excellent documentary' and 'BBC3' in the same piece of text. I have been diagnosed with dyspraxia, and that probably explains most of my problems. Actually, reading the Wikipedia article on it makes me more sure t...

Martin Smith

As a companion piece to the 'celebrity twin' thread, which famous people died on your birthday. This might be a tougher ask, as Wikipedia lists about half as many deaths on my birthday as it does births (are half of all 'notable' people from history still alive? or are people more likely to add cont...

Martin Smith

But does he jack in the trade of the two above him? The footballer Nathan Ellington shares my exact date of birth. Same day different year would allow Lindsay Lohan, Kenneth Clarke, Larry David and Peter Kay, amongst others. Plus the baseball players José Canseco and Ozzie Canseco. They were born on...

Martin Smith

I like it, the dialogue feels very natural and it's probably the most realistic family on TV. The girl is the funniest of the kids. And Claire Skinner is indeed an 8/10.

Martin Smith

Scottish Care would have even more trouble. He must be very creative if the charity is still going though.

Martin Smith

Paul's an interesting player, in the sense that he makes a lot of amazing spots (usually 'everyday' words with unusual letter combinations) but also misses some really easy ones. He's looked like losing all 4 games at some point - Carol especially looked a likely winner.

Martin Smith

I make no apologies for copying this from the other thread (or for talking about my least favourite in that other thread, before this one was started): 'Even if Ian Hyland did 'leak' the 'Susie has help' story, the worst was Jon Gaunt for his "It's great because it's old / English / because I s...

Martin Smith

That wouldn't've been my choice even if I knew it, but I can see the logic in keeping RT. Obviously it's back to the drawing board for me.

Martin Smith

Springer would be my vote, but Vine and Lloyd were great too. Even if Ian Hyland did 'leak' the 'Susie has help' story, the worst was Jon Gaunt for his "It's great because it's old / English / because I say it is" arguments. At least Anne Widdecombe seems to have thought about her views an...

Martin Smith

My instinctive move would be DAW rather than WAD, because it leaves a slightly lower chance of your opponent being able to play a 7 (or 8) letter word. Keeping the r gives you -er, -ier and re-. WADI might be an option, if it's a valid play. My concern about changing one tile is that your opponent w...

Martin Smith

Agreed - two large numbers apparently has the higher propability of a solution, but they seem easier to find with one large, simply because there aren't as many combinations to work through in 30 seconds. I think the 75 times table, modifying the large number before multiplying (to make 648 or 848 f...

Martin Smith

I'm tempted to apply again, as I lost to D O'D on my first appearance, and while in a worse medical state than I am now. Maybe Damien or others can advise me on how this would be regarded?

Martin Smith

Believing Eadie's always nuts

Martin Smith

I still think 'Metallica' was a really weird name for a band. System of a Down is another. Heavy metal bands usually have the best names anyway - Pantera (Spanish for 'panther'), Flotsam and Jetsam, Behemoth (I love the way it sounds like bear + moth) and Rhapsody of Fire all come to mind.

Martin Smith

Lesley Jeavons wrote:
Clare Sudbery wrote:
Hannah O wrote:I got up at 5am to watch the repeat
C4+1 - what a Godsend!

It's certainly better than Five

Martin Smith

I play on ISC sometimes, the ZX Spectrum comparison is quite fitting but the game itself really comes to the fore. The standard of players online isn't all that high though - my local club is better despite mostly being OAPs (I do live in Eastbourne, after all - 12 year old dads and one-armed TV pre...

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