c4countdown

Matt Bayfield

Nice one Charlie, thanks. I shall look forward to perusing lists of pencils when I next get on apterous (which now won't be until after COLIN)...

Matt Bayfield

Since Jack has steered the subject to Superstats, a few statshots I’d like to see: (1) a list of all the pencils and bronze pencils that players have earned. (Admittedly, this may run into thousands for some, but that’s no longer than most players’ list of phonies.) It’d be particularly interesting ...

Matt Bayfield

At the risk of kissing ass, (consider it a credit to allow me a small whinge at some point in the future), I do like to mention well thought-out bits of programming... one example of which has just come to light following the recent change to hide the letters selection during the Patience Time at th...

Matt Bayfield

Gavin: yup, you've explained that better than I could have done. I does seem unlikely that you could rearrange race positions suitably within your proposed better score-dropping pattern, but I imagine it would take a computer, operated by someone seriously mathematical, to prove it either way.

Matt Bayfield

ANSWER TO PUZZLE SEVEN It is easiest to consider this problem in two stages. First - part (a) - let's ignore the requirement for each sailor's worst score to be dropped, and then - part (b) - we'll make the problem more complex by including the dropped scores... Part (a) - no dropping of scores To ...

Matt Bayfield

I had a fab German 9-rounder a while ago, and frustratingly would have had a score of 68 (without finding a 9-letter word) had I declared the safe MACHEN rather than the phoney SCHAMEN in one letters round (not sure whether I got confused by a similar-sounding Dutch word or whether I was just making...

Matt Bayfield

I haven't checked whether it has an anagram, but SCREECHED seems to fit the bill.

Matt Bayfield

My personal view: I quite like the Conundrum letters remaining displayed, so I can check my answer during the “Patience Time”, although like many other people, I do sometimes also buzz speculatively just before the clock runs out, to give me an extra few seconds of solving time. It’s the same for ev...

Matt Bayfield

As an aside, you can make a break of 99 in just 22 shots, using this logic: Player A fouls off the break, leaves a free ball. Player B pots his nominated extra red, plus one of the 15 reds, in the same shot. Follows with black. 2 strokes, 9 pts. For his next 14 shots, he pots 2 reds in the same stro...

Matt Bayfield

On the keyboard vs mouse debate, I have been playing for the last 2 days without a keyboard attached to the computer I'm using. It's interesting to note that apterous is almost completely playable - the only thing you can't seem to do is declare anything other than the exact target in a Numbers roun...

Matt Bayfield

Only Connect is brilliant, although I do have quite a soft spot for Victoria Coren, which helps. Incidentally, the captain (or bloke in the centre, anyway) of last night's losing team, Alan Morgan, is another serial TV quizzer, who beat me in the final round on my first day's appearance on "A Q...

Matt Bayfield

Gavin: very nice indeed. Your answer of 137 matches mine, and your logic is also the same as mine. And since you were wondering (in your "Edit" above), I can confirm that it is possible to allocate finishing positions to each sailor for each race, such that our answer is achieved. I'll pos...

Matt Bayfield

Gavin: not correct, but a good attempt, which you can build on. Hint: The number you've given there (under your "Edit 2") would be the answer if all 10 of the scores from the 10 qualifying races counted towards a sailor's final score. However, if you read the problem again, this isn't the ...

Matt Bayfield

Thanks to Bob and Jim for their poker and snooker puzzles - exactly the sort of thing I enjoy solving (and it looks like others do, too). If anyone has any more, please share (though if you could wait until the next puzzle has been solved, that would be nice). ANSWER TO PUZZLE SIX Solution ======== ...

Matt Bayfield

Not that it matters now, but I eventually got the same answer as Andrew for part (ii)...

Nice puzzle!

Matt Bayfield

Oops... typo. Yup, obviously I meant to put /44 rather than /42.

Although I suppose it could be /42 if the dealer accidentally flashed two cards whilst burning, or something.

Somehow I think we're supposed to ignore that possibility, for the purposes of this puzzle.

Matt Bayfield

And my attempt at part (i): My logic: suppose my opponent is winning with something like a small pair, against my high card. I can then win if I hit a flush, straight, or higher pair on the river. I can max my number of outs for a flush at (9 outs) by having my hole cards suited, and exactly 2 of th...

Matt Bayfield

Bob - looks like a great puzzle. That'll keep me (and no doubt, others round here) busy for a while! And a quick attempt to give a first answer to part (ii): My hole cards: 2C 2D Opponent's hole cards: 2H 3H Community cards: AC AD AH AS Probability of not losing hand: 43/44, as all of the remaining ...

Matt Bayfield

Bob: perfect answer and explanation - well done.

Matt Bayfield

For part (a), Bob is the first (and only) correct answer so far, with his post initially made at 7:35 pm (or possibly 6:35 pm, depending on how your clock is set) yesterday. Bob, the league table you gave in that post is valid. As for part (b), all answers given so far are incorrect! The league tabl...

Matt Bayfield

Well done to Dinos for adding a puzzle of his own (and well done to me because I matched Jim's correct answer). I'm especially pleased, as by the looks of Dinos's scorecard there, drinks are on him in the clubhouse for getting three holes-in-one! ;-) Incidentally, anyone who has a puzzle which is si...

Matt Bayfield

Off the top of my head, Titanic Days by Kirsty MacColl.

Matt Bayfield

Matt: well, denying Jon the opportunity to pick the hole in your original post, did make me smile, which has to be worth something. And of course praise is due for solving the puzzle, as indeed it is to all who get the correct answer, whether they post to say so or not! I've made a mental note only ...

Matt Bayfield

Ooh - lots of attempts at this one... and I think Hugh, Jon and Howard are correct.

Having said that, for some reason the solution I've got stored on my computer from last year is different (and I have no idea why), so I'll check before posting the answer!

Matt Bayfield

ANSWER TO PUZZLE FOUR To solve this problem it helps to look at the Monopoly board as 40 squares, where the Old Kent Road is square 1, and "Go" is square 40. Using this numbering basis, the two other squares of interest are square 10 "Jail" and square 30 "Go to jail". ...

Matt Bayfield

Ah, the second solution was the one I've seen before! I've never seen the first solution. I'm always amazed by the ingenuity of the Scrabble fanatics who come up with these phenomenally complex solutions (like the highest possible theoretical score on a single move, which I think involves setting up...

Matt Bayfield

Everyone who has posted an answer to the Monopoly puzzle is correct. Dinos responded first.

Matt Bayfield

I've seen this before, but can't remember the exact solution. To help people along their way if anyone wants a hint: the answer is 2 moves (each) and it involves playing of a few parallel words like XU (including use of one blank) which don't take any hooks, such that whatever tiles either player ho...

Matt Bayfield

ANSWER TO PUZZLE THREE This is the long-winded way I described my answer when i originally set this puzzle just over a year ago: This problem is complicated because of the unusual scoring system in tennis. To solve it, you need to consider points won in a game, then each set, then the match - in th...

Matt Bayfield

Good work Ian - look forward to seeing you on the show. When I was on AQoG in the first series, I found that I was able to perform very well in the early rounds just by being very good at Sport and Music, and scoring highly every time those categories cropped up. The only round which is tricky to ju...

Matt Bayfield

Clive: good work fella - that's the correct answer.

Matt Bayfield

Clive & Jim (who have both given the same response): very close, and you're thinking along the right lines... but wrong! (Sorry, that sounds like I'm enjoying this...

)

Another go? Or anyone else?

Matt Bayfield

Cheers Charlie. I shall edit the question, changing "Grand Slam" to "Wimbledon".

Matt Bayfield

Oliver: it's not that simple, I'm afraid. I won't say any more for now, to avoid giving clues.

Matt Bayfield

David: a whole year's puzzles might be pushing it... but at the current rate of one a day, I've probably got enough to last til the end of the first week of January. ;-) ANSWER TO PUZZLE TWO Pretty much as stated above, my logic was as follows: Maximum points scored in total in the season so no draw...

Matt Bayfield

David: re: the darts puzzle, I have to admit I hadn't even thought of the 10-1 loss scoreline, so thanks for clarifying. I'm seriously impressed with your lateral thinking, but I'm glad that my answer still holds up! (Although I'd also have been happy to have been proven wrong, if I had been wrong. ...

Matt Bayfield

David: You're correct about a player busting his score if he scores 500 points in a leg. Still, I'm not quite sure how you're working out those numbers - as it would take you 9 darts to reach 500 (or 499) in a losing leg, which would be a worse average than scoring 360 over 6 darts. Obviously you co...

Matt Bayfield

not that this matters for the purposes of this puzzle i guess, and if i'm wrong i might get lynched by the dart fans on here... but im fairly sure ur defn of a players 3-dart average isnt correct. shouldnt it be: total points scored/no of visits to board ? thats certainly what I've always understoo...

Matt Bayfield

Hugh: that's spot on. Well worked out.

Matt Bayfield

Marc Meakin wrote:Here's one: Won half the New World's glory

This anagram has been sitting on my jotter for a week, and suddenly it's occurred to me: HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW.

New puzzle: KNIT HALF AN REAR. (Yes, I know the scramble makes no grammatical sense...)

Matt Bayfield

David: you've given the answer that many people gave when I originally set this puzzle - and I'm afraid it's not right. I won't give any further clues at this stage, but try again if you like...

Matt Bayfield

About a year ago, I set a few mathematical puzzles based on statistics from sports (and games). I hope that one or two of them might appeal to folks round here, so I'll post them here over the next few weeks. Some very, very basic sporting knowledge is required for some of the puzzles (e.g. to solve...

Matt Bayfield

New suggestion: I've just noticed that if a player finds a 9-letter word using an alternative dictionary (i.e. not ODE), it appears in that player's list of Nines (under their User Profile or Superstats) without any distinction that it's a non-ODE word. There is a small chance that this could lead t...

Matt Bayfield

Addendum: another new Dutch 15 record , this time creeping over the 100-point barrier thanks to a 9-letter word in round 4, which I'm rather pleased with. Could have been a higher score though - I misremembered the spelling of FLATER in round 7 when I had other 6-letter words to choose from, and I w...

Matt Bayfield

Being a regular gig-goer, I've got about 650 concerts to choose from, but off the top of my head: Go-Go's supported by Lunachicks , Maritime Hall, San Francisco, 1999, was pretty special for me. Mansun 's set supporting the Manic Street Preachers , Paradiso, Amsterdam, 1998, was mind-blowingly good....

Matt Bayfield

I'm quite pleased with this new record in Dutch 15 , although frustrated at missing the 100-point mark when I could have declared GIET or any manner of 3-letter words in round 2, rather than trying to be a smart-ass and playing an English 5-letter word. And this new record in Dutch 9 is quite nice f...

Matt Bayfield

On the issue of Scrabble players knowing meanings of words, I does help me to learn words (and their part of speech) by remembering definitions. However, if the true definition of a word doesn't do much for me, then I have been known to invent my own more memorable, more evocative, definitions. One ...

Matt Bayfield

The end of my Speed Demon campaign: Nick gets his revenge for events in Round 4 of Flight A by beating me to a crucial conundrum in game 1, then resoundingly taking the second game. Nick Wainwright 56 - 43 Matt Bayfield Nick Wainwright 58 - 48 Matt Bayfield Against Michael, I completely screw up th...

Matt Bayfield

I subscribed to Sky Sports two years ago, specifically to watch the PDC world darts. I unsubscribed after the end of the tournament. I later re-subscribed (when Ebbsfleet United made the FA Trophy final) and don't think I've missed televised darts (whether PDC or BDO) in 18 months. Have been to watc...

Matt Bayfield

Andrew - whatever tie-breaker you chose was fine with me. I only mentioned head-to-head as it was nice for me to get a win over a Countdown champion, even if he was having a shocker that day!

Matt Bayfield

Spike Milligan is correct, Marc, not that you really needed me to confirm that.

Matt Bayfield

Well done Nick on winning Flight A - you deserve it after that max game! Mind you, I'm sure the main tie-breaker should've been head-to-head record rather than all this "modified median" nonsense. ;-) Especially after I got knocked out of the top bracket of Speed Demon on a tie-breaker as ...

Matt Bayfield

Since no-one has offered an answer, a clue:

MAKING LIPS LIE unscrambles to give the name of a famous Irishman.

Matt Bayfield

Well done Nick and Michael on both playing your parts in what looks like a brilliant final round match in Flight A. Comiserations to Michael on missing out on the Flight title after leading all the way, but Nick’s 2-0 win does at least make it interesting for he and I as we both finish on four 2-0 w...

Matt Bayfield

The Oneders (pron. "wonders") was the original name of the fictional band The Wonders in the mid-90s Tom Hanks movie "That Thing You Do". The band changed their name because it was getting pronounced "the oh-needers". The film is mainly notable for having the excellent...

Matt Bayfield

Is it Jeff Albertson, recurring character in The Simpsons?

If so, then your next scramble is MAKING LIPS LIE.

Matt Bayfield

Speed Demon

Matt Bayfield 70 - 39 Ian Volante
Matt Bayfield 70 - 23 Ian Volante

Matt Bayfield

Just to make things interesting for Michael and Nick, I've reduced one of the variables in the equation by beating Henry! Flight A Matt Bayfield 103 - 90 Henry Meier Matt Bayfield 93 - 68 Henry Meier Henry and I have a history of very good, very close games - and true to form, the first went to a cr...

Matt Bayfield

Why, what a sound chap you are, Charlie!

(Ok, that's enough ass-kissing, but freebies, upgrades, etc, are always appreciated!)

Matt Bayfield

I seem to have been very fortunate this week in as much as having played first Dinos (ta for the kind words in the post above!), and now Nick, when they were both having absolute shockers.

Flight A

Matt Bayfield 93 - 77 Nick Wainwright
Matt Bayfield 101 - 72 Nick Wainwright

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