c4countdown

Howard Somerset

Countdown recap for Monday 19 August 2002. C1: Champion Sassoon Messropian (2 wins, 183 points.) C2: Challenger Paul McGeown. DC: Susie Dent and Philip Franks. CV: Carol Vorderman. OT: Other words or solutions. R01: R E T A N O L I H R02: E O G P U T A D M R03: S E C I T A R O Z R04: I I E T N S T A...

Howard Somerset

One question, Charlie, which I may find is already answered when I get started. Does recap-writer always use OED2r for maxes? Or does it know which series uses which dictionary? If it always uses OED2r, are you worried? If it knows which dictionary to use, and has the dictionary to access, then my a...

Howard Somerset

I'll do some.

Howard Somerset

Charlie Reams wrote:Anyone else still playing? I'd forgotten until yesterday when Kai reminded me, I'm now making a push for Level 2.

I'd forgotten until you just reminded me now.

Howard Somerset

Challenger from Alsager, I see. Face isn't familiar, though.

Howard Somerset

Depends on quality of life, though. I'm happy to live as long as I have full control of my faculties and that's about it. I wouldn't want to live to 90 if it means spending the last fifteen years of it shitting and pissing myself in some nursing home somewhere. Precisely my feeling. 79's my target,...

Howard Somerset

Back to AeroGreen now. Got fed up with what I'm used to not being in its customary place. I'll need convincing, if I'm to go back to Prosilver

Howard Somerset

Depends on quality of life, though. I'm happy to live as long as I have full control of my faculties and that's about it. I wouldn't want to live to 90 if it means spending the last fifteen years of it shitting and pissing myself in some nursing home somewhere. Precisely my feeling. 79's my target,...

Howard Somerset

I use AeroGreen becasue it has a View active topics link. Maybe the ProSilver has too, but I didn't see it at first glance. It does indeed. It's my home page , in fact, and it's super useful. Found it now, Charlie. Difference is, on prosilver the link is only on the main index page which I rarely g...

Howard Somerset

I use AeroGreen becasue it has a View active topics link. Maybe the ProSilver has too, but I didn't see it at first glance. It does indeed. It's my home page , in fact, and it's super useful. Found it now, Charlie. Difference is, on prosilver, the link is only on the main index page which I rarely ...

Howard Somerset

Marc Meakin wrote:If Spain win they will be the first team to win it after losing their opening match.

According to what was said by one of the commentators earlier on, yes.

But then it might've been Lawro.

Howard Somerset

I use AeroGreen becasue it has a View active topics link.

Maybe the ProSilver has too, but I didn't see it at first glance.

Howard Somerset

I definitely do not agree with that.

After a certain point, I'd reverse the table. If I go to 90 I'll regard myself as having failed. My target for a first class death is late 70s.

Howard Somerset

So much for it being the South American World Cup :!: Interestingly, since 1962, the winners of the World Cup have alternated between Europe & South America every time. 62 - Brazil 66 - England 70 - Brazil 74 - West Germany 78 - Argentina 82 - Italy 86 - Argentina 90 - West Germany 94 - Brazil ...

Howard Somerset

Michael Wallace wrote:This is pretty cool.

Nice one, Michael.

Howard Somerset

I haven't managed to link up with Andy Wilson in the U1000 this week. I hope we'll be permitted to play it early in the coming week.

Howard Somerset

I'm a probability genius Since it's very rare for things such as this to have a probability of exactly 0 or exactly 1, what do you rate is the probability that you really are a probability genius, in view of the fact that you've admitted to getting things wrong earlier in this thread? 0.9 So do I t...

Howard Somerset

Dmitry Goretsky wrote:I'm a probability genius

Since it's very rare for things such as this to have a probability of exactly 0 or exactly 1, what do you rate is the probability that you really are a probability genius, in view of the fact that you've admitted to getting things wrong earlier in this thread?

Howard Somerset

Well done, Chris. Great puzzle. Very annoyed with myself for not getting any more than I did. I like the explanations of those which I didn't. I was definitely on the wrong track for some of them, though I was close with GLOSS JIM for number 10. And well done, Michael, for winning, and Jon for your ...

Howard Somerset

Gavin Chipper wrote:
Dmitry Goretsky wrote:Sorry, I was wrong!

Dmitry Goretsky wrote:Sorry, I was wrong!
I like the double post. I presume it's some sort of reference to getting tails in the Sleeping Beauty Problem.

Maybe the second "I was wrong" was referring to the first one. So maybe he's saying he wasn't wrong in the first place.

Howard Somerset

I'm taking a break for coffee at the moment; that's why there's been no PMs for quite a while.

Howard Somerset

JimBentley wrote:Aye, I'll be out most of the day too (with Howard's wife but don't tell him, it's our sexy secret).

Nah, that can't be right. She said she'll be with someone respectable.

Howard Somerset

My wife's away for the weekend. I'm really excited.

Howard Somerset

Michael Wallace wrote:No, he's saying he did ((75/2)+6)*8 - 1.

Thanks Michael

That's exactly what I did.

(Had I used the 8 twice, Liam, I'd not have needed a fraction as an intermediate result)

Howard Somerset

My immediate thought about the midnight dip, even before reading the comments, was that it was people not starting a game in the minutes leading up to midnight so that they could be among the first to play the duel.

Howard Somerset

(75-9-8) x 6 -1 = 347 I went a completely different way to 347, but only just before the 30 secs was up reaslied that I'd illegally gone via a fraction. My method was 75 x 4 = 300, using 8/2 to make the 4. Then splitting the multiplication by using 8 x 6, leaving the 1 to subtract. Unfortunately th...

Howard Somerset

Seems like it was this guy: http://wiki.apterous.org/User:JohnnyCanuck He also has far too much time on his hands: This includes every fictional game and fictional word in the future . To think someone actually spent time making some rounds up and scores etc.... This is fucking mental! This has got...

Howard Somerset

Yeah although if you want to pm me the ones you're missing I can give you hints. Same goes for everyone else. Anyone completed it yet? Ryan Taylor is 1 clue away from completion and Howard has 2 clues left. Haha after typing that I've just had a text from Ryan saying he's solved the last one! And I...

Howard Somerset

Marc Meakin wrote:Question 1 probably is a trick question because you couldn't bet on football matches then.

It wasn't a trick for that reason. Betting on football matches was certainly around in those days. I remember betting on Forest to beat Luton 2-1 in the FA Cup final, and that was long before 1966.

Howard Somerset

Having asked to extend to next week, we managed to play it with minutes left.

Andrew 72 - 56 Howard
Howard 107 - 50 Andrew
Andrew 78 - 64 Howard

2 - 1 win to Andrew.

Thanks for the game, Andrew!

Howard Somerset

My game versus Howard Somerset in the U1000 has not taken place due to not being able to arrange a suitable time, we hope it can take place this week. I came on just to say the same thing, but you beat me to it, Andrew. Since the U1000 is a round robin, will it be ok to play it as soon as both Andr...

Howard Somerset

England now enter the nemesis stage of the world cup. In order to win it we will have to play all the teams that usually knock us out of big tournaments. Germany (1970,1990 1996), followed by Argentina(1986 1998),Portugal (2000, 2004 and 2006) and finally Brazil (2002) in the final. Alternative way...

Howard Somerset

Only seen this for the first time today.

35. A lot higher than I'd expected.

Howard Somerset

Presumably if it lands on heads, you'll still wake up on Tuesday, and whether it lands heads or tails, you'll still wake up on Wednesday, Thursday, etc. So 1/2. Or are you only considering the times you wake up, thinking it's the first time you've woken up since Sunday? In which case I would go with...

Howard Somerset

Ian Volante wrote:It'll be something that identifies the tournament in posterity, like the wave in '86

I hope it's not like the wave in '86, cos the wave spread to other places.

Howard Somerset

Now reached level 1, using only spreadsheet or simply pen and paper so far.

Howard Somerset

David O'Donnell wrote:Never going to happen, England will be lucky to scrape some kind of ultra boring 1-0 victory.

Even that would be better than 1966. Incredibly boring 0-0 in first game.

Howard Somerset

Thanks for the mention of Eclipse, Charlie. :) I was right to delay looking at this. If I had looked earlier there would be many things left undone in the past few weeks that should have been done (even more than in fact happened). But I really should have delayed longer, as I'm quite sure there'll ...

Howard Somerset

Thanks Charlie, these are great. Most of them (so far anyway) seem doable just using something like MS Excel, as long as you can come up with an efficient method rather than brute force (I think problem 18 and its extension, 67, are my favourites for this) Since you mentioned them, Bob, I went stra...

Howard Somerset

Another one, number two, this morning, and then I quickly realised that I'm going to have to be rather selective in which ones I go for, as I haven't had access to a programming language since retiring 14 years ago.

Howard Somerset

Well, I finally succombed, and went to the link a few minutes ago. Got number one out of the way pretty quickly. Might give it to one or two of my C2 students, as it's an ideal question for that course. No programming, nor even excel needed for this one. Simply a calculator. I've resisted the tempta...

Howard Somerset

I'll be watching both. Two televisions. I'll have sound on Coundown, and vision only for the football. I often prefer not to have the commentary. However, on all days, half time in the matches will be around 3:45 to 4:00, so Countdown will get my undivided attention for those 15 minutes, as I dislik...

Howard Somerset

Ryan Taylor wrote:Sorry Alec if you did not wish this information sharing, but every person who has a Facebook account must not care too much for privacy.

I don't think there's any problem sharing that, Ryan. It's all very public, and I, for one, had seen them all.

Howard Somerset

Kai Laddiman wrote:
Michael Wallace wrote:
Howard Somerset wrote:Clearly, I've got far too much time on my hands.
Appreciated, though
QFT

Had to look up QFT on Wiki. Nine meanings, seven of them are clearly irrelevant, but I'm interested which of the other two (7th or 8th) you were meaning, Kai.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QFT

Howard Somerset

An alternative to ranking the contestants by average score, as James has interestingly done, is to try to eliminate as far as possible the variables, and prompted by the Statistics Corner which Kai recently included in recaps, I've extended that to look at raw score as a precentage of max for each o...

Howard Somerset

If the matches are run on a seeding system, I believe the semi-final match-ups will probably be Oliver vs Craig and Danny vs Lee, with the first semi being the game of the series. I'd also tip Lee to just edge Danny out for the other final spot. They are run on a seeding system, but not in the way ...

Howard Somerset

Since U800 is no more, I'll go for U1000 this year, please.

Howard Somerset

James Robinson wrote:
Douglas Wilson wrote:Is it just me or does Scott look really like our favourite Yorkshire based, usual spoilers thread starter?
One word, no

What are you saying "no" to, James? "Is it just me"?

Howard Somerset

Thanks for doing it at short notice, Ryan.

Howard Somerset

Dinos Sfyris wrote:The next Numerical Listener is out today. Just finished my exam and about to go and buy my copy now!

Text me if you get anywhere. I've just managed one entry, while playing Monopoly with three of my grandchildren.

Howard Somerset

I'm wondering if the best thing to do is strip it down to a smaller lottery of say 3 balls being drawn from 6 and getting a prize for 2 matches, and seeing what kind of 'pattern' (if any) you end up with that, as that should probably be reasonably easy to optimise. Maybe. I dunno, I'm too busy at w...

Howard Somerset

This same puzzle has just been mentioned on Radio 4, towards the end of the programme which finishes at 2 pm.

Howard Somerset

I think it's brilliant. Was even driving on the motorway this morning, and all I was thinking about was this boy born on thursday question. Looks totally implausable at first (when I first read this thread a day or so ago), but by the time I got home, having done the various calulations in my head,...

Howard Somerset

Lesley Hines wrote:TBF, IMNSHO, that's QFT.

Howard Somerset

I've always understood IMHO to mean "in my humble opinion", but, IMO nobody is ever being humble when they say "IMHO", so the H is quite unnecessary.

Howard Somerset

Jon O'Neill wrote: Actually, I like the sensation of a cold toilet seat.

Definitely better than a warm one. Or you spend time wondering who warmed it up.

Howard Somerset

Start off by going to wash your hands BEFORE choosing your cubicle. (It's not out of the way to do this. I once heard a remark that you can tell what a guy thinks of his wife/gf by observing whether he washes his hands before or after having a pee.) While you're taking your time over washing your ha...

Howard Somerset

I think it's brilliant. Was even driving on the motorway this morning, and all I was thinking about was this boy born on thursday question. Looks totally implausable at first (when I first read this thread a day or so ago), but by the time I got home, having done the various calulations in my head, ...

Howard Somerset

Bob De Caux wrote:If you could uniquely identify one boy exactly (so that no other boy could have those characteristics), then whether the other one is a boy or girl just reverts to Lesley's independence answer, i.e. 50%

Very convincing.

Howard Somerset

And all nicely discussed here, even to the extent that Tuesday was the day of the week chosen, only a couple of days ago.

I will probably introduce Q1 to some of my S1 students, but there's no way that I'm going to mention Q2. Well not before they take their exam.

Search found 1741 matches