Ask Graeme?

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Zarte Siempre
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Zarte Siempre »

Hi Graeme,

I'd like to ask if anything has happened lately of note, cos no-one's asking stuff, and you're not answering stuff.

Anything massively of note that we might have missed?
Possibly the first contestant to accelerate with a mic clipped...
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DJ Marky Mark
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by DJ Marky Mark »

Hi Graeme, Remembering my wife's amazing comeback against Neil Stephenson, 21 behind with 4 rounds to go and winning by 22 points, is there any other players that have come from behind better than that. :D :) ;)
Long suffering Husband of Tracey Mills.
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Turns out this thread is still a thing.
Johnny Canuck wrote: Tue Mar 08, 2016 4:18 am Following on from the infamous FREEDRUTH incident, how many times has a conundrum answer been used more than once in a series? I know PROUDSTEP => SUPPORTED was also used twice, about 2-3 weeks apart, during or around the time of Robbo's original run in Series 49.
This has happened more times than I expected. Quite a few conundrum answers have been used twice in the same series, but never more than that.

DECLARING and PRECEDENT appeared twice each in the Masters series 1.
BLEACHING and ESTABLISH appeared twice each in the Masters series 2.

In series 13, FURTHERED appeared twice, as you said. http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_611 and http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_614

Since then, a number of conundrums have appeared twice in the same series: REKINDLED in series 32, ATROCIOUS in series 40, SUPPORTED In series 49, BURNISHED and SQUEALING in series 51, PENSIONER, PONDERING and STRESSING in series 53, CAREERING, DANDELION, DEMOCRACY, EMPLOYING and MUSTERING in series 54, LOOSENING in series 56, ROCKETING and SMOOCHING in series 57, GRUMPIEST in series 59, and CONTRIVED most recently in series 75.
Johnny Canuck wrote: Fri Mar 11, 2016 3:57 am Was this the first game with more than one repdigit target?
Yes.
Thomas Carey wrote: Wed Mar 23, 2016 9:45 pm Dunno if you've answered this but who got the toughest 15r octorun (by combined maxes of the 8 opponents)? That's probably not the best way to do it as 4 good ones and 4 shit ones is a lot harder than 8 mediocre ones. Dunno, squares of maxes? Feel free to suggest a better system. Either way, Mark Murray probably wins it.
Yep. Sums of maxes of heat game opponents of 15-round octochamps, sorted by total opponent maxes over the eight games:

Code: Select all

Mark Murray      53
Glen Webb        47
Steven Moir      47
Tricia Pay       47
Neil Zussman     46
Ryan Taylor      46
Dan McColm       44
George Ford      44
Julian Fell      44
Oliver Garner    44
Ben Wilson wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2016 8:17 am Related to my question above, going by numbers of maxes achieved, what's been the biggest 'upset' in the history of the show? By which I mean, what's the biggest difference between the average number of maxes per game where the player with the lower average won.
I'm going to take this as "average maxes per round" rather than "per game" to avoid problems with 9 rounders v 15 rounders. Also I'm giving every player an "average maxes per round" figure for all their appearances ever on Countdown, even ones after the game in question was played.

Code: Select all

EP     WINNER            LOSER             DIFFERENCE IN TOTAL MAXES PER ROUND
154    Clinton Rae       Robert Richland   0.428104575163399   
729    Dave Clapham      Rose Meyer        0.407407407407407   
1423   Theresa McKeown   Alec Webb         0.407407407407407   
1819   Mike Llewellin    June Ruskin       0.37037037037037    
1566   Adrian Cothard    Gregg Magee       0.365079365079365   
1750   Bob Lynn          Steve Gruzd       0.351851851851852   
843    Cathy Bland       Evan Simpson      0.337535014005602   
451    Steve Wood        Paul Robson       0.333333333333333   
1076   Robert Houston    Ewen Alexander    0.333333333333333   
2250   Ged Hayes         Paul James        0.325396825396825   
A lot of people in this table are players where the loser came back in a later series and did very well, bringing their average up. However, that's not true of the top entry, unless you count a later Masters appearance: in episode 154, Clinton Rae (2 maxes from 18 rounds) beat Robert Richland (55 maxes from 102 rounds), and this is the biggest upset by this metric.
Johnny Canuck wrote: Wed Mar 30, 2016 3:19 pm In Series 47, all 8 finalists were octochamps, and they together achieved 6336 points in their heats. Is this the highest aggregate heat game total among all finalists? If not, what is the highest? What is the lowest? Would you be able to make a ranking of all 15-round finalist aggregate heat game totals?
This is surprisingly difficult and fiddly to do, because the database doesn't know who the finalists for a series are, only who played in the quarter finals, and we can't just add up the heat scores of each of those players because some of the players might have appeared years before. I'll answer this if I can see an easier way to do it.
Johnny Canuck wrote: Wed Mar 30, 2016 9:57 pm What month (January, February, etc.; irrespective of year) has had the most episodes, overall, broadcast in it?
Surprisingly, the answer is February, the shortest month of the year. This answer, like all answers in this post, counts all episodes up to the end of series 77, so we're not counting any episodes from January and February this year. This is probably something to do with what time of year the old three-month series were shown, before Countdown was shown all year round. January and December are affected by the Christmas break.

Code: Select all

Feb     654
Mar     645
Jan     644
Jul     601
Nov     593
Sep     584
Oct     565
Apr     544
Aug     544
May     532
Jun     512
Dec     457
Gavin Chipper wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2016 5:04 pm What's the most consecutive weekdays that Countdown has been on? (New shows - early morning repeats don't count.)
This episode on 29th December 1997 was the first in an unbroken 409-episode run of weekday episodes, which ended with the episode on 21st July 1999.
Matty Artell wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:35 pm I'd be mildly surprised if your database can answer this, so I leave it as an exercise to anyone who studies bus timetables. The bus I'm currently on stops in both Worsley and Pendleton. (Looking forward to being inside both of them). Is this the bus route with the most apterite surnames?
FAO Jeff Clayton.
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Johnny Canuck wrote: Mon Jun 06, 2016 11:54 pm In Round 1 of this game, the first three letters drawn were QXZ. Have all four of the "difficult" letters (those three plus the J) ever appeared in the same round? If not, how many times have three of them appeared?
No selection has ever had J, Q, X and Z in it. 18 selections have had three of those letters, most recently in round 13 of this game.
Johnny Canuck wrote: Mon Jun 06, 2016 11:54 pm I also vaguely recall going through the archives, most likely a very early series, and seeing a round with three Ys; can someone please confirm its presence for me to prove I'm not just going slightly mad?
Round 7 in this very early episode.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Good to see you back, Graeme!
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Callum Todd
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Callum Todd »

Hi Graeme,

Please forgive me for asking a question motivated primarily out of self-interest, but I remember being told after my heat games that I was the first person to pick 6 small on all 16 opportunities during an 8-game heats run. I was wondering if you could give us an up-to-date breakdown of the people to have most commonly picked 6 small, 3 large, or 4 large during their televised games. I exclude 1 large and 2 large as they are somewhat default picks and I am assuming the results of that inquiry would be uninteresting, but if you believe otherwise then by all means share them too.

To clarify, something along the lines of:
- People to have picked 6 small the most times during heat games
- People to have picked 6 small the most times overall (including any and all televised appearances)
- People to have picked 3 large the most times during heat games
- People to have picked 3 large the most times overall (including any and all televised appearances)
- People to have picked 4 large the most times during heat games
- People to have picked 4 large the most times overall (including any and all televised appearances)

Would be very interesting. Thanks.
Mark Deeks wrote:Callum Todd looks like a young Ted Bundy.
Zarte Siempre
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Zarte Siempre »

Callum Todd wrote: Fri Oct 05, 2018 3:28 pm Hi Graeme,

Ple......ting. Thanks.
In addition to this, would it be possible to demonstrate the reverse - who has picked most schizophrenically across their episodes?
Possibly the first contestant to accelerate with a mic clipped...
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Noel Mc »

Callum Todd wrote: Fri Oct 05, 2018 3:28 pm - People to have picked 4 large the most times during heat games
- People to have picked 4 large the most times overall (including any and all televised appearances)
Im probably the answer to this (potentially tied).
16/16 4L
20/20 4L including up to semi final
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Bradley Horrocks
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Bradley Horrocks »

Callum Todd wrote: Fri Oct 05, 2018 3:28 pm - People to have picked 6 small the most times during heat games
- People to have picked 6 small the most times overall (including any and all televised appearances)

Would be very interesting. Thanks.
John Cowen was the Noel of 6 small, exact same stats. No one will be surprised to see them add to that number once CoC is broadcast, just a question of how many!
I can think of regular 3-largers from the old 15 era, but of course they only had 10 numbers choices over their octoruns.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Thomas Carey »

Lowest debut score for an octochamp? (57 happened recently which must be close to the 15 round record. I guess do whatever with previous runs). Series champ?

How many games (that we know of) have not had GO available as a valid 2?

Looking forward to some very meaty stats after coc
cheers maus
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Jennifer Steadman
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Jennifer Steadman »

How many selections in Countdown's history could you get the word GRAEME from? Have there ever been any rounds with GRAEGRAE in the selection?

Asking the important questions.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Tom S »

Jennifer Steadman wrote: Wed Oct 10, 2018 5:10 pm How many selections in Countdown's history could you get the word GRAEME from? Have there ever been any rounds with GRAEGRAE in the selection?

Asking the important questions.
MEAGRE for GRAEME :)
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

DJ Marky Mark wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2018 10:03 am Hi Graeme, Remembering my wife's amazing comeback against Neil Stephenson, 21 behind with 4 rounds to go and winning by 22 points, is there any other players that have come from behind better than that. :D :) ;)
The biggest ever comeback in terms of the biggest deficit in the game by the eventual winner was by Richard Pay in this game, where he won despite being 40 points behind with 6 rounds left.

The furthest behind the eventual winner has been with four rounds left is 33 by Rory Coleman against Graham Harrison. For three rounds left, it's 26, in the same game. Pete Cashmore was 20 points behind against Paul Peters with two rounds left but went on to win, and of course that record can't be beaten.

However, in Tracey's case she not only came back from 22 points behind to win, but she won by 21. Now, if you count a comeback as your biggest deficit anywhere in the game plus your eventual winning margin, you get unhelpful results - a player might come back from 6 behind after round 1 to win by 100, for example.

But let's limit it to the last four rounds. For each game, we'll ignore everything but the last four rounds and see who has the highest winning margin over those rounds. Steven Briers has the record here, having won rounds 12-15 of this game 56-0.

However, he was already winning after R11, so that can't be called a "comeback" either. If we only include players who were behind after R11 but went on to win, Tracey does indeed have the record - nobody else has been behind going into the last four rounds and won those rounds with a margin greater than 43 (the next highest is 38 by David Williams in this game).
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Callum Todd wrote: Fri Oct 05, 2018 3:28 pm Hi Graeme,

Please forgive me for asking a question motivated primarily out of self-interest, but I remember being told after my heat games that I was the first person to pick 6 small on all 16 opportunities during an 8-game heats run. I was wondering if you could give us an up-to-date breakdown of the people to have most commonly picked 6 small, 3 large, or 4 large during their televised games. I exclude 1 large and 2 large as they are somewhat default picks and I am assuming the results of that inquiry would be uninteresting, but if you believe otherwise then by all means share them too.

To clarify, something along the lines of:
- People to have picked 6 small the most times during heat games
- People to have picked 6 small the most times overall (including any and all televised appearances)
- People to have picked 3 large the most times during heat games
- People to have picked 3 large the most times overall (including any and all televised appearances)
- People to have picked 4 large the most times during heat games
- People to have picked 4 large the most times overall (including any and all televised appearances)

Would be very interesting. Thanks.
I'm only counting new 15-rounders here. In the old 15 rounders, an octochamp would typically only make 9 numbers picks in their heat games anyway.

6 small:
Four people have picked 6 small 16 times in their heats: you, Jonathan Liew, Wesley Jardine and John Cowen.
Counting all games, you picked 6 small 22 times, which is the highest. John Cowen did it 20 times, and Jonathan Liew and Wesley Jardine 18.

3 large:
Heats only: Philip Aston picked it 11 times. Simon Whiteley picked it 10 times and Ann Dibben and George Armstrong picked it 8 times each. It should be noted that Simon Whiteley and George Armstrong only played 5 games each, so Simon picked exclusively 3 large.
All games: Philip Aston picked it 14 times, Ann Dibben 12 and Simon Whiteley 10.

4 large:
Heats only: Tim Down and Noel McIlvenny exclusively went for 4 large, picking it 16 times out of 16. Tom Cappleman picked it 15 times.
All games: George Ford and Noel McIlvenny both out in front, having picked it 20 times. Tom Cappleman is third again, on 18.
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Thomas Carey wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 1:44 pm Lowest debut score for an octochamp? (57 happened recently which must be close to the 15 round record. I guess do whatever with previous runs).
I've counted the "debut" score as the score the octochamp got in the first episode of their octorun, and ignored any previous runs.

In my database, which goes up to the end of series 78, Dave Taylor holds this record with 61, so 57 beats it.
Thomas Carey wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 1:44 pm Series champ?
(Again, I've ignored cases where someone makes a low score then returns years later to win a series - I'm only counting their debut score in the series-winning run.)

For 15-rounders of either kind, Callum Todd has the lowest debut score of any series winner, with 70.
Thomas Carey wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 1:44 pm How many games (that we know of) have not had GO available as a valid 2?
411 15-rounders have not had GO available anywhere in them. I've not done 9-rounders because there are quite a few for which we don't know the selections.
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Graeme Cole wrote: Wed Oct 10, 2018 7:29 pmnew 15-rounders
We've had the current format for over 5 years now. When am I going to stop calling it the "new" 15-rounder?
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Zarte Siempre wrote: Fri Oct 05, 2018 3:34 pm
Callum Todd wrote: Fri Oct 05, 2018 3:28 pm Hi Graeme,

Ple......ting. Thanks.
In addition to this, would it be possible to demonstrate the reverse - who has picked most schizophrenically across their episodes?
14 players have picked all five possible numbers choices at some point or other. They are Wayne Kelly, Mark Murray, Michael Calder, John Davies, Gary Male, Mark Tournoff, John Hardie, Matthew Shore, Mikey Lear, Neil Zussman, Edward McCullagh, Matthew Tassier, Michael Pfeffer and Dougie Mackay.
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Jennifer Steadman wrote: Wed Oct 10, 2018 5:10 pm How many selections in Countdown's history could you get the word GRAEME from?
126, with round 10 in this game being the most recent one up to the end of S78.
Jennifer Steadman wrote: Wed Oct 10, 2018 5:10 pm Have there ever been any rounds with GRAEGRAE in the selection?
Sadly not.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Thomas Cappleman »

Graeme Cole wrote: Wed Oct 10, 2018 7:50 pm
Graeme Cole wrote: Wed Oct 10, 2018 7:29 pmnew 15-rounders
We've had the current format for over 5 years now. When am I going to stop calling it the "new" 15-rounder?
Given that this is the Ask Graeme? thread, I think it's on you to answer your own question. Preferably with suitable statistics.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Matty Artell »

Graeme Cole wrote: Wed Oct 10, 2018 8:05 pm
Jennifer Steadman wrote: Wed Oct 10, 2018 5:10 pm How many selections in Countdown's history could you get the word GRAEME from?
126, with round 10 in this game being the most recent one up to the end of S78.
How many of these have had 6 as the max? Can we call this a MAX GRAEME :D ;) :o 8-) 8-) 8-)
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Conor »

What’s the latest (correct) conundrum solve there’s ever been on the show? The latest I can recall is Mark Tournoff’s PARTRIDGE on 27 seconds in the S52 final, but surely there have been even later ones. I’d also sub-categorize this into solves where the opponent buzzed in already (and so someone may just decided to use all the time checking) and into solves where no-one has buzzed. Thanks.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Thomas Cappleman »

Found a couple recorded as 30s (http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_4419 and this wonderfully ironic entry http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_761)

Also a couple of 29.75s (http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_5293 and http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_5326) and a 29.9 after an incorrect 29s buzz (http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_5050)
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Conor »

Thomas Cappleman wrote: Fri May 24, 2019 10:31 pm Found a couple recorded as 30s (http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_4419 and this wonderfully ironic entry http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_761)

Also a couple of 29.75s (http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_5293 and http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_5326) and a 29.9 after an incorrect 29s buzz (http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_5050)
Nice finds, cheers -- remembering the controversy over THWARTING now...
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Thomas Cappleman wrote: Fri May 24, 2019 10:31 pm Found a couple recorded as 30s (http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_4419 and this wonderfully ironic entry http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_761)
Those two and these two are the only correct 30 second buzzes I have in the database.

http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_1349 - probably just after the time ran out, according to the note.
http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_5769 - with bonus inconclusive waffling from the time about whether it's supposed to be possible to buzz after the 30th second has lit up on the clock.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Ben Richards »

Where do the letter tiles go after each round is finished. Occasionally the editing department leaves in a few moments if her taking them off the board. Where do they go?

Also I know that Rachel uses a marker on the numbers board but where does the pen go afterwards?
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Ben Richards wrote: Tue May 28, 2019 10:26 am Where do the letter tiles go after each round is finished. Occasionally the editing department leaves in a few moments if her taking them off the board. Where do they go
Letters tiles are a bit like this.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

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Ben Richards wrote: Tue May 28, 2019 10:26 am Where do the letter tiles go after each round is finished. Occasionally the editing department leaves in a few moments if her taking them off the board. Where do they go?

Also I know that Rachel uses a marker on the numbers board but where does the pen go afterwards?
She hands both the letter tiles and marker to a member of the production staff who are just off-stage. They keep the letters in separate piles in case they need to re-film a round at the end
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Tom S »

Hi Graeme,

Sorry if these Qs have been asked before, but I have 2 questions which I am intrigued about.

1. In light of today's players scoring 0 on the numbers rounds overall, is this a new record?
2. What is the longest string of centuries in preliminary games?- I would have thought that 9 in a row starting from Elliott Mellor's 1st game would be a contender.

Much obliged,
Tom.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Thomas Cappleman »

Tom S wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 2:58 pm 2. What is the longest string of centuries in preliminary games?- I would have thought that 9 in a row starting from Elliott Mellor's 1st game would be a contender.
Zarte's first run + Dylan's octorun + Gemma's first game (14 games total) is most likely I reckon. I've had a look at all the octochamps who got a century in all their games, as the easiest way to get a long run, and this is the best. Tom Carey + Matt le Tissier's first 2 gives a 10 game run as well.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

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Thomas Cappleman wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 3:19 pm
Tom S wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 2:58 pm 2. What is the longest string of centuries in preliminary games?- I would have thought that 9 in a row starting from Elliott Mellor's 1st game would be a contender.
Zarte's first run + Dylan's octorun + Gemma's first game (14 games total) is most likely I reckon. I've had a look at all the octochamps who got a century in all their games, as the easiest way to get a long run, and this is the best. Tom Carey + Matt le Tissier's first 2 gives a 10 game run as well.
Thanks for that Tom- 14 does sound like the best bet for the record.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Tom S wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 2:58 pm 1. In light of today's players scoring 0 on the numbers rounds overall, is this a new record?
Today was the first 15 rounder with no points scored on numbers. This applies to both 15-round formats - previously the lowest total numbers score for an episode was 7 for the current format (four numbers rounds), and 5 for the old format (three numbers rounds).

In 9-round games which contained only two numbers rounds, there were at least 14 occasions when neither contestant scored on numbers.
Tom S wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 4:09 pm
Thomas Cappleman wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 3:19 pm
Tom S wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 2:58 pm 2. What is the longest string of centuries in preliminary games?- I would have thought that 9 in a row starting from Elliott Mellor's 1st game would be a contender.
Zarte's first run + Dylan's octorun + Gemma's first game (14 games total) is most likely I reckon. I've had a look at all the octochamps who got a century in all their games, as the easiest way to get a long run, and this is the best. Tom Carey + Matt le Tissier's first 2 gives a 10 game run as well.
Thanks for that Tom- 14 does sound like the best bet for the record.
This is correct. Even if you count other kinds of games alongside prelims, that run of 14 is still the (only) longest run of centuries.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Tom S »

Graeme Cole wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 9:13 pm
Tom S wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 2:58 pm 1. In light of today's players scoring 0 on the numbers rounds overall, is this a new record?
Today was the first 15 rounder with no points scored on numbers. This applies to both 15-round formats - previously the lowest total numbers score for an episode was 7 for the current format (four numbers rounds), and 5 for the old format (three numbers rounds).

In 9-round games which contained only two numbers rounds, there were at least 14 occasions when neither contestant scored on numbers.
Tom S wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 4:09 pm
Thomas Cappleman wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 3:19 pm

Zarte's first run + Dylan's octorun + Gemma's first game (14 games total) is most likely I reckon. I've had a look at all the octochamps who got a century in all their games, as the easiest way to get a long run, and this is the best. Tom Carey + Matt le Tissier's first 2 gives a 10 game run as well.
Thanks for that Tom- 14 does sound like the best bet for the record.
This is correct. Even if you count other kinds of games alongside prelims, that run of 14 is still the (only) longest run of centuries.
Thanks for that. Interesting to hear....
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

Graeme Cole wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2013 5:56 pm
Gavin Chipper wrote:Edit - Something that the database probably could answer - what is the break down of probabilities of each length of word being the max, and for each length, what is the average number of words of the max length?
I can only do the first bit. For each letters round the database stores the most points available, but I didn't make it store what words were available.

Code: Select all

  MAX    FREQ
    3       2     0.0043%
    4      44     0.095%
    5     825     1.78%
    6    6720    14.54%
    7   20058    43.39%
    8   15977    34.57%
    9    2596     5.62%
Can we have an update on this please Graeme?
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Rhys Benjamin wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 1:28 pm
Graeme Cole wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2013 5:56 pm
Gavin Chipper wrote:Edit - Something that the database probably could answer - what is the break down of probabilities of each length of word being the max, and for each length, what is the average number of words of the max length?
I can only do the first bit. For each letters round the database stores the most points available, but I didn't make it store what words were available.

Code: Select all

  MAX    FREQ
    3       2     0.0043%
    4      44     0.095%
    5     825     1.78%
    6    6720    14.54%
    7   20058    43.39%
    8   15977    34.57%
    9    2596     5.62%
Can we have an update on this please Graeme?
This includes all known letters rounds up to the end of series 80 (61,739 of them). There is a caveat that letters maxes for old games (I think this means all pre-ODE2) come from the historical recaps, in which the maxes were judged by the closest available dictionary, which might not have been the dictionary actually in use for the episode.

Code: Select all

  MAX    FREQ
    3       2     0.0032%
    4      47     0.076%
    5    1016     1.65%
    6    8473    13.72%
    7   26356    42.69%
    8   22081    35.77%
    9    3764     6.10%
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Tom S »

Both of the losers of the S80 semifinals never declared a 9 during their time on the show. Is this the furthest any player has advanced without doing so, or do some runners-up (even winners?) fit the bill? (exc. CoC, Masters or special games).
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

OK. But what's the idea with using random threads to post your posts in?* But anyway I'm looking forward to seeing you at COLIN if you do make it!

*Hopefully Graeme will know the answer to this.
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Post by Graeme Cole »

Tom S wrote: Thu Sep 12, 2019 5:02 pm Both of the losers of the S80 semifinals never declared a 9 during their time on the show. Is this the furthest any player has advanced without doing so, or do some runners-up (even winners?) fit the bill? (exc. CoC, Masters or special games).
It's happened before many times. Joyce Cansfield, Darryl Francis, Andrew Guy, Brian Hudson, Peter Evans, Ian Bebbington, David Trace, Hilary Hopper, Tony Vick, Rajaretnam Yogasagarar, Michael Wareham, Barry Grossman, Wayne Summers, Don Reid, Andy Bodle, Darren Shacklady, Verity Joubert, Huw Morgan, Pete Cashmore, Tony Baylis, Ray McPhie, Stuart Wood, Ben Wilson and Nick Wainwright all won their series without having offered a valid nine.

Of those 24 series winners, 18 of them also never offered a valid nine in any subsequent appearance either. They are Joyce Cansfield, Andrew Guy, Brian Hudson, Peter Evans, Ian Bebbington, Hilary Hopper, Rajaretnam Yogasagarar, Michael Wareham, Barry Grossman, Wayne Summers, Don Reid, Andy Bodle, Darren Shacklady, Verity Joubert, Huw Morgan, Tony Baylis, Ray McPhie and Stuart Wood.

Note that for some of the very early series we don't have complete records of all the rounds, so there may be one or two false positives towards the beginning of the above lists.
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Post by Graeme Cole »

Gavin Chipper wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 9:45 pm OK. But what's the idea with using random threads to post your posts in?
Authentication. If he didn't then we might not believe it was really him.
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I want a fresh start now, I don’t want this account blocking I won’t make any posts until people reply to my apology. I will be patient.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Tom S »

Graeme Cole wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 11:17 pm
Tom S wrote: Thu Sep 12, 2019 5:02 pm Both of the losers of the S80 semifinals never declared a 9 during their time on the show. Is this the furthest any player has advanced without doing so, or do some runners-up (even winners?) fit the bill? (exc. CoC, Masters or special games).
It's happened before many times. Joyce Cansfield, Darryl Francis, Andrew Guy, Brian Hudson, Peter Evans, Ian Bebbington, David Trace, Hilary Hopper, Tony Vick, Rajaretnam Yogasagarar, Michael Wareham, Barry Grossman, Wayne Summers, Don Reid, Andy Bodle, Darren Shacklady, Verity Joubert, Huw Morgan, Pete Cashmore, Tony Baylis, Ray McPhie, Stuart Wood, Ben Wilson and Nick Wainwright all won their series without having offered a valid nine.

Of those 24 series winners, 18 of them also never offered a valid nine in any subsequent appearance either. They are Joyce Cansfield, Andrew Guy, Brian Hudson, Peter Evans, Ian Bebbington, Hilary Hopper, Rajaretnam Yogasagarar, Michael Wareham, Barry Grossman, Wayne Summers, Don Reid, Andy Bodle, Darren Shacklady, Verity Joubert, Huw Morgan, Tony Baylis, Ray McPhie and Stuart Wood.

Note that for some of the very early series we don't have complete records of all the rounds, so there may be one or two false positives towards the beginning of the above lists.
Interesting. Thanks for that.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Ben Wilson »

Graeme Cole wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 11:17 pm
Tom S wrote: Thu Sep 12, 2019 5:02 pm Both of the losers of the S80 semifinals never declared a 9 during their time on the show. Is this the furthest any player has advanced without doing so, or do some runners-up (even winners?) fit the bill? (exc. CoC, Masters or special games).
It's happened before many times. Joyce Cansfield, Darryl Francis, Andrew Guy, Brian Hudson, Peter Evans, Ian Bebbington, David Trace, Hilary Hopper, Tony Vick, Rajaretnam Yogasagarar, Michael Wareham, Barry Grossman, Wayne Summers, Don Reid, Andy Bodle, Darren Shacklady, Verity Joubert, Huw Morgan, Pete Cashmore, Tony Baylis, Ray McPhie, Stuart Wood, Ben Wilson and Nick Wainwright all won their series without having offered a valid nine.

Of those 24 series winners, 18 of them also never offered a valid nine in any subsequent appearance either. They are Joyce Cansfield, Andrew Guy, Brian Hudson, Peter Evans, Ian Bebbington, Hilary Hopper, Rajaretnam Yogasagarar, Michael Wareham, Barry Grossman, Wayne Summers, Don Reid, Andy Bodle, Darren Shacklady, Verity Joubert, Huw Morgan, Tony Baylis, Ray McPhie and Stuart Wood.

Note that for some of the very early series we don't have complete records of all the rounds, so there may be one or two false positives towards the beginning of the above lists.
On a similar note, what's the largest number of letters games anyone played before getting their first nine or without getting a nine at all? Got to believe Don Reid is high on the second list, being a grand slam winner and all.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by L'oisleatch McGraw »

Quite likely to have been asked before, but in case it hasn't, and you know;
Graeme, how many Octochamps have solved all 8 conundrums in their heat games?
:arrow: :arrow: :arrow: S:778-ochamp
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Tom S »

A possibly obscure Q, but yesterday's player Sean McCarthy beat a Daniel in his opening game and then lost to a Danny in his next game. How many people have beaten and then lost to the 2 respective players who have had the same forename? (or a derivative).
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Tom S »

Hi Graeme,
What is the biggest decrease in score of a champion from one game to the next, in which they had won both of the games? .This is applicable to all types of 15R's. I'd have a punt and say it was Jodine Lawrence from S79, who got 117 in her debut, and 75 in the next game, but thought I'd ask.

Tom
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Ian Volante »

Tom S wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 8:55 am Hi Graeme,
What is the biggest decrease in score of a champion from one game to the next, in which they had won both of the games? .This is applicable to all types of 15R's. I'd have a punt and say it was Jodine Lawrence from S79, who got 117 in her debut, and 75 in the next game, but thought I'd ask.

Tom
Have a look at the last three broadcast episodes for a drop of 51 followed by an increase of 53.
meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Tom S »

Ian Volante wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 7:53 am
Tom S wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 8:55 am Hi Graeme,
What is the biggest decrease in score of a champion from one game to the next, in which they had won both of the games? .This is applicable to all types of 15R's. I'd have a punt and say it was Jodine Lawrence from S79, who got 117 in her debut, and 75 in the next game, but thought I'd ask.

Tom
Have a look at the last three broadcast episodes for a drop of 51 followed by an increase of 53.
Good shout Ian - David certainly had a wide range of scores.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by James S Roper »

1) What series has the lowest total of the top 8 seeds' points going into the finals?

2) What's the fewest number of centuries observed in a series? (In the 15R era, obvs)
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Fred Mumford »

Tom S wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 8:55 am What is the biggest decrease in score of a champion from one game to the next, in which they had won both of the games?
Stewart Holden went from 137 to 79. Might not be the record though.
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Post by Thomas Carey »

good shout. i thought http://wiki.apterous.org/Jamie_Ilett-Jones might be in contention but apparently not
cheers maus
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Tom S wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 8:55 am Hi Graeme,
What is the biggest decrease in score of a champion from one game to the next, in which they had won both of the games? .This is applicable to all types of 15R's. I'd have a punt and say it was Jodine Lawrence from S79, who got 117 in her debut, and 75 in the next game, but thought I'd ask.

Tom
Hamish Williamson scored 134 in his first game and then 74 in his second, which was a drop of 60. That's the biggest drop in score between two consecutive winning heat games by a player.

If you also count cases where the player lost the second game, the highest drop is 78. John Drinkwater won with 108 then the next day lost with 30.

In the other direction, the biggest improvement in score between two consecutive heat games by the same player was 61 by Frank Mulvey, who won his fourth game with 72, won his fifth game with 133, and didn't return for a sixth game.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Fred Mumford wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 7:53 pm
Tom S wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 8:55 am What is the biggest decrease in score of a champion from one game to the next, in which they had won both of the games?
Stewart Holden went from 137 to 79. Might not be the record though.
This pair of games is in second place, beaten only by Hamish Williamson.

(All of this only counts games up to the end of series 81.)
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Ben Wilson wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2019 9:05 am
Graeme Cole wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 11:17 pm
Tom S wrote: Thu Sep 12, 2019 5:02 pm Both of the losers of the S80 semifinals never declared a 9 during their time on the show. Is this the furthest any player has advanced without doing so, or do some runners-up (even winners?) fit the bill? (exc. CoC, Masters or special games).
It's happened before many times. Joyce Cansfield, Darryl Francis, Andrew Guy, Brian Hudson, Peter Evans, Ian Bebbington, David Trace, Hilary Hopper, Tony Vick, Rajaretnam Yogasagarar, Michael Wareham, Barry Grossman, Wayne Summers, Don Reid, Andy Bodle, Darren Shacklady, Verity Joubert, Huw Morgan, Pete Cashmore, Tony Baylis, Ray McPhie, Stuart Wood, Ben Wilson and Nick Wainwright all won their series without having offered a valid nine.

Of those 24 series winners, 18 of them also never offered a valid nine in any subsequent appearance either. They are Joyce Cansfield, Andrew Guy, Brian Hudson, Peter Evans, Ian Bebbington, Hilary Hopper, Rajaretnam Yogasagarar, Michael Wareham, Barry Grossman, Wayne Summers, Don Reid, Andy Bodle, Darren Shacklady, Verity Joubert, Huw Morgan, Tony Baylis, Ray McPhie and Stuart Wood.

Note that for some of the very early series we don't have complete records of all the rounds, so there may be one or two false positives towards the beginning of the above lists.
On a similar note, what's the largest number of letters games anyone played before getting their first nine or without getting a nine at all? Got to believe Don Reid is high on the second list, being a grand slam winner and all.
Nick Wainwright played 140 letters rounds before offering his first nine in his 141st letters round.

Next is Nicki Sellars, who played 132 letters rounds and got no nines.

Darryl Francis played 126 (known) letters rounds before getting a nine in his 127th, but that might instead be 132 because he played a game in series 1 which we don't have information about. (Or he could be nowhere near the top of the list if he found a nine in that first game.)

Tony Manwani is next, having played 118 rounds without getting a nine, and then Priscilla Munday who played 112.

You might already know that your first nine came in your 113th letters round (so also 112 nineless rounds).

Don Reid, by the way, played 106 letters rounds and got no nines.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

L'oisleatch McGraw wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2020 12:01 am Quite likely to have been asked before, but in case it hasn't, and you know;
Graeme, how many Octochamps have solved all 8 conundrums in their heat games?
Eleven. They are Darryl Francis, Harvey Freeman, David Williams, Julian Fell, Kai Laddiman, Daniel Pati, Jonathan Rawlinson, Thomas Carey, Paul Erdunast, Elliott Mack, and Elliott Mellor.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Tom S »

Many thanks.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Sam Cappleman-Lynes »

Inspired by today's replay of Episode 5646 - how often has a contestant offered a conundrum answer containing more than 9 letters? What is/are the longest guess(es) ever offered?
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Sam Cappleman-Lynes wrote: Tue Jun 16, 2020 1:54 pm Inspired by today's replay of Episode 5646 - how often has a contestant offered a conundrum answer containing more than 9 letters? What is/are the longest guess(es) ever offered?
In the spoilers thread, this post from this very thread was linked to. It's got up to 12 it seems!
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Sam Cappleman-Lynes »

Thanks for doing the homework for me.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

Graeme Cole wrote: Fri Feb 08, 2013 9:40 pmThe conundrum answer with fewest letters in common with the selection appears to be in the last round of a Masters game - FROTTIFY, which has two letters in common with the selection PRANGMAGI. No, I've got no idea what's going on there either.
According to Mike Brown's notes, the contestant appears to say something around the lines of "I haven't a clue off hand, but I love that word."

I suspect that "BYE" from CONTIINNU may be a new record for worst ever guess...
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by JackHurst »

Graeme Cole wrote: Tue Sep 10, 2019 11:06 pm
Rhys Benjamin wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 1:28 pm
Graeme Cole wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2013 5:56 pm
I can only do the first bit. For each letters round the database stores the most points available, but I didn't make it store what words were available.

Code: Select all

  MAX    FREQ
    3       2     0.0043%
    4      44     0.095%
    5     825     1.78%
    6    6720    14.54%
    7   20058    43.39%
    8   15977    34.57%
    9    2596     5.62%
Can we have an update on this please Graeme?
This includes all known letters rounds up to the end of series 80 (61,739 of them). There is a caveat that letters maxes for old games (I think this means all pre-ODE2) come from the historical recaps, in which the maxes were judged by the closest available dictionary, which might not have been the dictionary actually in use for the episode.

Code: Select all

  MAX    FREQ
    3       2     0.0032%
    4      47     0.076%
    5    1016     1.65%
    6    8473    13.72%
    7   26356    42.69%
    8   22081    35.77%
    9    3764     6.10%
Is it possible to get a split of this, i.e the stats before and after new dictionary?
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