c4countdown

And finally, we reach the game that was obviously always going to be the final of this CoC - wait, hang on, it's still the first filming day?

Clash of the titans. Paul Erdunast vs Zarte Siempre. Series champ on series champ, and two bloody good ones. It's gonna be meaty. Winner plays me on the 17th for some reason. Don't miss it.

53% of you predicted a win for Zarte, but the average margin was 2.82 in favour of Paul? Weird. Can they hold it in? Either way, expect wallops to be dished up.

Nothing word-wise to add, they covered them all unsurprisingly!
Fantastic game, harsh to see Paul go but he took it well. Sometimes your luck is in (the final O for UROKINASE) and other times it isn't.
Was surprised they didn't get the conundrum though, I got it fairly quickly from the audience.

This was the match everyone was anticipating, and what a spectacular performance it was indeed! This is also the first double-century game since, by chance, Zarte's Grand-Final match against Philip back in June 2018! Excellent letters spotting, in particular AUTODYNE from Paul which made the game at even pegging at that point! All-rounders in terms of Numbers just like Thomas and Stephen yesterday so well done to both for getting all 40 points!

Alas Paul, it was that invalid declaration of noshiest that brought you down. If not, someone would've had to solve the Conundrum to break the tie. (I wonder what would've happened in that scenario.) Indeed, it was a harsh draw by the Countdown team; nobody wanted it, nobody asked for it and nobody wanted to see either one of you leave the Championship this early but in the end, what's decided is decided I guess and a strong player has to go home, in this case Paul. In fact, so many of you voted for either of them to win the Championship overall here but the result is known already. With that, both Series 74 contestants here have been knocked out as well and in unfortunate circumstances, during a Crucial Conundrum. Congratulations to Zarte on earning the spot to play against Thomas, it's going to be another one to watch out for come next Thursday!

Next in line, it's by chance, two more Grand Champions fighting against each other, including one who nearly maxed out during his Finals. Hopefully we'll expect stellar performances again as compared to today...and Nick, yes, stop the curse please!

Progress:
Preliminary #1 (02 January): Jonathan Wynn (Series 73 Grand Champion) vs Phil Davies (Series 78 Semi-Finalist) (103 - 68)
Preliminary #2 (03 January): Ann Dibben (Series 74 Runner-Up) vs John Cowen (Series 77 Semi-Finalist) (94 - 97)
Preliminary #3 (04 January): Matthew Tassier (Series 73 Runner-Up) vs Dougie Mackay (Series 78 Semi-Finalist) (96 - 78)
Preliminary #4 (07 January): Thomas Carey (Series 73 Semi-Finalist) vs Stephen Read (Series 76 Grand Champion) (106 - 87)
Preliminary #5 (08 January): Paul Erdunast (Series 74 Grand Champion) vs Zarte Siempre (Series 78 Grand Champion) (105 - 113)
Preliminary #6 (09 January): Tom Chafer-Cook (Series 77 Grand Champion) vs Martin Hurst (Series 75 Grand Champion)
Preliminary #7 (10 January): Bradley Horrocks (Series 77 Runner-Up) vs Andrew Macleod (Series 75 Runner-Up)
Preliminary #8 (11 January): Philip Aston (Series 78 Runner-Up) vs Noel McIlvenny (Series 77 Semi-Finalist)
Quarter-Finals #1 (14 January): Jonathan Wynn (Preliminary #1 Winner) vs (Preliminary #8 Winner)
Quarter-Finals #2 (15 January): John Cowen (Preliminary #2 Winner) vs (Preliminary #7 Winner)
Quarter-Finals #3 (16 January): Matthew Tassier (Preliminary #3 Winner) vs (Preliminary #6 Winner)
Quarter-Finals #4 (17 January): Thomas Carey (Preliminary #4 Winner) vs Zarte Siempre (Preliminary #5 Winner)
Semi-Finals #1 (18 January): (Quarter-Finals #1 Winner) vs (Quarter-Finals #4 Winner)
Semi-Finals #2 (21 January): (Quarter-Finals #2 Winner) vs (Quarter-Finals #3 Winner)
Championship Final (22 January): (Semi-Finals #1 Winner) vs (Semi-Finals #2 Winner)

Bradley Horrocks wrote: ↑Tue Jan 08, 2019 2:56 pmWas surprised they didn't get the conundrum though, I got it fairly quickly from the audience.

I couldn't get past meter/metre. By the time that ran out my brain just went "ARRRRRRGGGGHHHH HE'S GOING TO BUZZZZZZZZZ" and was useless for actually solving things...

Ryan Lam wrote: ↑Tue Jan 08, 2019 3:10 pmpegging

Jennifer Steadman wrote: ↑Tue Jan 08, 2019 3:51 pm

Ryan Lam wrote: ↑Tue Jan 08, 2019 3:10 pmpegging

Signature checks out.

Great game from you both. One of those games where you wish someone didn't have to lose but unfortunately it was Paul. Commiserations Paul but well done Zarte. Good luck against Tom. And good luck to Tom as well.

Wow.

Absolutely brilliant from both. Real shame any of you had to lose. Paul was the person who really got me interested heavily in countdown and to see him lose was in part gutting. However, Zarte held his nerve, really played excellently and was the deserved winner. It's almost like the Isner-Mahut tennis match that finished 70-68 in the final set, it feels harsh to say anyone lost (especially on 105 !). Nice to see all smiles too, no bitterness and the utmost respect - how the game should be played.

Ryan Lam wrote: ↑Tue Jan 08, 2019 3:10 pm... If not, someone would've had to solve the Conundrum to break the tie. (I wonder what would've happened in that scenario.)

Erm... another conundrum, as many times as necessary, then cut out all but 1 wrong and the solved one usually

The reason this game is the best I've seen is that jacket of Zarte's…

Elliott Mellor wrote: ↑Tue Jan 08, 2019 7:08 pm The reason this game is the best I've seen is that jacket of Zarte's…

Tell me about it

Yep.

It was always gonna be a 50/50 game decided by fine margins. My gamble that HISTONE was less likely to pluralise than noshiest^ was to be a valid word didn't pay off. RELEASOR beat me all ends up, and that's how tight games fall. I was pleased to have a good moment in picking for and getting AUTODYNE. If I was gonna lose, at least I wanted to win a round with a cool word. As for the conundrum, I could only think of VITAMISER and METAVERSE. Hats off to Zarte, he pulled out a 9 letters max and didn't miss any numbers.

Adam Dexter wrote: ↑Tue Jan 08, 2019 6:46 pm Erm... another conundrum, as many times as necessary, then cut out all but 1 wrong and the solved one usually

That's not what I meant. I wonder if Paul could've won in that scenario because someone definitely would've had to break the tie since they are not allowed for the last 27.5 years.

Ryan Lam wrote: ↑Wed Jan 09, 2019 3:28 pm

Adam Dexter wrote: ↑Tue Jan 08, 2019 6:46 pm Erm... another conundrum, as many times as necessary, then cut out all but 1 wrong and the solved one usually

That's not what I meant. I wonder if Paul could've won in that scenario because someone definitely would've had to break the tie since they are not allowed for the last 27.5 years.

I don't understand sorry. You are asking what happens if scores are tied after conundrum, no? As I said, they have another conundrum. If more than 1 then intermediate ones are normally not broadcast. So yes, Paul could have won as they'd have had another conundrum.