Special Spoilers for Monday 21 December 2020

[Rhys Benjamin]

ain't no party like a tier 4 party

So who's up for the "PS" note of 2020?

Colin Murray takes charge for the first of three specials.

GEORGE ARMSTRONG
Highest score: 104 vs Michael Stephenson, game 3
Lowest score: 75 vs John Cole, game 1 // 78 (including a TB) vs Noel Jongwe, game 2
Score: 429
Average: 85.80
Max faced: 690
% score: 62.2%
Raw score: 473
Raw average: 94.60
Raw % score: 68.6%
Conundrums: 3/7

TOM "MAUS" CAREY
Highest score: 124 vs Matty Artell, Quarter Final
Lowest score: 94 vs Matthew Tassier, Semi Final
Score: 1,369
Average: 114.08
Max faced: 1,613
% score: 84.9%
Raw score: 1,432
Raw average: 119.33
Raw % score: 88.8%
Conundrums: 10/12

Who's #TeamGeorge and who's #TeamMaus then? I'm #TeamMaus. SERIES 73 4EVA!!!!!

Looks like the recap writer is still down.

lols did i really type 2002 in the title what larks

[Ben Wilson]

POLYMATH for 8 in R4.

[JackHurst]

Enjoyed watching this from the dressing room. Colin has taken to presenting duties well.

245 = 203 + 42 I know Tom and George were frustrated to miss.

Callum had POLYMATH in dressing room which made me poop my ass (I had my door open while he watched from the corridor)

[Mark Kudlowski]

POLYMATH for 8 in R4.

How did DC and Rachel miss that one ?

[Rhys Benjamin]

Colin is better than Nick.

*hides under table*

[Conor]

METALOPH in the POLYMATH round too.

[Matthew White]

Colin is better than Nick.

*hides under table*

No need to hide at all. You're not the only one.

I'd be surprised if Colin's able to do it full time though with all of his other presenting commitments though. As nice as it would be.

[JackHurst]

There was a bit of an unfortunate technical error with the original Conundrum in the studio for this episode.

First Conundrum:
BAUBLEDIT

Tom George Stare blankly at Empty space because it hasn't shown in their monitor for 10 seconds.
Tom looks up at the overhead monitors to see the conundrum shuffle has appeared there and instabuzzes with the correct answer
Both players point it out never came on their screens
10 minutes of the production staff sorting out the technical issue.
A new conundrum is set for both players to have a go at and George gets it this time.

It was a shame to see Tom denied what would have been his highest score in this way, but also it would have been equally unfair on George to have been beaten on the original conundrum which he never got to see the shuffle for. A new Conundrum was obviously the right thing to do, and well done to George for spotting it so fast.

Kudos to Tom for being a good sport about it, and credit to the Countdown Team for sorting out the situation in a fair and timely manner.

[Jon O'Neill]

It was a shame to see Tom denied what would have been his highest score

Could, not Would.

Was the turning over of the board animated? Or was that just me?

Anyway that was a really enjoyable show.

[Rhys Benjamin]

It was a shame to see Tom denied what would have been his highest score

Could, not Would.

Was the turning over of the board animated? Or was that just me?

Anyway that was a really enjoyable show.

They’ve been like that since project restart for that reason, Jono - so it’s easier when there is a cock-up and to reduce the amount of cock-ups with upside down letters etc.

ain’t nobody, like Tom Carey, makes me happy, makes me feel this way...

[JackHurst]

Could, not Would.

Would have been if they just chose to go with the result of the first. But yeah I see your point.

[Sam Cappleman-Lynes]

Pleased to see Tom staying true to form and opting for the "random choice" numbers pick, and George also following suit!

[Gavin Chipper]

Pleased to see Tom staying true to form and opting for the "random choice" numbers pick, and George also following suit!

I thought getting the host rather than the Carol to pick was a nice touch. It opens it up to other options as well. "I'll get that guy in the audience over there to pick the next letter."

I was surprised that the conundrum was INFECTING, though presumably not as surprised as Rhys.

[Gavin Chipper]

And the other thing I meant to say - does Colin use autocue and Nick solely rely on cards?

[Graeme Cole]

There are two options for the next permanent Countdown host: the right choice (Colin Murray) and the wrong choice (anyone else).

Great game, well done to Tom and George.

Could, not Would.

Would have been if they just chose to go with the result of the first. But yeah I see your point.

I don't think there is a universe in which accepting the result of the first conundrum would have been the right decision. A surprise hunt around the studio to find the scramble isn't part of the game.

[Graeme Cole]

I thought getting the host rather than the Carol to pick was a nice touch.

Why not also refer to Colin as "the Richard"?

[Matthew White]

And the other thing I meant to say - does Colin use autocue and Nick solely rely on cards?

[Removed autocue comment as Countdown Team have answered. Thanks to them - good info to know. ]

The one thing regarding Colin Murray taking over is would Countdown be able to avoid filming during major snooker tournaments, Colin has been a staple of Eurosport since 2015 - and is popular in that role - and before that a prominent fan of the sport, I can't imagine he'd give up his hosting duties at Eurosport Snooker for Countdown?

[Countdown Team]

And the other thing I meant to say - does Colin use autocue and Nick solely rely on cards?

Nick uses cue cards, Colin doesn't have autocue.

[Gavin Chipper]

I thought getting the host rather than the Carol to pick was a nice touch.

Why not also refer to Colin as "the Richard"?

Oversight.

[Gavin Chipper]

And the other thing I meant to say - does Colin use autocue and Nick solely rely on cards?

Nick uses cue cards, Colin doesn't have autocue.

Cool, thanks for the info.

[Adam Dexter]

Alt for R6 numbers:

75-50 = 25
100/25 = 4
25+6+4 = 35
35 x 7 = 245

[Rhys Benjamin]

And the other thing I meant to say - does Colin use autocue and Nick solely rely on cards?

[Removed autocue comment as Countdown Team have answered. Thanks to them - good info to know. ]

The one thing regarding Colin Murray taking over is would Countdown be able to avoid filming during major snooker tournaments, Colin has been a staple of Eurosport since 2015 - and is popular in that role - and before that a prominent fan of the sport, I can't imagine he'd give up his hosting duties at Eurosport Snooker for Countdown?

I don't understand any of these suggestions about he doesn't have time. It's not like Jeff Stelling gave up Soccer Saturday when doing Countdown.

[Matthew White]

And the other thing I meant to say - does Colin use autocue and Nick solely rely on cards?

[Removed autocue comment as Countdown Team have answered. Thanks to them - good info to know. ]

The one thing regarding Colin Murray taking over is would Countdown be able to avoid filming during major snooker tournaments, Colin has been a staple of Eurosport since 2015 - and is popular in that role - and before that a prominent fan of the sport, I can't imagine he'd give up his hosting duties at Eurosport Snooker for Countdown?

I don't understand any of these suggestions about he doesn't have time. It's not like Jeff Stelling gave up Soccer Saturday when doing Countdown.

I drafted up a huge post about how surely difficult it would be to make the two work alongside his BBC Commitments only to look at Colin Murray's twitter feed.... I'm wrong.

https://twitter.com/ColinMurray/status/ ... 6099613696

[Ian Fitzpatrick]

What a breath of fresh air to have Colin presenting, I couldn't believe the whole show seemed to be over in a thrice!

Yes, it does look as if he is using autocue, but maybe that's just how professional he is.

A great show all round, well done all.

[Callum Todd]

They cut my favourite part! In the PLANETOID round, Colin observed that George seemed to spot it straight away while Tom appeared to be scribbling away right until the end and asked Tom if it was a late spot. Tom said he saw it very quickly and spent the rest of the time drawing planets, which Colin found very impressive and amusing, and Susie and Rory wanted to have a look at.