Spoilers for Wednesday September 19 2012 (Series 66 #33)

[Jordan F]

Liam Shaw got his second win yesterday, can he get the third? Will ANCHORITE show up for the third prelim in a row? And when will we ever see 4 large be picked in a prelim again?

Join James for the answer to at least two of these three questions later.

[John Garcia]

Did anyone else notice the Upside down "S" in the conundrum??? Most disconcerting!
Does anyone know when the last time was there was an upside-down letter in the conundrum?
Anyone taking statistics???

[Mark Deeks]

Hello Charlotte.

[Peter Mabey]

MONTANE to beat OMENTA

[Andy Platt]

I only caught the last 2 rounds.

If anyone was wondering I just checked with someone with an ODE3, and BITTEREST should (at least as far as I can see, feel free to have a mass debate) not be valid as it is a two syllable adjective and can't take -EST on the end without it being specified in the dictionary, which it isn't.

Disappointing decision from the staff, usually any time anything is a bit ambiguous they just abandon it and play it safe.

[Jordan F]

First of all, I realize no it's not series 66. I'll fix it when I get home.

Second, to Andy's point, regardless of the situation, neither player could solve it, so I feel as if Liam's win was still fair. If Charlotte had solved it, I could see an issue, but not in this instance.

[James Robinson]

I only caught the last 2 rounds.

If anyone was wondering I just checked with someone with an ODE3, and BITTEREST should (at least as far as I can see, feel free to have a mass debate) not be valid as it is a two syllable adjective and can't take -EST on the end without it being specified in the dictionary, which it isn't.

Disappointing decision from the staff, usually any time anything is a bit ambiguous they just abandon it and play it safe.

Having just double-checked my own sources, you are definitely correct, BITTEREST is not in, so there's definitely some controversy, although you could say that Charlotte missed an even better chance, by not sticking the S onto TAPPING in round 9, which would've given her the win by 1 point.

CAVORTS/OSTRACA in round 1, RUDIMENT in round 3, FOOTLES in round 4 and GAPPIEST/GENIPAPS in round 9.

2nd Numbers Alt.: (((25 + 50) x 6) + 5) x 2 = 910

[JimBentley]

Having just double-checked my own sources, you are definitely correct, BITTEREST is not in

I reckon the comparatives and superlatives of a lot of these two syllable adjectives aren't in the dictionary simply because they got overlooked.

[John Garcia]

No one interested in the upside-down S?

[Jordan F]

No one interested in the upside-down S?

Eh...not me to be honest. It's a fun anomaly for the history books, but as long as I can clearly tell what letter it is, I'm not losing sleep over it.

[Mike Brown]

I reckon the comparatives and superlatives of a lot of these two syllable adjectives aren't in the dictionary simply because they got overlooked.

Agreed, it always annoys me that the likes of UNKINDEST and SHALLOWER aren't in.

[Johnny Canuck]

I reckon the comparatives and superlatives of a lot of these two syllable adjectives aren't in the dictionary simply because they got overlooked.

Agreed, it always annoys me that the likes of UNKINDEST and SHALLOWER aren't in.

UNKINDEST was used in Series 48.
http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_3284

[Mike Brown]

UNKINDEST was used in Series 48.
http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_3284

Good spot. Think you might have unearthed another 'illegal' conundrum.

[Clive Brooker]

I reckon the comparatives and superlatives of a lot of these two syllable adjectives aren't in the dictionary simply because they got overlooked.

Agreed, it always annoys me that the likes of UNKINDEST and SHALLOWER aren't in.

Both of those would have been OK under the COD7, assuming that the inflexion section was followed for all such matters when the COD7 was in use. But then I suppose that interpretation would also have allowed something as ghastly as LOWBROWER.

It would never have occurred to me not to offer BITTEREST in a game of Countdown, but BITTERER to me sounds very odd, so maybe the dictionary has a point.

[David Williams]

It would never have occurred to me not to offer BITTEREST in a game of Countdown, but BITTERER to me sounds very odd, so maybe the dictionary has a point.

I know of at least one parallel. MINUTEST is specified, MINUTER is not.