Spoilers for Thursday April 18th 2013 (Series 68 Prelim 28)

[Jordan F]

Dan Tibbles won yesterday in the battle of the new contestants, can he get another today?

Join James for the recap later.

[Jordan F]

Wow. Over 25 years between Countdown appearances. Is that a record?

[Tony Atkins]

1st numbers (50-9)x(7+8) but sadly just out of time.

[szodiac]

Second day in a row Nick has had a very, very, too short an introduction to the contestants. Clipped by editing maybe !?

A returning contestant John Gardner !?! From series 14 ?? Lost by one point did he ?!? Hope for a Jessica return in the future then

Mauro

[Tony Atkins]

He lost to Elinor Crosby 48-47 http://www.apterous.org/cdb/game.php?game=8325

[Chris Philpot]

3rd Numbers Alt: 50 x 7 + 100 + 75/25 + 2 = 455

[Tony Atkins]

3rd Numbers Alt: 50 x 7 + 100 + 75/25 + 2 = 455

That was my way - Dan could have got 1 nearer by 100/25 not 75/25.

[Jordan F]

Well done to John, finally getting his teapot over 25 years later. Would have felt awful if he lost by single digits again, but I'm very happy he got his second chance and won.

[Matthew Brockwell]

PARTITE for a beater in R2.

[Guy Barry]

I guessed the payoff to Paul Zenon's card trick. No idea how he did it though

[James Roper]

Even if he'd been on before, it doesn't sound likely that the astro-physics graduate would be beaten by a retired man.

Good game though, one of my favourite non-apto contestants for some reason.

[James Robinson]

Good game though, one of my favourite non-apto contestants for some reason.

Yes indeedy, John definitely a fan's favourite in my book. So hoped he'd win.

ROSTRATE in round 13.

3rd Numbers Alt.: (((100 + 50) / 25) x 75) + 7 - 2 = 455

[Graeme Cole]

Wow. Over 25 years between Countdown appearances. Is that a record?

Yes. Recently I found that Monica Sutcliffe had the longest gap between two appearances, but John's is larger: 9,257 days.

[Andy Platt]

I don't know why, but John comes across as such a legend. I wish he was my granddad. Bet he has shitloads of interesting things to say as well if he gets a good run.

I hope he wins 4 games or more so I get to meet or maybe even play him.

[Philip Jarvis]

John's is larger

Lol.

Incidentally, are there any contestants who have appeared twice but have lost both games?

[Malcolm James]

Incidentally, are there any contestants who have appeared twice but have lost both games?

Terry Rattle.

Lost first time to Chris Wills and second time IIRC to Jeffery Hansford.

[Guy Barry]

Second day in a row Nick has had a very, very, too short an introduction to the contestants. Clipped by editing maybe !?

Possibly edited to give Paul Zenon time to do his trick in the middle?

Incidentally, the total running-time fell from 36 to 35 minutes when the new format was introduced, as Channel 4 wanted an extra minute of commercials. Where was the minute taken from?

[Malcolm James]

Incidentally, the total running-time fell from 36 to 35 minutes when the new format was introduced, as Channel 4 wanted an extra minute of commercials. Where was the minute taken from?

Presumably a numbers round doesn't take as long as a letters round (no chat about alternative words etc), hence the change in format to save the minute required.

[James Robinson]

Incidentally, are there any contestants who have appeared twice but have lost both games?

Terry Rattle.

Lost first time to Chris Wills and second time IIRC to Jeffery Hansford.

That was actually his 3rd appearance, inbetween those 2 shows, he did a special show against Elfie Winterton, who like him had lost her first show with a very high score (she lost to Tom Hargreaves). And he actually won that one. http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_S3

It was actually after seeing Terry play Jeffrey that convinced me that I might have a chance of getting back on the show, so I decided to get much more focused in practising to think about getting on later on.................