Spoilers for Friday September 13th 2013 (S69 P48)

[Jordan F]

Natalie Corriette is up to 2 wins and a remarkably consistent average of 84 points per game. Can she get the third? As I understand it may not be easy, as apterite Alex Fish is in the wings. Whoever wins, the apterite streak will be extended to at least 33, including today and Monday. How will all of this play out?

Again since Andy is out, join Jack for his second recap of the week later on.

[Jack Worsley]

Very good debut performance by Alex, he definitely looks capable of winning a few more.

LORICATE in round 11.

[Graeme Cole]

Natalie buzzed and stopped the clock after the 30th second had lit up. Is that supposed to be possible?

[Matt Morrison]

Oh yeah I meant to say that was the latest buzz ever surely. I only watched the once but I'm sure it was after the final bong.

[Dave Preece]

I'm sure Heffrey Jansford might have something to say about this, in some sort of backwards parallel universe?

[Malcolm James]

I suppose they weren't too strict because it wasn't crucial and Natalie hadn't racked up enough wins to be in with a chance of a finals spot, where points total and conundrums solved might have been important.

[Philip Wilson]

So the buzzers aren't linked to the clock then?

[Graeme Cole]

So the buzzers aren't linked to the clock then?

I've always assumed there was something that disabled the buzzers when the time ran out. See this post - the buzzers are enabled when Nick presses the button to start the clock, so I think it'd be a pretty unusual omission if they weren't automatically disabled when the time finished.

If the buzzers are disabled automatically, is it when the 30th light comes on? When the music finishes? They aren't quite the same time - the final "boom" goes on for a bit. Natalie buzzed after the 30 seconds but before the music finished.

A couple of seconds after the conundrum answer is revealed, we see the shot of the clock and the two players again, and Natalie's buzzer light isn't on any more. Possibly relevant, but not sure how.

Maybe the new clock does things differently? I don't know if it was just the clock mechanism that was replaced, or all the other electronics too.

[Graeme Cole]

I've looked at the recording I have, and it seems that the time between the clock hand starting to move and the 30th second lighting up is about 29.5 seconds. If I look at it frame-by-frame and note when the individual lights come on, each "second" does appear to be very slightly less than one actual second. Now, this could be because the clock is fast, but it could also be that one second in the studio isn't exactly the same as one second on television due to the way the video is encoded or transmitted or whatever. But assuming that my recording goes at the same speed as reality, the clock took 29.5 seconds to count 30 seconds, and Natalie buzzed 29.76 seconds after the hand started moving. If that's true, maybe whatever disables the buzzers counts the 30 seconds accurately but independently of the clock, in which case there isn't really a problem?

[Gavin Chipper]

I've looked at the recording I have, and it seems that the time between the clock hand starting to move and the 30th second lighting up is about 29.5 seconds. If I look at it frame-by-frame and note when the individual lights come on, each "second" does appear to be very slightly less than one actual second. Now, this could be because the clock is fast, but it could also be that one second in the studio isn't exactly the same as one second on television due to the way the video is encoded or transmitted or whatever. But assuming that my recording goes at the same speed as reality, the clock took 29.5 seconds to count 30 seconds, and Natalie buzzed 29.76 seconds after the hand started moving. If that's true, maybe whatever disables the buzzers counts the 30 seconds accurately but independently of the clock, in which case there isn't really a problem?

I would see it as a problem if the contestants don't know when the time ends and when the last time they can buzz is. Someone might not buzz because they think the time is up when it isn't.

[Tony Atkins]

I would see it as a problem if the contestants don't know when the time ends and when the last time they can buzz is. Someone might not buzz because they think the time is up when it isn't.

Don't forget the players cannot see the clock (something that can take a while to get used to if you watch it on the TV),
so it's the sound that is more important for the players.