Has anyone here put their talents to a unique use?

[Matthew Green]

It seems the brain power of some of the Countdown 'elite' (you know who you are) is of an unusually high standard.

Have any of you used it in some inetersting way- counting cards, cracking codes etc.?
Just been watching the film 21 about card-counters and was thinking that it cant be beyond Jono, Beevers etc surely?

[Jon Corby]

I used to play fruit machines for a living

[Jason Larsen]

Of course you all should know by now that I had an e-mail read by Des O'Connor yesterday.

But, that is not my only game show claim to fame. I had failed once, but eight years before that I did succeed in being recognized by the crew of a US game show.

[Howard Somerset]

No global recognition for this one, but I do have two sentences printed in The Times every day.

When the paper introduced to Killer variety of Su Doku they got the instructions wrong, so I emailed the Editor about it. A few days later, I got a reply, not by email, nor by letter, but by phone from the Features Editor, wanting to discuss how the instructions could be improved. Sure enough, my suggestion was adopted a few days later, and continues to this day.

A while later, in a Saturday puzzles supplement, the paper introduced another puzzle - Cellblock. Again they got the instructions wrong. This time I emailed the Features Editor direct, offering a better wording. I had no response at all this time, but a few weeks later, the puzzle was introduced as a daily feature, together with my wording.

[M. George Quinn]

Ha! I noticed that correction. Was it the one about not having two of the same numbers within the dotted boxes as well as all the usual ways?

I remember thinking that it wasn't explained properly then noticing they had sorted it out.

Obviously, I don't fall into the uniquely talented section of the forum (unless not winning a teapot counts as a unique talent). However, I do feel that having a love of words is useful as an entertainer.
Also, I have started doing open mike spots and have some countdown related material.

George

[Jason Larsen]

Howard, I guess that's some sort of "UK Times" paper.

And what two sentences could possibly be copied in there every single day?

[Howard Somerset]

Ha! I noticed that correction. Was it the one about not having two of the same numbers within the dotted boxes as well as all the usual ways?

I remember thinking that it wasn't explained properly then noticing they had sorted it out.

George

Quite correct George. Well remembered!

Howard, I guess that's some sort of "UK Times" paper.

And what two sentences could possibly be copied in there every single day?

Yes Jason, it's one of the UK newspapers. And the two sentences in question are in the instructions for two of the puzzles which appear in the paper every day.

[Joseph Bolas]

When the paper introduced to Killer variety of Sudoku they got the instructions wrong, so I emailed the Editor about it. A few days later, I got a reply, not by email, nor by letter, but by phone from the Features Editor, wanting to discuss how the instructions could be improved. Sure enough, my suggestion was adopted a few days later, and continues to this day.

Killer Sudoku is the best form of Sudoku puzzle around, because it involves math as well as logic .

[Jason Larsen]

Oh!

That's no surprise coming from a word game fan!

[Howard Somerset]

Killer Sudoku is the best form of Sudoku puzzle around, because it involves math as well as logic .

Agreed. It's the only one I bother with.

[Jason Larsen]

Honestly, I've played Countdown very often recently and done very well.

And if any of you haven't figured out already, writing is one of my many talents.

Why would we be here if we didn't like Countdown?

[Gavin Chipper]

cracking codes

This is going to sound really sad, but you know on cars' log books (the V5C) there is a "validation character" after the number plate - well I've worked out how to find out what that is for any number plate.

[Martin Gardner]

I think Countdown is a fairly narrow skill and it doesn't necessarily translate to other fields. On the other hand, it very often does! Generally Countdowners, Scrabble players, chess players, they're mathematical people more interested in puzzles like sudoku than reading novels and stuff.

I can play Countdown almost as well blindfolded as not blindfolded, the trick is to keep building words as you play. So if I use Countgen for a random selection :

G A N I R O L E R

So you memorise the first two letters, then it's:

NAG
GAIN
GRAIN
GRAIN + O
GRAIN + LO
REGIONAL / GERANIOL

Nothing, probably for the last one. But I find the trick it either to do a word plus one letter, or an order of letters that you can remember easily. With Scrabble it's possible to but incredibly difficult. It is possible in a friendly game where you have someone read your letters to you and then dictate the words that they play, like HOLDING H4 and unless you have braille tiles and can read braille, which I can't, you just have to remember all the words and dictate them verbally. I wouldn't want to do it everyday but I've had a couple partial games now.

Martin

[Ben Wilson]

You should've been at COLIN 06 Martin.

[Jon O'Neill]

I'm the same re: blindfolds. In fact I usually spend half the round looking into space because the letters distract me from the word forming that goes on. Same with conundrums.

Can't do numbers blindfolded. I'm shite at that.

[Joseph Bolas]

Killer Sudoku is the best form of Sudoku puzzle around, because it involves math as well as logic .

Agreed. It's the only one I bother with.

Have you solved any other type Japanese puzzle Howard? (like Kakuro, Masyu and Shikaku etc)

There's a Japanese website that you can join and play loads of Japanese puzzles called Nikoli.

[Mike Brailsford]

I've done a number of other quizzes with different themes, with mixed results.

In the last couple of weeks I have been shooting a commercial for EA Games for the new FIFA 09 game. I have been part of crowd scenes filming in Manchester.
I got pretty close to the star of the commercial, Wayne Rooney. I am not a extra, but I would like to head in that direction.

[Chris Corby]

In the 1960s I used to play the piano Fri-Sun in a pub in Gosport. My mate was on the drums. I could play 'by ear' (though mostly I used my fingers) and one Sunday afternoon I was listening to pirate radio when the DJ claimed a "world exclusive" for playing the new Rolling Stones single that was coming out in three weeks' time. It was such an easy tune, I picked it up on first hearing. That evening I played it to a packed pub, with my mate drummed along to it. I think it highly likely that I performed the world's first public performance of "Paint It Black"!

[Dinos Sfyris]

It could be that I performed the world's first public performance of "Paint It Black"!

Mint song. Karaoke'd it t'other nite with Emma.

[David O'Donnell]

I didn't know pub-quizzing was going to be one of these unique talents! Our team has qualified for the N.I. Quiz championships on Tuesday night which just about typifies the innate mediocre nature of my accomplishments eg some success in Ulster chess but at intermediate level; winning bridge tourneys at a local level; playing classical guitar but generally as part of a quartet or duet rather than solo; setting cryptics for local papers. All in all I am fairly good at mediocrity but I think Matthew's post had in mind something a bit more special.

[Joseph Bolas]

I don't know if you would call it a talent, but I like doing origami and I have constructed quite a few polyhedral models. I think it could possibly be classed as a talent, if I could remember the folds from memory.

EDIT: Although origami is a Japanese art, I am not that much of an artist, though I did take Art in school, but didn't do too good.

[Jason Larsen]

Are you very much of an artist, Joseph?