Spoilers For Friday December 13th 2013

[James Robinson]

Normally when you think of Friday the 13th, you think of bad luck and such things. Well, I can tell you, that won't be happening today

So, since you're reading this, you will have just recovered from the almost MAX GAME of yesterday's quarter-final, it's now time for the quarter-final that everyone has been waiting to see.

Now, 3 months ago, probably everyone would've said that this would be a banker for one of the 2 contestants, but now, thanks to the brilliant magic of Apterous, this is a match that is pretty much impossible to call, and I couldn't wait to see what was in store when I saw this in the studio last month.

Just in case you have no idea what I'm talking about, this 2nd quarter-final is between the #2 seed, Jen "The Paddock Wood Princess" Steadman and the #7 seed, Callum "The Tingley Tearaway" Todd.

Now, time for those all important stats (although based on their current form, they're slightly meaningless......... ):

Firstly, No.2 Seed Jen "The Paddock Wood Princess" Steadman - 8 Wins, 952 Points. (Average: 119)
Highest Score: 130 vs. Ian Toulson (4th Game)
Lowest Score: 104 vs. Peter Etherington (1st Game)
9's Achieved: 4/5
Total Points/Max/%: 952/1024 (93%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 597/627 (95%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 295/317 (93%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 60/80 (75%)

Secondly, No.7 Seed Callum "The Tingley Tearaway" Todd - 7 Wins, 747 Points. (Average: 93.38)
Highest Score: 114 vs. Chris Allum (7th Game)
Lowest Score: 70 vs. Ritch Greenwood (1st Game)
9's Achieved: 0/4
Total Points/Max/%: 747/1012 (74%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 420/625 (67%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 257/307 (84%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 70/80 (88%)

Anthony will be recapping later on.

[Dave Preece]

No matter how much Callum has improve, I simply can't see the all-time top % of max score player getting beat by anyone other than Dylan.

[Andy McGurn]

I am also from the (small) south Leeds village of Tingley, so Im hoping Callum can pull off the win (and then go on to win it) He's done the village proud already so it would be awesome to see him take it further.

I really hope he does it, but if he loses today I can console myself that I would still officially be the village's most successful countdowner (since I reached the semis in my series).

GO CALLUM

[Ben Wilson]

I am also from the (small) south Leeds village of Tingley, so Im hoping Callum can pull off the win (and then go on to win it) He's done the village proud already so it would be awesome to see him take it further.

I really hope he does it, but if he loses today I can console myself that I would still officially be the village's most successful countdowner (since I reached the semis in my series).

GO CALLUM

Isn't Martin Gardner also from Tingley? It must have the highest proportion of Countdown finalists per head of anywhere in the country. Wonder if that's something Graeme can figure out...

Also, woo 3000.

[Zarte Siempre]

We're not fooled by the small font, Ben dear. You're still sad

[Rhys Benjamin]

Unless I'm very much mistaken, GOITERED from DC in Round One surely wouldn't have been allowed, as there was only one E in the selection. I had GOITERS for seven, so I spotted this straightway - unless I was an idiot and missed the second E!

1st nums alt: (9 + 1) x (75 + 5 + 3) - 1

[Zarte Siempre]

Unless I'm very much mistaken, GOITERED from DC in Round One surely wouldn't have been allowed, as there was only one E in the selection. I had GOITERS for seven, so I spotted this straightway - unless I was an idiot and missed the second E!

1st nums alt: (9 + 1) x (75 + 5 + 3) - 1

It's GOITRED. And they corrected and said it was a 7...

[Callum Todd]

Unless I'm very much mistaken, GOITERED from DC in Round One surely wouldn't have been allowed, as there was only one E in the selection. I had GOITERS for seven, so I spotted this straightway - unless I was an idiot and missed the second E!

1st nums alt: (9 + 1) x (75 + 5 + 3) - 1

GOITRES and GOITRED. I knew there was an 8 with both of those words available but couldn't see it, Jen did very well to spot it.

[Rhys Benjamin]

Ah. Subtitle failure prompted this error - i.e. I switched them on and they weren't working!

[Peter Mabey]

Alt 4th numbers: (10+9)x(9+7+2+1)

[Rhys Benjamin]

WOW. What a game. That conundrum was difficult, indeed. Given about another five minutes I probably would have got it, as I had SANG but was stuck after that! Unlucky, Jen, well done, Callum. What a match!

[Jordan F]

Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.

That was a game. I had a feeling if anyone had a chance to pull off an upset, Callum would be the one to do it. I wasn't sure he actually would though. Fantastic effort Callum, that 6 small solve and ARGUFIES were quite key. I feel bad for Jen, both of you were at a remarkable standard, but no shame to losing to Callum on a day like today.

My one bragging note is that I did get the conundrum at about 8 seconds. Other than that, at best I equalled on a lot of rounds.

[Jojo Apollo]

Excellent exciting game, well done both.

[Tony Atkins]

Alt 4th numbers: (10+9)x(9+7+2+1)

I should have spotted that as 361 is the number of intersections on a standard 19x19 Go board!

I did ((9+9)x2)x10+1.

[Jack Worsley]

Fantastic game, very well done to both! Congrats Callum on edging a very close contest and commiserations to Jen. Tough conundrum, I was absolutely nowhere and apparently it's never been used as a conundrum on apterous in any format!

[Tony Atkins]

Note that conundrum is one of those where the scramble (GANGLIONS) is a valid 9, but not a valid conundrum of course.

[Philip Jarvis]

Great game by both Jen and Callum. It's shame Jen didn't progress further, but it's good to see a fellow Yorkshireman get to the semis. Argufies was a fantastic spot. Well done Callum.

[Zarte Siempre]

I've bitten almost as many nails off watching this time as I did the first time round...

[Fred Mumford]

Wow. Wonderful drama.

That must have been the longest 22 seconds of Callum's life, dreading the sound of a buzzer that never came.

[Ned Pendleton]

Great game, really tense. Countdown finals is capable of providing genuine television drama at times, there's clearly a lot at stake for the contestants on a personal level. crucial conundrums with stuff like people buzzing in correctly, it really is edge of your seat stuff when you don't know the result.

I've been out of the loop Countdown/apterous wise for the last few months, so was assuming that Jen wouldn't have much trouble with Callum, judging from his heats scores. A few rounds into the game I was thinking 'this guy looks pretty decent actually', looked him up on Apterous and was alarmed to see he was 12th on pro ranks! Rated 1300-1400 in August 2013 but 1900+ by the time the finals were filmed in the middle of November. That's a major effort to improve so much in a short time, hats off to him.

[Edward McCullagh]

What a game!!!

[JackHurst]

What a game! Very well done to Callum for a great performance! I hope he goes all the way now.
Commiserations so Jen, I think at the time of the recordings, Jen would be beating Callum 80% of the time, so its unfortunate that the game in the studio was one of the 20%. Still I guess its about if you can hold it together in the studio, which Callum did better than Jen.

Great conundrum pick by the producers. I did a lot of work on conundrums for 30Bc, including learning a lot which werent on apterous, but SINGALONG has never come by me.

[John Garcia]

Great game! I did manage to get the conundrum, but only at 28s or so. Sad to see Jen go! But Callum was a strong player, and much improved from the heats it seems. I hope there are more close contests ahead!

[Richard Priest]

Word on the street at CoEdi2 (which took place only a week or two prior to filming of the finals) was that the way the seedings were panning out, Jen was likely to play Callum and that he had improved a hell of a lot since filming his heats. Jen meanwhile did seem to be suffering from a crisis of confidence and was aware that she'd have a battle on her hands if she had to play him, so possibly not that big a surprise to some of those who were there.

Bad luck Jen, and well done Callum.

[JackHurst]

I bet RELAXANTS is set as a conundrum somewhere thos series too

[Peter Fenton]

Well done to both players - a fantastic game and one that would have been well worthy of the final.

[Kevin Steede]

Congratulations Callum and commiserations Jen. That was an absolute cracker of a game!

[Martin Thompson]

Note that conundrum is one of those where the scramble (GANGLIONS) is a valid 9, but not a valid conundrum of course.

That totally threw me, knowing that was a valid word.

[Martin Thompson]

Great game by both Jen and Callum. It's shame Jen didn't progress further, but it's good to see a fellow Yorkshireman get to the semis. Argufies was a fantastic spot. Well done Callum.

Brilliant spot. I was quite pleased just to see FIGURES.

[James Robinson]

Well done to both players - a fantastic game and one that would have been well worthy of the final.

You wait til the final between X and X this time next week............

I bet RELAXANTS is set as a conundrum somewhere thos series too

I'll bet you a million pounds that it isn't.

I still remember sitting at the top of the stairs in the middle of the back row, in the middle of a Wisniewski sandwich (NO KIDDING )

Jayne was certainly hoping that the final female would get into the semis, although speaking to Jen's parents before and during the game, we all knew that Callum would certainly be a tricky tie for Jen, but after that great start with STODGIER, we thought Callum might've got stage fright, which obviously evaporated with that 9 one round later.......

Then after missing ARGUFIES/FIREBUGS, we thought she would just implode, but then getting VOTIVES gave us confidence again, but then when that 6 small came, the struggle was obvious, and since the break would never come, we just had to hope that a reasonably nice conundrum, but this is Countdown, that doesn't exist in the finals. (I even thought it as SLOGANING just before Callum buzzed, then I thought "Why is there an -ING conundrum there ")

A 12-max apiece game was so amazing to watch, even though Jen lost, but at least Callum has proven himself to be a formidable opponent, so Glen and Jonathan better watch out

So sorry for you, Jen, we were all there willing you on, just wasn't to be.

[Callum Todd]

Thank you to everyone for your kind words. I hope you all enjoyed watching the game. I really enjoyed playing it, but took no joy in winning as I felt Jen deserved it more as she has been superb on Countdown, in my eyes the most spectacular contestant since Conor Travers. It was an honour to get to opportunity to share a stage with her.

[James Robinson]

Thank you to everyone for your kind words. I hope you all enjoyed watching the game. I really enjoyed playing it, but took no joy in winning as I felt Jen deserved it more as she has been superb on Countdown, in my eyes the most spectacular contestant since Conor Travers. It was an honour to get to opportunity to share a stage with her.

That is the most amazing and heartfelt statement I've ever read. *EMOTIONAL EMOTICON (x 1 million)*

You have been a breath of fresh air on here, Callum.

LONG MAY YOU STAY ON HERE

[Gavin Chipper]

Well done to both players - a fantastic game and one that would have been well worthy of the final.

You wait til the final between X and X this time next week............

SPOILERS!

[Zarte Siempre]

Well done to both players - a fantastic game and one that would have been well worthy of the final.

You wait til the final between X and X this time next week............

SPOILERS!

He's just confirming that you'll be more likely to think that the final between me (I had to stand in quickly when Alex Fish died) and Jen (who tranquilised Callum so he couldn't play on) is really shit. Terrible game. We both spotted SUITCASES and that was about it.

[Philip Wilson]

Wow. Wonderful drama.

That must have been the longest 22 seconds of Callum's life, dreading the sound of a buzzer that never came.

Indeed! Obviously I didn't beat anyone anytime except the conundrum, which I saw just after Callum buzzed, so I guess instinct told me if I saw it then so would Jen - so really thought Callum had blown it there, but not to be! Well done both, and good luck next week Callum!!

[Rose Boyle]

What a game! Was really looking forward to this one and it didn't disappoint. Unlucky Jen and congrats Callum and best of luck for the rest of the finals

[Innis Carson]

That was a brilliant contest to watch, and one you should both be proud of.

Callum, don't feel guilty about winning! You put in a great performance and fully deserve it, though that would have been true for either of you. And unlucky not to win Jen, but, as your Facebook status puts way better than I could, you've been brilliant the whole way through, and can certainly go out with your head held high.

Congrats to you both!

[Graeme Cole]

We often say that a game doesn't deserve to have a loser, but that was especially true of this match. It was like when Innis played Kirk in the championship.

On the one side we have Callum, who in the space of about three months attained the kind of standard that most players struggle to achieve in years. How many other players got into the top 25 of Pro Ranks less than three months after joining apterous? Aside from his obvious natural ability at the game, he's shown tremendous sportsmanship throughout his heats, whether in victory or in narrow and disputable defeat.

Then on the other side is Jen. That Jen the greatest female player ever is unargufied, but it's largely missing the point when she's one of the best Countdowners ever anyway. Nevertheless, this still meant there was more pressure on Jen specifically to win than on any other quarter finalist in a long time, not that she let it have any effect on her performance today.

Great game and superb play, both of you.

[Fred Mumford]

That Jen the greatest female player ever is unargufied, but it's largely missing the point when she's one of the best Countdowners ever anyway.

That was the slightly annoying thing about the accolades bestowed on her in the intros (and even by Rachel at the end of her octorun). Firstly, it's not the type of game where there is any inherent disadvantage to being female, so why make the distinction anyway? And secondly, she was a remarkable enough player to be a record holder irrespective of gender (72 points dropped in 8 games, was it? Just staggering), so all the gender specific stuff almost seemed like damning with faint praise - albeit I do understand that records relating to max scores are unlikely to be mentioned on air.

[Jonathan Wynn]

We often say that a game doesn't deserve to have a loser, but that was especially true of this match. It was like when Innis played Kirk in the championship.

On the one side we have Callum, who in the space of about three months attained the kind of standard that most players struggle to achieve in years. How many other players got into the top 25 of Pro Ranks less than three months after joining apterous? Aside from his obvious natural ability at the game, he's shown tremendous sportsmanship throughout his heats, whether in victory or in narrow and disputable defeat.

Then on the other side is Jen. That Jen the greatest female player ever is unargufied, but it's largely missing the point when she's one of the best Countdowners ever anyway. Nevertheless, this still meant there was more pressure on Jen specifically to win than on any other quarter finalist in a long time, not that she let it have any effect on her performance today.

Great game and superb play, both of you.

Was gonna make some kind of comment, but tbh this comment sums up the whole thing so well I'm not sure what else could possibly be said. Lock it up mods!! Max comment Graeme!!!

[Dave Preece]

That Jen the greatest female player ever is unargufied, but it's largely missing the point when she's one of the best Countdowners ever anyway.

That was the slightly annoying thing about the accolades bestowed on her in the intros (and even by Rachel at the end of her octorun). Firstly, it's not the type of game where there is any inherent disadvantage to being female, so why make the distinction anyway? And secondly, she was a remarkable enough player to be a record holder irrespective of gender (72 points dropped in 8 games, was it? Just staggering), so all the gender specific stuff almost seemed like damning with faint praise - albeit I do understand that records relating to max scores are unlikely to be mentioned on air.

Statistics don't lie!

[Dave Preece]

Well done Callum, worthy of a 30th Birthday Championship finals match this!

[Martin Thompson]

That Jen the greatest female player ever is unargufied, but it's largely missing the point when she's one of the best Countdowners ever anyway.

That was the slightly annoying thing about the accolades bestowed on her in the intros (and even by Rachel at the end of her octorun). Firstly, it's not the type of game where there is any inherent disadvantage to being female

If an African nation reaches the semi-finals of the next football world cup, there's no doubt that will get a special mention, but there's no inherent disadvantage in football between....
It's only when something is unusual or unprecedented that it would be mentioned, surely?

[Graeme Cole]

That Jen the greatest female player ever is unargufied, but it's largely missing the point when she's one of the best Countdowners ever anyway.

That was the slightly annoying thing about the accolades bestowed on her in the intros (and even by Rachel at the end of her octorun). Firstly, it's not the type of game where there is any inherent disadvantage to being female

If an African nation reaches the semi-finals of the next football world cup, there's no doubt that will get a special mention, but there's no inherent disadvantage in football between....
It's only when something is unusual or unprecedented that it would be mentioned, surely?

Of course it should be mentioned, as long as it's not belaboured as if the fact that the team is from Africa is the only interesting thing about them. Same with this. Incidentally, I should say that I don't think they went overboard with it on the show. There was a short discussion about Jen being the highest-scoring female player ever, as you'd expect, then they moved on.

[Gavin Chipper]

Of course though "30 year history" is slightly bullshit (goes for Dylan too) because it would be impossible to have a higher score from the 9-round era, and even a lot harder before the change to 4 numberses. Although clearly there is no female contestant who would have beaten her with these rounds if you look at their averages.

[Adam Gillard]

What a game! What tension! Double ton! Great conundrum from Damian. Jen! Callum! Aargh! Amazing!

I first want to say that Jen is awesome and was so good throughout her Countdowning, this game being no exception. Jen, you are a legend and there's no shame in losing to Callum, or indeed with yet another century. I'm so privileged to have met you a few memorable times and hope to see you at more Countdowny stuff in the future. Callum, you stuck to your guns on the numbers and it proved to be decisive. I agree with others that you've been a breath of fresh air for both Countdown and apterous and I'm pleased for you that you really made all the practice count in this game. 8 very strong finalists and then Zarte just missing out - has to be the strongest series ever.

Finally, I want to thank Abdirizak Hirsi for making this highly entertaining and nail-biting game possible