Ask Graeme?

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James Nguyen
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by James Nguyen »

JackHurst wrote: Mon Nov 16, 2020 3:24 pm
For example, when I filmed the xmas specials earlier this month, it was more than 6 years since I played on apterous (which I find nuts!!!)

Definitely tuning in for this
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Tom S »

Any non-finalist who averaged over 90 in their games? (excluding those who couldn't make the finals)
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by JackHurst »

Tom S wrote: Sat Nov 21, 2020 2:07 pm Any non-finalist who averaged over 90 in their games? (excluding those who couldn't make the finals)
Frank Mulvey.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Straight in there with the Mulvey. Nice.

Also Zarte Mark I presumably.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Tom S »

Was thinking mainly about David O'Donnell from this series who won 5 games. Looks very unlikely that he'll be a finalist which is pretty unfortunate given that his average over his games is over 100.
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Rhys Benjamin
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

I think the finals for this series ought to have been extended to 16 given how long the series ended up being. Corinna Attwood-gate in my view suggests the series should have been shortened anyway (in a normal time).
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Fiona T »

There's been lots of "haven't made its" whose per game average has been higher than those with more wins - it's the luck of the draw.

Suck it up, and reapply in 10 years. ;)
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Callum Todd »

Abdirizak Hirsi and Mark Hartnett smashed it in series 69 too.
Mark Deeks wrote:Callum Todd looks like a young Ted Bundy.
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Rhys Benjamin
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

Graeme Cole wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:24 pm New 15 rounder:
0 wins: Alan Flanagan, Ross Lander (82)
1 win: Jean Wright (151)
2 wins: Peter Fenton (262)
3 wins: Jill Hayward (374)
4 wins: Margaret Lawless (359)
5 wins: Zarte Siempre (656)
6 wins: Gemma Church (602)
7 wins: Callum Todd (747)
8 wins: Dylan Taylor (974)
Could we have an update of this please, Graeme?
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Paul Anderson »

I got 6 wins and 740 odd
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Ian Volante »

Paul Anderson wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 1:56 pm I got 6 wins and 740 odd
Martyn's nearly 800 trumps you then!
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by JackHurst »

Ian Volante wrote: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:07 pm
Paul Anderson wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 1:56 pm I got 6 wins and 740 odd
Martyn's nearly 800 trumps you then!
Ouch! Poor Martyn :(
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Tom S »

Rhys Benjamin wrote: Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:20 pm
Graeme Cole wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:24 pm New 15 rounder:
0 wins: Alan Flanagan, Ross Lander (82)
1 win: Jean Wright (151)
2 wins: Peter Fenton (262)
3 wins: Jill Hayward (374)
4 wins: Margaret Lawless (359)
5 wins: Zarte Siempre (656)
6 wins: Gemma Church (602)
7 wins: Callum Todd (747)
8 wins: Dylan Taylor (974)
Could we have an update of this please, Graeme?
Have given it a try, and for the lowest, too.

0:Ciaran McCarthy (104)
1:Jamie Ilett-Jones (203)
2:Jason Turner (307)
3:Aidan Linge (394)
4:Jamie Smith (469)
5:Zarte Siempre (in S69) (656)
6:Martyn Simpson (in S82) (794)
7:Dougie Mackay (760)
8:Elliott Mellor (1061)

0:Bernie Kingston (5)
1:Zach Hart (96)
2:Rob Jennings (165)
3:Jack Creswell (284)
4:Shabir Alidina (364)
5:Gavin Woolnough (454)
6:Stephen Fuller (507)
7:Judy Bursford (In Series 73) (603)
8:Steven Turnbull (619)
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Patrick Thompson »

What’s the highest number of points conceded for an octachamp?
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by JackHurst »

Patrick Thompson wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:17 pm What’s the highest number of points conceded for an octachamp?
Great question!

Another good question inspired by this is which players have the highest and lowest aggregate score difference over all of their games.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Martin Hurst »

If the series 82 final ends up being Luke v Sam, will it be the first CD episode ever with both contestants having double-barrelled surnames?
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Thomas Cappleman »

Martin Hurst wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 4:30 pm If the series 82 final ends up being Luke v Sam, will it be the first CD episode ever with both contestants having double-barrelled surnames?
Tom Chafer-Cook is the only double-barrelled champion, and he played Bradley Horrocks, so yes.
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Rhys Benjamin wrote: Mon Nov 02, 2020 3:03 pm How many times has the max been 100 or more, and how many times has at least one contestant hit 100 or more?

(Basically, "century success rate", please.)

I know no one ever got a century in 9-rounders but I'd like to see how often it was possible...!
Up until the end of series 81...

Code: Select all

Format          Times century possible   Times century achieved           %
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 rounder                            3                        0          0%
Old 15 rounder                    2609                      719       27.6%
15 rounder                        1570                      600       38.2%
If two players score a century in the same game, that only counts once.

The three 9-rounders with a max of 100 or more:
http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_538
http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_2547
http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_3068
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Tom S wrote: Sat Nov 21, 2020 2:07 pm Any non-finalist who averaged over 90 in their games? (excluding those who couldn't make the finals)
The following list is sort of that - I haven't got a way to exclude people who qualified for the finals but didn't turn up for whatever reason. Furthermore, I've taken the relevant series finals to be the finals in the same series as their last heat game, because that's the only way I could get it to include people who averaged 90+ in one run but only qualified for the finals in a subsequent run (e.g. Zarte). From this I've manually removed Annie Humphries who was a rare case of someone not being available for "their" finals but being put into the next series finals instead.

Code: Select all

                      SERIES     GAMES   AVERAGE
Jean Goodman              46         2      94.0
Alan Swift                47         3      92.0
David Franks              47         8      93.0
David Stainer             47         5      92.0
Elfie Winterton           47         1      92.0
John Mitchell             47         4      92.25
Peter Lee                 47         1      93.0
Terry Rattle              47         1     107.0
Dez Hussey                48         2      91.5
Michael Clarke            48         4      94.5
Tony Slade                48         1      92.0
Andrew Naylor             49         1      95.0
Austin Shin               49         1      91.0
Frank Blake               49         1      90.0
Jerry Humphreys           49         1      93.0
Ruth Hartley              49         3      91.33333
Saji Kamalananthan        49         1      90.0
Nick Smith                50         3      92.0
Paul Skingsley            50         1      90.0
Andy Page                 51         3      91.0
Ben Walden                51         3      95.66666
Chris White               51         1      93.0
Eric Wright               51         4      91.5
Steve Hyde                51         3      94.0
Ben Tamplin               52         3      91.33333
Roy Thearle               52         5      97.8
Tim Charlton              52         2      96.5
Frank Mulvey              53         5      93.6
Jane Hoskyn               53         1      91.0
Kieran Coppinger          53         4      91.75
Andrew Gedney             54         2      91.5
Ian Graham                54         6      91.16666
Marie Hayden              54         6      98.83333
Robin Sutherland          54         1      91.0
Rosemary Ilsley           54         2      91.5
Tuck Broadbent            54         4      93.25
Bernie Corrigan           55         2      95.0
Dan Ward                  55         1      93.0
Danny Shears              55         1      92.0
Graham Dugdale            55         3     102.0
Ian Hilton                55         5      96.2
Phil Watkins              55         1      90.0
Robin Brown               55         5      91.6
Sheri Evans               55         6      91.83333
George Rhodes             56         1      93.0
Martin May                56         2      90.5
Paul Richards             56         1      93.0
Rob Waters                56         2      92.0
Alan Gray                 57         3      93.66666
Martin May                57         5      93.0
Roy Gerrish               57         1      96.0
Sam Butcher               57         3      95.66666
Andrew Swale              58         2      93.0
Gayle Smith               58         3      97.0
Ian Lamb                  58         3      90.0
Matthew Coates            58         4      97.25
Tony Durrant              58         4      97.25
Colin Westacott           59         1      91.0
Anita Fairhurst           60         1      94.0
Chris Kirby               60         3      90.33333
James Robinson            60         3      94.0
Ed Rossiter               61         4      93.25
Lesley Hines              61         1     104.0
Micheal Harris            61         2      95.0
Robert Brownlie           61         3      95.0
Clarke Carlisle           62         3      92.0
James Rawson              62         5      97.2
Steve Tamplin             62         1      90.0
Toni Balestra             62         1      90.0
Greg Hayhurst             63         6      90.0
Barbara Grice             64         1      95.0
Dave Dyer                 64         3      93.33333
Anne Haley                65         2      92.5
Barry Evans               65         1      92.0
Syed Bukhari              65         1      91.0
Chris Butler              66         4      90.5
Stephen Senior            66         1      93.0
Anthea Rata               67         2      90.0
Abdirizak Hirsi           69         6     103.3333
Mark Hartnett             69         4     101.25
Sarah Hadaway             69         4      96.0
Zarte Siempre             69         6     109.3333
Bobby Johnson             70         4      90.0
Ciaran McCarthy           70         1     104.0
Ciarán Crawley            70         4      92.5
Cliff Lee                 70         6      91.5
Peter Steggle             70         1      95.0
Damen Bramwell            71         2      90.5
Duncan McGregor           71         1      98.0
Farhan Ahmed              71         4      93.5
Ian Linton                71         3      96.0
Jamie Ilett-Jones         71         2     101.5
Jason Turner              71         3     102.3333
Jonny Rye                 71         3      94.0
Kieran O'Driscoll         71         1      90.0
Vicki Landriau            71         2      96.5
David Pooley              72         4      92.5
Lee Worth                 72         1      95.0
Liam Thorne               72         2      90.0
Mark Perrett              72         1      91.0
Neil Stephenson           72         4      92.75
Adam Curran               73         1     100.0
James Rowan               73         1      97.0
Alasdair Haines           74         2      92.5
Jon Hinchliffe            74         1      93.0
Aidan Linge               75         4      98.5
Chris Leaney              75         2      90.5
Jamie Smith               75         5      93.8
Mark Gourley              75         1      92.0
Norm Ahmad                75         2      98.5
Stephen Bloom             75         3      90.66666
Dave Ryan                 76         3      92.0
Suzy Turner               76         4      90.75
Ben Leyburn               77         6      93.0
Chris Weldon              77         5      91.0
Sarah Holey               77         4      95.0
Jason Palmer              78         4      93.25
Robin Johnson             79         8      93.125
Harry Clark               80         3      96.66666
Ewen Alexander            81         1      93.0
Mike Woodberry            81         1      94.0
Paul Anderson             81         7     105.2857
Stephen Mellor            81         6      90.83333
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Rhys Benjamin wrote: Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:20 pm
Graeme Cole wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2013 9:24 pm New 15 rounder:
0 wins: Alan Flanagan, Ross Lander (82)
1 win: Jean Wright (151)
2 wins: Peter Fenton (262)
3 wins: Jill Hayward (374)
4 wins: Margaret Lawless (359)
5 wins: Zarte Siempre (656)
6 wins: Gemma Church (602)
7 wins: Callum Todd (747)
8 wins: Dylan Taylor (974)
Could we have an update of this please, Graeme?
Highest totals for players in (new) 15-rounders by number of games won in that run, up to the end of series 81:

0 wins: Ciaran McCarthy (104)
1 win: Jamie Ilett-Jones (203)
2 wins: Jason Turner (307)
3 wins: Mark Hartnett (405)
4 wins: Jamie Smith (469)
5 wins: Zarte Siempre (656)
6 wins: Philip Aston (760)
7 wins: Dougie Mackay (759)
8 wins: Elliott Mellor (1061)
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Patrick Thompson wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:17 pm What’s the highest number of points conceded for an octachamp?
Assuming we're counting only points scored by opponents in the relevant heat run, the highest is 585 by the opponents of David Edwards.
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

JackHurst wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 6:54 pm
Patrick Thompson wrote: Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:17 pm What’s the highest number of points conceded for an octachamp?
Great question!

Another good question inspired by this is which players have the highest and lowest aggregate score difference over all of their games.
Elliott Mellor had an aggregate margin of 854 over his octorun opponents.
Glenn Leaney had an aggregate margin of 76 over his octorun opponents, although that was in 9 rounders. The lowest aggregate margin for an octochamp in 15-rounders is 95 by Chris McHenry.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Thomas Cappleman wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 5:10 pm
Martin Hurst wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 4:30 pm If the series 82 final ends up being Luke v Sam, will it be the first CD episode ever with both contestants having double-barrelled surnames?
Tom Chafer-Cook is the only double-barrelled champion, and he played Bradley Horrocks, so yes.
Can confirm.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Graeme Cole wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 8:31 pm
Thomas Cappleman wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 5:10 pm
Martin Hurst wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 4:30 pm If the series 82 final ends up being Luke v Sam, will it be the first CD episode ever with both contestants having double-barrelled surnames?
Tom Chafer-Cook is the only double-barrelled champion, and he played Bradley Horrocks, so yes.
Can confirm.
I think T-Cap misread the question but got the right answer anyway.
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Graeme Cole
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Gavin Chipper wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 8:42 pm
Graeme Cole wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 8:31 pm
Thomas Cappleman wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 5:10 pm

Tom Chafer-Cook is the only double-barrelled champion, and he played Bradley Horrocks, so yes.
Can confirm.
I think T-Cap misread the question but got the right answer anyway.
Erm, yes, so did I. I thought it was only asking about finals.

There's exactly one episode in Countdown's history where both players' surnames are double-barrelled: Derek Stuart-Clark against John Gough-Cooper. http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_882

I took "double barrelled" to mean "containing a hyphen". If you expand this definition to include "contains at least two spaces" you also get episode 6218 between Matt Le Tissier and Shaun Connolly-Flynn, but it's a bit of a stretch to count "Le" as an entire barrel.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Thomas Cappleman »

Gavin Chipper wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 8:42 pm
Graeme Cole wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 8:31 pm
Thomas Cappleman wrote: Thu Dec 03, 2020 5:10 pm

Tom Chafer-Cook is the only double-barrelled champion, and he played Bradley Horrocks, so yes.
Can confirm.
I think T-Cap misread the question but got the right answer anyway.
Oops yes, brain got primed by the initial mention of final, then apparently couldn't be bothered to read the rest properly.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by JackHurst »

Longest reigning:
- Series champion
- Series number 1 seed
- Champion
- Dictionary corner guest (1 consecutive stint)

I would guess James H takes longest reigning series champ and Luke takes longest reigning number 1 seed?
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Graeme Cole wrote: Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:17 pm
Johnny Canuck wrote: Wed Aug 19, 2020 8:09 pm
Gavin Chipper wrote: Wed Aug 19, 2020 6:48 pm What is the longest DC guest run? Phil Hammond just did eight.
Kenneth Williams’ gig in Series 1 and 2 comes to mind but that might not be it.
This is it. Kenneth Williams was the DC guest in 39 episodes in a row spanning most of series 1 and some of series 2.

The next longest run is 17, on two occasions, both by Gyles Brandreth. They were in series 4 and series 8.
DC guest reign answered here.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Jon O'Neill »

What is the record for the same number of matching declarations in a game?
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Jon O'Neill wrote: Wed Dec 23, 2020 4:46 pm What is the record for the same number of matching declarations in a game?
11, between Jack Hurst and David O'Donnell in this 30BC game.

I've taken "matching declarations" to mean that in a letters round the players declared the same word and scored the same number of points, and in a numbers round the players declared the same total, scored the same, and their methods were the same. The numbers method is only stored as a text string, so I matched methods by removing whitespace and comparing them for equality, but it's possible that identical methods might have been formatted slightly differently on each side of the wikicap and so slipped through the net.

I've ignored conundrums, so if neither player buzzes I don't count that as a "matching declaration".
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Jon O'Neill »

Graeme Cole wrote: Wed Dec 23, 2020 5:57 pm
Jon O'Neill wrote: Wed Dec 23, 2020 4:46 pm What is the record for the same number of matching declarations in a game?
11, between Jack Hurst and David O'Donnell in this 30BC game.

I've taken "matching declarations" to mean that in a letters round the players declared the same word and scored the same number of points, and in a numbers round the players declared the same total, scored the same, and their methods were the same. The numbers method is only stored as a text string, so I matched methods by removing whitespace and comparing them for equality, but it's possible that identical methods might have been formatted slightly differently on each side of the wikicap and so slipped through the net.

I've ignored conundrums, so if neither player buzzes I don't count that as a "matching declaration".
Nice - thanks.
How many 10/14s? What does the distribution look like?
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Graeme Cole »

Jon O'Neill wrote: Wed Dec 23, 2020 6:05 pm
Graeme Cole wrote: Wed Dec 23, 2020 5:57 pm
Jon O'Neill wrote: Wed Dec 23, 2020 4:46 pm What is the record for the same number of matching declarations in a game?
11, between Jack Hurst and David O'Donnell in this 30BC game.

I've taken "matching declarations" to mean that in a letters round the players declared the same word and scored the same number of points, and in a numbers round the players declared the same total, scored the same, and their methods were the same. The numbers method is only stored as a text string, so I matched methods by removing whitespace and comparing them for equality, but it's possible that identical methods might have been formatted slightly differently on each side of the wikicap and so slipped through the net.

I've ignored conundrums, so if neither player buzzes I don't count that as a "matching declaration".
Nice - thanks.
How many 10/14s? What does the distribution look like?
There are five 15-round episodes which contain exactly 10 rounds in which the contestants' declarations matched. They are:
http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_4126
http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_5355
http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_6382
http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_7401 (although this counts a numbers round in which neither player declared anything)
http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_S49 (spoiler alert - this is today's episode)

Counting all 15-rounders (old and new) up to and including today, the episode counts for each number of matching rounds is as follows:

Code: Select all

    0    232
    1    671
    2    977
    3    996
    4    758
    5    414
    6    196
    7     81
    8     23
    9     10
   10      5
   11      1
I ran the same query not counting numbers rounds in which neither player scored, but it didn't make much difference:

Code: Select all

    0    234
    1    673
    2    963
    3    981
    4    739
    5    388
    6    193
    7     75
    8     23
    9     11
   10      4
   11      1
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by JackHurst »

What's the most Darrens a player has spotted in a single game?

Which players who've played 50 or more letters rounds have the best darren spotting per centage?
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by JackHurst »

What's the highest number you can get to such that all whole numbers from 1 up to that number have had their spelling appear in letters selections in a single episode.

So for example, if an episode had:
SWTEEOCRN
TREEHOUSE (kudos to readers who spot the falsie)
FORTUNESE

as selections, but no selection contained all of the letters "FIVE" then it would score 4.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Charlie Reams »

This apterous game holds the record for biggest letters deficit overcome: Vincent Barcet gave up 46 points on the letters and still won the game. What's the record on Countdown?

(Sorry if this got asked before; maybe by page 25 it's time we made an index for this topic!)
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Fiona T »

Happy birthday Graeme!

Q that came up in aptochat -

What percentage of players who have won n games go on to be octochamps?

So if you win 0 games then you've got 0% chance, to 8 games 100% chance, but what are your chances when you've won 4 or 6 or any other?

TIA :)
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Ian Volante »

Fiona T wrote: Sat Feb 27, 2021 5:27 pm Happy birthday Graeme!

Q that came up in aptochat -

What percentage of players who have won n games go on to be octochamps?

So if you win 0 games then you've got 0% chance, to 8 games 100% chance, but what are your chances when you've won 4 or 6 or any other?

TIA :)
I'd assume this is non-linear (four wins not equal to 50%); if someone's won seven, it's pretty unlikely for them not to win eight. So you'd end up with a probability curve increasing quickly, possibly even to 70% by four wins, maybe even to 90% by six wins.

The curve I envisage isn't too far from this: y=48ln(x) - 9; would be interesting to see how close that is to the actual.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Adam Dexter »

With Ruth Cappleman and Chloe Lavan playing today (08/03/2021), it got me wondering when the last time there was an all female Apto-registered game on Countdown (if there even has been one?). I guess it's maybe not that easy to quantify given the use of pseudonyms and registrations being possibly taken out after being on the show.
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Rhys Benjamin
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

When will new 15s overtake old 15s?
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Patrick Thompson
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Patrick Thompson »

Apologies if already done but what’s the highest possible available octorun score in the 15 round era? And what’s the average possible octorun score?
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Thomas Carey
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Thomas Carey »

Since people are asking in aptochat -

what's the longest run of heat games without any player reaching n wins, for all n from 2 to 8?
cheers maus
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Charlie Reams
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Charlie Reams »

I don't have a question but just wanted to say thanks Graeme for maintaining this thread for such a long time, it's full of interesting findings!
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Tom S »

Charlie Reams wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 4:12 pm I don't have a question but just wanted to say thanks Graeme for maintaining this thread for such a long time, it's full of interesting findings!
Seconded.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Martin Hurst »

Yes, great thread :D

To add to the current surge of questions....

What is a) the biggest margin of defeat, and b) the lowest score, by someone who got 2 or more valid nines in a 15r game?

Same question also for getting one nine.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by David Williams »

For Graeme or someone else with too much time on their hands. How many numbers games have Carol and Rachel each presided over? Seeing as there are twice as many now as there were for most of Carol's time it could be close.
And probably for Graeme alone. Which of them is better (at numbers)??
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Rhys Benjamin
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

David Williams wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:06 pm For Graeme or someone else with too much time on their hands. How many numbers games have Carol and Rachel each presided over? Seeing as there are twice as many now as there were for most of Carol's time it could be close.
And probably for Graeme alone. Which of them is better (at numbers)??
I suspect that, as with my Susie vs Carol post, there'll be many ways to calculate this and what to include and not include...
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Gavin Chipper
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

The question of who is better has definitely been addressed before. I'll have a look later if someone doesn't beat me to it.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by David Williams »

Gavin Chipper wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:43 pm The question of who is better has definitely been addressed before. I'll have a look later if someone doesn't beat me to it.
I remember one a long time ago that showed that Rachel was better overall, but Carol declined as she got older, and when she was the same age as Rachel they were about the same. Time for an update?
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

David Williams wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 7:18 am
Gavin Chipper wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:43 pm The question of who is better has definitely been addressed before. I'll have a look later if someone doesn't beat me to it.
I remember one a long time ago that showed that Rachel was better overall, but Carol declined as she got older, and when she was the same age as Rachel they were about the same. Time for an update?
This is the analysis I was thinking of.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Max Benkel »

Has there been a time where both contestants declare the same word or same target number without either of them writing it down?
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Thomas Cappleman »

Max Benkel wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 12:23 pm Has there been a time where both contestants declare the same word or same target number without either of them writing it down?
Yes, but they just get both contestants to write it down quickly and then refilm with both having written it down. What gets aired will then just be the final version, so the TV audience won't know that it's happened.
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Rhys Benjamin
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Rhys Benjamin »

I don't know why they insist on refilming it, given that it's not a huge problem when it happens on ZD.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by JackHurst »

Rhys Benjamin wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 12:52 pm I don't know why they insist on refilming it, given that it's not a huge problem when it happens on ZD.
An episode of CD has an upper time limit. Why use up some of that precious time making viewer awkwardly watch contestants write down their answers in silence when the round has already finished?
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by JackHurst »

Going into a series finals, what is the biggest ever points gap between #1 and #2 seed?
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Thomas Cappleman »

JackHurst wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 2:15 pm Going into a series finals, what is the biggest ever points gap between #1 and #2 seed?
Had a manual look and was surprised by the results. I'd expected the 9 round era to have very few 100+ margins, but it actually had the vast majority because a lot of the time the #1 seed was the only octochamp. The winner (unless I've missed someone) is currently David Trace (series 9) with 212, followed by Harvey Freeman (10) with 199 and Satbir Gupta (32) with 186.

In the 15 round era, where the gap is within the same number of games, the winner is Oli Garner (62) with 167, with only 1 other octochamp. Elliott (80) and Kirk (60) are tied second on 143. Stewart Holden, Mark Murray and David O'Donnell are the only others with a lead of over 100.

Most impressively, Luke Boynton is currently on course to beat them all, with a current lead of 213 to pip David Trace by a point.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Thomas Carey »

Thomas Cappleman wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 3:44 pm
JackHurst wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 2:15 pm Going into a series finals, what is the biggest ever points gap between #1 and #2 seed?
Had a manual look and was surprised by the results. I'd expected the 9 round era to have very few 100+ margins, but it actually had the vast majority because a lot of the time the #1 seed was the only octochamp. The winner (unless I've missed someone) is currently David Trace (series 9) with 212, followed by Harvey Freeman (10) with 199 and Satbir Gupta (32) with 186.

In the 15 round era, where the gap is within the same number of games, the winner is Oli Garner (62) with 167, with only 1 other octochamp. Elliott (80) and Kirk (60) are tied second on 143. Stewart Holden, Mark Murray and David O'Donnell are the only others with a lead of over 100.

Most impressively, Luke Boynton is currently on course to beat them all, with a current lead of 213 to pip David Trace by a point.
I don't think there's ever been two #1 seeds tied on points, so I might have the reverse record here with my point ahead of #2
cheers maus
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Ben Wilson »

Thomas Carey wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 8:55 pm
Thomas Cappleman wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 3:44 pm
JackHurst wrote: Thu Apr 29, 2021 2:15 pm Going into a series finals, what is the biggest ever points gap between #1 and #2 seed?
Had a manual look and was surprised by the results. I'd expected the 9 round era to have very few 100+ margins, but it actually had the vast majority because a lot of the time the #1 seed was the only octochamp. The winner (unless I've missed someone) is currently David Trace (series 9) with 212, followed by Harvey Freeman (10) with 199 and Satbir Gupta (32) with 186.

In the 15 round era, where the gap is within the same number of games, the winner is Oli Garner (62) with 167, with only 1 other octochamp. Elliott (80) and Kirk (60) are tied second on 143. Stewart Holden, Mark Murray and David O'Donnell are the only others with a lead of over 100.

Most impressively, Luke Boynton is currently on course to beat them all, with a current lead of 213 to pip David Trace by a point.
I don't think there's ever been two #1 seeds tied on points, so I might have the reverse record here with my point ahead of #2
Guess again.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Gavin Chipper »

Has seed number 2 ever had more points than number 1? It could have happened in series 37, but they had weird rules then.

Edit - A quick flick through the wiki suggests no.

Edit 2 - Though it would appear that in series 2, the number 4 seed had the highest points total.

Edit 3 - Actually, number 2 seed Jenny Haldane outscored number 1 seed Steve Williams in series 16, but she only won 7 games and they didn't count losing scores for the seedings back then.
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by Max Benkel »

Has anyone scored 0 on the show and if so, does this usually not get broadcasted?
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Re: Ask Graeme?

Post by L'oisleatch McGraw »

Graeme:

How do you answer all these questions so readily?
Do you have a whole bunch of Countdown stats entered into a database that can be manipulated in different ways?
And if so, what sort of database? Access? MySQL?
:arrow: :arrow: :arrow: S:778-ochamp
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