Spoilers for Friday 28th June 2024 - Series 89 Grand Final

[Philip A]

131 contestants took part. Now just 2 remain.

No. 1 seed Arthur Page up against No. 6 seed Michael Calder. The last No. 1 vs No. 6 final was 16 years ago.

24 years ago, another man named Michael Calder pulled out MYOGLOBIN in the first letters round and won the Series 42 final.

Should be an interesting final. Let’s see.

[Adam S Latchford]

Scared of this being an absolute whitewash
If Michael does pull it off though and win then this will be the biggest upset ever in countdown (to win all three of those games and take the title)
No 9's yet for him either so obviously i'm backing my man all the way

[Gavin Chipper]

We were scared of your final being a whitewash and look how that turned out!

[Philip A]

Tricky 8 in Round 5: PEONAGES

[Ben Wilson]

(8-1)*9*4 for an alternative R9

[Philip A]

Nine letter words can be pivotal in this game, including the conundrums, but the most pivotal 9 for Arthur was OBEDIENCY from Wednesday’s semi-final which propelled him to this finale. TABLESIDE in the final letters was a really good get, and it sealed the deal.

Michael has done so well to achieve two seed upsets. A fantastic runner-up who has proved that you can still win against the odds even when at the lower end of the seed table.

Congratulations to Arthur on a well-deserved title win and above all a top man. He and Jessica get my vote for Champion of Champions candidates.

[Gavin Chipper]

Great game, perhaps a game too far for Michael Calder in the end. I'd have to check, but I think it's the first time that a Michael Calder has ever lost in a grand final in over 40 years of the game. And it's not because there haven't been any.

[John Garcia]

I was willing Michael to spot OUTWINDED. The final would have taken a completely different turn. As it was there could only be one winner, the dominant Arthur. Well deserved! Great end to a great series.

[Toby McDonald]

Huge congratulations Arthur! Very well done, and commiserations to Michael - a very worthy runner-up.

CARITAS in R8

[Steve Hyde]

So many missed opportunities to name check the previous Michael Calder when talking about "names engraved on the trophy"
POSAUNE and AENEOUS as alts in the NGAPEES round

[Tracey Anne Mills]

Congratulations to Arthur Page and commiserations to Michael a worthy runner up

[Tom S]

Belated congrats to Arthur on a very well-deserved win. I'd even say that he played at a higher level on TV than his already high level on Apterous- which is a talent few possess. Fair play to Michael, though- I think most of us would have had him down as a quarter-finalist at best given his draw, but he played at a consistent level that showed what a worthy grand finalist he was.

Very enjoyable series all in all!

[Ryan Lam]

Six "O"s have gone, and we're down to the final two. What a unique Introduction by Colin as he chooses not to say "Hello" as one of his first words, and you know you're in for a treat when both Finalists are applauded individually; in my seven years of recapping episodes, I don't think that's ever happened before. Both contestants are feeling nervous, Arthur who was shaken after Jessica forced him into a crucial conundrum and Michael who doesn't want to believe he's here as the underdog having won ten games already, but it's not a dream as we prepare to see the clock ticking again (Get it? I'm referencing the anecdotes where Marcus annoyingly won't shut up about the "ancient" clock"s" of Series 1...)!

Letters: Gentle start in R1 with those pair of eight-letter words, but it's Arthur who gets ahead in R2 with EGESTING to beat Michael's EGGIEST (somehow I predicted both of them would get those two exact words). An excellent spot of NGAPEES in R5 followed from the former and it's bad luck to the latter with the invalid openages Honest declaration by both contestants and imply they came here for the TEAPOT in R7 in the meantime. Once the show was back for the last part, this is where Arthur really shined, with WIDEOUT in R10, IONOMER in R12 and the icing on the cake to cement his status as the Grand Champion of Series 89, the nine-letter word TABLESIDE in R13!! However, of course, Colin sometimes gets too ahead of himself and some people in the Daily Chat pointed out they don't like him declaring the winner prematurely here. Maybe he could learn a thing or two from when Nick Hewer was still on and wait till the very end...

Numbers: Two Large it is for R3 and the target being a multiple of 50 means...OH NO!!! Michael blanks out just as everyone thinks both contestants will get ten points Damn, the pressure must have gotten to him. However, he doesn't take this setback to heart for in R6 with 6 Small, he gets it thanks to the "10" in play . The other two rounds afterwards were considered very easy for a Grand Final episode and it's disappointing CECIL hasn't been given us hard targets most of the time for the Finals. Good work from both contestants in R9 as they knew how to use the "75" to their advantage, but it's Arthur who takes the day yet again in R14 with an exact solution to widen the gap.

Conundrum: Well what do you know, it's one of those scrabbles referencing Susie Dent again, jeez I wonder how many Grand Finals have already featured this . Almost all of us in the Daily Chat got the answer quickly and it's not hard to decipher to the point that I felt the killer answer VICEREGAL from this day last year should have been the one used here instead. Arthur buzzes in and says "disiduent" but it's wrong, and with Michael not buzzing in, that's a wrap for this Series. The applause when the answer was revealed was so awkward, no one in the studio solved it, maybe it's just clapping that no one was DISUNITED? I don't know...

Michael has done so well to achieve two seed upsets. A fantastic runner-up who has proved that you can still win against the odds even when at the lower end of the seed table.

Fair play to Michael, though- I think most of us would have had him down as a quarter-finalist at best given his draw, but he played at a consistent level that showed what a worthy grand finalist he was.

This game was always going to be an uphill battle for Michael from the get-go and I predicted this game to end with Arthur winning (obviously) with a margin of 50 points, but it was slightly off at 60 points (Some people on the Daily Chat had predicted margins way narrower than this). Michael, you have been the true definition of a COMEBACK kid as per one of the Teatime Teasers yesterday and to see you knock out your opponents was exhilarating not least to say. Your practice off-screen has definitely made you sharpen your skills (not to mention that filming break in which you made the most out of) and hey, you proved everyone who wrote you off as a lost cause last week wrong by being in the Grand Finals. Thank you for helping to feed our nation and for your charity work over the years since your last appearance, and we salute you for your volunteerism. May you never stop reaching out to the poor and I'm sure you will be appreciated everywhere around Scotland

As for Arthur, his knowledge of scientific words especially in the field of Biology has amazed me throughout his run and I cannot stop emphasising this. Even I as someone who loves Chemistry and studied Chemical Engineering as my degree would never have spotted at least half the words he came up with. Just like our two Grand Champions last year (Ronan and Harry), he truly is a teenage prodigy in his own right at just the tender age of 16. I echo Philip's post here as well as in the Daily Chat that if I were forced to only choose two players from this Series to play in the Championship of Champions XVII, Arthur and Jessica will be my picks for their extremely talented skills (just hope that if this happens they won't be drawn against each other...). As Rachel mentioned when presenting the Richard Whiteley Memorial Champion, there were many Grand Champions in the past who didn't know the meanings of a lot of unusual words but spotted them anyways. However, I feel that Arthur is truly a special character amongst the Grand Champions, because I genuinely believe he knew most of the meanings and when he gets those nine-letter words, he can circle all he wants on his paper, sit back, relax and say to himself he's done it . All the best for your "A" Levels next year and let's hope you get into your University of your choice! Who knows, maybe you should have a go at University Challenge with your scientific knowledge and be the next Max Zeng or Justin Lee there!

The first half of 2024 is completed, just like that and the next Series is about to commence shortly as we leap into the "90s", with three-time winner Phil Campbell returning on Monday, 01 July and hope that he is not stopped in his second stint on the show for the next five episodes! We of course also will wait to hear the news if Colin is up to present Series 91 in 2025 and beyond by renewing his contract. Last but not least, a reminder that the General Election is on Thursday, 04 July 2024. If you've registered to vote, my advice is, get out to the polls and do so, don't let your vote go to waste unless absolutely necessary. We'll be back near Christmas with another eight Finalists and what almost looks certain to be a change of who's in charge of running the UK!

Progress:
QF1 (20 June 2024): Arthur Page (#1) vs Isabelle Heward (#8) (123 - 51)
QF2 (21 June 2024): Mark Finnerty (#2) vs Jack Harvey (#7) (104 - 100)
QF3 (24 June 2024): Toby Byfield (#3) vs Michael Calder (#6) (82 - 84)
QF4 (25 June 2024): Jessica Pratesi (#4) vs Mark Goodliffe (#5) (102 - 99)
SF1 (26 June 2024): Arthur Page (QF1 Winner) vs Jessica Pratesi (QF4 Winner) (102 - 90)
SF2 (27 June 2024): Mark Finnerty (QF2 Winner) vs Michael Calder (QF3 Winner) (56 - 78)
GF (28 June 2024): Arthur Page (SF1 Winner) vs Michael Calder (SF2 Winner) (121 - 61)

[Jojo Apollo]

Just caught up with this game. Many congrats to Arthur, great humble modest champion, also well done to Michael on becoming series runner-up. Another great series.