Spoilers for Thursday 26th June 2025 - S91 SF2

[Philip A]

Spoiler: the winner will be called Tim! Bridgstock V James for a place in tomorrow’s Grand Final against Rhys Jones.

[Philip A]

NGL I had SANGEET for 7 and didn’t even see the commoner anagram. Funny how our brains have moments.

Last second 7 in Round 4: ADENOMA

[Philip A]

Difficult 1 large at the end but the key here was:

728 / 7 = 104
104 / 4 = 26 and Bob’s your uncle;

(75/3+1)*4*7=728 which Rachel gets after the time.

I had that conundrum in my CoC 1st round match in 2019 so unfortunately that one was easy for me. Like my first attempt though, Bridgstock got the suffix correct!

A good game, but sadly for Bridgstock it turned on the missed 9s. James pulled a rabbit out of the hat there, and he may yet take the series. Should be a good final tomorrow.

[Gavin Chipper]

We get twins in the final tomorrow (I think they look alike anyway). I thought Tim James got perhaps a bit lucky to still be in it after a slow start. Everyone missed NEGATES. Then TJ was lucky not to be punished by COVERAGES and he only had 6 when TB had sundried disallowed - TB likely had a safe 7. Then obviously TJ saw STROBILAE to take control.

[Rhys Benjamin]

There are still red lines on the floor of the House of Commons, greater than two sword lengths' apart. The cloakroom ribbons are, I think, green, but us staffers aren't allowed in there...

[Toby McDonald]

SANTOURS in R11

Congrats to Rhys and Tim James for making the grand final, best of luck to them! Well done all other finalists too.

[Ryan Lam]

This post is dedicated to the late Richard Whiteley, who passed away 20 years ago on the date this episode aired. It's hard to believe that he's gone for almost as long as how old my youngest brother is, and I'm sure he's looking down proudly, knowing that Countdown is in the good hands of the current presenters and there's an active community dedicated to the show long after his death.

If you thought Tim Bridgstock vs Tim Lawrence earlier in the Series wasn't enough where two contestants of the same first name played each other, then introducing, Tim Bridgstock vs Tim James! Confusing enough? Hope not! Thankfully Colin was sensible enough to know TB = Tuberculosis, and so decided against calling this match TB vs TJ. Both are strong players in their own right, having dodged the crucial conundrum in their Quarter-Finals, so hopefully they would have sustained their energy to be here and play their best!

First Third: Maybe R1 was a sign that both contestants wanted to tell the audience to FASTEN our seatbelts for the episode ahead! Strap yourselves in then, and Tim B goes for his usual 3 Large. Oh what is this, it's ridiculously easy until both Tims had so much time to relax on-camera and Rachel didn't even need to ink out the solution. Moving on swiftly...

Second Third: Haha Colin, getting both Tims to admit they had "changed" their word ever so slightly in R4 Next round, and a "nine" is hiding in the form of COVERAGES! Tim B takes the lead but could have grabbed another ten points if he had risked the plural form! Disappointed looks from him, but now he hopes Tim J's 6 Small in R6 won't erase that difference. Easy only if you know how, and excellent both contestants knew the answer was 7 × 8 × 9 (Taking the multiple of ten route would lead you to a dead end just like what I had at first) . Oh dear, after the anecdote, the lead was erased when sundered turned out to be hypenated! What's worse, Tim J spots STROBILAE in R9 that no one knew of in the studio to deal a 16 point deficit against Tim B! A nine-letter spot by either one of them was definitely not on my Bingo card! Easy 3 Large again afterwards in R9 after that shocker, and hey Rachel, nothing wrong with Tim B not being as straightforward as Tim J!

Last Third: Here comes the last part, can Tim J extend his lead? Yes he can with OUTRUNS in R11, painful when Tim B had OUTRAN! No wait, Tim B's caughtup with JEMMIES in R12, huge risk but it paid off to prevent Tim J from a default win by the time R14 came round since R13 had so many seven-letter words. One last Numbers round, 1 Large, playing safe as expected, and good job if you spotted 104 × 7. Tim B is too far away, meaning Tim J is crowned the second Grand Finalist in a stunning, well-played upset even though he doesn't have a perfect solution!

I had that conundrum in my CoC 1st round match in 2019 so unfortunately that one was easy for me. Like my first attempt though, Bridgstock got the suffix correct!

Now that Philip has reminded me of this, I admit I didn't memorise CoC conundrums for Finals and I blanked out on this one. If only I did, and not to mention the recent riots in Los Angeles being reminiscent of the answer. Tim B hazards a guess with ombrocracy, so, so close but it was not correct, and with Tim J with no answer, this makes 5 of the 6 Conundrums this Finals being unsolved. Will we see the last one unsolved to tie with the number of conundrum solves in the Series 90 Finals, hmm...

I went with my gut to say Tim James would win against Tim Bridgstock with a margin of around ten points and a crucial conundrum happening since I felt he was more stronger in the letters. In the end, both outcomes didn't happen and the margin was at 23 points (had Tim B spotted COVERAGES, the score would have been 87-100, so he would have still lost). Alas, the bridge has "collapsed" and Tim B is out. But, no one can take away the record of the highest score of any match this Series that you have (and I hope that record won't be broken in the Grand Final, otherwise I have to take this back!), and your skillful conundrum solves under such short times is a quality many can only want to emulate. Great on getting this far and hopefully you can take some chocolate as a reward and as a nod to your former company!

So, the final showdown of this Series is set in stone, and for the first time since Florence Cappleman-Lynes in Series 84, the Number 3 Seed is in the Grand Final. In a few hours, we will know who lifts the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy. Will Rhys be like Fiona Wood and become a Grand Champion from outside England, ending also a drought of a Welsh Champion, or will Tim James pull one last upset like Adam Latchford to take the title instead? Tune in soon to find out, and I bet you don't want to miss this final episode!

Progress:
QF1 (19 June 2025): Rhys Jones (#1) vs Michael Kane (#8) (97 - 64)
QF2 (20 June 2025): Tim Bridgstock (#2) vs Tom Page (#7) (99 - 90)
QF3 (23 June 2025): Tim James (#3) vs Matt Fife (#6) (75 - 70)
QF4 (24 June 2025): Amy Berry (#4) vs Christine Smith (#5) (101 - 61)
SF1 (25 June 2025): Rhys Jones (QF1 Winner) vs Amy Berry (QF4 Winner) (84 - 66)
SF2 (26 June 2025): Tim Bridgstock (QF2 Winner) vs Tim James (QF3 Winner) (77 - 100)
GF (27 June 2025): Rhys Jones (SF1 Winner) vs Tim James (SF2 Winner)