Spoilers for Friday 27th June 2025 - Series 91 Grand Final

[Philip A]

Welcome to the 91st Grand Final. Our two finalists have between them won 20 matches, scored 1,937 points and solved 8 conundrums correctly. Rhys Jones is aiming to be the first Welshman since the late Huw Morgan in 1997 to win the title. Can Tim James deny a second consecutive non-English series champion?

[Ryan Lam]

What a fantastic Grand Final that was, congratulations to Rhys and the review will come on either on Saturday night or Sunday morning where I am!

Btw, during the Prize Presentation, everyone was really telling the truth when they said Countdown put out a call to Welsh people last year on St. David's Day. I rewatched the recording quickly (I store archives of them if you're curious) and here's the segment where they did it just before OOW (Series 89, Episode 044): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lnic-d ... drive_link

[Philip A]

Best was saved 'til last. That was a good final, and it could have gone to a tie-break.

I saw ALGINATE and TROUGHER but wouldn't have chanced those, and maxed all numbers before cracking the conundrum in nine seconds.

Rhys finally did it for Wales whilst Tim retained his fighting spirit. Congratulations to a worthy champion but well done both of them.

[John Garcia]

Someone mentioned the similarity of the contestants on another thread. It's not that they look like twins, but at times it was like watching one of those old movies where they get the same actor to play two different parts. Great pair of contestants and a great final! Good choice of conundrum too - difficult but gettable.

[Toby McDonald]

Congratulations to Rhys, very well done for doing Wales proud! And commiserations to Tim, but a very worthy runner-up.

[Gavin Chipper]

Someone mentioned the similarity of the contestants on another thread. It's not that they look like twins, but at times it was like watching one of those old movies where they get the same actor to play two different parts. Great pair of contestants and a great final! Good choice of conundrum too - difficult but gettable.

Good way of putting it.

[Ryan Lam]

It's been two decades since the late Richard Whiteley's untimely passing, and today, we will know the 48th name to be inscribed on the trophy that is named after him. Also, I know Squid Game Season 3 was released literally hours on Netflix before this episode aired and everyone's flocking (or dying ) to see how the story all ends, but if you're into Countdown, then spare some 40+ minutes of your time to see this finale of Series 91!

Someone mentioned the similarity of the contestants on another thread. It's not that they look like twins, but at times it was like watching one of those old movies where they get the same actor to play two different parts.

Not sure how much I want to agree or disagree with this statement because that's what many people pointed out in the Daily Chat , but their names are so different, so we'll know who is who! It's nice to see Colin giving a shoutout to one person each from our Finalists who without them, I bet they would never be here; Rhys' boss and Tim's late grandmother. Fingers crossed as we see who is the Grand Champion from the first full Series since the ODP cull!

First Third: Strong start as expected in the first two letters round and commendation to Rhys with SALMONID in R1. This will definitely be a tough fight, so Rhys does not change his tactics and sticks with his 6 Small in R3. Good workout for our brains here with an impossible puzzle, and wait, Rhys blanks out, allowing Tim to gain the lead by seven points!! It might not seem much, but remember, even a small difference like what we saw in QF3 can make or break the game by the end!

Second Third: After a clever first TTT where our soon-to-be Champion wishes to OUTSHINE their opponent, R4 comes, and oh no! Bad luck to Tim as his outrager declaration is no good with an extra "R", bringing the scores level once more! Good spot again by Rhys with JONESED in R5, and we were next expecting Tim to pull out the "big guns" in R6. To our surprise, nope, he chooses to go safe with 1 Large, and it was a very simple target to get for a Grand Final, maybe he should have taken the risk. Anyways, after the last anecdote with Bob Harris OBE, great work to both contestants by having COURANTE in R7, but not so great with vagued in R8 though. Rhys picks 6 Small as his Final selection in R9, can this break the tie? Oh you're kidding me, this is so straightforward, the margin is still zero thereafter! My heartbeat just shot up going into the last Teatime Teaser!

Last Third: This is it, the last six rounds will determine who wins and who loses! Amazing play still and not to mention, the all important nine with OUTLANDER!! Damn, I hope this game does not end in a tiebreaker conundrum since this will probably be the most heartbreaking thing the Runner-Up will face! A match by both still with EGOTISE in R12 after Origins of Words, and soon enough, the last letters round came. Tim risks it all with warfield, but it's invalid and Rhys has the advantage now!! Tim gambles with 4 Large to try to force the crucial, and a high target. I admit, I literally got the solution at the last second, and now we see if both get it on the dot. NO, NO, I don't believe this, Tim misses by two and Rhys has the same solution as most of us in the Daily Chat, allowing him to clinch the Grand Champion title in a shocking twist!!! Save the emotions for later, but let's see who can get this last conundrum. If you had a book that feels too TRUE to be CRISP, maybe it's a Bible you have in your hands because it's "The Word (a possible reference to Rhys' nickname perhaps?) of the Lord" with SCRIPTURE which almost everyone had it where we were! No one buzzes in, meaning this Series Finals ties with Series 90's one in that only one conundrum was solved. I hope this record can be improved with Series 92 though!

I predicted that this game was going to end in a crucial conundrum, with Rhys winning with a margin of 15 points. It was very close with the final margin at 17 points, but without the tense ending I was anticipating. Poor Tim, he risked so much at the end and this was what cost him the title, and those who were in the Daily Chat could see the anguish that Tim's supporters had, with them questioning why did he not have the solution in R14 or even go with a simple 1 Large selection in R6. I feel for them too, but hey, let's give credit to him where it's due and not call out his decisions for being ridiculous, we're better than that. I know it may have been an anti-climatic ending and the wait to succeed Adam Latchford as a #3 Seed becoming Grand Champion continues, but no doubt he put in a lot of effort to get this far, and he can brag to his brother that he is now a Series Runner-Up! Fantastic work on your STROBILAE spot that was nominated the favourite spot this Finals, and I'll memorise this word moving forward for sure!

Turning to Rhys now, for the first time in 28 years, we have a Welsh champion and it's in no small part thanks to Countdown inviting more people from Wales to apply from the show as I mentioned in an earlier post. St. David's Day 2024 was the crucial turning point for you, and 15 months later, here you are, the very first Welshman raising the trophy as it did not exist when the late Huw Morgan won way back in March 1997 (now, when can we get a Northern Irish Grand Champion to get a full house? )! You might have been the lowest #1 Seed in terms of points in a very long time, but it didn't mean that you would automatically be disadvantaged especially when looking at the competitiveness of the Seed table. You held your ground till the very end, and that crucial solve in R14 made you secure your place in history. More records on Countdown are getting broken, and your victory will definitely inspire more Welsh contestants to come on especially since Channel 4 was a late addition to the TV Channels there. Marvellous work and well-deserved!

And so, Colin wishes us "Diolch am wylio" to those who tuned in. See how the calls for more women and more Welsh people to apply have been successful in producing the last two Grand Champions? I can only wonder which group of viewers they've targeted thus far will produce a Finalist, and, we'll see in half a year if I'll be typing something similar! Series 92 commences on Monday, 30 June, with three-time winner Mel Smith hoping to avoid her fourth crucial conundrum and secure a solid win! Will she be lucky, or will she have to face the dreaded purplish lights once more? Bring on the second half of 2025 and hopefully, an increased viewership to encourage the Production Team too!

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) (106 - 89)