Spoilers for Friday 27th February 2026 (Series 93, Heat 40)

[Gavin Chipper]

Luke becomes the 4th octochamp of the series and it's still only February. 0 points from the last 2 rounds means 913 instead of potentially 933 but he's still number 1 seed.

Did they give him a nickname? But as an MI6 spy (keep it quiet though) surely Luke the Spook. Maybe they didn't choose that because he really is a spy...

[Philip A]

If this series gets 10 octochamps which would be a record…

…then the producers may need to re-think the 8-player knockout format, no?

[John Garcia]

Luke becomes the 4th octochamp of the series and it's still only February. 0 points from the last 2 rounds means 913 instead of potentially 933 but he's still number 1 seed.

To see him miss today's conundrum was a surprise. I almost get the impression he would do better if he just treated it like a regular letters round, given his propensity for 9's.

Did they give him a nickname? But as an MI6 spy (keep it quiet though) surely Luke the Spook. Maybe they didn't choose that because he really is a spy...

"The Spook" would have been a good nickname not least because he is scarily good most of the time. As it is they called him 008.

[Gavin Chipper]

Oh yeah. Just watched it back. I think I was having a conversation over that bit.

[Toby McDonald]

SLIOTAIR as a plural of SLIOTAR in R8

[Philip A]

Re conundrums, there’s a reason why even good players miss them. There is absolutely nothing to clue you to the answer.

Even if it’s an utterly ubiquitous word that everyone knows and uses in normal conversation and writing, it can be really difficult to break it down. It’s quite different to solving anagrams in crossword clues, which give you a definition to help you (and filled letters). That’s why they’re so hard - there’s no definition, no hint, no clue.