c4countdown

As a glance at my record shows, I'm a pretty useless player.

However, I'm much worse on Apterous than I am in front of the television. I can rely on a steady number of 7s and the occasional 8 when watching Countdown, but on Apterous, it's always a relief to find a 6.

Is it just me?

I seem to have it the other way around.

I think its easier watching on television. You have longer to find the words as the letters go up really slowly and then Nick has to decide to start the time. I think I do better watching on television as well and that's probably partly it.

Try writing down the letters as you play on apterous, then playing from your written down letters. That might help, but it would slightly shorten your time as you would have to stop for a few seconds to type out your written down words near the end.

I generally play better while watching TV than I do while playing online too. Another reason why you may struggle to find longer words on apterous is because the letters selections generally aren't as easy as on the show.

Read down from here. sean d reckoned playing against the TV is worth about 3 points a game over Apterous, based on the stats compiled there.

Gavin Chipper wrote:Read down from here. sean d reckoned playing against the TV is worth about 3 points a game over Apterous, based on the stats compiled there.

Yeah, 3 points per game isn't enough to explain what Harry is experiencing here. In addition to several good explanations above, I'd suggest that being in a real contest applies a good deal more pressure than watching on TV, which is probably one reason Apterites tend to dominate TV-practisers when they actually appear on the show.

A couple of other points... personally speaking I'm a lot more likely to give myself the benefit of the doubt watching on tv in terms of selecting a safe 7 or dodgy 8. Also you lose time online typing and deciding what to declare. There's much more pressure online when you're playing another person and need to play somewhat tactically. And the standard ofplayer online is generally much higher than on the show. Also on Apterous if you come up with a really good 7 it will ALWAYS tell you if there's an obscure 8 you missed, or another half dozen 7s, which can be dispiriting. Dictionary Corner miss a lot more. And there's a theory that selections on the show are set a bit nicer and less randomly than online.

I find that the different format of play makes a difference, whether on PC, laptop or telly, I find a difference if I'm worrying about writing stuff down or whatever. I remember the panic of the first couple of rounds I did on the show, having to think about writing stuff rather than just shouting at the screen threw me completely.

Ian Volante wrote:just shouting at the screen

This would make for an excellent one-off special.

sean d wrote:And there's a theory that selections on the show are set a bit nicer and less randomly than online.

I'd be interested to investigate that. I would be reasonably surprised if they were different enough that it's perceptible.

I always write the letters down and because there's more time pressure on Apterous, the letters don't always come out as well. That and I try to fit more rounds per page. I think that makes a difference for me.

Matt Morrison wrote:

Ian Volante wrote:just shouting at the screen

This would make for an excellent one-off special.

"8. Oh come on, that's obvious. How did you not see that? Dozy fecker! And how did you get on here if you can't spell?!" etc. Probably quite entertaining for a few rounds at least

Charlie Reams wrote:

sean d wrote:And there's a theory that selections on the show are set a bit nicer and less randomly than online.

I'd be interested to investigate that. I would be reasonably surprised if they were different enough that it's perceptible.

Isn't that what got investigated and turned out to be just 3 points a game, or is this something else?

I suppose there's max and how easy the max is. Like how many words there are at the max.

It was partly investigated on the Ask Graeme thread, and coincidentally Jack Hurst raised the issue again over the weekend. Hopefully Graeme will get a chance to look into it. I'd suggest you less often see clumps of letters on the show possibly for the aesthetic and audience friendly reason that a truly random selection will throw up the odd round with, say, 4 E's. I think it was suggested that statistically you'd expect to see 4 E's in a round every few hundred rounds but it had never ever happened on the show. I feel that consonants are too nicely distributed on the show too. The number of letters rounds with 9 different letters is remarkable (even the number of rounds with 8 different leters seems high)

Harry Whitehouse wrote:As a glance at my record shows, I'm a pretty useless player.

However, I'm much worse on Apterous than I am in front of the television. I can rely on a steady number of 7s and the occasional 8 when watching Countdown, but on Apterous, it's always a relief to find a 6.

Is it just me?

Over about 150 shows watching TV I've averaged 11-12 maxes, but on apterous I'm glad with 9. I'm glad somebody finally shares my issue.

Sean touched on this earlier on and I think it's quite relevant, when you're playing along at home you can be a lot more forgiving on yourself, especially with things like late letters spots and conundrums. I know when I used to play along with the show, I would always give myself the benefit of the doubt, if you know what I mean. Not that this is conscious cheating, there are loads of times on apterous where I've spotted a cool eight-letter word right at the death and not quite had time to start typing it in; if the equivalent situation happened playing along at home with the show, I'd pretty much always give myself the credit if I had the word within the time, however borderline.

Thanks for all of that input.

I think tension is a big factor. I'm a lot more relaxed in front of the TV because I know that I'll be the only one who will know if I perform really badly.

On apterous, I'll type in an immediately obvious 4 or 5 letter word, just so that I've got something to declare, which is clearly wasting time that could be better spent.

I haven't plucked up the courage to write down the letters on apterous, because I'm so conscious of time passing, but as Callum's suggested it, I'll certainly give it a go.

If you do better in front of the TV then you must max game after game as I remember you went through a terrific improvement didn't you? Ay, ay?

David Barnard wrote:If you do better in front of the TV then you must max game after game as I remember you went through a terrific improvement didn't you? Ay, ay?

Stop feeding the fire. What's happened, happened.

I'm saddened by what seems to be sarcasm from an individual I hope I've done nothing to offend personally, David.

You might take into consideration the fact that I was offered no invitation to discuss the matters in question - there was just a sudden allegation at the end of one game, then a pronouncement at the top of my log-on page.

To be frank though, I'm not sure I would have responded if those responsible for the site had offered to discuss the issue. There were obvious strong grounds for suspicion, and no matter what I might have said, someone had to make a decision on a question that could never be conclusively resolved.

If the balance had tilted my way, the tone of some of the remarks already made on the site would have taken all pleasure out of participation for me, and suspicions would have lingered, so I'd have slung my hook anyway.

I still think Apterous is a great site, though, populated by some very nice people.

Ok I've looked on your recapped games and haven't found any excluded games which is quite weird for a deactivated account. So for now I take back my comments. Personally I disapprove of cheaters, in fact I despise them and think it's rather pathetic to cheat at a game where there is no personal gain.

If you categorically did not cheat then I apologise, you did nothing to offend me personally, although it would be interesting to see the game that aroused suspicion and see what everyone makes of it as I can't find anything

Although it might be worth putting something giving your defence to clear your name as a few are quite suspicious

Even if he was cheating, the situation is resolved now, and there's nothing to be gained from dwelling on it.

Hope to see you make a fresh start on apterous some time soon Harry.