c4countdown

So, we're into the final week of Series 72. No more horse racing, no more putting it off any longer.

The top 2 seeds are already into the semi-finals. Will it be #3 and #4 going them to carry on the form of the rankings of the leaderboard

Our 2 quarter-finalists fighting for a place in Thursday's semi-final against Gerry Tynan are the #3 seed, Tracey "The Stockport Sparkler" Mills and the #6 seed, Jordan "The Oldham Onslaught" Barker.

Here are the interesting statistics.

Statistics Corner:

Firstly, No.3 Seed Tracey "The Stockport Sparkler" Mills - 8 Wins, 836 Points. (Average: 104.5)
Highest Score: 116 vs. Daniel Rhymer (6th Game)
Lowest Score: 97 vs. Keith Taylor (3rd Game)
9's Achieved: 3/6
Total Points/Max/%: 836/1031 (81%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 557/639 (87%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 239/312 (77%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 40/80 (50%)

Secondly, No.6 Seed Jordan "The Oldham Onslaught" Barker - 8 Wins, 713 Points. (Average: 89.13)
Highest Score: 104 vs. Alex Williamson (7th Game)
Lowest Score: 72 vs. Matt Hill (3rd Game)
9's Achieved: 1/5
Total Points/Max/%: 713/1028 (69%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 504/628 (80%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 189/320 (59%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 20/80 (25%)

Jo Brand returns in Dictionary Corner with her usual concoction of words, not too dissimilar to some of the rubbish brought up by the comedians in Catsdown, but at least Jo's do have some meanings to go with them.

Join Andy for the recap later.

Darren Bent is currently trending on Twitter. I hope this is a prophecy of many darrenic selections to come...

Three "nines" available already and I didn't spot any of them, no doubt there will be somebody on here later, claiming to have spotted all three!

It is very tough to have to perform early in the morning and so being number 3 or 6 seed is not a good thing to be.
The max seems to be 158 which is in the top 10 highest (CDB says 6th though is out of date of course).

Tony Atkins wrote:It is very tough to have to perform early in the morning and so being number 3 or 6 seed is not a good thing to be.

You say early, Tony, but the actual recording started an hour late, as Jo Brand was stuck in traffic on the way to the studio, so it wasn't as early as it usually was.

Mind you, both Tracey and Jordan were out early and ready to start, then were just told to wait around, as were us in the audience....

Tony Atkins wrote:The max seems to be 158 which is in the top 10 highest (CDB says 6th though is out of date of course).

Yeah, while waiting for the next match, I looked around and found that only Richard Brittain's quarterfinal in Series 55 had a higher max than today's, when just looking at the maxes of quarterfinals.

Well done Tracey, congrats on making the final four at least. Also well done on making the quarters, Jordan.

Was convinced Jordan was fishing for the final A for miniature, doubly so when the close-up appeared to catch him doing a sideways glance at Tracey to check her body language. Then I was convinced he was back in it with GODLINESS. Bad luck Jordan Well done Tracey for holding your nerve after a shaky start too.

Oh, I was also convinced that PLICATES was good - did it used to be in or what? I was wrongly convinced about a lot of things today...

Jon Corby wrote:Oh, I was also convinced that PLICATES was good - did it used to be in or what? I was wrongly convinced about a lot of things today...

I thought so too, and wasn't certain on SPICUALTE either, but I think all of us in the audience were shocked too.

Was also hoping Jordan saying "Screw it, nine" in the lodginess round would've been kept in too.

Well done to my wife on her win, as you say Jo Brand was stuck in traffic...In Stockport would you believe... luckily we took the hotel option in case of a similar problem in the morning. Jordans screw it bit was for the last numbers game when he said screw it 6 small...lolol As for Jordan looking across to see Traceys body language I told Tracey if she had a 9 to doodle as if she still looking as I knew evertime in her Octorun when she had a 9 casue she looked at me in audience with a grin, I think finalist would know right away why she was smiling, so glad she listened too.

Well done Tracey for your win. I did wonder what was happening after the first three rounds and I thought you did exceptionally well to hold your nerve; I'm sure others might have capitulated. Well done to Jordan too for giving Tracey a scare! I think Mark's message is interesting because I did consider whether there was anything that a contestant could physically do (in addition to getting long words and hitting the numbers) that might gain them an advantage e.g. writing down a 7 letter word with a flourish, putting my pencil down and then sitting back and taking a sip of water.

I used to play chess against a player who would slam his piece on to the board whenever he thought he'd made a good move. Of course, sometimes he'd just slam it anyway to get you thinking and running down your clock.

Thanks all, I did notice Nad looking over at me too see what my body language was like, so I just doodled on my notepad when I got the 9

James Robinson wrote:

Jon Corby wrote:Oh, I was also convinced that PLICATES was good - did it used to be in or what? I was wrongly convinced about a lot of things today...

I thought so too, and wasn't certain on SPICUALTE either, but I think all of us in the audience were shocked too.

Was also hoping Jordan saying "Screw it, nine" in the lodginess round would've been kept in too.

They should of kept "screw it" in !

Lucy spotted that after R2, when Jo has just offered JOGHATERS, she spills her tea down her top. Surprised that made the cut! (Around 7th Minute mark if anyone wants to watch!)