Spoilers for Tuesday 21st December 2021 (Series 84, SF 1)

[Thomas Carey]

Ahmed takes on Jeremy!

[Philip A]

Looks as though Countdown will expurgate all offensive answers in some form of another from now on. I think this practice will be permanent.

[Gavin Chipper]

Looks as though Countdown will expurgate all offensive answers in some form of another from now on. I think this practice will be permanent.

Some context?

[Philip A]

Looks as though Countdown will expurgate all offensive answers in some form of another from now on. I think this practice will be permanent.

Some context?

Look up PAEDERAST and you’ll see why.

[Gavin Chipper]

Looks as though Countdown will expurgate all offensive answers in some form of another from now on. I think this practice will be permanent.

Some context?

Look up PAEDERAST and you’ll see why.

Right. I see. When Jeremy got SEPARATED.

[Johnny Canuck]

Maybe Ahmed is just so good that he gets 18 points for the way he drinks his water.

[Graeme Cole]

Looks as though Countdown will expurgate all offensive answers in some form of another from now on. I think this practice will be permanent.

More likely, they'll only do this for programmes that were recorded before they decided this. For shows yet to be recorded I think it's more likely they'll give the player an equivalent but less problematic word (e.g. SEPARATED for PAEDERAST) and record another take using that, as has happened occasionally in the past.

[Ryan Lam]

Watched this episode a bit later than usual as I was in a end-of-year virtual gathering which will probably be my main method of communicating with everyone just like what happened in the run-up to Christmas 2020. Ugh, it seems cruel that we're back in the same situation as this time last year. Well then, on with the game. Anne seems a bit intrigued that both contestants today have "Sexy Hair", but remember, this isn't a beauty contest, it's Countdown!

Letters:

Looks as though Countdown will expurgate all offensive answers in some form of another from now on. I think this practice will be permanent.

Some context?

Look up PAEDERAST and you’ll see why.

I thought something was wrong when I didn't hear Ahmed's declaration in R1, only to find out he got the other nine available which has a sexually offensive definition (Good move not to broadcast it here on this occasion imo despite the commendable spot). Jeremy had SEPARATED which is also excellent! Ahmed continues his streak with RANCOROUS in R4 and PILAUS in R7. After the second commercial break, he hit some trouble with his invalid declaration of bigamies in R10. Jeremy then had CLOUTED in R11 to beat his OCTODE, but not before having TITULAR in R13 after outtrail was ruled invalid.

Numbers: Ahmed goes with his usual in R3 and R9 and the targets weren't that difficult to obtain. On the other hand, Jeremy puts up a brave face and goes 6 Small for both R6 and R14. Ahmed goes wrong in the former which was difficult to solve as he ends up 30 away instead but Jeremy was too far away as well In the latter, Ahmed spotted a perfect solution to extend the lead and Jeremy's numbers solving technique could not help him here

Conundrum: Boy this sure was a tough conundrum and I couldn't crack it (I knew the answer most likely ended in -TAL, I just couldn't make out a valid word with the remaining letters in 30 seconds). However, Ahmed did at the very last possible second and he grabs an extra ten points! I literally gasped when he said the answer because that was right!

On the assumption that Ahmed would spot at least two nine-letter words just like in his first Quarter-Final match, I predicted he would win by a 70 point margin. While I did get the first prediction spot-on, the margin was tighter at 53 points in part because of his fumble just after the second commercial break. So it's goodbye to Jeremy once again after 19 years. Despite this, as Anne put it, he's really been "a true character" and I'm sure he must have fans who have been left in awe at his Numbers solving techniques. You never lost touch with your skills despite being away for close to two decades, and I hope those methods will come in handy in real-life somehow!

Tomorrow's match line-up already makes you feel like you should watch it, with Stu facing against Florence. The latter's husband, Sam aka the Runner-Up of Series 82, spoiled in the Daily Chat at the end of Friday's episode that the both of them had a friendly match prior to the recording of tomorrow's episode and it ended up in a draw just before they went out on stage. Will it result in a tight match or not in reality? Find out who faces Ahmed in the Grand Final! It really could be anyone's game!

Progress:
QF1 (15 December): Ahmed Mohamed (#1) vs Janet Noe (#8) (143 - 59)
QF2 (16 December): Stu Harkness (#2) vs Roddie Bell (#7) (112 - 82)
QF3 (17 December): Florence Cappleman-Lynes (#3) vs Jasamrit Rahala (#6) (121 - 62)
QF4 (20 December): Jeremy Slaney (#4) vs Matt Gould (#5) (126 - 94)
SF1 (21 December): Ahmed Mohamed (QF1 Winner) vs Jeremy Slaney (QF4 Winner) (118 - 65)
SF2 (22 December): Stu Harkness (QF2 Winner) vs Florence Cappleman-Lynes (QF3 Winner)
GF (23 December): Ahmed Mohamed (SF1 Winner) vs (SF2 Winner)

[Jojo Apollo]

Good game chaps.

[Toby McDonald]

Well done Ahmed, RANCOROUS was a brilliant spot!

R14 Alt.: (7*6*2+3/3)*4 = 340