c4countdown

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...

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?

Gavin Chipper wrote: ↑Fri Feb 27, 2026 3:29 pm 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.

Gavin Chipper wrote: ↑Fri Feb 27, 2026 3:29 pm 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.

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

SLIOTAIR as a plural of SLIOTAR in R8

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.