c4countdown

hi there new member here, got two questions:
1, is there any other way to appear as a contestant on countdown without downloading the application form.
2, I have watched countdown for close to 10 yrs but still not sure of the maximum number of consonants or vowels that can be selected in one round.

1. You could e-mail them at countdown@channel4.com or write to

Contestant Application,
Countdown,
Yorkshire Television Ltd,
The Television Centre,
Leeds LS3 1JS

and request the application form

2. Maximum Vowels - 5, Minimum Consonants - 4
Maximum Consonants - 6, Minimum Vowels - 3

Thats all to the best of my knowledge, i'm sure someone will correct me

Welcome to the forum, Fidelis! Hope to see you on the show sometime.

Excellent advice from James there.

A good place to practise your Countdown skills is by playing online on apterous:

http://www.apterous.org/index.php

When I play on apterous, I usually choose 4 consonants and 3 vowels first, to get the compulsory ones out of the way, and then make my real choices.

Welcome Fidelis
I find when playing the bots, 6 consonants and 3 vowels help me to keep up, particularly against The Guardian.

There was one show a good few years ago where I noticed just two vowels in one of the rounds, I got really excited about it and started shouting at Grandma and Grandad.

I wonder how many 9's there are with just 2 vowels?

Marc Meakin wrote:I wonder how many 9's there are with just 2 vowels?

Approx 1910 I believe.

Matthew Tassier wrote:

Marc Meakin wrote:I wonder how many 9's there are with just 2 vowels?

Approx 1910 I believe.

Impressive if you knew that off the top of your head. Apterous makes it 1,922. A further 25 have only 1 vowel:-

CRYPTONYM
DYSTHYMIC
DYSTROPHY
FLYSPECKS
GYPSYWORT
HYDROXYLS
HYPERNYMS
KLYSTRONS
LYNCHPINS
POLYPTYCH
PSYCHISMS
SCHMALTZY
SKYLIGHTS
SPRIGHTLY
STRENGTHS
STYLISHLY
SYMPHYLAN
SYMPHYSES
SYMPHYSIS
SYMPLASMS
SYMPLASTS
SYNCHRONY
TRIGLYPHS
TRIPTYCHS
TWELFTHLY

And only one 9-letter-word has 7 unique consonants in ascending alphabetical order. Its 2 vowels are also in order. Anyone?

Charlie Reams wrote:

Matthew Tassier wrote:

Marc Meakin wrote:I wonder how many 9's there are with just 2 vowels?

Approx 1910 I believe.

Impressive if you knew that off the top of your head. Apterous makes it 1,922. A further 25 have only 1 vowel:-

Surely Scary rather than Impressive that I knew that off the top of my head.
On another topic, is there a place that the latest dictionary file that apterous uses is kept? The one I use for my own ends seems out of date.

Matthew Tassier wrote: Surely Scary rather than Impressive that I knew that off the top of my head.
On another topic, is there a place that the latest dictionary file that apterous uses is kept? The one I use for my own ends seems out of date.

I asked Jim Bentley nicely, and he had some sort of up to date version of the apterous/countdown dictionary.

Matthew Tassier wrote:On another topic, is there a place that the latest dictionary file that apterous uses is kept? The one I use for my own ends seems out of date.

The latest one I have is this one, but it's probably around due for an update (Kirk's been busy lately in the errors thread).

JimBentley wrote:(Kirk's been busy lately in the errors thread).

Sorry mate

Kirk Bevins wrote:

JimBentley wrote:(Kirk's been busy lately in the errors thread).

Sorry mate

God no, don't apologise. FIND MORE!

The apterous dictionary is now maintained separately from JimDic because it's much easier me for to just maintain my own database rather than keep synchronised with Jim. But the differences are probably trivial for all practical purposes.

JimBentley wrote:

Matthew Tassier wrote:On another topic, is there a place that the latest dictionary file that apterous uses is kept? The one I use for my own ends seems out of date.

The latest one I have is this one, but it's probably around due for an update (Kirk's been busy lately in the errors thread).

Thanks Jim, that's cool.
I think NOWNESSES is my least favourite new word. Also HALEST is barely worth it's place, let alone the two occurances you've given it!

Matthew Tassier wrote:... let alone the two occurances you've given it!

And you gave 'occurrences' none at all!

Alec Rivers wrote:

Matthew Tassier wrote:... let alone the two occurances you've given it!

And you gave 'occurrences' none at all!

More than 9 letters. No need to spell it correctly.

Matthew Tassier wrote:

Alec Rivers wrote:

Matthew Tassier wrote:... let alone the two occurances you've given it!

And you gave 'occurrences' none at all!

More than 9 letters. No need to spell it correctly.

Hyper variants?

Alec Rivers wrote:

Matthew Tassier wrote:
More than 9 letters. No need to spell it correctly.

Hyper variants?

Hyper? Impossabley Compilicated. Not worth trying.

Matthew Tassier wrote:

Alec Rivers wrote:

Matthew Tassier wrote:
More than 9 letters. No need to spell it correctly.

Hyper variants?

Hyper? Impossabley Compilicated. Not worth trying.

lol.