c4countdown

Well then, the day has come for Oliver to join the elite band of octochamps.

We had 7 in the last series, is it conceivably possible that 8 can be reached or even exceeded this time round? Only time will tell....

So far, Oliver has averaged 103 points on his run, come up with some fantastic words such as SFUMATO, EGESTION, ZETETIC and of course that brilliant word, MAYBE.

Can he claim his octochamp berth and get the other 79 points needed to join the 800 Club

Find out in the Robinson Recap later.

Or if you can't wait that long, watch the show at 3:25pm on Channel 4.

Has anybody joined the 800 club that was not an Octochamp?

Marc Meakin wrote:Has anybody joined the 800 club that was not an Octochamp?

I just had a quick rummage through the series stats, and it seems the answer is No.

Without getting to far ahead of ourselves; if Ollie wins he's almost certain to be a high seed for the finals, although she wouldn't have made it last time around Jan must also stand a pretty good chance of qualifing as a low seed. Therefore there must be a half decent chance of Jan and Ollie meeting in the quarter finals, would this be the first time that a rematch of a prelim game occuring in the finals?

Niall Seymour wrote:Without getting to far ahead of ourselves; if Ollie wins he's almost certain to be a high seed for the finals, although she wouldn't have made it last time around Jan must also stand a pretty good chance of qualifing as a low seed. Therefore there must be a half decent chance of Jan and Ollie meeting in the quarter finals, would this be the first time that a rematch of a prelim game occuring in the finals?

No. The nearest one I can find is Eamonn Timmins v Stuart Solomons in Series 50. They played a prelim and then a semi-final. Solomons won the prelim, Timmins won the semi before losing to Chris Cummins in the final.

Ouch...odd tactics. Challenger has 6 and Oli, declaring second, has a safe 7 and a risky 8 and he goes for the risky 8 which isn't in.

Kirk Bevins wrote:Ouch...odd tactics. Challenger has 6 and Oli, declaring second, has a safe 7 and a risky 8 and he goes for the risky 8 which isn't in.

Are we in for another classic?
Or has Oliver blown it?

ENACTORS in the ANCESTOR round

Kirk Bevins wrote:Ouch...odd tactics. Challenger has 6 and Oli, declaring second, has a safe 7 and a risky 8 and he goes for the risky 8 which isn't in.

Did he know he had a safe seven though?

First numbers alternative:(9+5+1-4)x8x7

Marc Meakin wrote:

Kirk Bevins wrote:Ouch...odd tactics. Challenger has 6 and Oli, declaring second, has a safe 7 and a risky 8 and he goes for the risky 8 which isn't in.

Are we in for another classic?
Or has Oliver blown it?

Oli doesn't have to win for it to be a classic.

Matt Morrison wrote:

Marc Meakin wrote:

Kirk Bevins wrote:Ouch...odd tactics. Challenger has 6 and Oli, declaring second, has a safe 7 and a risky 8 and he goes for the risky 8 which isn't in.

Are we in for another classic?
Or has Oliver blown it?

Oli doesn't have to win for it to be a classic.

True.
I was implying that he would need to comeback somewhat to make it a classic.

Yay I got another Call my Bluff one! At uni, me and my mates were looking at different sexual terms, and one was "Axillary sex" which was "sex using your partner's armpits". Ah, the joys of university.

Niall Seymour wrote:... Jan must also stand a pretty good chance of qualifing as a low seed...

With her wins/points record, Jan would've got into 5 of the last 15 series finals. Assuming the general standard to be pretty constant, that would make it 2-1 against qualifying. However, there's some agreement that the introduction of Apterous is increasing the performance of the finals qualifiers, and that would suggest that the odds against her are increasing.

Game on.
Can't believe Mark went for 2 large though.

Kirk Bevins wrote:Yay I got another Call my Bluff one! At uni, me and my mates were looking at different sexual terms, and one was "Axillary sex" which was "sex using your partner's armpits". Ah, the joys of university.

I always wondered what those white marks were on those black dresses.

Dodgy tactics from the challenger, risking the agent noun when he should maintain the status quo. Though good tactics from Ollie when he spots DIATOM and sticks with consonants - a valuable 6 points.

Nice stuff from Ollie - feel bad for the challenger though since he was quality.

Well played Oli.
Congratulations for making the 800 club too.

What was the score?

Smashing performance Oliver.
Many congratulations.

David O'Donnell wrote:Nice stuff from Ollie - feel bad for the challenger though since he was quality.

Are you related?

Wow!!! Great comeback by Oliver, congrats on becoming the first Octochamp of the new decade.

Hard lines to Mark, who put up a great fight.

What a game! Well played Oli...a very deserved entrant into the list of octochamps. A magnificent fight from Mark there..was reading about his crossword adventures online during the breaks - he's been the Times Champion for 2009 and 2008. I thought you were down and out there but a nice Countdown word, DIATOM, saves the day!

Those t-shirts you wear upset me a lot Oliver.

Kirk Bevins wrote:What a game! Well played Oli...a very deserved entrant into the list of octochamps. A magnificent fight from Mark there..was reading about his crossword adventures online during the breaks - he's been the Times Champion for 2009 and 2008. I thought you were down and out there but a nice Countdown word, DIATOM, saves the day!

It was a shame that he wasn't kept apart from Ollie.
Hope I haven't started Damo on another one of his rants.

Ben Hunter wrote:What was the score?

81-75.

Wow what a game.Nice to see the octochamp-in-waiting get a real run for his money as more often than not it's pretty much a walkover by the 8th game.Know how Oli must have been feeling, the pressure does build up as you edge closer to octochampdom and everyone's expecting you to do it but you've still got to win the games and you can come up against some very tough opposition.

Gutted for Mark, very good performance.DENOTER will haunt him although if he'd stuck with 6 he could still have been pipped on a crucial tiebreaker anyway.

Jimmy Gough wrote:

David O'Donnell wrote:Nice stuff from Ollie - feel bad for the challenger though since he was quality.

Are you related?

What a scandalous implication! The challenger was a good player - KEEMA was an impressive spot even though it wasn't the max.

Rich Priest wrote:

Ben Hunter wrote:What was the score?

81-75.

Wow what a game.Nice to see the octochamp-in-waiting get a real run for his money as more often than not it's pretty much a walkover by the 8th game.Know how Oli must have been feeling, the pressure does build up as you edge closer to octochampdom and everyone's expecting you to do it but you've still got to win the games and you can come up against some very tough opposition.

Gutted for Mark, very good performance.DENOTER will haunt him although if he'd stuck with 6 he could still have been pipped on a crucial tiebreaker anyway.

I think his, tactics in the numbers round may haunt him more.

Excellent play by Oliver to dig deep and pull it out under immense pressure. Mark was unfortunate to come up against Oliver, he seemed like a very competent player indeed. This episode even got my girlfriend excited, and she's not easy to please. Oliver, well done on both Octochampdom, and pleasuring my girlfriend.

Josh Hurst wrote:dig deep and pull it out to come.got my girlfriend excited, well done on pleasuring my girlfriend.

Nice.

Josh Hurst wrote:Excellent to dig under immense come Oliver, he seemed like a very competent girlfriend.

Nice.

Josh Hurst wrote:This episode even got my girlfriend excited, and she's not easy to please.

I think she's just sparing your feelings mate.

Rich Priest wrote: Wow what a game.Nice to see the octochamp-in-waiting get a real run for his money as more often than not it's pretty much a walkover by the 8th game.Know how Oli must have been feeling, the pressure does build up as you edge closer to octochampdom and everyone's expecting you to do it but you've still got to win the games and you can come up against some very tough opposition.

Had the same experience and the pressure really does build up. In my case I felt like the tough final game ended the whole run on a bit of a downer and hurt my points total a lot, but in hindsight it was good experience for the more competitive games I had to face in the finals.

Josh Hurst wrote:Excellent play by Oliver, to pull it out, pleasuring my girlfriend under immense pressure. Mark was unfortunate to come up against Oliver

Nice.

Josh Hurst wrote: and pleasuring my girlfriend.

Somebody has to.

What a game, was actually trembling watching that. Really well done Oliver for a great display of skill as well as nerve, and congrats on a well-earned octochampdom!

Josh Hurst wrote:Excellent Oliver to play by against Oliver, he seemed dig deep and pull it out. Mark was unfortunate under immense pressure. she's not easy to please. Oliver, to come up like a very competent Octochampdom, and pleasuring player indeed. This episode even got my girlfriend excited, and well done on both my girlfriend.

Nice.

Great game, well done for keeping it together and coming out on top, Oliver.

I think I had PATERAE as a beat in rd.1 but probably miscounted the vowels.
I also wondered about EXORBENT in the DENOTER round, but its not in.

Somebody wrote:[Some nonsense]

Marseille

Awesomesauce. As others have commented, some pretty dodgy tactical decisions (from both sides), but when I saw DIATOM I thought he'd make it home from there. Well played Ollie, was a great game to watch. Wouldn't have liked to be in your shoes if you had to spend much time near the challenger afterwards though, he must have been fuming!

I've finally got to watch this programme right through. While it was broadcast yesterday, I only came in half way through round 14, so was only aware that Ollie had come from behind to win on the conundrum.

Wow! What a game. Well done both players. To come back from so far behind was excellent, Ollie! And bad luck, Mark. Against most others I'm sure he'd have gone on to make a long run.

I think Mark should be invited back for another go.

Jon Corby wrote:I think Mark should be invited back for another go.

Do you think, if enough people on the forum agreed with this, Damian would give him another go, and Lesley Hines for that matter?
BTW I agree.

I agree too.

Not often I get off my bottom and actually post anything here, but I feel compelled to make my opionion known on this matter.

Edwin Mead wrote:I agree too.

Not often I get off my bottom and actually post anything here, but I feel compelled to make my opionion known on this matter.

The problem Damian has is where do you draw the line? Several people have lost on crucials, several people have lost from being ahead. Is it because he pushed an octochamp close? Is it a use of judgment to realise this guy has potential that is the basis to asking him back? I might agree with this but what if he was playing someone else and he was like 50 points down...would he be invited back then? It's a hard one to call and although he seemed decent, it would open up that famous can of worms again, which is actually what Corby purposefully did.

Meh, I was just being mischievous. He should've won really, but he blew it. Shame for him obviously, but that's life.

Edit: Kirky

Marc Meakin wrote:Well played Oli.
Congratulations for making the 800 club too.

What was the score?

Edit - 802?

Firstly, may I say thanks for all the nice comments from everyone. In the last game, when I was 26 points behind, I remembered a comeback I made against a top player on Apterous, so I knew I had a chance. Incidentally, Mark Goodliffe is the 2nd best human player on Apterous.

Hey, well done Oliver. Mark, if you're reading this, massive hard luck and thanks both for a great game. Really enjoyed your run Oliver, learning some great words along the way. Was hoping to see you win the 8, but ended up rooting for Mark as i didn't want to see a really promising player exit in game one. Thought Jeff handled it really well too. Would love to see Mark on the show again at some future time, if he wanted to and it didn't cause a shit storm for Damian from people on here.

Just watched the game. Amazing drama. Well done Oliver!

Oliver Garner wrote:Firstly, may I say thanks for all the nice comments from everyone. In the last game, when I was 26 points behind, I remembered a comeback I made against a top player on Apterous, so I knew I had a chance. Incidentally, Mark Goodliffe is the 2nd best human player on Apterous.

Just watched this. Congratulations, Ollie!
I saw your first few games as transmitted, but then I've had a lot to do (too boring to mention!) so got a bit behind.

In a way, although I usually hate seeing spoilers, I'm glad I'd already seen stuff about your octochampdom. Would've been a bit scary otherwise. Massive respect on regaining your composure: over 20 points behind at the first break must have been a blow to your confidence. Awesome comeback against a brilliant opponent.

Good luck in the finals.

BTW, Mark has only played 4 games on apterous, so his rating isn't 'real' yet: http://www.apterous.org/allplayers.php