COLEI guessing game spimlimminees

[Dinos Sfyris]

Here is the game I prepared for COLEI so that those who didn’t attend can play along. It is ingeniously called: Who knows the most about Countdowny people?

The Rules: Below you will find a list of 5 clues describing a particular Countdown personality, starting with quite obscure knowledge about that character, getting more and more obvious, finishing with quite a well-known statement about them. At COLEI this was done as a team game where 2 players, one from each team would face each other head-to-head. The first to buzz in with the correct answer would win a point for their team. If you buzz in with a wrong answer you are frozen out and your opponent gets to listen to the remaining clues before they give their answer. For the forum I will introduce a scoring system where you get:

10 points for answering after the first clue
6 points for answering after 2 clues
4 points for answering after 3 clues
2 points for answering after 4 clues
1 point for answering after all 5 clues
0 points for a wrong answer or no answer given.

Please mark yourself honestly! (Yes I’m talking to you Corby you Itbox robbing bastard!) Eg If you think you know the answer after the second clue write your answer down and if it’s correct award yourself 6 points. However if you read the next clue to make sure of your answer before writing it down give yourself 4 points if you’re correct, not 6. There are 7 personalities altogether so a maximum of 70 points are available plus a 5 point bonus if you answer every one correctly (you don’t have to answer them all after just 1 clue to get the bonus) That’s a max score of 75 points available.

Here’s an example question to get you warmed up:

EXAMPLE

Clue 1. I was born on 6th December 1955.

Clue 2. I first appeared on Countdown in January 2009

Clue 3. I won a special edition of The Weakest Link in 2004

Clue 4. I am a massive Hartlepool fan

Clue 5. I have presented Gilette Soccer Saturday since 1994


ANSWER: JEFF STELLING


The answers to the other 7 characters can be found at the end of the quiz so that you don’t reveal them accidentally. Now you know how to play the game here’s your first Countdown character


Character 1

Clue 1. I first appeared on Countdown in October 2002 aged 18.

Clue 2. During my run I spotted words including WOMANISER, MANTICORE and KNITWEAR

Clue 3. In my Countdown career I played 14 games including a special against Chris Wills

Clue 4. My opponents include Mike Brown, Graham Nash and I defeated Grace Page in my series final

Clue 5. In one game I spotted four 9-letter words amassing a whopping score of 146, the highest 15-round score to date.



Character 2

Clue 1. I first appeared on Countdown in January 2008

Clue 2. During my run I spotted words including EPIDOTE, SEMOLINA and TIRAMISU.

Clue 3. In my debut I was visibly shaking and subsequently accused by c4c of knocking one out under the desk!

Clue 4. Originally from Omagh in Co Tyrone I now live in Cardiff.

Clue 5. I lost to Steven Briers in arguably the greatest game of CoC XIII



Character 3

Clue 1. I was born on July 3rd 1975 and first appeared on Countdown in November 2009.

Clue 2. I have been to 2 co-events

Clue 3. I am a girl and my average score is 104.5

Clue 4. My catchphrases are “Hurrah!” and “Fair Play!”

Clue 5. I run a guesthouse in Worcester called The Shrubbery.



Character 4

Clue 1. I first appeared on Countdown in October 2008.

Clue 2. Notably over my 13 game Countdown career I always sat in the champion’s chair.

Clue 3. I spotted two 9s over my octo-run: INCAPABLE and THIRTEENS and solved all 8 conundrums.

Clue 4. I gained a lot of media attention when I became the 2nd youngest Octochamp ever.

Clue 5. I was very recently in a special against Dinos Sfyris.



Character 5

Clue 1. I made my Countdown debut in August 2009 beating Scrabbler Ed Rossiter.

Clue 2. My highest score was 139.

Clue 3. I was involved in a Countdown special where the conundrum scramble was SEEAMOUTH.

Clue 4. I come from Merseyside and am a keen musician and speed kuber.

Clue 5. I notoriously SLEEPSUITed Innis Carson in my series semi-final to win by 5 points.



Character 6

Clue 1. I like to spell my name backwards on occasion.

Clue 2. My greatest CO-event performance was COLIN 2010 where I managed 3/6 victories.

Clue 3. I am married to Eleanor and have a dog called Barney.

Clue 4. I have yet to appear on the show except for when I spotted the conundrum GUARDSMAN.

Clue 5. I am extremely old.



Character 7

Clue 1. I made my Countdown debut in February 2004.

Clue 2. Over my 13-game Countdown career I have made some silly conundrum guesses including ENSCONDED and TURROTING.

Clue 3. For a short time I held the record for highest octo-total of all time.

Clue 4. If one of my many nicknames is to be believed I am a theological being.

Clue 5. I like rollercoasters, Kylie Minogue and darts.



….And now for the answers. Once you’ve totted up your score PM it to me and we’ll see who wins (no prize whatsoever) Obviously those who attended COLEI are exempt from winning but I hope you enjoyed playing along again anyway!

ANSWERS

1. Julian Fell
2. David O’Donnell
3. Lesley Hines
4. Kai Laddiman
5. Chris Davies
6. Howard Somerset
7. Kirk Bevins

[Eoin Monaghan]

Got all 7, scoring 39 points. Good clues.

[Dinos Sfyris]

And Howard has matched Eoin. 39 is the score to beat

[Lesley Hines]

I was thick enough to think "Oooh - someone on the forum shares my birthday!".

It's a shame

[Eoin Monaghan]

I shoulda got 43, as I shoulda remembered that the answer to number 3's birthday is the day before mine!

[Gavin Chipper]

45 I think.

[James Robinson]

48 for me.

[Ian Volante]

I was thick enough to think "Oooh - someone on the forum shares my birthday!".

It's a shame

Someone does!

EDIT: I scored 15 by the way.

[Kirk Bevins]

I got 56 but I was at COLEI so that doesn't count.

[Dinos Sfyris]

James you actually got 53. You forgot to give yourself a 5 point bonus for getting all 7. Well done

[James Robinson]

James you actually got 53. You forgot to give yourself a 5 point bonus for getting all 7. Well done

Even better. GET IN

[Eoin Monaghan]

James you actually got 53. You forgot to give yourself a 5 point bonus for getting all 7. Well done

44 for me then.

[Howard Somerset]

Can I have another five point bonus for remembering to add my five point bonus?

[Gavin Chipper]

Oh yeah - I get 50 then plus another five for Howard remembering to add his five bonus points on.

[Dinos Sfyris]

Haha 10 bonus points to anyone who actually read the entire OP

[Howard Somerset]

Haha 10 bonus points to anyone who actually read the entire OP

Excellent. Are those 10 bonus points in addition to the 5 bonus points for getting all the countdowners and the other 5 bonus points I requested for remembering to add the 5 bonus points mentioned in the OP?

[Ben Hunter]

I've somehow managed to accumulate points without even doing the quiz, I must be some sort of boff.

[Ian Volante]

I've somehow managed to accumulate points without even doing the quiz, I must be some sort of boff.

BOFF n, vi: colloquial; (1) Fart, (2) Fuck, Fornicate.

[Kai Laddiman]

57

(My answer to Number 4 was a complete guess, I hadn't a clue.)

[Oliver Garner]

Got 56, guessed Tom Hargreaves for the first one. BTW, KNITWEAR was found by Grace Page against Julian Fell (the last episode I watched before Kai's first game)