c4countdown

http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_4992

The max for the second round of this game is 3. Given the letter distribution that is currently in use, is it possible to make a letters round with a max of 2 (or lower, if possible)? My best attempt is IIIOQZJVS (I could only find 2s in it), but that still probably has some obscure 3s and 4s.

Johnny Canuck wrote:My best attempt is IIIOQZJVS (I could only find 2s in it), but that still probably has some obscure 3s and 4s.

According to the solver, the only 3 available from that is SOV.

Looking at the stats board, it doesn't seem like a game with a max of 2 is possible with the letters distribution. I don't see why not, though; it seems like with a single vowel dump and creative consonant picking it should be feasible. There's probably a way to make a round with no declarable words (it's happened almost 200 times on apterous), but I don't know what shuffle the show's letters have.

Steve Balog wrote:Looking at the stats board, it doesn't seem like a game with a max of 2 is possible with the letters distribution. I don't see why not, though; it seems like with a single vowel dump and creative consonant picking it should be feasible. There's probably a way to make a round with no declarable words (it's happened almost 200 times on apterous), but I don't know what shuffle the show's letters have.

Might that have been caused by bugs in the system on Apterous?

What is the current letters distribution? Is this correct? If so, just take a bunch of Us and a few consonants that don't pair up well, e.g. UUUUUHQZJ for a 2-max or UUUUUQZJC for a 0-max.

Hugh Binnie wrote:What is the current letters distribution? Is this correct? If so, just take a bunch of Us and a few consonants that don't pair up well, e.g. UUUUUHQZJ for a 2-max or UUUUUQZJC for a 0-max.

This is odd. I go by the distribution in my countdown board game, which is:

E 21
A 15
I,O 13
R,S,T 9
N,U 8
D 6
L 5
G,M,P 4
B,C,F 3
H,V,W 2
J,K,Q,X,Y,Z 1

I'm pretty sure the list from the Countdown Page is incorrect, for the plain reason that I know there is more than 1 W in the set.

kieranbray wrote:I'm pretty sure the list from the Countdown Page is incorrect, for the plain reason that I know there is more than 1 W in the set.

How do you know?

It's in his kiss.

Thats where it is, oh yeah!

... I'm sorry, I don't know the next line!

And now I kinda realise that you're on about apterous here with the letter distribution... Thought I was trying to be helpful by pointing out there were two w's in the normal countdown distribution. Sorry Charlie.

Charlie Reams wrote:

kieranbray wrote:I'm pretty sure the list from the Countdown Page is incorrect, for the plain reason that I know there is more than 1 W in the set.

How do you know?

As recently as yesterday, there were two W's in a letters round. Admittedly, it does say that in the opening stanza. At the very least, if it's not right, it's nearly right.

Charlie Reams wrote:

kieranbray wrote:I'm pretty sure the list from the Countdown Page is incorrect, for the plain reason that I know there is more than 1 W in the set.

How do you know?

The second W seems to be a recent innovation. It was there for the last 6 weeks of Series 61 but went away again for the first 12 weeks or so in Series 62. It reappeared soon after the 5000th episode and seems to have been present ever since.

Previously in the 15-round era it had been seen for a couple of weeks in Series 52 and for 1 day only in Series 57. Three Ws has occurred just once, in Episode 4944.

All praise to the Wiki.

Clive Brooker wrote:Three Ws has occurred just once, in Episode 4944.

One of them was an upside-down M.

http://www.c4countdown.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3123

Hmm. For the record the apterous tileset has 2 Ws.

Johnny Canuck wrote:

Clive Brooker wrote:Three Ws has occurred just once, in Episode 4944.

One of them was an upside-down M.

http://www.c4countdown.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3123

Ah. That does sound familiar now you mention it.

All I was really doing was reminding anyone who might have forgotten that the pack is changed quite frequently, and changes aren't always permanent.

The history of V in the 15-round era is quite interesting as well. There were 2 at the start, then it went down to 1 for a long time. As with W, three Vs in a game has been seen just once, in the first show of Series 62, perhaps making up for the previous 35 shows where it was absent altogether. Since then 2 Vs seems to have become the norm once again.