A beginner's guide...
Countdown is a British game show broadcast between 3:15 and
4:00 PM every weekday (barring cricket) on Channel 4.
It is hosted by the mayor of Wetwang, Richard Whiteley, and Mensa member Carol
Vorderman.
There are two contestants- a champion (the previous day's winner) and the
challenger (the new contestant). In exceptional circumstances, such as a
champion winning the maximum possible amount of games, or a champion retiring
early for any reason, there are two challengers, and at the end of each series
is a knock-out tournament, but I'll go into that later.
Unlike many shows, Countdown is not about general knowledge- instead, the object
is to win at three different types of game-
LETTERS GAME
In this game, Carol selects (at your choosing) 9 letters of the alphabet from
two piles- one full of consonants, the other, vowels.
[These shall be labelled 'C' for consonant and 'V' for vowel for clarity's sake]
There are only 3 legal selections- 4C 5V, 5C 4V, 6C 3V, but the contestant can
select them in any order he or she wants.
The object is to make as long a word as possible from these letters in the
thirty second time limit. Example-
B A I E R M S U N
There's a nine-letter word in there- kudos for those who can get it, and if
you're still struggling, highlight the text between the two brackets to find out
what it is- (SUBMARINE)
The scoring is simple- one point per letter, except for nine letter words which
score double (18 points). There are 11 letters games in each episode of
Countdown. Only the longest word scores- in the event of a tie, both players
score.
NUMBERS GAME
In this, Carol selects (at your choosing) 6 numbers from a pile of twenty-four-
these can consist of any of 4 large numbers (25, 50, 75, 100, piled separately)
and 2X each number from 1-10 inclusive. A three-digit number is then generated
at random, and like the letters, you have thirty seconds to make the number out
of the six selected, using only addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division. Example-
100, 4, 2, 7, 8, 5, target- 515
That was a relatively easy one just to get you going. Usually, contestants offer
the most obvious solution, as if they make a mistake anywhere along the way,
their solution is immediately declared void. Highlight the text between the
brackets to find out the easiest solution to the example- ((5x100)+8+7)
Scoring- 10 points for getting the target exactly, 7 points for getting within
5, 5 points for getting within 10, nothing for missing by more than 10. Again,
in the event of a tie, both contestants score.
CONUNDRUM
This is simply a nine-letter word muddled up- the first person to buzz in with
the correct answer gets ten points. Time limit is 30 seconds- if no one gets it,
no points are awarded. The conundrum is almost always in the form of two or more
words/names. Example-
ISILLYRAM
That was a fairly tough one. If you're still struggling, then highlight the text
between the brackets to find out the answer- (SIMILARLY)
Whoever has the most points at the end of the show is
declared the champion and, unless he or she is an octochamp (see below), they
will come back the following day to defend their title. In the event of a tie,
extra conundrums are played until there is a clear winner.
Countdown is divided into three parts- each containing five games.
Part 1-
Letters game
Letters game
Letters game
Letters game
Numbers game
Part 2-
Letters game
Letters game
Letters game
Letters game
Numbers game
Part 3-
Letters game
Letters game
Letters game
Numbers game
Conundrum.
Each game is chosen alternately by the champion (always on the left of the
screen) and the challenger (always on the right), irrespective of whether it's a
letters or numbers game. The champion chooses the first round.
The maximum amount of games that can be won in the heats is 8- once a player
wins 8 games, he or she becomes an Octochamp and retires undefeated. That is, of
course, until the final rounds...
At the end of the series (a series usually lasts 6 months), the 8 players with
the best records return for the knock-out stages. The best players are
determined by numbers of wins, then total number of points scored in the games
they played (but didn't necessarily have to win). If two players have an
identical number of wins and an identical aggregate score, then the player with
the highest individual score from his/her games will be seeded highest.
The contestants are seeded according to number of wins/points- the best record
is number 1 seed, followed by 2, 3, all the way down to 8.
The quarter-final draw is always as follows-
A. #1 seed v #8 seed
B. #2 seed v #7 seed
C. #3 seed v #6 seed
D. #4 seed v #5 seed
Although it very rarely happens, #8 seed has been known to beat #1 seed (series
44, for example).
The semi final draw is always as such-
winner A v winner D
winner B v winner C
the winners play in the final. For a list of all the prizes available on the
show, click HERE
Further Rules of Countdown
There are more than a few niggling little rules that
Countdowners should be aware of- ones that might not necessarily seem to jump
out at you at first.
1. No American spellings.
This was instigated in series 48- American words like SIDEWALK are alright, but
British English is the language of the game, and American language isn't.
FAVOURITE- yes. FAVORITE- no. COLOUR- yes. COLOR- no.
2. Fractions are not allowed in numbers games solutions.
Whole numbers must be used all the way- so saying "25/10= 2.5 X 50= 125" would
get you disqualified- you'll have to multiply and then divide, I'm afraid.
More to come (when I remember them...)
Nebagram 2003