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00:30Good afternoon and welcome to the Countdown Studio.
00:3417th of November and tonight there's a big deal down in London.
00:38In fact, it's the 35th Golden Joystick Awards taking place at the Bloomsbury Big Top.
00:43Of course, the whole gaming industry, the computer gaming industry, is such a huge thing.
00:48It's huge business and I've seen there's e-sports competitions.
00:51People travel around the world to congregate and play against each other.
00:55And there's big money. It's bigger than Hollywood, isn't it?
00:57Extraordinary.
00:58And I think some of the Premier League teams have now got their own e-sport footballers that are signed
01:02up to play for them.
01:03Big industry. And it's all happening down in the big smoke tonight. Brilliant stuff.
01:08Now, who's with us up here in Media City?
01:11Graham Staples is.
01:13Yesterday you saw Graham's biggest test pulled away and won your fifth game.
01:19And you're joined by Lucy Cooper, a field interviewer from Carmarthen.
01:24So, field interviewer for...?
01:26The Office for National Statistics.
01:28Oh, right. OK.
01:30Good.
01:30Well, have an enjoyable day in our Countdown Studio.
01:33Both of you.
01:33Big round of applause for Graham and Lucy.
01:37APPLAUSE
01:39And over in the corner, Susie, you're sitting next to Susie's, the wonderful Giles Brownreth.
01:44And, Giles, your latest book, Jack the Ripper, Case Closed, is just out.
01:50And you're going to be telling us a little bit about that later on.
01:53I'm going to tell you who done it, so stay tuned.
01:55More from you later.
01:56But now, Graham, let us go.
01:58Hi, Rachel.
01:59Hi, Graham.
02:00Start with a consonant, please.
02:02Start today with L.
02:04And a vial.
02:06I.
02:08And a consonant.
02:10R.
02:11A consonant.
02:13T.
02:14A vial.
02:16E.
02:17Another vial.
02:19I.
02:21A consonant.
02:23T.
02:24Another consonant, please.
02:26S.
02:28And a consonant, please.
02:30And lastly, H.
02:33And here's the countdown clock.
02:36MUSIC PLAYS
03:06Graham.
03:07Seven.
03:07A seven.
03:08Lucy.
03:09Eight.
03:10And an eight from Lucy.
03:12Graham.
03:13Slither.
03:14And Lucy.
03:15Er, Slitia.
03:17Slitia.
03:18Erm.
03:19Yes.
03:21Believe it or not, it's in.
03:23I didn't think it would be.
03:24That's very good.
03:25APPLAUSE
03:27Well done.
03:28Yeah.
03:28Well done.
03:29It's a little bit of a tree, Slitia, so you have to be careful with that one, but it's in
03:32the dictionary.
03:32Sure.
03:33Giles, Giles was a supporter from the start, I think.
03:36I was a supporter of that from the start.
03:38What have I seen, having spent time in Scotland?
03:40Thistle, I saw.
03:41Thistle is there.
03:43And, er, but those are the only big hitters.
03:45Oh, big hitters, hitters is there.
03:46H-I-T-T-E-R-S.
03:48That's as well as we can do with seven letters.
03:51Thank you, Giles.
03:52All right, so Lucy's on eight, and it's Lucy's turn now.
03:57Well done.
03:57Good start.
03:58Hello, Rachel.
03:59Hi, Lucy.
04:00Could I start with the consonant, please?
04:02Start with C.
04:04Er, I have another one.
04:06Y.
04:08And a vowel.
04:10I.
04:12Another vowel.
04:14E.
04:16And a consonant.
04:18N.
04:20And another consonant.
04:22R.
04:24And another consonant.
04:26L.
04:28Another vowel, please.
04:31I.
04:32Oh.
04:33Er, and another consonant.
04:36And lastly, T.
04:39Stand by.
04:39T.
04:41T.
04:41T.
04:43T.
04:44T.
04:44T.
04:45T.
04:46T.
05:12I'm going to try a seven.
05:16I'll stick with a five.
05:17A five from Graham.
05:19And Lucy?
05:20Lintia.
05:21And what about Graham?
05:23Relic.
05:24And relic.
05:25Happy, Susie?
05:27Well, yes, with relic, but not with lintia.
05:31I'm surprised, actually, because lintia is in the dictionary,
05:33but because it's more than one syllable,
05:35the comparative and speculative have to be specified.
05:38Countdown rules, and it's not, I'm afraid.
05:40I thought lintia would do nicely.
05:43Very good.
05:44Nicely's there, isn't it?
05:45It certainly is.
05:46But you've got a word I've never heard of.
05:48Nitrile.
05:48What's that?
05:49Yeah, you're forgiven for this one.
05:50It's a chemical term,
05:51and nitrile is an organic compound containing a cyanide group.
05:55Oh, poison.
05:56Poison, indeed.
05:57So, eight plays five.
05:59Graham on five, and it's Graham's numbers game.
06:03Two large and any four small, please, Richard.
06:05Thank you, Graham.
06:07Two from the top, four little, and for the first time today,
06:10the little ones are ten, seven, another ten, four,
06:14and the big one's twenty-five and one hundred,
06:17and the target, five hundred and fifty-eight.
06:19Five, five-eight.
06:22Five, six, five, and one hundred.
06:25Have a good one.
06:25Two, three.
06:31Three, five, and four, and a half.
06:39Big five.
06:39Hoo, four, and a halfND.
06:39five, and a half. Two,
06:40two. vast,
06:40Two, three,
06:51Graham no I wasn't with him no sorry Lucy no sorry then we must rely on Rachel as we always
07:01do now Rachel 558 um yes it was possible if you say 100 plus 25 plus 10 plus 7 for
07:10142 times it
07:12by 4 for 568 and take away the second 10 558 you're amazing just terrific 558 now 8 plays 5
07:29no change there
07:30as we turn to our first tea time teaser which is is testing and the clue his failure to put
07:36his hand
07:37in his pocket is very testing indeed his failure to put his hands in his pocket is very testing
07:44indeed
07:59warm welcome back I left with the clue his failure to put his hands in his pocket is very testing
08:04indeed he's surely the stingiest man I know stingiest there we are so Lucy on 8 Graham on 5 Lucy
08:17let us go hello Rachel again um I will have a consonant to start with please thank you Lucy
08:22F um and another one R uh and a vowel O and another vowel please E
08:34and a consonant W um and another consonant R
08:44um and another consonant please W oh my goodness um and a vowel please U and a consonant and the
08:57last one
08:58good luck with these V stand by
09:03good luck with each other
09:04good luck with your will
09:11yeah
09:33Well, Lucy?
09:34Five.
09:35A five, Graham?
09:37Seven.
09:37And a seven.
09:38Lucy?
09:39Rover.
09:42Yes, Graham.
09:43Fervour.
09:43Lovely.
09:44Well done.
09:45Very nice.
09:47Any more sevens, I wonder?
09:49Citrus?
09:50Fervour.
09:50Enthusiasm.
09:51Energy.
09:51Wow.
09:52That's there.
09:53Wow, it's certainly there.
09:53I like wow.
09:54That's good.
09:55But we can't do better than that.
09:57No.
09:58Graham's in the lead.
09:59Twelve to Lucy's brave eight, and it's Graham's letters game.
10:03Yes, Graham?
10:04Consonant, please, Rachel.
10:05Thank you, Graham.
10:06S.
10:07And a vial?
10:09I.
10:10A vial?
10:12E.
10:13A consonant, please.
10:15R.
10:16Another consonant?
10:18N.
10:20Another consonant, please.
10:22R.
10:24A vial?
10:26O.
10:28Another vial, please.
10:31E.
10:32And a consonant.
10:34And the last one.
10:35B.
10:35Countdown.
10:38Countdown.
10:39A vial, please.
10:40A vial, please.
10:42A vial, please.
10:43A vial, please.
10:49A vial, please.
10:50A vial, please.
10:52A vial, please.
10:52A vial, please.
10:53A vial, please.
10:54A vial, please.
10:55A vial, please.
11:06A vial, please.
11:08Well Graham? Seven not written down. Lucy? Seven written down. No Graham. Berries. And? Berries. Just as well. Very nice.
11:18There we go. Hmm. Giles and Susie. We got berries didn't we? We did. Which we quite liked. In robes.
11:28Very nice.
11:28That's also a nice seven letter word. Thank you. 19 plays 15. Graham still in the lead. And now Lucy.
11:34It's your numbers game. Off we go.
11:36Thank you. I'll have one from the top. And five small ones please. Thank you Lucy. One large fire little
11:41coming up. And this time. They are. Seven. Nine. Four. Four. One. And twenty five. And the target. One hundred
11:53and eighteen. One one eight.
12:26Well Lucy. Yes. One one eight. And Graham. One one eight. Lucy. Four times twenty five is a hundred. It
12:34is.
12:35Yes. And four over four is one. Plus one. You've used one of the fours already. Sorry. I'm sorry Lucy.
12:45Sorry. Bad luck. Graham?
12:48Twenty five plus four is twenty nine. Twenty five plus four. Twenty nine. Times four for one hundred and sixteen.
12:55Yep. And nine minus seven is two. Yes. And add on. Lovely. One one eight.
13:01Well done. Well done. Well done. Very very calmly delivered. As always. Well done. So twenty nine plays fifteen. As
13:10we turn now to Giles. And we talked about Jack the Ripper. Case closed. Now what's this all about?
13:19Well that's a it's a it's a novel. But it's based on information that I came across quite by chance.
13:24I'd written some stories featuring Oscar Wilde, one of my heroes, as a Victorian detective.
13:31And I was digging into more work about Oscar Wilde. And I discovered that in London, in Tite Street, where
13:36Oscar Wilde lived, a few doors down from him, lived a man called Melville McNaughton.
13:41And Melville McNaughton in the 1890s was the head of the CID in London, in the Metropolitan Police, the Criminal
13:47Investigation Department.
13:48And he was charged with producing the definitive report on who was Jack the Ripper. So I began to discover
13:55more about this. I began to look into the case of Jack the Ripper.
14:00Jack the Ripper. And I quickly realized that the reason that we still are obsessed with this murderer is partly
14:06because of the name. And then I realized, of course, the name Jack the Ripper was invented.
14:11There wasn't a person called Jack the Ripper committing these crimes. But the name Jack the Ripper came about because
14:16somebody wrote a postcard, sent it to the press, saying, I am Jack the Ripper.
14:20And that name really caught fire. And I thought, who would do that? If it was a real Jack the
14:26Ripper, they'd send it to the police or to a newspaper, not to a press agency. And I concluded it
14:31was a journalist.
14:32So the first thing I discovered was who the journalist was. And then I realized that the mistake the police
14:38made was looking for one Jack the Ripper.
14:40They became obsessed with Jack the Ripper being one person. But in fact, it turns out, I believe, to have
14:47been at least two people.
14:48The police, in fairness to them, were operating at a time before fingerprints, before forensic science really had took hold.
14:56And they weren't necessarily equipped with the best people to be doing the job.
15:00The police constable, on the beat in Whitechapel, taking the initial inquiries, gloried in the name of Oscar Wilde, loved
15:07this because he loved unusual names.
15:09This is for true. The man was called PC Thicke. You couldn't make it up. I didn't need to.
15:15Extraordinary. Wonderful.
15:16Wonderful. Thank you. Marvellous stuff.
15:22Now, 29 to 15. Graham has assumed his, what he might think, his rightful position in the lead.
15:29But Lucy's there, and she's fighting. And it's Graham who's going to fight her off again. Let's just go, Graham.
15:36Consonant, please, Rachel.
15:37Thank you, Graham.
15:38N.
15:39And a file.
15:40A.
15:41Consonant, please.
15:44S.
15:45Another consonant.
15:46H.
15:48A vial.
15:49U.
15:51Another vial.
15:53E.
15:54And a consonant, please.
15:56D.
15:58Another consonant.
16:00B.
16:02And a vial, please.
16:04And lastly, O.
16:06Stand by.
16:07One-by- Management.
16:10B.
16:26One-by-anal.
16:28One-by-Barklik.
16:29One-by- Sofia.
16:29One-by- между.
16:29One-by-嚇...
16:29One-by-43.
16:36One-by-Man.
16:39Graham, I'll stick with six.
16:41A six, Lucy?
16:42Six, two.
16:43Graham?
16:44Basht.
16:45And?
16:46Basht.
16:46Basht again.
16:49Bash, bash.
16:51Giles?
16:51Bash, bash.
16:52Would we have allowed Banshee, spelt with one E at the end?
16:55No, you need two.
16:55You need two E's for that.
16:57Yeah.
16:58Subhead have been allowed, as in subheading and a kind of...
17:00Oh, yeah, journalistic term.
17:02That's another subhead.
17:04Without a hyphen?
17:05Without a hyphen.
17:05Well done.
17:0835 to 21.
17:09And, Lucy, your letters go.
17:13Consonant, please, Rachel.
17:15Thank you, Lucy.
17:15S.
17:16And another one.
17:18N.
17:20And another one.
17:22G.
17:24And a vowel, please.
17:26E.
17:27And another vowel, please.
17:29A.
17:31And one more.
17:33U.
17:34And a consonant, please.
17:38T.
17:40And another consonant.
17:43L.
17:44And another vowel, please.
17:46And, lastly, O.
17:49And here's the countdown clock.
17:52And here's the countdown clock.
18:22Well, Lucy?
18:23I'm going to try a nine.
18:25Well done.
18:26And Graham's nine?
18:28I'll try an eight.
18:30An eight.
18:30What's your eight?
18:31Tangelos.
18:33Tangelos.
18:34Yep.
18:34That was Tangelos.
18:35Now Lucy Cooper.
18:37Outgleans.
18:38Outgleans.
18:39Gleans.
18:40Outgleans.
18:41I gleaned this.
18:42I gleaned that.
18:43You outgleaned me, though.
18:44To glean something, I would have thought not.
18:47It's not bad, Lucy, I'm afraid.
18:48I'm sorry.
18:49Always good to try.
18:51Yeah.
18:51Tangelos, we love.
18:53It's an old countdown favourite.
18:55It is.
18:55I'm going to attempt the French word.
18:56Okay.
18:57And see if this is allowed.
18:59Langouste.
18:59As in langoustine, a langouste.
19:02I will take the langouste.
19:03Has it now become sufficiently because of the restaurant English?
19:06Is it now an English word?
19:08There you go.
19:09Langouste is there in the dictionary.
19:11The nine.
19:12The nine of the word.
19:13Well done.
19:14Well done.
19:17Excellent.
19:18Can I get better?
19:19Fantastic.
19:2143 to 21.
19:23Graham, numbers?
19:25Two large and four small, please, Rachel.
19:27Thank you, Graham.
19:28Two from the top four little coming up again.
19:30And this time, the little ones are one, five, six and nine.
19:35And the large one's 75 and 25.
19:39And your target, 305.
19:41Three, zero, five.
20:13Well, Graham?
20:14It's three or nine.
20:15Three or nine.
20:16Lucy?
20:16I think I've got 305, but it's a horrible scribble.
20:20Well, let's try.
20:21Nine minus six is three.
20:23It is.
20:24Plus one.
20:25Plus one for four.
20:26It's four times 75 is 300.
20:28300.
20:29Plus five.
20:30And you've not used any of those.
20:30Very well done.
20:32Well done.
20:33Well done.
20:36It propels you off to 31, too.
20:38So, well done.
20:4043 to 31, and it's time for a second tea time teaser, which is Adore Nuts.
20:46And the clue.
20:47I adore my nuts, but I prefer to have them this way.
20:50I adore my nuts, but I prefer to have them this way.
21:08I adore my nuts, but I prefer to have them this way.
21:13Which way?
21:14Why?
21:15Unroasted.
21:17Unroasted.
21:18It's a finer sight than a bowl of Brazil nuts, for instance.
21:23I love Brazils.
21:26Just a thought.
21:27Now, 43 plays 31.
21:30What shall we do?
21:31Lucy, letters game?
21:32OK.
21:33A consonant, please, Rachel.
21:34Thank you, Lucy.
21:35S.
21:36And another one?
21:38N.
21:40And another one, please.
21:42M.
21:44And a vowel, please.
21:46A.
21:47And another one?
21:48I.
21:50And another one, please.
21:52E.
21:53OK.
21:54And a consonant, please.
21:56D.
21:57And another consonant?
22:00M.
22:03And another consonant, please.
22:05And lastly, T.
22:08Stand by.
22:08And maybe he's telling you about it.
22:41yes Lucy six and Graham I'll stick with six as well now Lucy stayman stayman and maimed maimed
22:51yeah absolutely fine yeah Giles is hard at work well I was I was thinking we're talking about the
22:56name of Jack the Ripper it's that's to be misnamed because there's nothing more horrific than being
23:02a serial killer and to give it that exotic name and then I thought well misnamed misnamed is there
23:06isn't that near yes give you an eight and that will give us Nate and you got an eight as
23:11well
23:11what was yours and medians are there they are the third notes for musical scale immediate a maidens
23:18for seven a few sevens there as well well done thank you for that 49 to 37 and Graham let
23:26us
23:26game consonant please Rachel thank you Graham Z file please oh consonant please s another consonant L file
23:41a another vial e consonant please Q a consonant L and another constant and the last one n countdown
24:04so
24:16so
24:18so
24:18so
24:32Yes, Graham?
24:33I'll stick with five.
24:34And Lucy?
24:35Five.
24:36Graham?
24:38Lyons.
24:39And Lucy Cooper?
24:41Zeals.
24:42Can you have people with lots of zeal?
24:43They're zeals, I think not.
24:44You're right to question it.
24:45Is it a must-noun?
24:47Yes, it's only there as a must-noun.
24:49Sorry, you can blame Giles for that one.
24:51I'm sorry, but we just have to stick by the rules.
24:54We do.
24:55Now, Giles?
24:57Well, I couldn't do any better than any of these.
25:00I came up with zonal, and then I thought of the French version,
25:03which would be zonal, and then I thought we could maybe have that in the plural, zonal.
25:07But do you get zonal anyway?
25:09Zonal would be fine.
25:11And zonal with any s's at the end?
25:13No.
25:13In French, possibly.
25:14Sadly not.
25:16There's an even uglier word that would get you one letter further, sleazo.
25:20What's a sleazo?
25:21A sleazo is the same as a sleazoid, somebody who is sordid or despicable.
25:26Oh, awful, a sleazoid.
25:2854 to 37.
25:30Graham on 54.
25:31Susie, please return with your origin of words.
25:35Origins of words.
25:37I'm going to talk about a single word, which is curator.
25:40Curator.
25:41When we think of curators, we tend to think of museums as somebody who organises and selects, perhaps displays things.
25:48But you can curate content on the web now, so it's taking on new senses as technology develops.
25:55But, unsurprisingly, perhaps, we have to look back to the ancient world for its origin.
26:00For there, a curator was someone with incredibly heavy responsibilities.
26:03He was in charge of pretty much all public works.
26:06So, if you're looking back to ancient Rome, there were curatories, as they were called, of olive oil supplies, corn
26:12supplies, so food for the people, the rivers, public funds, public buildings, roads.
26:18Not taxes.
26:19They were left to somebody else.
26:20But almost any public administrative role that you can think of was under the jurisdiction of the curatories.
26:27It all goes back to cura, which in Latin meant care.
26:30And if you think about it, it pops up in so many places in English.
26:34So, we have a manicure, which is a care for the manos, the hand.
26:38Accurate means done with care.
26:41And if you are secure, then you are free of care.
26:45So, lots and lots of places that that word, from curator and cura, comes into English.
26:50And it just goes to show the Romans did an awful lot for us, really.
26:54Ah, beautifully done.
27:00Susie's origins of words don't come any better than that.
27:02Isn't that perfect?
27:03Amazing.
27:04Linguistic cure-all.
27:06Beautiful.
27:06Thanks.
27:0754 to 37.
27:09And Lucy.
27:10Letters go.
27:11I'll have a consonant, please, Rachel.
27:14Thank you, Lucy.
27:14S.
27:15And another one.
27:17P.
27:19And another one, please.
27:21T.
27:23And a vowel.
27:25A.
27:26And another vowel.
27:28I.
27:29And another vowel.
27:31O.
27:33And a consonant, please.
27:35P.
27:38And another consonant.
27:40S.
27:42Oh, and finish with a vowel, please.
27:44And finish with E.
27:47Go down.
27:47Go down.
27:49Go down.
28:14Go down.
28:18Well, Lucy eight and eight grams. I'm gonna risk a nine
28:24It's tough Lucy soppiest and Graham opposites as
28:30Soppiest fine
28:32Apposite brilliant, but for an aches. It's always an adjective not as a noun, so we can't put the s
28:37on it
28:37I'm really sorry, so opposites don't attract
28:39They don't in this not points in this case
28:42I came up first of all with spat spit spot
28:46And then moved up to pasties mm-hmm an old countdown favorite and then my alternative to soppiest was soupiest
28:52Yes, something a bit schmaltzy. Very good. Well done. Well done. Anything else Susie?
28:57No, all right bad luck there Graham. So 45 plays 54 and it's uh, Graham's
29:05Final letters game final one of the day
29:08Consonant please richard. Thank you, Graham. L file, please
29:12a
29:14Consonant please t
29:17another constant
29:19x
29:20file, please
29:22hi, another file
29:25o
29:26a constant
29:28c
29:30a file, please
29:32e
29:34and a consonant please and lastly s
29:38and by
29:39I
29:40I
29:40I
29:43I
29:43I
29:43I
29:44I
30:08I
30:09I
30:12I
30:12I
30:15I
30:17I
30:29I
30:31I
30:33I
30:38I
30:39I
30:39I
30:41I
30:41I
30:51I
30:53I
30:53I
31:06I
31:08I
31:08I
31:08I
31:08I
31:09I
31:10I
31:12I
31:20I
31:20I
31:20I
31:22I
31:23I
31:23I
31:25I
31:36I
31:37I
31:38I
31:51I
31:53I
31:53I
31:53I
32:03I
32:05I
32:07I
32:11I
32:22I
32:23I
32:23I
32:24I
32:24I
32:25I
32:36I
32:37I
32:37I
32:37I
32:37I
32:37I
32:53I
32:53I
32:53I
32:56Graham?
32:57Deplorable?
32:59Deplorable. Let's have a look.
33:02No. Down to you, Lucy.
33:19Fox. Two good players, a fox.
33:21Who in the audience will take a chance on this?
33:24Do I see a hand? I see a gentleman there with a raised hand.
33:27Yes, sir?
33:28Is it parboiled?
33:29Parboiled. Let's have a look.
33:32Parboiled. Well done.
33:34Parboiled.
33:37Parboiled.
33:38I feel rather parboiled, actually, today.
33:42So, well done.
33:44You live to fight another day.
33:45Indeed.
33:46You take the occasional risk in that calm,
33:48Graham Staples way of yours.
33:50But, Lucy, well played.
33:52You played really well.
33:53You had him on the run for quite a while,
33:56but then he pulled away.
33:57So it's back to Carmarthen with your goodie bag
34:00and our very best wishes.
34:03And we shall see Graham on Monday.
34:06Monday.
34:07Indeed.
34:07Have a quiet weekend.
34:08We'll see you then.
34:09You're coming back on Monday now, Giles.
34:12I want to come back, please.
34:13We'll look forward to seeing you then.
34:15And Susie, too, have a peaceful weekend.
34:17All right.
34:18And Rachel, of course.
34:19Six wins.
34:20Just two more for the Octo Championship
34:22and then in the finals.
34:24I know.
34:24It's crunch time.
34:25Fantastic.
34:26See you on Monday.
34:27See you on Monday.
34:27Join us on Monday.
34:28Same time, same place.
34:29You be sure of it.
34:30A very good afternoon to you all.
34:32Contact us by email at countdown at channel4.com,
34:36by Twitter at C4Countdown,
34:39or write to us at Countdown Leeds LS3 1JS.
34:43You can also find our webpage at channel4.com forward slash countdown.
34:51Well, if there's anything to get you off the sofa,
34:53Gogglebox won't,
34:54and it continues later tonight at 9 here on Channel 4.
34:57But next up,
34:59off to the beaches of Benidorm for a place in the sun.