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00:30Hello, everybody. Welcome to Countdown. It is Monday, September the 9th. We absolutely love the Paralympics, but we are very
00:38happy to be back after our mid-season break. The medals have been replaced by teapots, the track and field
00:46by numbers and letters, and of course, the commentator by a lexicographer. But we'll get to that in a bit.
00:52Hi, Rachel.
00:52Hi, Colin. Now, today is International Sudoku Day. Simple question. In your world, is it still a regular thing?
01:00I love it in my world. I haven't done one for a while, but I am still probably one of
01:07the only people still doing Wordle every day.
01:09Wow.
01:09And you got me into Quirdle as well. So I think I've done over 800 Wordles now because it keeps
01:14track and I like the stats, obviously.
01:15The nice thing about Sudoku is you can actually do it with a pen and paper. You've got a nice
01:20playing journey. You can sit there with your puzzles and while they're hours away.
01:24Writing it down is great. I love that. But actually, that's what got four people into real trouble with Sudoku.
01:31I'll tell you all about it at the end of the programme because we've got to get on with it.
01:34Let's get over to Dictionary Corner. Everything adds up with Rachel. Everything's spelt out perfectly with her G of the
01:39D, Susie Dent.
01:41And back to relaunch Series 90 after a rare mid-season break. It's the comedian. It's the impressionist. It's John
01:48Coolshaw.
01:52Nice to have you. I was going to say you're like a comfortable pair of shoes, but that is sort
01:56of insult compliment, isn't it? All wrapped in one.
01:58Oh, no, I like that. That's a complimentary thing, yes. You know, dependable, you know, inoffensive, that kind.
02:03That's good. That's good. I wasn't born, I was knitted. Brilliant.
02:09Well, listen, we've got a double champion in Alex Call. He runs his own bookshop in Swindon.
02:13He's met at least one James Bond. But the one thing he didn't tell us, that we're having a little
02:18chat before the start of today's show,
02:20I was actually a little outraged he didn't mention it. His mum is Elaine. Elaine Call, who was on the
02:25show literally in July.
02:27She didn't win. She didn't, no. She was lovely, though. But I do remember, I think she preferred Pointless to
02:33Countdown,
02:33so we didn't get on that. No, no, you fell out. Yeah. But she's going to nab my teapot.
02:38So I think she now prefers Countdown. I'm no longer friends with you, Alex, now.
02:43You're up against our favourite, Margaret Long today, from Poole and Dorset. How are you?
02:49Yeah, yeah, OK. You're very nervous, aren't you? Don't worry about it. It's all good.
02:53It gets less nerve-wracking with each round, and luckily there's 15. So that's good.
02:58You're a huge fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yes.
03:00The reason why I bring that up is I re-watched it last year. I thought it was quite good.
03:05But it's actually when it came out, it's important, isn't it?
03:08Because all those kind of regular shows up to them, almost all of them were male leads.
03:13And then along came Sarah Michelle Gellar. She was a superstar, wasn't she?
03:17Yeah, yeah, she was.
03:18Let's not give anything away, because people will binge watch it, I think, forevermore.
03:22I love it. Right. Good luck to Margaret. Good luck to Alex.
03:27But mainly good luck to Margaret, at First Letters Round champion.
03:33Consonant, please, Rachel.
03:34Thank you, Alex. Start the week with S.
03:37And a vowel, please.
03:39A.
03:40And a consonant, please.
03:42T.
03:43And another consonant.
03:46G.
03:47And a vowel, please.
03:49U.
03:50And a consonant, please.
03:54D.
03:55And another vowel, please.
03:58I.
03:59Another consonant, please.
04:01P.
04:02And a final vowel, please.
04:06And a final O.
04:08At All Manned in the Studio, let's play Countdown.
04:12And a vowel, please.
04:38And a vowel, please.
04:39And a vowel, please.
04:40The spelling of the city, next along the tribes' name.
04:41That's going to do us, Alex.
04:43Six. And Margaret.
04:44Six. And six from you, Alex.
04:46Studio. Studio. And Margaret.
04:48A spigot? Yes.
04:50A spigot, you'll find a spigot on a beer cask, for example,
04:54or a beer barrel. Very good. Brilliant.
04:56Very satisfying word, that spigot.
04:58I mean, pirates would have said it.
05:00Well, smite my spigots.
05:01Who knows?
05:03Sixes and sevens over here in a good way.
05:07Patois for six, that vernacular, an accent and way of speaking.
05:11And this is a lovely one.
05:12Susie had this in the millisecond.
05:14Agouti for seven.
05:17Yes, agoutis, you know, they're the big burrowing rodents,
05:20look a bit like giant guinea pigs.
05:21You're always on the lookout for agoutis.
05:23No way.
05:24I mean, in my two years, there's been six or seven agoutis,
05:27I think, from you. I've got your number.
05:29We love them. More letters, Margaret?
05:31Hi, can I start with a consonant, please?
05:34You can indeed. Start with L.
05:36And a vowel.
05:38A.
05:39And a consonant.
05:41S.
05:42And a vowel.
05:43E.
05:44And a consonant, please.
05:47B.
05:48And a vowel.
05:49U.
05:51And a consonant.
05:53C.
05:54And a consonant.
05:56G.
05:58And a consonant, please.
06:00And a final L.
06:02And start the clock.
06:20And a consonant, please.
06:22And a consonant, please.
06:22And a consonant, please.
06:22And a consonant, please.
06:23And a consonant, please.
06:23And a consonant, please.
06:23And a consonant, please.
06:23And a consonant, please.
06:24And a consonant, please.
06:24And a consonant, please.
06:24And a consonant, please.
06:25And a consonant, please.
06:25And a consonant, please.
06:26And a consonant, please.
06:27And a consonant, please.
06:28And a consonant, please.
06:34Margaret? Just a six.
06:36A six from you and Alex? Six. There you go, Margaret.
06:40Bagels. And for you, Alex? Cables.
06:43Bagels and cables, I know which one I prefer, John.
06:46Yes, there are plenty of bagels and cables over here.
06:49I wondered if a greater poem was going to emerge with more words.
06:52Sub-cell, we have, for seven, sub-cell.
06:56A cell within a cell. Simple as that.
06:58All right, at 12 points each, let's get our first numbers round.
07:01Only none. It's Alex. One from the top and five from anywhere else, please.
07:04Thank you, Alex. One large, five little coming up.
07:07And for the first time this week, they are eight, eight, nine, seven,
07:14five and 100.
07:16And the target, 676.
07:19676. Numbers up.
07:51676, Alex.
07:53675, not written down. One away. And Margaret?
07:55Yeah, I think 676. Off you go.
07:59100 times seven. Yep, 700.
08:03Nine times three. Where's your three?
08:06Oh, eight minus five.
08:09Eight minus five is three.
08:10Times nine, 27.
08:14Oh, no, I made a mistake.
08:15Don't worry about it. Early doors. Alex, for seven points.
08:17Seven times 100.
08:20Again, 700.
08:22Minus eight, minus eight, minus nine.
08:24Eight, nine. Yep.
08:26One away.
08:27So, 676.
08:30Rachel Riley.
08:31Well, if you say 100 times seven, again,
08:33and then you can say nine minus five is four,
08:36times eight is 32.
08:38Take the second eight for 24,
08:41and you can take that away for 676.
08:47676.
08:47Maybe you're leading at home,
08:48but here in the studio, our champion, Alex,
08:50just by seven points,
08:52as we give you this Monday afternoon Tea Time teaser.
08:55One crocus.
08:56One crocus.
08:57The series of lessons for the prisoner
08:59was held in this area.
09:00The series of lessons for the prisoner
09:02was held in this area.
09:20And the lessons were courses.
09:27So, concourse was the answer.
09:29Right.
09:311912.
09:31Decent start, Margaret.
09:33Happy days.
09:33Back to the letters.
09:34A consonant, please.
09:36Thank you, Margaret.
09:37T.
09:38And a vowel.
09:39I.
09:40And a consonant.
09:42R.
09:43A.
09:43And a vowel.
09:44A.
09:45And a consonant.
09:47Q.
09:48And a vowel.
09:50E.
09:51And a consonant.
09:52G.
09:54And another consonant, please.
09:56T.
09:57And a final consonant, please.
10:01A final K.
10:02And 30 seconds.
10:03The기를ic Alliance.
10:32Thanks for listening!
10:34Margaret?
10:35I'll try a six.
10:37And for Alex? Six.
10:38And a six, Margaret? Gyrate.
10:41And for Alex? Triage.
10:43Triage. Triage.
10:45Unfortunately, you do need the Y for gyrate.
10:47Oh, OK. Yeah, I'm sorry, Margaret.
10:49To be fair, if John or I tried to gyrate,
10:51we'd probably need triage.
10:53Anything else?
10:56Targets there for another six.
10:57Yep. Yep.
10:59Sixes only. Tight round, tight round.
11:01Alex, off you go. Consonant, please, Rachel.
11:04Thank you, Alex.
11:05And a vowel, please.
11:07O. And another consonant, please.
11:10D. And another one.
11:13F. And a vowel, please.
11:15I. And a consonant, please.
11:18R. And a vowel, please.
11:22A. And another vowel, please.
11:25E. And a final consonant, please.
11:28A final C. And here we go.
11:31You.
12:00You're playing the J. The� Ang right.
12:01And a vowel, please.
12:01Are you all righty, Alex?
12:03Six. And Margaret?
12:04Six. Six, OK. Straight-forward round, Alex?
12:07Farmed. Farmed.
12:09Formed. Formed.
12:10And farmed. Yes.
12:12What have we got?
12:13There is a seven in there, in the form of comrade.
12:18A comrade. Comrade for seven.
12:20Excellent. So let's get back to the numbers, shall we?
12:23And Margaret, you get to choose your fate.
12:25Can I have a C, please? So they're too large.
12:28You can indeed. Thank you.
12:30And four little coming up for you.
12:33For communist or comrade or whatever we're going for from the last round.
12:36Or maybe not. Right, the little ones this time.
12:38Two, seven, three, one.
12:41And the large two, one hundred and fifty.
12:44And the target, 768.
12:47Seven, six, eight. Numbers up.
12:48Six, eight.
12:50One, five.
12:52Two, one.
13:15Five, nine.
13:19Margaret, big target, how did you get on?
13:21I think 7, 6, 8.
13:23And Alex?
13:247, 7, 4.
13:26OK, so you're 6 away.
13:28Now, Margaret, we've been here before.
13:30Let's hope for a better outcome.
13:33So, 100 plus 3.
13:35Sounds good.
13:36Times 7.
13:38721.
13:39Plus the 50.
13:417, 7, 1.
13:42Take away the 2 and take away the 1.
13:45Perfect. Well done. 10 points.
13:47Yes.
13:49Oh, we all held our best, but confidence sky high now.
13:53Sky high.
13:54Just three points in it as we get our first chat of the week
13:57with John Culshaw.
13:58And, of course, over the summer, a massive churn of political faces.
14:03So many new voices to get used to.
14:05So many old voices gone.
14:07I do think we expect of our impressionists learn the new ones.
14:11But, of course, then we don't have the connection to them.
14:14So it must be a little bit of a double-edged sword.
14:16Yes, it's a general election.
14:19It's one of those completely pressing the reset button.
14:22And impression characters rather like sand dunes.
14:26They drift along.
14:27The whole culture moves along.
14:29Some drop off the edge, but new ones add on.
14:33And it's trying to keep up with that.
14:35It's a bit like a game of chess.
14:36You're looking at two or three moves ahead each time.
14:39But also it's who's centre of attention.
14:41So when you get...
14:44Not that we should be choosing our presidents and prime ministers
14:46based on who John can do an impression of.
14:49But Donald Trump, I would imagine,
14:51is one of the easiest impressions of all time.
14:54Whereas the current prime minister here in the UK,
14:58Sir Keir Starmer, he's now the centre of attention.
15:00He's the person that gets held to account.
15:02He's in the spotlight.
15:03So you're going to have to do him more.
15:04And maybe it definitely feels a little harder than doing a Trump.
15:08Yeah, the sense of over-caution.
15:12Of being very careful.
15:14And just sort of speaking in this steady way.
15:18Very often you start with, what do they sound like?
15:21Who do they sound like, these characters?
15:24And it's been rather pleasant to see the return of Ed Miliband
15:28into the cabinet.
15:29You know, if you start with Ed Miliband,
15:31where you really do speak from the deepest part of the diagram
15:36and from here, and if you add a few paints in us to that
15:39and bring it up and spread the words out,
15:42then you arrive at Sir Keir Starmer.
15:45But we're taking nothing for granted.
15:47And if you sound like basically not many other politicians ever,
15:52I think then you sort of have much more longevity.
15:54If you're a John Major or if you're a William Hague,
15:57they almost go on forever, those impressions.
16:02Yes, exactly.
16:02John Major was an interesting one.
16:04We were very much wondering, what is it about John Major?
16:07Spitting Image made his puppet grey the colour of blue tack.
16:12But, you know, if you have the John Major down the centre here,
16:15make sure you don't go too far this side,
16:17then he becomes Julian Clary.
16:19Steer it back to John Major again,
16:21but don't go too forceful,
16:22otherwise he becomes Michael Caine.
16:26It's amazing the neighbours of voice that are near to each other.
16:29Oh, fantastic. Thank you.
16:33Alex, here we go.
16:35Letters.
16:36Consonant, please, Rachel.
16:36Thank you, Alex.
16:38T.
16:38And a vowel, please.
16:40O.
16:41And another vowel, please.
16:44A.
16:44And a consonant, please.
16:46D.
16:47And a vowel, please.
16:50E.
16:51And a consonant, please.
16:53Y.
16:54And another vowel, please.
16:57U.
16:57And a consonant, please.
17:00S.
17:00And a final consonant, please.
17:03And a final R.
17:05Good luck.
17:36MUSIC
17:37Alex? Seven. And Margaret? Seven. Very good. Alex? Destroy. And Margaret? Strayed. Strayed and destroy. Seven each. What can we
17:47throw into the mix?
17:48Well, another seven to offer over here. Rousted. Rather a lovely seven. But in moments, and it was so amazing
17:54to see you do it, Susie had an eight. A beautiful countdown type of word. Outreads. Yes. Outreads. Read more
18:03than the next person.
18:04Definitely a word we're only going to apply to Susie in the studio. Thank you. More letters, Margaret? A consonant,
18:10please.
18:11Thank you, Margaret. T. And a vowel. A. And a consonant. N. And a vowel. O. And a consonant. L.
18:24And a vowel. E. And a consonant. R.
18:30Another consonant, please. H. And finish with a vowel, please. Finish with I. And half a minute.
18:38MUSIC PLAYS
19:09Hit me with it, Margaret. Eight. Alex? Gets the seven.
19:12The seven. A chance for the challenger to take the lead. What's the seven, Alex?
19:16Another. And what's the eight, Margaret?
19:18Relation. Relation. Very good indeed.
19:21APPLAUSE
19:22What did you have left over there? Margaret, H. Just the H left over.
19:26Let's see if they can push it to a maximum.
19:28Well, there was a rather impressive eight that Susie got here.
19:35Horntail. Yeah. Was there for eight. But then, on about second twenty-nine of the clock, in came a nine.
19:42Yes. Which Lionheart?
19:45Oh, yes. Well spotted. Lionheart. Lovely word.
19:49APPLAUSE
19:51I know that word from Richard the Lionheart. One of the Richards, you'll probably know.
19:55One of the kings. Does it predate that, though?
19:58Richard the First. Yeah, CÅ“ur de Lion. He was in French and it was translated straight into English.
20:03Magic. Right. There you go. Nose in front, Margaret. Back to the numbers.
20:07And Alex? One large five small, please, Rachel.
20:10Thank you, Alex. One large, five little. Coming up for this round, your numbers are seven, one, three, nine, five,
20:21and 25.
20:22And the target to reach, six hundred and eighty-four. Six-eight-four. Numbers up.
20:27I mean, we'll be right back.
20:55Thanks, Josh.
20:566-8-4, Alex. 6-8-4. And Margaret? No, just 6-8-3.
21:02Oh, the numbers today, Alex.
21:053 plus 1 is 4. 3 plus 1, yep, 4.
21:09Times that by 5. 20. Add the 7.
21:14Yep, 27. Multiply that by 25.
21:176-7-5. And add the 9. Nicely done.
21:206-8-4.
21:21APPLAUSE
21:23And Alex re-takes the lead by 5 points.
21:27What a show it is today. Topped off by the fact that you both coordinated your outfits.
21:31Thank you very much for that.
21:32Let's get our second Tea Time teaser. Serial Can. Serial Can.
21:36The defender launched the ball upfield, then went off to a huge sale.
21:40The defender launched the ball upfield and then went off to a huge sale.
21:59Hello again. The defender launched the ball upfield, hoofed it, no less, and then went off to a huge sale.
22:06A clearance. A clearance. Right. 5 points in it. Too close to call, but no extra time here on Countdown.
22:13Just a crucial Countdown conundrum. Will we get there? 6 rounds to go. Let's go, Margaret.
22:18Can I have a consonant, please? Thank you, Margaret.
22:21S. And a vowel. U. And a consonant. F. And a vowel. E. And a consonant. N. And a vowel.
22:34O. And a consonant. S. And a consonant. N. And another consonant, please.
22:44Lastly, P. OK.
22:48MUSIC PLAYS
22:48MUSIC PLAYS
23:17Margaret.
23:18Margaret. 7. 7. And Alex. 7. 7 as well. Margaret.
23:24Unopens. Unopens. Unopens. Unopens.
23:26Unopens. Slide it across.
23:27I can't remember who said that.
23:29Two unopens. It's not there.
23:32I'm afraid something can be unopened, but you can't particularly unopened something.
23:36Wow. You can open it, but you can't unopened it.
23:38Zero for that, so it doesn't matter who passes what over.
23:42You're both wrong. What drama? Colshaw, what drama?
23:45Well, yeah, spouse was there for another 6.
23:48We did have an open, and we were thinking, I should have used the S, but of course, good perspicacity,
23:54but technically, not so.
23:57There you go. A lot of people at home. Drat, drat and double drat, stroking that out.
24:01All right. If you did, hold off on the S. Well done. You've got the points. And Alex, we go
24:06again.
24:06Consonant, please, Rachel. Thank you, Alex.
24:09T. And a vowel, please.
24:12I. And a vowel, please.
24:15O. And a consonant, please.
24:16R. And a consonant, please.
24:21B. And a vowel, please.
24:24E. And a consonant.
24:26N. And a consonant.
24:30T. And a final consonant, please.
24:34Final S. Good luck.
25:04END
25:07Alex?
25:08Six.
25:09Margaret?
25:10Er, six.
25:11Alex?
25:12Strobe.
25:13Strobe.
25:14And for you, Margaret?
25:15Rotten.
25:16Rotten.
25:17All right.
25:18I think the old, er, the tension's definitely creeping in
25:21in this very close game.
25:22Over the dictionary corner.
25:24Well, here's a word that will break any tension for a seven.
25:27Botties!
25:28Botties! Yay!
25:30Turn into Ken Dodd for that one. Botties!
25:32Um, and also for an eight, er, bitterns. Bitterns.
25:37Yes.
25:38Birds with the males have a really deep, booming sound.
25:41All right. 54, 49 then.
25:43Four rounds to go.
25:46And we get our first Origins of Words of this week.
25:49Thank you to Ronald from Bushy,
25:51who has asked about the expression,
25:53as cool as a cucumber.
25:55Why a cucumber?
25:57I love all these.
25:57We're getting asked about similes and imagery quite a lot.
26:00Um, and to be as cool as a cucumber.
26:02I mean, don't we all want to be that?
26:03It's calm and unruffled, unperturbed,
26:06even by the biggest problems.
26:07I would say John is as cool as a cucumber.
26:09Just always very serene.
26:12Um, anyway, cucumbers are obviously very cool to the touch.
26:14Um, but the expression has been around for a lot longer
26:18than you might think.
26:211732.
26:21And it's first recorded in a poem by someone called John Gay,
26:25who, um, was actually quite influential upon English.
26:28And he wrote,
26:28New song on new similes.
26:53Beautiful.
26:54It's gorgeous, isn't it?
26:55And we still use some of those.
26:57Obviously, mad as a March hare, brown hares in the breeding season
27:00that sort of leap and chase and box around.
27:03As strong as mustard, I think that would still make sense.
27:05But we don't say drunk as a piper anymore.
27:08No.
27:08We usually turn to the newt.
27:09Um, nor do we say pert as a pair monger.
27:12Um, and obviously pert there being sort of cheeky, impudent,
27:16the kind of market sellers in, um, in London.
27:18But, um, but that's where it originated.
27:20And it was simply, I think, down to the fact that cucumbers
27:24always do feel cool.
27:25We put them under our eyes.
27:26Don't need to get rid of eye bags, et cetera.
27:28Um, and I'm just going to sneak in another one that Ronald actually
27:31asked, which was the use of harrowing to mean acutely distressing.
27:35And he asks, is there any relationship with the, um, farming implement?
27:39And the answer is yes.
27:40And if you go to Hamlet this time, um, and the ghost of Hamlet's father,
27:44I would a tale unfold whose lightest word would harrow up thy soul.
27:49And he does refer to that, um, the heavy frame with iron teeth
27:52that's dragged over ploughed land to break it up and pulverize the soil.
27:56And the image, again, is of literally that happening to your soul.
27:59Well, not literally.
28:00Metaphorically, that happening to your soul.
28:02Thanks, Suze.
28:03Thanks to Ronald.
28:06Thank you, Susie.
28:07Four more rounds to go.
28:08It's a nail biter today.
28:09Margaret, your letters.
28:11Uh, consonant, please.
28:12Thank you, Margaret.
28:13V.
28:14And a vowel.
28:15A.
28:16Consonant.
28:18L.
28:19And a vowel.
28:20E.
28:21And a consonant.
28:22T.
28:23And a vowel.
28:25A.
28:26And a consonant.
28:28N.
28:28And another consonant.
28:31T.
28:32And another vowel, please.
28:35Add a final U.
28:36And kind down.
28:39We'll be you right now.
28:40You talk.
29:07Through the tangents.
29:07And a vowel almost a vowel.
29:07Margaret long six and Alex call six as well Margaret talent Alex talent six
29:17points each Susan John yeah the same over here talent for six but I always
29:22love it when the lineup of words sounds like a word yeah
29:26valet on to it's probably something that could be sung operatically well if
29:32there had been a slang term for maybe when you valet park a car and loads of
29:36people are running about valet ants then we would add a first every eight letter
29:40word they're coming out in a runner of a valet aunt there was a last minute seven
29:45thinking of that along those lines value eight value eight you have to give a
29:49valuation so look at all the conversation and all of a sudden we're there with a
29:53longer but all that matters is this five point gap last letters Alex consonant
30:00please Rachel thank you Alex s and a vowel please I and a consonant ah and a
30:08vowel please e and a consonant please d and another consonant please n and a
30:24final consonant please a final G last letters
30:29in the end of the language
31:00That'll do, Alex. Seven. Margaret. Just a six.
31:04OK, big moment then. The six, Margaret. Ringed.
31:07Will the seven stick? Swinger.
31:09Certainly does. Very good indeed. Very good. Excellent work.
31:13All right, can we add to Swinger?
31:15A couple of extra sevens there, guiders, or unwired, for a seven,
31:21but a rather lovely eight from the song The Black Hills of Dakota.
31:25Take me to the land where the buffaloes roam and the red wing feathers her nest.
31:29Er, red wings for eight. Excellent, there you go.
31:32Shout out to everyone watching in Detroit, which I'm guessing is nobody.
31:36Right, let's get some numbers from Margaret.
31:38I think I'll play it safe. Two big and four small, please.
31:40I'm not going to gamble for the teapot. Twelve points behind.
31:43Er, no, I'll play it safe.
31:46Right, two large, four little. Let's see. Crazier things have happened.
31:49Final numbers today. Two, three, one, nine.
31:5475 and 25.
31:57And the target, 679.
32:00Six, seven, nine. Last numbers.
32:01Six, seven, nine. Last numbers.
32:02Six, seven, nine. Last numbers.
32:20Six, seven, nine. Last numbers.
32:21Six, seven, nine.
32:21Six, seven, nine.
32:22Six, seven, nine.
32:23Six, seven, nine.
32:24Six, seven, nine.
32:26Six, seven, nine.
32:32Margaret?
32:33Yes, 6, 7, 9.
32:35Alex? 6, 7, 9.
32:36Yeah, that's the problem, Margaret. Off you go.
32:39Er, 75 times 9.
32:426, 7, 5.
32:43Er, add the 3 and the 1.
32:45Not enough of a challenge, unfortunately.
32:48And Alex? Same way.
32:50Well done.
32:51APPLAUSE
32:53So, we'll ask, after that round,
32:55Margaret will not be here for a long time,
32:57but Alex is back on call for tomorrow
32:59as we get your fingers on the buzzers
33:00and reveal today's Countdown Conundrum.
33:18Margaret?
33:19Is it appalling?
33:21Let's have a look.
33:22It is indeed.
33:23APPLAUSE
33:25I think there might have been a few people
33:27who were appalled you didn't go for six small
33:30in the last numbers round,
33:31cos I feel like...
33:33Cos it's always nerve-wracking at the start.
33:35Yeah.
33:35And once you've settled in, oh, my goodness me,
33:37on another day, we'd have a new champion.
33:39I hope you enjoyed that.
33:40I did.
33:41Excellent. Lovely to have you.
33:42And, Alex, despite Mothergate,
33:44we will have you back tomorrow, OK?
33:46It's great for you.
33:48At John Susie, see you tomorrow.
33:49Yeah, see you then.
33:50And Raid's Sudoku scandal.
33:53Back when it was absolutely huge,
33:55there was a massive, you know,
33:58nationally captivating court case in Australia,
34:01and everyone was, are you playing Sudoku?
34:03Anyway, they had to declare a mistrial
34:07and excuse the jury,
34:08because four of the jury members were caught
34:11playing Sudoku under the table
34:13while they should have been listening to the witnesses.
34:15Wow. Four of them?
34:17Yeah.
34:18Fair enough.
34:19Third of the jury, third of the jury.
34:21Right.
34:22We're out until tomorrow.
34:23We will see you same time, same place.
34:25You can count on us.
34:27You can contact the programme by email
34:29at countdown at channel4.com.
34:31You can also find our webpage
34:33at channel4.com forward slash countdown.
34:37APPLAUSE