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00:30Hello, everybody. Welcome to Countdown. It is Wednesday afternoon. Thank you so much for tuning in. We never take it
00:36for granted, as you know, even though we're at Series 90. Hi, Rachel. Hi, Colin. Midweek's the best time for
00:43a random quiz. Shall we do it? Of course. Anytime's the best time.
00:46Well, I was reading on this day back in 1999, Serena Williams won her first Grand Slam title, one of
00:51my all-time sporting heroes and so many people watching. Can't believe it was a quarter of a century ago.
00:56My goodness. And I started thinking about dates. What actually happened first? Your mind plays trick with dates.
01:01So I've got these for you. I'll give you two things. Which happened first? OK. Right. I'm going to start
01:06closer to now, so they're going to get for you harder as we go.
01:09All right. Wordle was made public so you could play it for the first time, you and I. Right. Top
01:17Gun Maverick was released. Which one happened first?
01:22Um, well, Wordle was probably maybe three years ago. Very good. And Maverick, I think, was probably after that. Genius.
01:33Well done. There you go. Right. Here we go. Human on the moon are the Bee Gees' first number one
01:41single. So this is the one to trick you.
01:43Because when it's before you're born, you kind of have a vague... Human on the moon, what was that around?
01:49I'm going to get thrown out of here about 68, somewhere around there.
01:54You're great with dates, by the way. It's 69, but you're right there. OK. Ballpark. And the Bee Gees. What
01:59was the question about the Bee Gees?
02:01Well, think about this, right? So the 70s was Saturday Night Fever and all. You've just got to decide whether
02:07that had a hit before that.
02:08So you're trying to sway me that it was the 70s, because the Bee Gees were big in the 70s,
02:12so I'm going to go earlier.
02:13You're right, yes. It was 1967. Wow, Massachusetts. No impression from me, especially not in front of, you know, Who
02:23and Dixonry Corner.
02:24But maybe he'll have a Bee Gees for us. Let's find out, because besides Susie Dent, all this week is
02:29one of our true Dixonry Corner favourites, John Colshaw.
02:33Well, we're brilliant. You've got Alex Colt halfway to being an octo-champ, and he's been pushed all the way
02:37the last couple of weeks, but he's certainly no Mickey Mouse champion.
02:41How are you feeling today? Yeah, surprised I'm still here, I'll be honest. I'm not at all. I think you're
02:46great.
02:46You're up against Mark Summersmith today, and we just chanced across something weird when we were talking before we came
02:52on air.
02:53Because I said, you look like you're from Manchester, even though it says here you live in Worcestershire.
03:00And you went, no, no, I'm from Manchester originally.
03:02And that's a weird thing to say, but not only that, you were called Mark E. Smith, and then you're
03:07not now. Tell us about that.
03:08That's right. So, I was originally called Mark E. Smith.
03:13And when I got married, I merged my surname with my husband's name, which was Summers.
03:18So, I'm now Summersmith. What a great way to get a great name, but we'll see if it's your rise
03:24or fall today.
03:25Good luck to Mark, and good luck to Alex.
03:29All right, Alex, let's get lost in Countdown.
03:32Hi, Rachel. Hi, Alex. Consonant, please. Thank you. Start today with L.
03:36And a vowel, please. A.
03:40And a consonant, please. S.
03:43And another one, please. R.
03:46And a vowel. E.
03:49And a consonant, please. N.
03:52And another consonant, please.
03:55P.
03:57And a vowel.
03:59O.
04:01And a final consonant, please.
04:03A final C.
04:05At Holmand in the studio. Let's play Countdown.
04:07You're won.
04:11Take care.
04:15Bye.
04:16Bye.
04:20Bye.
04:29Bye.
04:32Bye.
04:32Bye.
04:33MUSIC PLAYS
04:37Alex? Seven. And for you, Mark?
04:40Six. Six is? Clasp.
04:43And for you, Alex? Parcels.
04:45Yeah, clasp is a five.
04:48Parcels, absolutely fine.
04:50And we could just stretch to a single eight.
04:52Indeed, yeah, I'd spotted persona for seven,
04:55being very used to such things,
04:57but Susie upgraded that in an instant.
05:00Put the L on personal for eight.
05:02Personal for eight.
05:03Excellent work. Right, here we go, Mark.
05:06Your letters, you're just getting started.
05:07OK. Could I have a consonant, please, Rachel?
05:10Thank you, Mark. N.
05:12And a vowel, please.
05:14E.
05:15A consonant.
05:17C.
05:19A vowel.
05:21O.
05:22A vowel.
05:24E.
05:26A consonant.
05:28R.
05:30A consonant.
05:31G.
05:35A vowel.
05:38A vowel.
05:41And a vowel.
05:44Lastly, A.
05:46Let's play.
05:47A vowel.
05:48A vowel.
05:52A vowel.
05:57A vowel.
06:03A vowel.
06:04A vowel.
06:04A vowel.
06:04A vowel.
06:04A vowel.
06:04A vowel.
06:04A vowel.
06:04A vowel.
06:17Mark Summersmith.
06:19Six.
06:19Alex Cole.
06:20Nine.
06:22Mark, what's the six?
06:24Cougar.
06:24Let's find out what this is.
06:26A beast of a word.
06:27Encourage.
06:28Very good indeed.
06:29Excellent.
06:33Encourage.
06:34Fantastic work.
06:35Anything else jump out at you?
06:37It was a rather lovely flow to see courage and then encourage.
06:43Brilliant stuff.
06:43That's why he is a champion.
06:45Let's move back to the numbers, Alex.
06:48One big and five small, please.
06:50Thank you, Alex.
06:50One large, five little coming up.
06:52First numbers of the day are four, eight, one, ten, another one, and 75.
07:01And the target, 742.
07:04742.
07:05Numbers up.
07:07This is really good.
07:07Bye-bye.
07:07Don't go smiling.
07:12Bye-bye.
07:20Take care.
07:27Bye-bye.
07:27Bye-bye.
07:28Bye-bye.
07:28Bye-bye.
07:30Bye-bye.
07:367-4-2, Alex.
07:387-4-2.
07:387-4-2, Mark.
07:397-4-2.
07:40Come on, let's do it, Alex.
07:4210 times 75.
07:43Yep.
07:43Minus 8.
07:44Not much of a challenge.
07:45Same way, Mark.
07:46Same way.
07:47Excellent.
07:47Show it just in case.
07:49Happy days.
07:52Good stuff.
07:52Mark is on the board.
07:53We love to see it.
07:54What a start from a champion.
07:56Though, three rounds down, 12 more to come.
07:58Here's your tea time teaser.
07:59Mr. Cartoon.
08:00Just the MR, obviously.
08:02Mr. Cartoon.
08:03The bird launched a tirade about the curry.
08:06The bird launched a tirade about the curry.
08:24Welcome back.
08:25Your first tea time tease.
08:26It was a punchline to a bad joke, wasn't it?
08:28The bird launched a tirade about the curry.
08:31That would be a cormorant.
08:33A cormorant.
08:34Love that.
08:35But I do notice I'm the only one laughing.
08:37Let's get back to the game.
08:39Mark, your letters.
08:40Could I have a consonant, please?
08:41Thank you, Mark.
08:42D.
08:43And vowel.
08:45E.
08:46A vowel.
08:47A.
08:49Consonant.
08:51K.
08:53Consonant.
08:55M.
08:57Vowel.
08:59E.
09:01Consonant.
09:02R.
09:05Consonant.
09:06T.
09:09And a vowel, please.
09:13Lastly, I.
09:15And good luck.
09:44I'll see you next time.
09:47Time's up there, Mark.
09:48Six. And for you, Alex? Seven.
09:51The sixth mark? Market.
09:53And for seven points, Alex? Demerit.
09:56Yes, very good indeed.
09:59Definitely there for seven, well done.
10:00To confirm that, what else can we add to demerit?
10:04A couple of eights to offer over here.
10:07Marketed, you can have for eight.
10:10And one of those words you often hear in washing powder adverts,
10:15Tidemark.
10:17Tidemark for another eight.
10:19Tidemark and marketed another seven points, so, for Alex.
10:23But proof, Mark, that there is room for manoeuvre here still.
10:27And Alex, you're picking these letters.
10:28I'll start with a vowel, please, Rachel.
10:30Thank you, Alex.
10:31E.
10:32And a consonant.
10:34W.
10:35And another consonant, please.
10:37H.
10:38And a vowel, please.
10:40A.
10:42And another consonant.
10:44F.
10:45And a consonant, please.
10:47S.
10:48Another consonant, please.
10:51N.
10:53And a vowel.
10:55O.
10:56And another vowel, please.
10:59And a final E.
11:01And here we go.
11:02And a vowel, please.
11:06And a vowel, please.
11:07And a vowel, please.
11:11And a vowel, please.
11:13And a vowel, please.
11:14And a vowel, please.
11:14And a vowel, please.
11:16And a vowel, please.
11:16And a vowel, please.
11:17And a vowel, please.
11:17And a vowel, please.
11:17And a vowel, please.
11:17And a vowel, please.
11:17And a vowel, please.
11:18And a vowel, please.
11:19And a vowel, please.
11:20And a vowel, please.
11:21And a vowel, please.
11:22And a vowel, please.
11:31MUSIC
11:33Alex, how many? Just five.
11:35Mark? Four. The four is? Wash.
11:38And it'll all come out in the wash now. Hounds.
11:40There you go, from Tide Mark to Wash, it's like it's scripted, but it's not.
11:44John? Yes, only the fives here.
11:48Wayne's for five. Sean, another five there.
11:53Yes, it was... Horrible.
11:55A bit of a narrow one, wasn't it? Yes.
11:57A real hen's taste moment, isn't it, to have two Es, an S?
12:01They look favourable, only a five.
12:03Yeah. Well, brilliant.
12:05A few's got more than us, which is entirely feasible, so well done.
12:08Thank you, Meatloaf. You took the words right out of my mouth,
12:11because if you are sitting at home with a five,
12:13or even better, spotted a six that we haven't,
12:15you have to apply to come on Countdown.
12:17And it's the easiest thing in the world.
12:20You just send us an email.
12:21The address, as you can see, is countdown at channel4.com,
12:25using the number four if you're visually impaired.
12:27It's countdown at channel4.com, using the number four.
12:30Just say you want to come on the show, and we'll take it from there.
12:33Literally just say hello.
12:34What other show does it in such a laid-back way?
12:37And you can also talk to Susie about her origins of words.
12:40Lovely.
12:41Let's get back to the game and the numbers.
12:43Mark?
12:44Just one large, please.
12:46Thank you, Mark.
12:47One from the top.
12:48Five little coming up to the safety of the numbers game.
12:51And these little ones are four, six, two, five and eight.
12:57And the large one, 25.
12:59And the target, 471.
13:01471.
13:02Numbers up.
13:031.
13:06Jurassic.
13:06But of the major league, is there?
13:24This cloud is here so far aside.
13:24The BBC障害مر.
13:24The BBC障害 メルダー Do nothing at all.
13:24Yeah, that's our own state suffrage.
13:32The Deputy Carte Annals.
13:32Vic Randy.
13:344-7-1. How did you get on, Mark?
13:36No worries, Ian. No worries. And, Alex?
13:394-7-1. Off you go.
13:418 plus 6 plus 5...
13:4319.
13:44Times 25.
13:46475. Minus 4.
13:48Well done. 4-7-1.
13:5357-10. That's a big lead, but you've got a better surname than him.
13:57And that will not change between now and the end of the show.
14:00Just say that.
14:00Let's head over to the next screen corner.
14:02John, let's talk about political reporters,
14:05because it didn't feel like that when I was younger,
14:08but definitely now they seem to be kind of like almost mini-celebrities.
14:12Every station has their one person and, you know, it's their go-to.
14:16You know, Laura Koonsberg, Robert Peston, and the list goes on and on.
14:20Yes. Sometimes when the politicians were a little bland,
14:24you know, in the David Cameron time,
14:26we did rely much more on the reporters for their quizzicalness.
14:30Political reporters, they often have a quizzical sense about them.
14:35Um...
14:36Nick Robinson has this very interesting way,
14:39gesticulating it in a very precise fashion,
14:41and he'll state the logic.
14:42But then the question will come,
14:45and it will be absolutely assassin-like in that way,
14:48and they have to try to deal with it.
14:50As opposed to the aforementioned Robert Peston,
14:53who we often say...
14:56LAUGHTER
14:57..is a voice that sounds like it's playing on a tape recorder.
15:02That's not working properly.
15:04LAUGHTER
15:04With the sports reporters and commentators, I always...
15:08I love the intensity of Jonathan Pearce.
15:12Yes.
15:12You know, that kind of real great application,
15:14seizing the moment, grabbing the excitement,
15:16really capturing the flavour of the game,
15:18and stretching the syllables.
15:21Um...
15:21I don't know whether it was Jonathan Pearce or somebody else
15:24who was once interviewing the wonderful,
15:26the beloved Bobby Charlton, the great Bobby Charlton.
15:29And, um, it sort of suits Nick Robinson's tone of voice.
15:32Maybe I'll just borrow Nick Robinson for this.
15:34So, Bobby, the present-day England team
15:37playing your 1966 World Cup-winning squad,
15:42which England team wins that game?
15:45And Bobby Charlton thought about this for a moment,
15:47and he considered it, and he said,
15:49you know, I think we would win.
15:51I think our 66 squad would win.
15:53We'd win 1-0.
15:55Really? Only 1-0? Why only 1-0?
15:59And Bobby said, well, we're all in our 70s.
16:02LAUGHTER
16:05Brilliant. Love it. Thank you, John.
16:08APPLAUSE
16:09Back to the game, then. Letters. Let's enjoy every ride.
16:12Alex, you're up.
16:13A consonant, please, Rachel.
16:15Thank you, Alex.
16:16B.
16:17And a vowel, please.
16:19U.
16:20And a consonant, please.
16:22S.
16:23And a vowel, please.
16:24I.
16:25And a consonant.
16:27L.
16:28And another consonant, please.
16:30R.
16:31And a vowel, please.
16:34E.
16:35And a consonant, please.
16:37G.
16:38And a final consonant, please.
16:41A final M.
16:43Let's play.
16:43M.
16:451,,
17:13O.
17:15All right, Alex.
17:16Seven.
17:17Going for the seven, and Mark.
17:19Seven.
17:19Yeah, what have we got there, Alex?
17:21Slumber.
17:22And for you, Mark?
17:23Gerbils.
17:24Gerbils!
17:25Very nice.
17:26Yay!
17:27Right, what did you have there?
17:29Well, I think this round is paying us back for that one that gave us only fives and so on.
17:34Bulgia was there for a rather lovely seven,
17:36but I was marvelling at how quickly you were writing these down, Susie.
17:39They were just flowing like fireworks.
17:41Grumbles there for a lovely eight.
17:43Yes.
17:44And another eight.
17:46Sublimer.
17:46What about sort of first thing in the morning, we all get ready for a countdown,
17:51we all turn up and I go, come on, Susie and Rachel, stop being a couple of grumblies.
17:56Ah, grumblies.
17:58No, crumblies.
18:00I would never say that.
18:02I would never say that.
18:04Grumblies maybe, but not crumblies.
18:06Right, more letters, please.
18:08Mark.
18:09A consonant, please.
18:10Thank you, Mark.
18:11T.
18:12And a consonant.
18:13S.
18:15A vowel.
18:16O.
18:18A vowel.
18:19I.
18:21Consonant.
18:22V.
18:24A vowel.
18:26A.
18:28Consonant.
18:30N.
18:31A vowel.
18:34O.
18:37And a consonants, please.
18:40And lastly, S.
18:41And start the clock.
18:42A vowel.
18:43A vowel.
18:45A vowel.
18:50A vowel.
18:57A vowel.
18:59A vowel.
18:59A vowel.
18:59A vowel.
18:59A vowel.
18:59A vowel.
18:59A vowel.
18:59A vowel.
19:00MUSIC
19:12Mark, how many?
19:14Six. And Alex? Six.
19:16OK, Mark? Staines.
19:18Staines and Alex? Saints.
19:20And saints. Staines and saints.
19:23And over the dictionary corner to why the nation.
19:25Sounds like a good game show in the making there, doesn't it?
19:28Well, I did enjoy the line-up of those words.
19:30I'm sure in a parallel universe there's a composer called Suavanos,
19:34which is how the letters came out.
19:35And if there is, I'm sure that Suavanos gets ovations.
19:40Yes. More than one. You can pluralise it for eight. Fantastic.
19:46Back to the numbers. And Alex?
19:48Let's go one large and five small.
19:50Thank you, Alex. One from the top.
19:52Five little coming up.
19:53And for the third time today, our number selection is one,
19:56ten, three, seven, seven and seventy-five.
20:01I'm desperate for something more tricky than we've had this week.
20:04Four hundred and thirty.
20:05Four-three-zero numbers up.
20:07Five little come out.
20:08Five little after.
20:15Seven, seven, seven, seven, eight...
20:27Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
20:374, 3, 0. How did you fare, Alex?
20:414, 2, 8, but not properly written down.
20:44Two away, Mark? No, nowhere near.
20:46No worries. And for you, Alex, then, for seven points?
20:50Er, no, I've used the one twice.
20:52It is just an empty board and a marker for Rachel.
20:56I know. I mean, there are loads of dead ends,
20:58but once you see the one that isn't, 7 minus 1 is 6,
21:016 times 75 is 450, and take away all the rest,
21:05the ten, the second seven, and the three.
21:07Ha-ha-ha!
21:08APPLAUSE
21:10Good stuff.
21:11Your Tea Time teaser this Wednesday afternoon,
21:13your second of the day, is Eric Steve.
21:17Eric Steve.
21:18They kept everything to themselves and disclosed nothing.
21:22They kept everything to themselves and disclosed nothing.
21:44It's a real uphill challenge from here.
21:49It's 70 to 23, but that's only half the point to count down.
21:53Six rounds together. Let's do it. Your letters.
21:55Consonant, please.
21:56Thank you, Mark.
21:57F.
21:58A vowel.
22:00I.
22:01A vowel.
22:03A.
22:05A.
22:05A consonant.
22:06G.
22:08A vowel.
22:10E.
22:11A consonant.
22:13T.
22:15A consonant.
22:16R.
22:20A consonant.
22:21H.
22:22And a vowel, please.
22:24Lastly, O.
22:26And 30 seconds.
22:28...
22:30A consonant.
22:31...
23:00I'll see you next time.
23:02It's a weird round, this one. Alex?
23:04Seven. Yeah, the seven you managed to see.
23:06So the four mark? Higher.
23:08And loads of sixes? Frigate.
23:09Frigate is very good indeed.
23:11Hadn't seen that one. Yeah, very good.
23:13We always know because the look on your face
23:15when you haven't seen a word that a contestant gets
23:17is kind of half shock, half horror.
23:20And it's the dent face.
23:22The dent face. Yes.
23:23Can we tell you about the countdown faces?
23:25There's the dent face on the rare occasion
23:27when somebody has a word that you didn't get.
23:30And then there's the Riley face
23:32which is borderline violent
23:34which is when a contestant needs to gamble
23:37in the last numbers round
23:38and they choose one or two large
23:40and those eyes look for the Riley eyes at that moment.
23:44There's all sorts of things going on in here.
23:47Right, what else do we have?
23:49Well, the return of a recent word
23:51from a recent show, triage.
23:53Ah!
23:54It was there for six.
23:55That's looped back again.
23:57And I'll borrow Tyson Fury's voice for this one
23:59because there was fighter.
24:00Fight was there because he's not a dosser.
24:03And also what he might call the rematch
24:05which is the refight.
24:07Usyk, I'm going to refight Usyk
24:09because he's not a dosser.
24:10Ah, that is great.
24:11Right, more letters please, Alex.
24:13A consonant please, Rachel.
24:15Thank you, Alex.
24:16T
24:16And a vowel please.
24:18E
24:19And a consonant please.
24:21L
24:22And another one please.
24:24B
24:25And a vowel please.
24:27U
24:28And a consonant.
24:30G
24:34And another consonant.
24:41Lastly, S.
24:42Thanks, Rich.
24:43And a vowel please.
25:13Our time is up, Mr. Call.
25:16Six.
25:16Mr. Summersmith.
25:17Six.
25:18Six as well.
25:19What have we got, Alex?
25:20Bugles.
25:21Bugles?
25:22And for Mark?
25:23Bulges.
25:24Yes, bulges and bugles.
25:25Yes, bulges all over the place this show.
25:29We've had sixes as well.
25:31Yeah, excellent.
25:32Bustle?
25:33Yes.
25:33Yeah, things like that.
25:34Like bustle.
25:35Sublet.
25:36Yes, all there.
25:37Well, listen, let's stay with you
25:39because our net bulges right now.
25:40It's time for another Origins of Words.
25:44Well, a little quiz for you.
25:46Just one question for you at the beginning of this.
25:48OK.
25:49At what point did badminton become an Olympic sport?
25:52I'm going to say it's English in origin,
25:54so I'm going to say it would maybe be a home Olympics.
25:57So 1948?
26:00No, 1992.
26:01No!
26:02Yes.
26:03Yeah, Barcelona.
26:04Wow.
26:05And you're absolutely right, it is English.
26:07And the reason I'm going to talk about badminton
26:09is I heard a couple of emails from earlier in the summer
26:11about Olympic sports and where they take their name from.
26:15And it does indeed come from England,
26:19from the name, the village of badminton in South Gloucestershire.
26:22And that's the seat of the Duke of Beaufort.
26:26And popular tradition holds that the origin of the game
26:30is essentially from India
26:32and that in the late 19th century,
26:33a really competitive form of a game
26:36that had been played over there
26:37was brought back by British officers
26:39and it was played in English country houses,
26:41including badminton, which eventually gave it its name.
26:44So the first unofficial All-England badminton championships
26:47were in 1899,
26:49the first tournament for women arranged the next year.
26:51So that's badminton.
26:54Pentathlon, the second one,
26:56that's based, I think most people will guess,
26:58is based on the Greek pente, meaning five,
27:00and athlon was a contest or a prize,
27:03which eventually, of course, gave us athlete as well.
27:06So the first pentathlons in ancient Greece
27:09consisted of leaping, spear throwing, discus throwing,
27:13wrestling and a really short foot race
27:15that was known as a stadion.
27:17And that's where we get the word stadium from as well
27:19because that's where they took place.
27:21And all of them were designed to determine
27:23the best soldier as well as the best athlete.
27:26And when the Olympic Games were revived
27:28and the modern pentathlon was invented,
27:30again, the focus was very much on military skills.
27:32So you have fencing, shooting, swimming,
27:34show jumping and cross-country running.
27:37But badminton was a real surprise to you as to me.
27:39I had no idea it was that recent.
27:41Love it. Thank you.
27:44Back to our marathon here.
27:46Four more rounds to go.
27:47Mark, let's rack up some points.
27:49I think we've got a little personal target here on 29.
27:52Let's see if we can break half a century,
27:54which would be quite something
27:55considering the first three rounds, right?
27:57Yeah.
27:58Let's do it. Come on, Mark. Let's go.
28:01Consonant, please.
28:02Thank you, Mark.
28:03R.
28:05Vowel.
28:05I.
28:08Consonant.
28:09Y.
28:11Consonant.
28:12S.
28:14Vowel.
28:16E.
28:18Consonant.
28:19L.
28:22Vowel.
28:24O.
28:26Consonant.
28:28D.
28:30And a consonant.
28:32And lastly, W.
28:34Vowel.
28:36Vowel.
29:05Transcription by CastingWords
29:06How many, Mark?
29:07Six.
29:08And for you, Alex?
29:09Seven not written down.
29:10The six is?
29:11Slowed.
29:12What have you not written down?
29:13Soldier.
29:14Soldier, spottedly.
29:15Well done.
29:16Point in.
29:16Maybe inspired by the modern pentathlon origins of words.
29:20Unlucky, Mark.
29:21Anything else for me, John Culshaw?
29:24Weirdos was there for seven.
29:26Weirdos was there.
29:27But some rather delicious eights.
29:30Drowsily for a very laconic eight.
29:33And also one that feels slang, I wonder, Susie.
29:37Worldies.
29:38Yes, worldies.
29:39Well, we like to think that we nudged it into the dictionary
29:41because we kept asking for it to go in.
29:43So worldies, an excellent, remarkable goal.
29:45And then from there, anything wonderful.
29:47It's weird, John, that you got weirdos because I got Riley.
29:50OK.
29:52Last letters round, Alex.
29:55Consonant, please.
29:56Nod to my family there.
29:57So, D.
29:59And a vowel, please.
30:01A.
30:02And a consonant, please.
30:04P.
30:05And a vowel.
30:06U.
30:07And another vowel.
30:10E.
30:11And a consonant, please.
30:12T.
30:13And another consonant.
30:15R.
30:17And a vowel, please.
30:20O.
30:20And a final consonant.
30:23A final N.
30:25And last letters.
30:26R.
30:26And a vowel.
30:39And a vowel.
30:44And a vowel.
30:45And a vowel.
30:45And a vowel.
30:45And a vowel.
30:46And a vowel.
30:46And a vowel.
30:50and a vowel.
30:56Alex, a six.
30:59Mark? Six.
31:00Very good, Alex. Ponder.
31:02Ponder, and for you, Mark?
31:04Parent.
31:05Parent and ponder and pander and all of that stuff going on,
31:08so that was another one of your horse races there for sixes,
31:12but what can we do outside of that?
31:13Well, Susie has gifted us many eights here, many wonderful eights.
31:17It's pronated, eight, and also un-parted.
31:21Un-parted.
31:22Another eight, un-parted.
31:2496-35, two rounds to go, Mark.
31:27Our 50-little minigame we're playing is on.
31:29So let's do it. Your numbers.
31:31One large, please.
31:32One large, five little.
31:34Coming up to finish the day, number-wise,
31:37the last selection is seven, nine, nine, two, four and 75.
31:44And the target? 700.
31:46700.
31:47Numbers up.
31:50Numbers up.
31:52Numbers up.
31:52Numbers up.
31:52Numbers up.
31:54Numbers up.
31:55Numbers up.
31:55Numbers up.
31:57Numbers up.
31:58Numbers up.
31:58Numbers up.
32:04Numbers up.
32:05Numbers up.
32:18OK, time is up 700. Mark Summersmith?
32:22700, I think.
32:24And Alex? 700.
32:26Mark, off you go.
32:279 times 75.
32:299, 75, 6, 7, 5.
32:31And then, um...
32:34Where is it? The 2 times 9.
32:362 times the second 9, 18.
32:39Plus a 7.
32:4025.
32:41And then add them together.
32:42700. Another 10 points. Well done.
32:44And for you, Alex?
32:45Yep, same way.
32:46Exactly the same way. 10 points each.
32:50Well, we know it's a fifth win for Alex Cole.
32:53We can put that one in the book.
32:55106 points, though, so it could be a massive 116.
32:59But, listen, the nation is rooting for Mark Summersmith here
33:03because he's got to 45.
33:04He can get a half century after being 25-0 down,
33:08which would be fantastic.
33:09So let's see what happens.
33:10Fingers on the buzzers.
33:12Let's reveal today's important countdown conundrum.
33:21BELL RINGS
33:24Alex!
33:25Outfacing?
33:26Yeah, let's take a look.
33:27There it is.
33:30Well done.
33:31Listen, I think the three of us saw the ING very quick
33:34and then we were just like, work it out, work it out.
33:36And well done for spotting the out to get the outfacing.
33:39Alex, 116 for you.
33:41We'll see you tomorrow.
33:42Yeah.
33:43And what a joy.
33:44Mark Summersmith, you brought Summer to the studio.
33:46My pleasure.
33:47Really enjoyed it.
33:48Really good crack, wasn't it?
33:49Excellent.
33:49John, Susie, see you tomorrow.
33:51See you then.
33:52Rachel, one more.
33:53Which happened first?
33:54OK.
33:55You were born.
33:56Northern Ireland qualified for a World Cup.
34:00Well, I don't remember.
34:02I was born in 86.
34:03But if you're doing it, it can't have been never.
34:05So I'm going to say Northern Ireland happened after.
34:07It did.
34:08But here's the thing.
34:09It happened in the very same year.
34:11So Rachel was only a couple of months old the last time we reached the World Cup.
34:14Every time I look at you, every time we have a birthday, it reminds me how many years
34:18it's been since Northern Ireland have reached the World Cup.
34:21So after depressing any members of the Green and White Army, we're going to say goodbye.
34:25But we will see you tomorrow with smiles on our faces.
34:27You can count on us.
34:29You can contact the programme by email at countdown at channel4.com.
34:34You can also find our webpage at channel4.com forward slash countdown.