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00:31Well, good afternoon. Welcome to the Countdown Studio.
00:34I wonder whether you saw that little article recently about the chap who accidentally signed up for the wrong event,
00:41which is quite funny, actually.
00:42He's a chap. He was a steward. He wanted to do the local park run in Clifton Park in Rotherham.
00:51And time passed on, and they sent an email the night before reminding him that he was due to be
00:57a steward at the park run in Clifton, Nottingham.
01:01He said, Nottingham? But I want to be in Rotherham.
01:05Anyway, he didn't want to let anybody down.
01:06And he got up at five in the morning, caught a train, ride his bicycle, did this and all the
01:10rest of it, because he couldn't bear to let anybody down.
01:13And eventually he got there with an hour to spare.
01:17I know that feeling, the terror, the horror when you've got the event wrong.
01:23And I remember it happened to me very expensively. We were filming years ago on that apprentice thing.
01:28And I'd also agreed to give a speech, funnily enough, in Rotherham, believe it or not.
01:34And I rang them up. I said, a bit of a slip, actually, with a diary.
01:38He said, I'm very sorry to hear that, the chap said. It was being funded and run by the council
01:43up there.
01:44I said, so I won't be able to make it. He said, well, in that case, we'll see you in
01:48court.
01:50I said, right. So I rang the production company. I said, sorry, chap, it's been a bit of a slip.
01:55They said, no, no, no. You're in London. What do you do?
01:59What did you do?
02:00Hired a helicopter.
02:03Wow.
02:04No, but I had to. I had to.
02:07So you didn't get a 5am train and a bike.
02:09Oh, my word. But actually, it was OK. It was OK.
02:12But that was fun.
02:13It was fun.
02:14And I tell you the extraordinary thing about it, Rachel, was that as we flew in the summer over England,
02:20I thought, this is a very beautiful, green and pleasant land.
02:23There's nobody here. It's all green.
02:25We flew back at one in the morning.
02:28The whole country, it was gin clear night.
02:31Gin clear. You could see from hundreds of miles.
02:34And the whole country was a blaze of light.
02:36So you suddenly realised, actually, a lot of people were in the field.
02:39Anyway, that's my little story. Have you ever made a mess of it?
02:41Nothing like that. But I'm jealous of your story now, your helicopter.
02:44And I know Susie Dent, she sent me some pictures recently.
02:46She's been flying over Oxford.
02:48Everyone's been flying except me.
02:50Soon.
02:50What's that about?
02:52You're always flying.
02:53I'm jealous.
02:54All right.
02:54Who's with us?
02:55He's back.
02:56That wonderful Andy Evans.
02:58Andy, welcome back.
02:59Thanks.
02:59You're the conundrum king.
03:00Is that right?
03:01You played 3-1-2?
03:02Yeah, that's correct.
03:03Yeah.
03:03Politics student at Leeds from Newbury.
03:06You're joined by Steve Taylor.
03:08Steve is a very extraordinary man.
03:10He's a project manager from Darwin.
03:12Loves his sport.
03:13Used to play semi-pro football for Darwin.
03:16Is that right?
03:17Many years ago.
03:18Golfer?
03:19Currently play off 12 at Darwin, which is all right.
03:22We had a little chat before about your gambling.
03:25Tell us a little bit about this.
03:27You're a professional gambler.
03:28Yes.
03:30I've got five iPads all on different betting sites.
03:33And I bet mainly on cricket and rugby.
03:35All right.
03:35And sometimes get up in the middle of the night when it's only Australia.
03:39Well, I suppose it's a bit of a gamble here, actually.
03:42A lot of a gamble.
03:44Have a lot of fun, both of you.
03:45Big round of applause there for Andy and Steve.
03:53And over in the corner, Susie, of course.
03:55And joined once again by, it's a warm welcome back, too,
03:58to journalist and news presenter,
04:00and I might add, winner of this year's Royal Television Society
04:05Journalism Award for Nations and Regions Presenter of the Year.
04:08It's that wonderful Nina Hussain.
04:10Welcome back.
04:15Okay, Andy.
04:17Off we go.
04:18Afternoon, Rachel.
04:18Afternoon, Andy.
04:19Can I start with a consonant, please?
04:20Start today with L.
04:22And another.
04:24D.
04:25And a third.
04:27S.
04:28And a vowel, please.
04:30A.
04:31And another.
04:32E.
04:33And another.
04:34I.
04:35Consonant.
04:36N.
04:38Consonant.
04:39R.
04:40And a final vowel, please.
04:42And a final U.
04:44And here's the countdown clock.
05:17Andy.
05:18Try an eight.
05:20An eight.
05:20And Steve?
05:21A seven.
05:22And your seven would be insured.
05:26Andy.
05:27Unraised.
05:28Unraised hand.
05:30Very good.
05:31Yeah, in the dish, man.
05:34Thank you, Andy.
05:36And over in the corner.
05:37I'm gambling with my career being here because I only managed a four, which was sane.
05:42So I'm feeling a little insane at the moment.
05:47Susie, though, managed a nine.
05:49Laundries.
05:50Laundries.
05:51Right.
05:54Very good.
05:56Andy on eight.
05:57And now it's Steve's letters game.
05:59Steve.
05:59Hi, Rachel.
06:00Hi, Steve.
06:02A consonant, please.
06:04Start with S.
06:05And another.
06:07C.
06:09And a vowel.
06:11O.
06:12And a consonant.
06:14N.
06:15And a vowel.
06:17E.
06:20And another.
06:22A.
06:23And a consonant.
06:26S.
06:27And a consonant.
06:29C.
06:30And a vowel, please.
06:33And lastly, O.
06:35Stand by.
06:36And a vowel.
06:53And a vowel.
06:54And a vowel.
06:55And a vowel.
06:55And a vowel.
06:55And a vowel.
06:55And a vowel.
06:55And a vowel.
06:58And a vowel.
07:06Yes, Steve. A six. Andy? Six. Yes, Steve. Oceans. And? Scones.
07:15Scones. Indeed. Now, Nina and Susie.
07:18Let's stick with the watery theme. We've also got canoes.
07:23Canoes, yeah. Anything else? No, just sixes for us, too.
07:26Thank you. Now, 14 plays six, and now it's a numbers game for you, Andy.
07:32Try six more again, please. Six more. I'll go for the bottom row.
07:35Your usual favourite. Thank you, Andy.
07:37And the first challenge of the day is three, three, eight, two, ten, and another eight.
07:47And the target, 487.
07:50487.
08:21Andy? 488.
08:22And Steve? 482.
08:24And 482. Let's go with Andy, shall we, first?
08:27Ten times eight, times three, times two.
08:31Is 480.
08:32Plus the eight.
08:33Yeah, plus the other eight for one away.
08:36Mm.
08:37Pretty close.
08:38Is it possible to crack it completely?
08:40487?
08:41Lots of ways for one away, so leave it with me a second.
08:44Certainly will.
08:4521 plays six.
08:46Andy in the lead, and it's time for our first tea time teaser, which is gold thief.
08:51And the clue, the mine workers could increase their income many times over by pocketing bits of gold they found.
08:57The mine workers could increase their income many times over by pocketing bits of gold they found.
09:19Welcome back.
09:20I left with the clue, the mine workers could increase their income many times over by pocketing bits of gold
09:25they found.
09:26And the answer to that is eightfold.
09:30Eightfold.
09:30Talking about numbers, Rachel.
09:32You've got to smile.
09:33I know that smile.
09:35Yep, talking about pieces of eight, if you say eight plus eight is 16, times ten is 160.
09:43Add three for 163, times the other three for 489, and take away the two, 487.
09:50Perfect.
09:54Thank you, Rachel.
09:56487.
09:57Steve, off we go.
09:58It's a letters game.
10:00A consonant, please.
10:00Thank you, Steve.
10:01P.
10:03A consonant, please.
10:04W.
10:06A vowel.
10:07E.
10:09A vowel.
10:10I.
10:11Consonant.
10:13L.
10:15Consonant.
10:17R.
10:19Vowel.
10:21A.
10:23Consonant.
10:25M.
10:25And a vowel, please.
10:28And lastly, you.
10:30And it's Countdown.
10:32And it's Countdown.
11:03Well, Steve.
11:04Of a six.
11:05Andy.
11:06Seven.
11:07And Steve.
11:08Primal.
11:09Andy.
11:10Lumpia.
11:11Yes.
11:11Very good.
11:12That's seven.
11:13Lumpia.
11:14Now, Nina and Susie.
11:16Nina.
11:16No, I really struggled with that one.
11:18Horrible.
11:19Yeah, it wasn't very nice.
11:20Lumpia was the only one we could find as well.
11:2328 plays six.
11:24Andy, your letters game.
11:25Conson, please.
11:26Thank you, Andy.
11:28H.
11:29And another.
11:31T.
11:32And a third.
11:34C.
11:35And a vowel, please.
11:36I.
11:37And another.
11:38E.
11:39And another.
11:40I.
11:41And a fourth.
11:43O.
11:45A consonant, please.
11:47R.
11:48And a final consonant, please.
11:51And a final P.
11:54Stand by.
11:54A consonant, please.
12:25Andy
12:27Seven Steve a seven and the seven picture. Yes, Steve
12:31Can we match seven can we beat seven over in the corner there Nina and Susie you can beat it
12:37can't you?
12:38Well, yeah, you can put the second eye in picture and have pitch here
12:42To be pitches the color of pitch so to be really really dark pitch being the sticky black or dark
12:48brown substance
12:49You know a bit like asphalt or bitumen that kind of thing. Yeah, so picture would be fine for eight
12:55Thank you for that 35 plays 13 Steve. It's your numbers game now
12:59One large and five small please. Thank you Steve not gambling yet. Absolutely not
13:05Let's see one large five little and they are ten
13:09five nine
13:12four seven and the big one 25 and your target
13:16Six hundred and twenty five six to five
13:49Yes, Steve six to five and do sixty five off we go Steve
13:54seven at five at four at nine
13:57At four at nine twenty five times by twenty five perfect sixty five
14:02Andy slightly different added ten times five is fifty. Yeah times twenty five
14:08Times twenty five is twelve hundred fifty nine minus seven to two. Yeah, I'll divide it perfect
14:18Okay, so score standing forty five to twenty three in Andy's favor as we turn now to
14:23Nina Nina since we last here. There'd be some big stories
14:28How about that royal wedding? Oh, yeah, one of the nice stories. Um, yeah kick start that glorious summer of
14:342018 didn't it what a what a wonderful day?
14:37Um, I was tasked with
14:40Reporting on Megan Markle's departure from the hotel was meant to get the first glimpse of the dress that kind
14:46of thing
14:46And we'd managed ITN to after a cheeky tip off secure the final room in the hotel
14:53She was staying in so I was there the night before we didn't know what time she was going to
14:57arrive
14:57So we waited and we watched and we waited and eventually I had to leave
15:02I had to get to Windsor Castle to do a program from there on the build-up to the big
15:06day
15:06So I departed as soon as I left of course she arrived
15:09So my producer bless him was able to get all the information about
15:12Her and the entourage and the reaction from the hotel and the security which was all good for my
15:19Discussions the next day all fine
15:22The only downside to that
15:25Securing the room was I had to share a double room with my male producer and the double bed
15:29I mean the things we do in journalism for scoop
15:31Yeah, we both slept and neither of us snored so that was all good the next day
15:36We were down at the bottom of the glorious drive. I mean the the weather was superb the whole setting
15:42looked like Versailles
15:43And my big role was to to commentate on her
15:47Departure and it was this glorious regal departure in the Rolls-Royce my eyes were transfixed on the monitor
15:55The car drove slowly passed. I managed to sneak a glimpse of the dress. We think it was all over
16:01the shoulder
16:01Of course we now know it slightly was and it was only at that moment when she'd driven
16:07Away that I realized that I hadn't once turned around and actually looked at the car myself
16:13So I'd missed this moment this small moment in royal history so I'd managed to miss megan markle not once
16:20in 24 hours, but twice
16:28So 45 plays 23 and it's Andy in the lead that we turn to off we go Andy constant, please.
16:36Thank you Andy
16:37J J and another
16:40And another
16:41S and a third
16:43F and a vowel, please
16:45E and a second a and the third e and the fourth a
16:54A constant
16:56H and a final constant, please and a final n
17:01Stand by
17:04To react to communication
17:05Yup
17:26Like
17:26To find a way
17:26You're going to answer
17:27Share
17:27connect
17:27Or
17:27Find a girlfriend
17:27journal
17:27Select music
17:29Learn
17:32Andy.
17:33Five.
17:34Steve.
17:35Five.
17:36Andy.
17:37Jeans.
17:38And Steve.
17:39Say an ass.
17:40Any advance on five in the corner?
17:42A couple of fives.
17:44Sheaf and sheen.
17:46Yeah.
17:47Yeah, really tough.
17:48Nothing else?
17:48Nothing else at all.
17:49Five's all round.
17:50All right.
17:51Steve.
17:52Letters again.
17:53Consonant, please.
17:55Thank you, Steve.
17:56T.
17:57And a consonant.
17:59R.
18:00And a vowel, please.
18:02I.
18:04Consonant.
18:05V.
18:07Vowel.
18:09O.
18:10Vowel.
18:12I.
18:14Consonant.
18:16D.
18:17Vowel.
18:19I.
18:20And a consonant, please.
18:22And lastly, T.
18:25And it's countdown.
18:29Vowel.
18:30Vowel.
18:39Vowel.
18:56Well, Steve, only a four. Andy? Five.
19:01And Steve's four? Void.
19:03Yes, Andy.
19:04Divot.
19:05Yes.
19:06Not easy. What did the corner make of it?
19:08Yeah, I got the four of Void. A couple of sixes, though. Viroid?
19:13Yes, Viroid is a small, tiny, tiny thing, smaller than a virus. It affects plants, infects them.
19:21And a vidiot is also there. A vidiot is an undiscriminating watcher of TV or videotapes.
19:28A vidiot. What a vidiot. 55 to 28. Now, Andy, it's numbers time.
19:35Can I just have two large, please?
19:36You've changed. You don't want six more? Just the two from the top?
19:38No, I haven't.
19:39Four. Let's see how that plays out. Thank you, Andy.
19:41This time, the numbers are six, five, three, four on the large two.
19:4750 and 100.
19:49And a target, 224.
19:52Two, two, four.
19:53Two, three, four.
20:23Andy?
20:24Yeah, 224.
20:25Steve?
20:26223.
20:27Let's stick with Andy for the minute. Andy?
20:2950 plus six.
20:3156.
20:32Times four.
20:33Perfect. Simple as.
20:34That's it. Now, time for our second tea time teaser, which is lemur's bed.
20:40And the clue? The lemurs were all in bed and they slept so peacefully.
20:44The lemurs were all in bed and they slept so peacefully.
21:03Welcome back. I left you with a clue. The lemurs were all in bed and they slept so peacefully. In
21:07fact, they slumbered, Rachel.
21:1065 to 28 in Andy's favour. Steve? Your letters came.
21:15A consonant, please.
21:17Thank you, Steve.
21:18G?
21:19And another?
21:21M.
21:22And another?
21:24B.
21:25A vowel?
21:27E.
21:29And a vowel, please.
21:30I.
21:31A consonant.
21:33N.
21:35A consonant.
21:37T.
21:38A vowel.
21:40E.
21:42And a vowel, please.
21:43And the last one.
21:44O.
21:46Count to.
21:46A vowel.
21:48A vowel.
21:50A vowel.
21:54A vowel.
21:57A vowel.
22:02A vowel.
22:04A vowel.
22:04A vowel.
22:04A vowel.
22:04A vowel.
22:04A vowel.
22:13A vowel.
22:17Steve, just a five.
22:19A five, and...?
22:21I'll try a seven.
22:23Steve, begin.
22:25Andy?
22:26Toming.
22:27I think entombing would be there, Andy.
22:29Oh, actually, toming's there too.
22:31And it's actually Jamaican English
22:34for a ceremony carried out after the funeral of an individual.
22:37So it's when the grave is sealed with a tomb.
22:40Yeah, so it's in the dictionary. Well done.
22:43APPLAUSE
22:44Neil and Susie?
22:47Another seven, a boring meeting.
22:50Susie and the others?
22:51Sevens for us.
22:52That'll do.
22:54That'll do. Andy, your letters game.
22:57Constance, please.
22:58Thank you, Andy.
23:00S.
23:01And another.
23:02L.
23:03And a third.
23:05R.
23:06And a vowel, please.
23:08A.
23:09And another.
23:10E.
23:11And another.
23:12A.
23:13And the fourth.
23:15O.
23:16A consonant, please.
23:18N.
23:19And the final, uh, consonant.
23:22Final L.
23:24Stand by.
23:25OK.
23:26The next.
23:26What?
23:41I don't see.
23:51The next.
23:51And a one.
23:52I don't know.
23:55It's okay.
23:56Andy? Seven. And Steve? A seven. Andy's seven? A loners. How about Steve? A loners. How are you spelling that,
24:04Steve? A-L-O-N-E-R-S. A loners. I think loners are going to be in, but not
24:10a loners, I'm afraid. Sorry. Bad luck. What does the corner think? Nina? Two loners, the people on their own
24:17loners and the loners that gave us the seven. Right. Yeah.
24:21Anything else, Susie? Yeah, there is an eight there. In American English, Lano is a treeless grassy plain. It's spelled
24:29with a double L at the beginning. And then Llanero is someone who lives there. So L-L-A-N
24:34-E-R-O-S. I'll give you an eight.
24:36Well, well. Unusual. 79 to 28 as we turn to Susie. Now, Susie, you've been working hard on today's origins
24:47of words, I guess.
24:48Well, I'm going to apologise for a mistake that I make, which has been getting viewers incensed. Basically, pronunciation is
24:56quite a hot topic. It can always guarantee that someone's going to get annoyed at the way that something is
25:01pronounced, particularly if they see that pronunciation is changing over time.
25:05So I've spoken about mischievous, which is becoming mischievous. Other things that really get on people's nerves, specifically and sort
25:12of specifically and nuclear instead of nuclear.
25:17Thanks partly to the Simpsons, but also we've been having that debate for a very, very long time.
25:21The one thing that I get wrong, and thanks particularly to Amanda, who wrote in to complain about this very
25:26nicely.
25:27I say et cetera, apparently, rather than et cetera. So we'll try really hard not to say et cetera in
25:34future.
25:35But I had an email from John Pearce, who's asking about the pronunciation of a very specific word, and that
25:41is homage, meaning a special honour or respect.
25:44He said that's how he was brought up, pronouncing it as homage. He said, now most people, including the BBC,
25:50pronounce it as homage, sounding horrible and Frenchified, just like my hero Del Boy.
25:55And it is quite annoying, I agree, although I'm not really allowed to say that, being objective.
26:00But it is etymologically at least more accurate, because obviously it's from French.
26:04It came over with the Norman conquerors, and homage is obviously how you pronounce it in French.
26:10But that new sound, urge, over here, is actually etymologically, I say, more accurate,
26:17but it represents also something that we used to do quite a lot.
26:21So not just the urge bit, but the homage. We used to drop the H quite a lot in our
26:27pronunciation, because it was thought to be more correct.
26:29So you will find still some fairly posh people talk about hotels, rather than hotels.
26:37Humans, hospitals, host for a host, and you won't hear these these days, and abbot for a habit.
26:43Those sound very, very odd, but to say hotel is the one that you might just hear lingering a little
26:48bit.
26:48And that was similar to when we talk about the letter H.
26:52Kids these days are told not to say H, but in fact that was the way that we used to
26:58tell kids to spell it.
26:59In Victorian days it was thought to be more correct, and dropping your H's was the wrong thing to do.
27:04So H was the right way to pronounce it.
27:06So all these rules have been very, very circular.
27:09But the one thing, of course, that really gets on people's nerves is American pronunciation.
27:13I asked Nina. She hates schedule. She doesn't like that.
27:17John Humphreys hates leverage, which is probably the most standard pronunciation over here now, too, rather than leverage, which used
27:24to be the British spelling.
27:28Privacy. There are a few that we haven't ventured into, like niche for niche.
27:32Maybe it's only a matter of time.
27:35But the biggest debate of them all, and it's already appeared once today, is scone versus scone.
27:40And Oxford Dictionary's did a poll on this.
27:43Scone definitely came out top, but it is entirely regional.
27:47And in America they will say scone more often than scone.
27:50But although it's ended marriages and sort of been the cause of endless, furious debates in families,
27:56you can have either, and the dictionary will tell you so.
28:05Can you have either as well?
28:07You can have either or either.
28:0979 plays 28, Andy on 79.
28:12Steve, your letters go.
28:14A consonant, please.
28:15Thank you, Steve.
28:16R.
28:17And another.
28:18D.
28:20And a third.
28:21N.
28:23And a vowel.
28:24U.
28:26A vowel.
28:27A.
28:28A consonant.
28:30R.
28:32Vowel.
28:34I.
28:35A vowel.
28:38O.
28:38O.
28:39And a consonant, please.
28:40And the last one, T.
28:42Stand by.
28:43Go.
28:44I.
28:45I.
28:55I.
28:58I.
29:04I.
29:14Steve, an eight. Andy?
29:17Eight, two. Here we go. Steve?
29:19Duration. And duration.
29:27How does the corner cope?
29:29Duration, yes. All round?
29:31Definitely the longest, yes. Thank you.
29:33Thank you. Andy, final letters came for you.
29:37Conson, please. Thank you, Andy.
29:39T. And a second.
29:42W. And a third.
29:45G. A vowel, please.
29:47U. And another.
29:49I. And a third.
29:52E. A constant.
29:54N. A constant.
29:58S. And a final vowel, please.
30:00A final O.
30:02Stand by.
30:04BELL RINGS
30:32I'm the Sudden.
30:35Steve.
30:36A seven.
30:37Yes, Andy.
30:37Ousting.
30:39Ousting and outings.
30:41Outings.
30:42Yes.
30:42Both very good.
30:44And in the corner?
30:45Nina, Susie?
30:46A couple of fives for me.
30:47Guests and guys.
30:48You've got the outwings.
30:50Yes, there's twinges for another seven.
30:52And there is an eight there.
30:54It's quite a poetic and rare verb to outwing, which is to fly faster or to escape by flying.
31:01We've been talking about flying.
31:02And outwings will give you an eight.
31:07Thanks, Susie.
31:10Final numbers game for Steve.
31:12One large and five small, please.
31:14Thank you, Steve.
31:15One from the top.
31:15And we'll go with these five small ones.
31:18And the final numbers of the day are one, nine, seven, six, one.
31:25And the large one, 25.
31:27And the target, 411.
31:29411.
31:31411.
31:32411.
31:58411.
32:01Steve.
32:03411.
32:04Andy.
32:05409.
32:07So, Steve.
32:089 add seven.
32:1016.
32:11Is 16.
32:1425 add one.
32:1626.
32:17Times them together.
32:18416.
32:20Take away six.
32:21410.
32:22Add one.
32:23Perfect.
32:23411.
32:23Very well done.
32:24Good man.
32:28That's a good win.
32:29That's a good win.
32:30So, 94 to 53.
32:32Into the final round.
32:34Into the final round.
32:36Fingers on buzzers.
32:37Let's roll today's countdown conundrum.
32:55Yes, Steve.
32:56No, I thought it was offering, but it's not.
32:58I'd like Andy and you.
33:17No, we're foxed up here.
33:18Two good players as well.
33:20So, who in the audience will take the plunge?
33:23You, sir.
33:24Forgoing.
33:25Forgoing.
33:26Let's see whether you're right.
33:28Well done.
33:33That's how it's done.
33:34So, well played Steve.
33:37Very well played Andy.
33:39I'll come back to you in a second.
33:40Steve, you played well.
33:41Thanks.
33:41Played well indeed.
33:42Good luck.
33:43You take this goodie bag back to Darwin.
33:45And those five iPads of yours.
33:48And your little son.
33:49You've got a little son that...
33:51Yes, he's three now.
33:53Excellent.
33:54Yeah.
33:54So, is he taking interest in any of your pursuits?
33:57All my pursuits.
33:58All right.
33:59These are three.
34:00All right.
34:01Well done.
34:01We'll see you tomorrow Andy.
34:03Yep, we'll do.
34:03Congratulations.
34:05Well played.
34:06Nina, see you tomorrow and Susie too.
34:08Definitely.
34:08Of course you will.
34:09All right.
34:09And Rachel.
34:10See you tomorrow.
34:11I'll be back tomorrow.
34:12Same time.
34:13Same place.
34:13You be sure of it.
34:14A very good afternoon.
34:16You can contact the programme by email at countdown at channel4.com, by Twitter at c4countdown, or write
34:23to us at countdown leads LS3 1JS.
34:26You can also find our webpage at channel4.com, forward slash countdown.
34:43Thank you so much.
34:50All right.
34:52Thank you so much.