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00:30Hello, everybody. It's Tuesday, October the 15th.
00:34Welcome to Countdown Series 90, well and truly in stride.
00:38And another chance today for one of you to nab a teapot
00:41and a little slice of Countdown history.
00:43Thank you so much for tuning in. How are you doing, Rachel?
00:45Very well. How are you, Colin?
00:46Good. One of our favourites we can talk about today,
00:49because in this day in 1973,
00:51Dolly Parton released a track to this day,
00:54remains iconic because, of course, this year,
00:56Beyoncé covered it on her hugely successful
01:00and brilliant Cowboy Carter album.
01:02Jolene was released in this day in 1970.
01:05Lovely.
01:05Yes, now you know what's coming, but don't worry.
01:07I'm going to bring in Susie and Maggie for this.
01:11It is...
01:12A music quiz.
01:13A music quiz, but you've got to guess the song
01:16which has a female name in it.
01:19OK.
01:20OK.
01:20Now, this is what happens.
01:22Rachel goes, I'm not very good at these, and then wins.
01:25So, let's see.
01:26Right.
01:26Are you ready, you two?
01:27Yeah.
01:28OK.
01:29Definitely an overplayed song,
01:31but just don't tell that to the Boston Red Sox
01:33or the Lionesses.
01:35Come on, I...
01:37No, no, it's the other one.
01:37Sweet Caroline.
01:38Yes, see, I told you.
01:40I had two in my head.
01:41I was getting one of them.
01:41You play possum.
01:42You play possum, and then you get it right.
01:46I can't do the next one now.
01:47The next one's Come on, Eileen.
01:49Yes, there's some that you can just enter the answer
01:52before you've had the question.
01:53You know it's coming.
01:54Come on, Eileen.
01:55Well, just for...
01:55All right, well, that's a surprise.
01:56Go on.
01:56John and Paul wrote about Eleanor and Rita
01:59and Julia and Martha and many more,
02:03but only one had diamonds on.
02:05Oh, Lucy in the Sky.
02:06Lucy, yeah.
02:07This is a clean sweep.
02:08I'm just going to end it here.
02:09Well done.
02:11So, let's officially get to Dictionary Corner
02:14and wake up, little Susie, and wake up, Maggie,
02:17because your names and songs both get woken up,
02:19which you absolutely love.
02:21Great to have you here.
02:22Yes.
02:25And we have a new champion in Laura Groves,
02:28born in California, living in Clan Dugno,
02:31journeyed all over the world,
02:32and animals, as we know from the cat blouse yesterday,
02:35in your head and in your heart.
02:37So, Vette, was that your first choice?
02:39Yes, either that or astronaut.
02:42Oh, well...
02:42Yeah, kindred spirit.
02:45Laura, great to have you.
02:46You're up against Neil Holland from Lincolnshire,
02:49but living in Birmingham.
02:50How are you, sir?
02:51Fine, thank you.
02:51Yeah, a bit nervous, but...
02:52Good. Yeah, everyone is.
02:53Don't worry about it.
02:54I'm nervous, too.
02:55We usually don't talk about professions,
02:57but there were two interesting conversations.
02:59So, you're a baker, but you weren't...
03:01You had, like, a sort of complaint,
03:02right, OK, I'm going to change my career.
03:04Yeah, yeah.
03:05So, it's kind of...
03:05Oh, it's actually when I was 40,
03:07so I don't know if it is, like, a midlife crisis,
03:08but it's lasted seven years so far,
03:10so it seems to be sticking.
03:12But, yeah, I just needed a real change, really,
03:15of ways.
03:16So, it's really nice.
03:18So, working at a bakery, it's a cooperative,
03:19we kind of...
03:20We all make decisions together
03:22and decide how we run the business ourselves.
03:24So, yeah, it's a really nice environment to work in.
03:27Lovely stuff.
03:28Right, let's see what happens between Neil and Laura.
03:30Best of luck to both, dear.
03:33And, Laura, you had to wait yesterday,
03:35not today's champion.
03:36You get to choose first.
03:37Hi, Rachel.
03:38Hi, Laura.
03:38May I please have a consonant?
03:40You may indeed.
03:41N.
03:43And a vowel?
03:44E.
03:45And another vowel?
03:47U.
03:48A consonant?
03:50S.
03:51Another consonant, please.
03:53R.
03:54And one more consonant, please.
03:56M.
03:57A vowel, please.
03:59A.
04:01Another vowel, please.
04:03U.
04:05And a final consonant.
04:07Final N.
04:08At home and in the studio.
04:09Let's play Countdown.
04:11Let's play Countdown.
04:41OK, Laura.
04:42Seven.
04:43Seven for you.
04:43And Neil.
04:44It's seven as well.
04:45Seven as well.
04:46Let's get you both on the board.
04:47Laura.
04:48Manners.
04:49And for you, please.
04:50Manures.
04:51Manures and manners.
04:52All good?
04:52Yeah, very good.
04:53Excellent.
04:54Maggie, is that as good as it gets?
04:55Well, actually, I have to put the space hat on,
04:58because we had Sun, three,
04:59and we had Mars, four,
05:01and Uranus, six.
05:04Ah, wonderful.
05:05And then surname and manners.
05:08Both seven, I believe.
05:10Yeah, so seven, but a journey into space,
05:12which we loved.
05:13Neil, we have space for nine more letters.
05:16It's you.
05:16Hi, Rachel.
05:17Hi, Neil.
05:17Could I have a consonant, please?
05:19You can indeed.
05:20S.
05:21And a vowel.
05:23I.
05:24And another consonant.
05:26B.
05:27And another consonant, please.
05:29G.
05:30And a vowel.
05:32E.
05:33And another consonant.
05:35R.
05:37One more consonant, please.
05:39N.
05:40Another vowel.
05:42O.
05:43And a final consonant, please.
05:47Final W.
05:48Start the clock.
05:49All the snow-
05:50And another vowel.
06:04You
06:11we'll be right back.
06:12Bye-bye.
06:14Take care.
06:17Bye-bye.
06:18Bye-bye.
06:20That's time, Neil.
06:21Eight.
06:22And for you, Laura?
06:23Also eight.
06:24See if it's the same, Neil?
06:26Browsing.
06:27Browsing.
06:28And for you, Laura?
06:28I also have browsing.
06:30You need to browse that, Neil.
06:32Excellent.
06:32Eight points each, browsing.
06:34Really interesting letters.
06:36What did we find?
06:37Is that another eight, sobering?
06:39That is sobering.
06:40I was waiting for a maximum.
06:41Oh, no.
06:42Bowering is another lovely one.
06:44Sort of shading or enclosing.
06:46OK, so I thought that's what you were going to go with,
06:48the S and the N.
06:49Ah, no.
06:50Only there as part of a verb.
06:53Not there as a no.
06:54I would have got nothing then.
06:55I would have declared the maximum.
06:56Punch the air.
06:57No points.
06:58Fifteen points each.
07:00Numbers, please, Laura.
07:02May I please try four large again?
07:04You may indeed.
07:05The big guns.
07:06Four big ones.
07:07Two little ones.
07:09And the little ones.
07:10Eight and four.
07:12And we know.
07:12Twenty-five.
07:14One hundred.
07:14Fifty and seventy-five.
07:16And you need to reach two hundred and seventy-five.
07:20Two-seven-five.
07:21Numbers up.
07:21Bye.
07:22Bye.
07:32Bye.
07:532.75. Easy on the sofa, but here a little different.
07:57Laura? Yes, 2.75. And for you, Neil?
07:59Yep, 2.75. OK, off you go, Laura.
08:0150 times 4? 200. 75.
08:04Not the challenge you were hoping for. Neil?
08:06I did it differently, actually. 4 times 75, take away 25.
08:11No extra points. There you go.
08:13APPLAUSE
08:15Quarter century each, as we get our first Tea Time teaser of Tuesday,
08:18it's noose tap. Noose tap.
08:21Silverware for a stirring cup performance.
08:23Silverware for a stirring cup performance.
08:26MUSIC
08:33APPLAUSE
08:35APPLAUSE
08:43Welcome back.
08:44Silverware for a stirring cup performance.
08:45A teaspoon is what we were looking for.
08:48Very much up for the cup is our challenger, Neil Holland.
08:51It's 25 points apiece.
08:52Great start, long way to go. Let's get more letters.
08:55Could I have a vowel, please, Rachel? Thank you, Neil.
08:57E.
08:58And another vowel.
09:00O.
09:01And one more.
09:03A.
09:04And a consonant.
09:05G.
09:07And another consonant, please.
09:08R.
09:09And another consonant.
09:11M.
09:12And one more.
09:14T.
09:15Erm, and a vowel, please.
09:19E.
09:20And one more consonant.
09:22Lastly, R.
09:24And 30 seconds.
09:26R.
09:26R.
09:27R.
09:29It's just a moment.
09:56The letter you turn on to theokedronaut.
09:56Time's up, Neil. Just six. A six then for you, Laura. Seven. A seven, a six.
10:02Merger. What did you spot, Laura? Greater. And greater. Yes, more than. Very good indeed.
10:09Which it was, by one letter, so seven points for you. And for Maggie. Greater.
10:14Yeah, and that's it. Right. We'll move on, straight on. Next letters, and Laura.
10:18May I please have a consonant, Rachel? Thank you, Laura. Q. And a vowel.
10:23A vowel. I. You have another vowel. E. You have another vowel.
10:29A helpful U. May I have a consonant? S. Another consonant, please. H.
10:36And another consonant. G.
10:40Another consonant, please. D.
10:46And a final consonant. A final W. Let's do it.
11:13Thank you, Laura.
11:23Laura. Six. And for Neil.
11:25That's seven, I think. There's six, Laura.
11:28Whished. What do you think is a seven?
11:31Squidge. Squidge.
11:33It's a brilliant word, and it's in the dictionary. Well done.
11:36That's brilliant.
11:38Maybe it has a different meaning than what we're thinking, but is it just a little bit?
11:41A squidge of something?
11:42Yeah, you can say that in the dictionary. It says to squidge the mosquito, for example, or to make a
11:49squelching noise, as in you squidge through the mud.
11:52Right. Squidge it is. What a beautiful word.
11:54Yes, it is, and that was ours as well.
11:56We will not better that today, I would imagine.
11:58Let's get back to the numbers, then, and you're choosing for the first time today. Neil.
12:02Can I have two large, four small ones?
12:04And another attempt to separate you two, sticking together today.
12:08This time, small numbers are six, four, eight, and six, and the large two, 25 and 100, and the target,
12:19837.
12:21837. Numbers up.
12:53Time's up, Neil.
12:55837.
12:56Yeah, and Laura?
12:57I have 841.
13:00Missed it by a four. Neil, 10-point lead, if you're right.
13:048 times 100.
13:06800.
13:07Add the 25 and the two sixes.
13:10Well done.
13:11837.
13:11You have to see it.
13:14You have to see it.
13:15It's hard to be easy.
13:16You have to see it.
13:17No worries there, Laura.
13:19But Neil, you're in the lead.
13:19Well done to you, as we grab a breath and have a chat with Maggie Adderan-Pocock.
13:24And we talked about the James Webb Telescope yesterday, in lieu of your new book.
13:28What are we learning about our planets already from the James Webb Telescope?
13:32Yes, because the James Webb Telescope, because we mentioned yesterday that it's an infrared telescope,
13:37so it sits one and a half million kilometers away from Earth.
13:41And it doesn't look towards the inner solar system.
13:43It has to look out into deep, dark space.
13:45Because if it looks towards the sun or looks towards the Earth, it will be totally dazzled.
13:49And so we can see the outer planets.
13:51And if you look at the ice giants, they're way out there in space.
13:55And sort of Neptune and Uranus, they're out there and we're looking at them.
13:59Now, we've discovered things from flybys, from Voyager and things like that.
14:03But now we're getting a sort of a more detailed look at them using the James Webb.
14:08It's infrared light, so you don't actually see it as it would be,
14:11because we can't pick up infrared light with our eyes.
14:14But we're learning that Uranus, for instance, is a planet on its side.
14:18So most planets spin this way and they orbit around the sun.
14:22Uranus spins this way.
14:23And so its poles, as it goes around the sun, one pole gets 42 years of sunlight
14:28and the other one is 42 years of darkness.
14:30And then when it's on the other side of the solar system, it's vice versa.
14:34So we knew about this, but actually seeing sort of the weather patterns
14:37and things like that in the infrared is giving us a better understanding of these planets.
14:40Here's a really ignorant point.
14:43Sure it's not.
14:44But, you know, I think that's always good for conversations.
14:46You know, I'm not a space scientist, you know.
14:48Surely it's just going to expand and expand and expand.
14:50The more we see, the more planets we discover, right?
14:53Well, so to a certain extent, yes.
14:56But the thing is, our solar system is sort of contained.
14:59But we do look further out and we're discovering some of these smaller planets,
15:03which we call the dwarf planets.
15:04Yeah.
15:05And as our telescopes get bigger and better, we are discovering more out there.
15:09And that's one of the reasons.
15:10I don't...
15:11There's talk of a sort of planet X or planet 9.
15:14Yeah.
15:14And there's lots of sort of ideas that there might be another planet out there.
15:18But when you're going into the outer solar system,
15:20because the orbits are so large...
15:22Planet 9, for instance, could have an orbit that goes around the sun,
15:26which is over 1,000 years.
15:28Yes.
15:28In which case, often we won't see it because we're behind the sun.
15:31So there could be these things out there,
15:33but it will take us a long time to discover them
15:34because of their different orbits.
15:36Love it.
15:36And I know there's a lot of debate and controversy about Pluto being demoted,
15:40but if you spend that much money in the transfer window,
15:43there has to be a penalty as far as I'm concerned.
15:45Maggie, thank you very much.
15:49OK, back to the game here on planet Earth.
15:53And Laura, you're choosing the letters.
15:55Rachel, may I please have a consonant?
15:57Thank you, Laura.
15:58C.
15:59And a vowel.
16:01O.
16:02Another vowel, please.
16:04I.
16:05And a consonant.
16:06T.
16:07Another consonant, please.
16:09N.
16:11Another one, please.
16:12T.
16:13And a vowel.
16:15U.
16:18And another vowel.
16:21E.
16:22And a consonant.
16:23And lastly, S.
16:26Goodness me.
16:28Here we go.
16:28I.
16:29Let's go.
16:29What the heck would be?
16:35What the heck?
16:45What the heck?
16:59Time's up. Laura?
17:00Seven.
17:01And Neil? Eight.
17:03OK, Laura, what have you got?
17:05Section.
17:06Section and Neil?
17:07Counties.
17:08Well spotted.
17:09That does get you eight points.
17:12What have we got in the dictionary corner?
17:13We have counties as well.
17:15Excellent.
17:15Let's leave it at that and move on to the next letters round.
17:19And it's with you, Neil.
17:20Could I have a vowel, please, Rachel?
17:22Thank you, Neil.
17:23A.
17:24And another?
17:25I.
17:26And one more.
17:28E.
17:29And a consonant?
17:30P.
17:31And another?
17:33T.
17:34And another one?
17:35L.
17:38And another one?
17:40N.
17:41And a vowel, please.
17:44I.
17:44And a final consonant.
17:48A final Y.
17:50And half a minute.
18:01Bye-bye.
18:02MUSIC PLAYS
18:21Neil?
18:22I think I've got a seven.
18:24And for Laura?
18:25Also a seven.
18:26And what is it, Neil?
18:28Ineptly.
18:29Ineptly, we will check it.
18:30And Laura?
18:31Penalty.
18:32Penalty, we're OK with.
18:34Ineptly, happy?
18:35Love it.
18:36Love an adverb.
18:36Well done.
18:37Excellent.
18:37What else have we got?
18:39Anything to beat that?
18:39A pan tile.
18:40A pan tile?
18:41Yes, a roof tile.
18:42Yeah, that's all.
18:43Good sevens all aboard.
18:45That stops the rot a little bit, Laura.
18:47Gets you backscoring again, which is good,
18:49as we get our third numbers round.
18:51And you're choosing them.
18:52May I please try four large?
18:54I thought you might say that.
18:55Four from the top.
18:56Two little.
18:57I don't need to twist your arm to gamble.
18:58These two little ones are six and nine.
19:02And the large ones, 25, 50, 100, and 75.
19:07And with them, you need to make 789.
19:117, 8, 9.
19:12Numbers up.
19:131, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1.
19:447-8-9. Tricky one, Laura?
19:477-8-7.
19:497-8-7 is a really good effort. Two away. Neil?
19:527-9-1.
19:53Two away the other side.
19:55So we'll take it one at a time. Laura, two below.
19:599 by 7.
20:01How did you make your 7?
20:039 by 75.
20:049 by 75.
20:08Add 100, please.
20:097-7-5.
20:10And then 50 divided by 25 is 2.
20:14Yep.
20:15Multiply that by the 6 and add it on.
20:187-8-7, two below.
20:20Nice. Two above, please, Neil.
20:21So did 100 plus 25...
20:24125.
20:25Times 6.
20:26Times 6, 750.
20:28Add 50 and take away the 9.
20:30Yep. Two the other way.
20:32OK, so two the other way. Can you split the difference, Rachel?
20:36You're going to have to leave it with me again.
20:387-8-9. We will leave hanging as we get our second Tea Time teaser
20:42of this Tuesday afternoon.
20:44Sam, Colin.
20:45Sam, Colin.
20:46Sam and Colin had very little to say to each other.
20:49Sam and Colin had very little to say to each other.
21:12Laconism or Laconism, which I'm assuming, Susie, comes from laconic.
21:16Yes, which means using speech sparingly.
21:21And there was a kingdom, Laconia, in Sparta, in ancient Greece,
21:24and they were known for not saying a lot.
21:26Wow.
21:26Yeah.
21:26Rachel Riley has something to say about 7-8-9.
21:30Yes, just a few more seconds, and then you can say 50 over 25 is 2.
21:376-2 is 4.
21:39100 minus 4 is 96.
21:4296 times 9 is 864.
21:45And take away the 75. 7-8-9.
21:47Brilliant.
21:48APPLAUSE
21:50So, here we are, our newly crowned champion Laura Groves has 46 points.
21:55Our challenger, Neil Holland, out in front, was 64.
21:58But in countdown terms, with six rounds left, that is not a comfortable lead.
22:03So, let's see what happens.
22:04Neil, your letters.
22:05Can I have a consonant, please, Rachel?
22:07Thank you, Neil.
22:08R.
22:09And a vowel.
22:11A.
22:12And a consonant, please.
22:14P.
22:15And another.
22:16G.
22:18And a vowel.
22:20O.
22:21And another vowel.
22:24E.
22:25And a consonant.
22:27L.
22:28And another consonant.
22:30R.
22:31And a final consonant, please.
22:35A final G.
22:36And kind down.
22:38Rtv.
22:38р
23:07OK, Neil, how many?
23:09Six.
23:10Six for you.
23:11And Laura?
23:11Six.
23:12And a six.
23:13What have you got, Neil?
23:14Gargle.
23:15Gargle and Laura?
23:16Lager.
23:17Yes.
23:18Lager and gargle and loads of sixes, but I'm hoping for better.
23:23I think we've got a seven.
23:25A pergola.
23:26Oh, nice.
23:26Not much use for those at the moment.
23:28No, to shade you from what's on is the question.
23:31Yes.
23:32Good.
23:32All right, more letters please.
23:34Jump.
23:34May I please have a consonant, Rachel?
23:36Thank you, Laura.
23:38S.
23:39And another consonant.
23:41L.
23:42And one more.
23:44P.
23:45Now may I have a vowel, please?
23:46I.
23:48And another.
23:48E.
23:50And one more.
23:51O.
23:52And a consonant, please?
23:55T.
23:56Another consonant, please?
23:58M.
23:59And a final vowel.
24:01Final E.
24:03Good luck.
24:05T.
24:05TUNES
24:07TUNES
24:07TUNES
24:07TUNES
24:08TUNES
24:09TUNES
24:23TUNES
24:35Laura.
24:36Seven.
24:37And Neil.
24:38Just the sixes.
24:39Just the sixes.
24:40The sixes?
24:41Polite.
24:42And seven to pull you back to within 11 points.
24:47I used a letter twice.
24:49We knew something was up straight away, Laura.
24:52The way you sat back in the seat.
24:53We knew there was a problem.
24:55OK, let's get over to Dictionary Corner.
24:57Then Neil takes so six points.
24:59The biggest twist of today's programme so far.
25:01What did you have, Maggie?
25:02An eight.
25:05Milepost.
25:05Oh, a milepost.
25:07Yes.
25:07Proper old school, that.
25:08It is, yes.
25:10Yeah, you still see them.
25:11We use it metaphorically as well, don't we?
25:14But milepost.
25:15Otherwise, a few sevens.
25:16Empties, poetise, that kind of thing.
25:17Yeah, can you be the mopiest?
25:19Mopiest?
25:19Mopiest is very good too.
25:20Mopiest is in there as well.
25:21Yes.
25:21A lot of people at home will want those seven points.
25:23If they're playing along with Neil's six, the only one that counted.
25:27All right, let's have a look at it then.
25:29The gap grows to 24 points.
25:32Four rounds to play.
25:33Origins of words.
25:34Denticles.
25:35Well, very coincidentally, I am going to answer an email from Les Rogers in Staffordshire,
25:41who's asking about a loaf of bread.
25:43Hey.
25:44And he says, why loaf?
25:46Where does the word loaf come from?
25:47I can't think of anything else that it applies to.
25:49And that's true.
25:51Although we use it in Cockney rhyming slang, use your loaf, loaf of bread head.
25:55Yeah.
25:55But it's still very much annexed to bread.
25:58And it goes back to an ancient root, meaning a piece or a fragment or a morsel.
26:03But loaf was very much the general term in Anglo-Saxon society for bread itself.
26:09And it was incredibly important.
26:13And etymologists always loved the fact that the words lord and lady derive from the loaf.
26:19Because the Old English, chlaford, was guardian of the bread, and the chlafdiger was a kneader of the bread.
26:26So that was the lord and lady, respectively.
26:29And the chlaf eater, sorry, my Anglo-Saxon pronunciation is probably not brilliant, but that was a loaf eater.
26:36And that was used to describe a servant who consumed the bread that was supplied by the lord.
26:42And it's quite similar in that sense to a beef eater, because the word beef eater was originally used quite
26:49contemptuously of a servant that was particularly well fed.
26:52So a servant was the loaf eater.
26:54But bread crops up in so many expressions in English, and it just shows how important it has been in
26:59our society through the centuries.
27:01So we have the breadwinner, which is, you know, incredibly important.
27:06You don't know on which side your bread is buttered, et cetera.
27:09And there are really important histories behind them.
27:12So bread has just, you know, you can see its wonderful, delicious thread through English, and you can sense that
27:19importance.
27:20And I just love the fact that lord and lady was once all about who made the bread.
27:24Lovely.
27:28That's Susie Dent, ladies and gentlemen, the only person in the world who's ever apologised for a pronunciation of Anglo
27:33-Saxon.
27:34Four rounds to go.
27:36Neil, you still have to get over that line.
27:38Let's see if you can do it.
27:39A vowel, please, Rachel.
27:40Thank you, Neil.
27:42A.
27:42And another.
27:43I.
27:45And one more.
27:46O.
27:47And a consonant.
27:49S.
27:50And another consonant.
27:51L.
27:52And another.
27:54T.
27:55And one more.
27:57D.
27:59And a vowel, please.
28:01E.
28:02And a final consonant.
28:05A final S.
28:06And let's play.
28:07I.
28:08I.
28:38Neil.
28:40I think I've got a seven.
28:42And Laura.
28:43I'm going to try a nine.
28:44Yeah, really interesting letters.
28:46OK, Neil, what do you think?
28:48Tasseled.
28:49Tasseled.
28:50OK, Laura, what are you going to attempt?
28:52Soda lights.
28:54Oh, well, first of all, tasseled needs two Es.
28:57So you can't just spell it with the seven without that middle one.
29:01And, oh, I feel so bad about this.
29:03Soda light is brilliant.
29:04It's in the dictionary.
29:05It's a blue mineral, but it's a math noun.
29:07So you can't put the S on it.
29:09I have it there with parentheses.
29:11It's a brilliant H if you'd left it there.
29:14I'm so sorry.
29:15Oh, there's been so many, just huge moments in this game.
29:19Soda light there, but not soda lights as declared.
29:22Well done, Laura, for having a crack at it.
29:24So an open goal for Susie and Maggie.
29:27Well, we already know you have an eight, right?
29:30With soda light, yeah?
29:31Diastole.
29:33Diastole is all about your heartbeat and your diastolic blood pressure, for example.
29:38It's the phase of the heartbeat when the heart muscle relaxes and its chambers filled with blood.
29:42Well, listen, Neil's heart is beating fast because he knows he's just three rounds away from a teapot.
29:48But the job not done yet, Laura.
29:50Stranger things have happened.
29:51We've just proven, actually, you nearly had the nine there.
29:54It would have turned the game on its head.
29:55Let's see if you can do it here in the last letters.
29:57All right, may I have a consonant, please?
29:58Thank you, Laura.
30:00V.
30:00And another consonant, please?
30:03T.
30:03And a vowel?
30:05O.
30:06Another vowel, please?
30:07I.
30:08A consonant?
30:09B.
30:11A vowel?
30:13O.
30:15Another vowel?
30:17E.
30:18A consonant?
30:20N.
30:21And a final consonant?
30:23A final H.
30:25And last letters?
30:26E.
30:27E.
30:28E.
30:34E.
30:35E.
30:36E.
30:36E.
30:36E.
30:36E.
30:56OK, something has to give here.
30:58Laura?
30:58Five.
30:59And for you, Neil?
31:00A six.
31:01And a six.
31:02That would seal the deal.
31:04Laura, what did you spot?
31:05Truth.
31:06Booth.
31:07And for you, Neil?
31:09Bovine.
31:09He did.
31:10Don't have a cow.
31:11He spotted the bovine.
31:13He's sealed the deal.
31:14Again, we're swapping champions.
31:16Well done to you.
31:19All right, what have we got in the dictionary corner?
31:21Benito.
31:22Oh, nice.
31:23Yes, it sounds like a Madonna song, doesn't it?
31:25But it's a small tuner with dark stripes.
31:27OK.
31:28Yeah.
31:28There you go.
31:29At 52.82, two more rounds to go.
31:33So let's enjoy them.
31:34Neil, your numbers.
31:36Two large and the rest small, please.
31:38A nice numbers game, just for our enjoyment.
31:41There we go.
31:42Oh, I like it.
31:43Four little ones.
31:44Two.
31:45Seven.
31:46One.
31:47Nine.
31:48And the large one's 125.
31:50And the target?
31:52648.
31:52Six, four, eight.
31:54Numbers up.
32:256-4-8 is the target. Neil?
32:27Yep, 6-4-8.
32:28Got it. And Laura?
32:29Yes, 6-4-8.
32:31Yes, it was a fairly relaxed round, that. Neil, off you go.
32:34100 times 7.
32:35100 times 7. 700.
32:3825 plus 1 times the 2.
32:4152.
32:42Take that away.
32:42Perfect. 6-4-8.
32:44I think it might be the same way in.
32:45It did it the same way.
32:46Yeah. Well done, 10.6.
32:50OK, Laura's going home with a teapot.
32:53Neil's getting his teapot, but not until we round this off.
32:57Fingers on the buzzers, please, as we reveal today's Countdown Conundrum.
33:27Laura.
33:28Is it a rendition?
33:30Let's have a look.
33:31Yes, well done.
33:34Took your time, but you got there two for two in the Countdown Conundrums
33:38after crucially yesterday and today's rendition as well.
33:43Well, well done to you.
33:44Teapot secured.
33:46Safe home the clan don't know.
33:48And Neil, you're going to have to hang around a little bit more, mate.
33:50On to the championship.
33:51Well done.
33:52Fantastic.
33:53Thank you, Maggie.
33:53Thank you, Susie.
33:55You're on your own now, right?
33:56Well, I just wanted to say it's been really nice working with Susie
33:59for all these years, but obviously once Anglo-Saxon Twitter gets hold of her,
34:03she'll be cancelled by the morning.
34:05I know.
34:06That was one of the most Susie moments of all time, wasn't it?
34:10I need to be able to pronounce Old English better.
34:12It's on my hit list.
34:14Yeah, it's safe to say it's not on mine.
34:17We'll see you back here tomorrow, same time, same place.
34:19You can count on us.
34:22You can contact the programme by email at countdown at channel4.com.
34:26You can also find our webpage at channel4.com forward slash countdown.