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00:00Welcome to Wednesday's edition of Countdown, and what a joyous day it is here today.
00:05Why? Because it's Rachel's 26th birthday.
00:18And a very happy birthday to you, young lady.
00:21Thank you very much. I'm feeling a bit old today, actually.
00:2326 was always my old age in my head, because my mum got married when she was 26.
00:28And it's a different box, isn't it?
00:29You stick 18 to 25, or 26 to 40, so I'm 26 to 40 now.
00:34Yeah, try 67.
00:36Do you even remember what you did when you were 26, Nick?
00:39Vaguely. It was in 1970, and I seem to recall hard times.
00:44I think I'd just crept up to about £8 a week at the time.
00:49And in today's money, what's that worth?
00:51Well, I sometimes earn that in an hour.
00:55Not every hour, obviously.
00:57You've been deaf in the world.
00:58Quite. So, if you're a very, very good girl, a very good birthday girl, we may have something for you
01:06at the end of the show.
01:07Oh, I like diamonds.
01:09Yeah.
01:10Yes, well, don't hold your breath on that score.
01:12Now then, we've got Jack back. We've got Jack back for his fourth game, our incumbent champion, and for those
01:20who are careless enough to miss his previous performances, which were extraordinary.
01:24He's a gap year student from Blackpool, and he wants to be either an accountant or a criminologist, and I'm
01:30urging him to take up accountancy if he wants to earn more than eight quid an hour, or in here
01:34today.
01:36Favourite book I've got here is Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck's great book, which I remember so well.
01:42Paul Lenny, and there was something about, he crushed a mouse?
01:47Yes.
01:47Yeah. And I remember when I was a kid at school, having a wrestle with a pal of mine, and
01:54we were rolling around on the floor, and suddenly his face froze in horror, and he put his hands in
02:01his pocket, and he withdrew a dead white mouse.
02:05And he said, you owe me one and six.
02:09That's so distinct. Anyway, enough of the brutality of schoolboy pranks. Welcome also to Barry Williams. Barry, you're a tax
02:16advisor from Newton Longville near Milton Heen.
02:20So you help people. You're not a tax inspector.
02:22Not anymore. I used to be.
02:24Well, that was a good career decision. Get out of that.
02:28You sing, you play the guitar in a local band, and you volunteer at the Stables Theatre, which, of course,
02:35is the Cleo Lane, Johnny Danquist.
02:36That's right, yes.
02:37I've been there. Wonderful.
02:39Yes, it's lovely.
02:39Before Johnny's gone.
02:41Unfortunately, yes. Last year, yes.
02:43Cleo's still going strong, and she's doing her Christmas show shortly.
02:47Wonderful. Wonderful.
02:48A big welcome to our contestants today.
02:57And over, of course, in Dictionary Corner, we have our word conjurer, Susie Dent, and Paul Zenon, our top trickster.
03:07But I'm not going to call you a trickster, because I think that's a sort of pejorative term. I think
03:11you're a wonder.
03:13It's probably the ex-tax inspector that would call me a trickster, I think, isn't it?
03:17Possibly, yeah.
03:18Isn't Zenon another... Isn't there a headlamp called a Zenon, or is that something...
03:22There is, with an X, yeah. You know, and I like to think how you illuminate the way for certain
03:27lost souls, you know.
03:28You're much brighter than the average headlamp, I don't show you that much.
03:31Now then, I'm going to start the game. And Jack, I'm going to ask you to kick off on a
03:36letter game.
03:37Hi again, Rachel.
03:38Hi, Jack.
03:39I'm sort of a consonant place.
03:41Thank you. Start today with H.
03:43And another.
03:46T.
03:47And another.
03:49N.
03:50And another.
03:52X.
03:54A vowel.
03:56I.
03:57And another.
03:59U.
04:01Another.
04:03O.
04:04And another.
04:07A.
04:08And a consonant, please.
04:10And the last one.
04:11T.
04:13Time for the countdown clock.
04:46Jack.
04:47Seven.
04:48Seven.
04:49And Barry.
04:50Five.
04:52So, what would your five be?
04:53Hound.
04:54Hound.
04:56And Jack.
04:57Handout.
04:58Handout.
04:59Any quibbles there?
05:01No, absolutely none.
05:02Well done.
05:02Not hyphenated.
05:03All one word.
05:04Well done, Jack.
05:04And anything extra?
05:06Another seven as well with oxidant.
05:09Well, well done.
05:10And that gives Jack, our incumbent champion, a seven point lead.
05:14And Barry, your turn to kick off another letters round.
05:18Afternoon, Rachel.
05:19Hi, Barry.
05:19Can I have a consonant, please?
05:20You can, thank you.
05:21Start with S.
05:24And another.
05:26W.
05:28And another.
05:31D.
05:32And a vowel.
05:34E.
05:36Another vowel.
05:38I.
05:40Another vowel.
05:43U.
05:45Consonant.
05:47H.
05:51Consonant.
05:53B.
05:55And a vowel, please.
05:56And the last one.
05:58Another E.
06:00Time for the clock.
06:03Time for the clock.
06:32Barry.
06:33Six.
06:35Jack?
06:36Six.
06:36Six.
06:37So, Barry, what would your six be?
06:39Bushed.
06:40Bushed.
06:41And Jack?
06:42Wished.
06:43Wished.
06:44Wished.
06:44Good.
06:45Any arguments?
06:47None at all.
06:47Bushed, as in the sense of being exhausted, is absolutely fine.
06:51It's in the dictionary.
06:51Well done.
06:52OK.
06:52And any advance?
06:54No advance, just one other six with beside.
06:59Right.
06:59OK.
07:00So, 13 to six for Jack.
07:03And Jack, your turn to kick off with a letters game.
07:07And a consonant, please.
07:08Thank you, Jack.
07:09N.
07:10And another.
07:12W.
07:13And another.
07:15C.
07:17And another.
07:19K.
07:20A consonant.
07:22P.
07:24Val.
07:26A.
07:27Another.
07:30I.
07:31Another.
07:33Another A.
07:35And another, please.
07:36And the last one.
07:37E.
07:38And the countdown clock.
07:42A.
07:43A.
07:56A.
07:57A.
08:10A.
08:11B.
08:12Jack, amaze me.
08:14Just five.
08:15Five?
08:16Barry?
08:17Just five as well.
08:18Jack?
08:19Panic.
08:20Panic and?
08:21Panic.
08:24Yes.
08:25Now then, anything else in the corner, Susie?
08:28Paul?
08:28Well, there was a seven there, and don't flip when you hear it.
08:31It's Pancake.
08:39So, 18 to 11.
08:41And Barry to kick off with another letters game.
08:45Can I have a consonant, please?
08:47Thank you, Barry.
08:48N.
08:49Consonant.
08:52Y.
08:54Consonant.
08:56D.
08:58Vowel.
09:00A.
09:02Vowel, please.
09:04O.
09:06Another vowel.
09:08U.
09:09U.
09:12Consonant.
09:14T.
09:17Vowel.
09:19A.
09:22And a final vowel, please.
09:24And a final U.
09:26And the clock starts now.
09:30And the clock starts now.
10:00Barry.
10:01Five.
10:03And Jack?
10:04Five.
10:05Barry, your five?
10:06Toady.
10:08Toady.
10:09Jack?
10:09Today.
10:11So, any advance on that, Paul and Susie?
10:15No.
10:15Toady is very nice.
10:16A person who behaves obsequiously to someone important.
10:19And it goes back to charlatans' assistants in the 19th century, who would eat toads that
10:26people believed to be poisonous, and then the quack would mysteriously and miraculously cure him.
10:32Do you think I give you a hard time as a charlatans' assistant?
10:35That's the sort of thing you love, though, isn't it, from the past?
10:37But very good, Toady.
10:38That's a great little story, actually.
10:40I like that.
10:41But now we're turning to Jack, and Jack, I want you to start off with a numbers game.
10:45Can I go for four large again, please, Rachel?
10:47Thank you, Jack.
10:48My first birthday present, four large and two small, and hopefully we'll have a nice numbers game.
10:52So, for the first time today, the small ones are one and nine.
10:56And the large, as usual, 100, 25, 75 and 50.
11:01And the target for us to reach 654.
11:04Clock.
11:36So, Jack, 654 and Barry.
11:406, 5, 0.
11:42So, Jack, how did you get there?
11:449 minus 1.
11:459 minus 1 is 8.
11:47Times 75.
11:48Times 75, 600.
11:51Add the 50.
11:52Add the 50, 650.
11:53And 100 over 25 is 4.
11:55It is indeed.
11:56That was on.
11:56Well done, 654.
11:58Well done, well done, Jack.
12:03And that sees Jack beginning to have a commanding sort of lead at 33 to 16.
12:09Well done.
12:10But now, it's over to Paul Zenon for a bit of magic.
12:15A bit of jiggery-pokery indeed.
12:17And we were just talking about Susie being my long-suffering assistant, the sorcerer's apprentice
12:21here.
12:22But seeing as it's Rachel's birthday today, I think we might get her involved on this
12:26one.
12:27And you'll be glad to know, Rachel, here, that we're going to do a version of cutting a woman
12:31in half.
12:33Okay?
12:34Cutting a woman in half using a pair of scissors.
13:04It's a very low-rent version.
13:06So, like that.
13:07And I don't want you saying afterwards that I didn't really cut the notes in half.
13:10So, you can see they're actually being cut there.
13:12And here we go.
13:13QE2 gets cut down the middle like that.
13:16Now, here's the interesting thing.
13:17We've got two lots of 20-pound notes cut into two.
13:20So, technically, it's four lots of a tenner, really.
13:22But try telling that to the barmaid.
13:24Now, all you do with these is go, and two lots of 10 becomes two lots of 20 in each
13:30case.
13:31So, you've got 40 quid back again.
13:32But don't get too excited.
13:34It's not your birthday present.
13:38Very good.
13:39Very, very good.
13:40So, Rachel, did you spot it?
13:42You were right there.
13:43I've got absolutely no idea how he did that.
13:45It's amazing, isn't it?
13:46It's not real money to me.
13:47Anything can happen when you follow the left-hand path.
13:48And the speed with which he popped those 20s back in his pocket was also quite remarkable.
13:54There's a bar just outside the studio, and you know that, Mick.
13:56The sooner we get this done, the sooner we'll be there.
13:58All right.
13:59Well, I would have thought a little birthday present for Rachel would have been it.
14:03Anyway, listen, I'm not complaining.
14:04I'm not complaining.
14:05But what I am doing is turning to the Tea Time teaser.
14:09And the teaser is live a lot.
14:12And the clue, you'll live a lot longer if you don't have this sort of temperament.
14:32You'll live a lot longer if you don't have this sort of temperament.
14:36And, of course, the answer is volatile.
14:38And now it is that I turn to you, Barry, not a volatile character so far.
14:44It's a letters game, Barry.
14:46A consonant, please, Rachel.
14:48Thank you, Barry.
14:49S.
14:51Another.
14:53G.
14:54And another.
14:56L.
14:57And a vowel, please.
15:04E.
15:06And a vowel.
15:08O.
15:11And a consonant.
15:13M.
15:16And a consonant.
15:18V.
15:20And a vowel, please.
15:22And lastly.
15:23I.
15:25The clock.
15:25And a vowel, please.
15:31I.
15:31I.
15:35I.
15:40I.
15:42I.
15:55I.
15:58Barry, Staggris.
15:59Six.
16:00Six.
16:01And Jack?
16:01I'll try seven.
16:03Seven.
16:03OK.
16:04Barry?
16:05Movies.
16:07Movies.
16:08Jack?
16:09Mileages.
16:11Sir, Jack, can you just tell me how you're spelling it, first of all?
16:14M-I-L-A-G-E-S.
16:16I'm pretty sure that's fine, so I'm going to allow it.
16:18What does it mean?
16:19Yes.
16:20Well, you can have mileages, sort of mileage readings, for example,
16:24in your car, on your dashboard.
16:26So you could say you had a couple of different mileages.
16:29I think it's possible, plausible, if not very likely.
16:32OK.
16:32So, Paul, anything else over there?
16:35Yeah, a couple of sevens with glaives, G-L-A-I-V-E-S, which, what's that mean?
16:42Swords.
16:43It's a beautiful literary term for swords.
16:45OK.
16:46And lovages, which sounds nice, doesn't it?
16:49Lovages, a large edible white flower plant of the parsley family.
16:53Not so nice, really.
16:55Very good.
16:56Well, now, Jack, 40 to 16, so time for Barry to put his foot on the gas, I think.
17:02And, Jack, it's your turn to kick off with another letters game.
17:05Consonant plays.
17:06Thank you, Jack.
17:08G.
17:09And another.
17:12L.
17:13And another.
17:15Q.
17:16Another.
17:19G.
17:19A vowel.
17:22E.
17:23And another.
17:24I.
17:26And another.
17:28O.
17:30And consonant.
17:32D.
17:33And another consonant, please.
17:36And the last one.
17:37V.
17:38And here's the countdown clock.
17:41A vowel.
17:50A vowel.
17:50And another consonant, please.
17:51And a vowel.
17:53Yeah.
18:00And another.
18:00And the aftermath.
18:01B.
18:10And a vowel.
18:11Jack? Six. Six. And Barry? Six. Okay, Jack, let's have your six. And Barry? Logged. Logged. All right. Paul, Susie?
18:23Yeah, not a lot else, really, just other sixes. We've got, what was it, gloved? Gloved, yes.
18:29And doggy, as in how much is that one in the window? About three quid in my case. Now then,
18:35Jack, 46, 22, and I turn to you, Barry, for a letters game. A consonant, please. Thank you, Barry. R.
18:46And another. T. And another. L. And a vowel. E.
18:57E. And another. O. And another vowel, please. E. And a consonant. S. And a consonant. T. And a final
19:16vowel, please. And the last one. I. Countdown clock.
19:27E. And a consonant.
19:56. . . .
19:57Jack?
19:58Eight.
19:59An eight.
20:00Jack?
20:01Retitles.
20:02And Barry?
20:04Lotteries.
20:05Lotteries.
20:06Lotteries, absolutely brilliant.
20:08Well done, congratulations.
20:09Well done.
20:14Very, very well done.
20:15And 46 to 40.
20:19So Barry appears to have shot up there.
20:22You're within pecking distance.
20:24And Jack?
20:25A letter's game.
20:27Consonant, please.
20:28Thank you, Jack.
20:30J.
20:31And another.
20:33C.
20:34And another.
20:36R.
20:37And another.
20:39R.
20:41A vowel.
20:43U.
20:44And another.
20:46A.
20:47And another.
20:49E.
20:50And another.
20:53O.
20:54And a consonant, please.
20:56And lastly, S.
20:59Stand by for the clock.
21:00Boop.
21:31Jack? I'm six. A six for Jack and Barry? Six. All right, Jack, what's yours? Arouse. Arouse. Barry? Carers. Carers.
21:43Susie, Paul, you happy with those? Certainly am, yes.
21:46Yeah. And can you go further? Well, yeah, a very strange coincidence, because in the last break, for no particular
21:50reason, we were talking about the word carouse, and I was asking whether it was related to carousel. Long story.
21:57And sure enough, we've got carouser here, which, just because of that conversation, we know that carouse comes from a
22:02German drinking thing, doesn't it?
22:04Gar als trinken, to drink to the very last drop. Really? Yeah, that's wonderful. It goes back to very old
22:09drinking bouts. Very spooky, we're talking about it, not 15 minutes ago.
22:12Well, I'm going to come back to you in a second, Susie, but I'd like first to just say that
22:16Jack, 52, to Barry's 46, and now I do come back to you for the origins of words. Another little
22:23opportunity.
22:25Well, I'm going to talk about dominoes today, Nick, because they're very popular in my family, particularly with my four
22:30-year-old, who absolutely loves dominoes, and we're all familiar with the tabletop tile game that it represents, but you
22:35might not know where the name comes from.
22:38It goes back to the Latin dominus, meaning lord or master, from which we have words such as dominate and
22:44dominion, for example.
22:46But that doesn't tell the full story, because in the late 17th century, domino had a very strong religious link,
22:51precisely because of that sense of lord and master.
22:54And it came to denote a hood or a habit attached to a cape as worn by a priest or
22:59a cannon.
23:00And such hoods over time became incredibly fashionable items.
23:03Women in mourning, for example, would wear them.
23:06And a century later, it referred to a cape with a mask worn at masked balls and dances where guests
23:14would come in highly elaborate disguise.
23:15And the reason for the choice of the term for the tile game is quite simple, because the black back
23:20of each of the pieces was thought to resemble those capes with masks, which were worn at those very fancy
23:26masquerades.
23:27Brilliant.
23:28Brilliant.
23:30That's wonderful.
23:33And did the Dominicans wear hoods?
23:36Very good point.
23:37It might well come from that hood.
23:38I will look that up and tell you.
23:40And now it's named those bags that they carry pizzas in, isn't it?
23:45And dominatrix, dominatrix, is that how you pronounce it, Paul?
23:47Dominatrix comes from that very, yes.
23:49Wouldn't know anything about that, Nick.
23:50You're the man for that.
23:51That's a mood.
23:53Anyway, there we go.
23:55Barry, it's a numbers game.
23:58And you to start.
23:59Can I have two large and four small, please?
24:02You can, thank you, Barry.
24:03Two large ones.
24:04And four small for my second birthday present of the day.
24:07And for this numbers game, the four small are one, seven, ten, and two.
24:13And the large ones, 25 and 50.
24:16And the target to reach?
24:19925.
24:20925.
24:24925.
24:251025.
24:351126.
24:361531.
24:391633.
24:391635.
24:391633.
24:401635.
24:412136.
24:452136.
24:522136.
24:54Barry 925 well done Jack 95 so Barry show us how it's done yes two times 10 is 20
25:06two times 10 is 20 no sorry I've gone wrong about used one number twice right
25:15so it's Jack's shout 50 minus the 10 the 2 and the 1 50 minus the 10 and the 2
25:23and
25:24the 1 is 37 and it's multiplied by 25 and that's straight to 925 well done well
25:29done Jack well done Jack 62 to 46 and we move into a tea time teaser the teaser is
25:42a heat's pan and the clue heat's pan to get the game under way
26:04welcome back and remember the clue heat's pan to get the game underway and the
26:09answer of course is pheasant with a ph I now turn to you Jack running at 62 to
26:1746 for a letters game off you go I'm confident please thank you Jack L and
26:24another s and another d and another s a vowel e and another a and another e a
26:45consonant f and another vowel place and the last one o here's the countdown clock
26:57so
27:09so
27:25Jack?
27:25I'm seven.
27:26Seven. And Barry?
27:28Seven.
27:29Jack, what's your seven?
27:31Lassoed.
27:32Barry?
27:33Flossed.
27:34Flossed and lassoed. Is that right, Jack?
27:37Yes.
27:38Lassoed.
27:39Absolutely right.
27:39Are you two happy?
27:40Very happy with those.
27:41Can you take it any further?
27:43No, that's exactly what we had in that order and nothing else.
27:46Flossed is there, is it?
27:47Yes.
27:48Really?
27:49Well, I'm dashed.
27:5069, Jack, to 53, Barry.
27:52And Barry, it's a letters game.
27:54Off you go.
27:55Can I have a consonant, please, Rachel?
27:57Thank you, Barry.
27:59T.
28:00And another.
28:02R.
28:03And another.
28:06M.
28:07And a vowel.
28:09A.
28:10And a vowel.
28:13E.
28:15And another vowel.
28:17Another A.
28:20And a consonant.
28:23S.
28:25A consonant.
28:27R.
28:30And a final vowel, please.
28:32And a final I.
28:34And here's the clock.
28:37Here they are.
28:39And a certain vowel.
28:54And the vowel is me.
28:55We get to the end of the clock.
28:55Then there is a说明.
28:55And a consonant.
28:55And a vowel is free.
28:55And a vowel is No.
28:55And it's before.
28:56And the four types of call.
28:56And a vowel is also No.
28:59It's before.
29:00And a vowel is also겠an.
29:01And then we get to the end of the harp.
29:04And then we get to the cover of the F Shoться.
29:07Barry?
29:08Seven.
29:09Seven. And Jack?
29:10Seven.
29:11Barry, what's yours?
29:13Marys.
29:14Marys. And Jack?
29:15Marys.
29:17Right.
29:19Any objections over there?
29:21None at all.
29:22No, that's fine.
29:23And what have you got, Paul?
29:25There is a nine there with Airstream.
29:29Yes.
29:29That sounds very good, yeah.
29:33Airstream.
29:34Very good.
29:36So, Jack, I see you at 76 and Barry at 60.
29:40And, Jack, off you go for a letters game.
29:43A consonant, please.
29:45Thank you, Jack.
29:46N.
29:47And another.
29:50F.
29:50And another.
29:53R.
29:54And another.
29:57N.
29:58A vowel.
30:00O.
30:01And another.
30:03I.
30:04And another.
30:07A.
30:08And another.
30:11E.
30:12And a consonant, please.
30:14And lastly, S.
30:17And here's the clock.
30:19A vowel.
30:21And another.
30:22I.
30:22And a consonant, please.
30:50Jack. I'm seven. A seven. And Barry? Seven. All right. And Jack, what is yours? Fannies. And Barry? Fanners. Fanners.
31:02All right. Susie? Fannies. Fannies about. It's absolutely fine. Just double check that you can be a fanner. You can.
31:12It's fair. Well done. Good. And can you take us any further down that road?
31:17Yeah, there is an eight there, which is kind of almost spelled out. Just shuffle it around a bit. Infernos.
31:23Very good. Very good. So that is Jack leading the charge at 83, followed by Barry at 67. And Barry,
31:35it's a numbers game, and it's your shout.
31:38Can I have one large and five small, please, Rachel? You can indeed. Thank you, Barry. One large and five
31:44small ones for the last numbers game today. And for this round, the five smaller, eight, nine, ten, another nine,
31:52and another eight. And the large one, 100. Could be tricky. And the target, 300.
31:58And here's the clock.
32:01And here's the clock.
32:31Barry?
32:32Barry? No, sorry, I didn't get that. No? OK. Jack? 300. All right. Shout it out. Ten minus eight. Yeah,
32:41that's three, don't you? Ten minus eight is two. Nine over nine is one. And nine over nine is one.
32:48Add it on. Three. Multiply by 100. 300. Nicely done.
32:52Well done. Well done. Well done. So Jack, 93 to Barry, 67. I see that your favourite film is Titanic.
33:03I think you're staying afloat for the moment, that's for sure. And now it's conundrum time. Fingers on buzzers, please.
33:10And let's reveal today's countdown conundrum.
33:23Jack? Boardroom. Boardroom. Well done. Well done. Well done. Well done. OK. Well done, Jack. It's a worthy score, 103
33:37to 67. Barry, that's no disgrace, but we must say farewell to you. You leave with a goodie bag. Well
33:43done. Well done, Jack, again.
33:46Thank you very much, Paul. Great pleasure, as always, to see you tearing Her Majesty's currency into shreds. Thank you,
33:52Susie. And Rachel? You've behaved very well on your birthday. Oh, thank you, Nick. I tried. I want you to
33:59come over here. Because I want to. Do I want to? Yes, you do. You'll be very pleased. OK. Shall
34:07I bring the car around to carry all the presents away after? Am I going to be all right? It's
34:11your birthday. You don't need a car. What I have got for you, though,
34:15my Friday payday was £8. That's exactly what you're getting. Oh, good. Because you deserve it. Oh, I'm going to.
34:24£8. There we are. And don't spend it all the once. But it's not just about money. It's about love
34:31and affection from us all. Lovely. Happy birthday. Thank you very much.
34:38So that's it for today. Great day. There'll be another one next year. But there'll be another one of these
34:45tomorrow. Join us then. Be sure of it. Good afternoon.
34:59Missing antenatal classes and pretending pain doesn't exist is not going to work. A rude awakening for one first-time
35:05mum tonight. One born every minute at nine. But next up, will the deals climb like yesterday? Noel on the
35:11way.
35:19Thank you very much.
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