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02:50Here it is.
02:50And as you can see, it's been very cleverly disguised to look a bit like a Christmas cracker.
02:55So people will rush along and buy it.
02:57Yes.
02:57This is my first kids book and the key to writing kids book is not using too many long words,
03:03which is why I've come on countdown.
03:04All right.
03:05Now then, Lawrence, will you take us away on this letters game?
03:08Hi, Rachel.
03:09Hi, Lawrence.
03:10Can I start with a vowel, please?
03:12Start the week with O.
03:13And a consonant.
03:16L.
03:17And another.
03:19R.
03:21And another.
03:23M.
03:24And a vowel.
03:27E.
03:28And another.
03:29U.
03:31And a consonant.
03:33U.
03:34S.
03:35And another.
03:37P.
03:38And a final consonant, please.
03:41And a final C.
03:43And here comes the countdown clock.
04:11And here comes the countdown clock.
04:16Yes, Lawrence.
04:17I think I have an eight.
04:18And, Tricia?
04:19I've got an eight, but not written down.
04:21And what would that eight be, Tricia?
04:23Crumples, Nick.
04:24Yes, Lawrence.
04:25Same words.
04:26All right.
04:27And in the corner, Susie and David.
04:30We have couples.
04:31Yes.
04:32Don't we?
04:32We do.
04:33Which I think is seven, but you also came up with couplers.
04:37Yeah, you can put the R on.
04:38A coupler is a thing that connects two things, exactly as it sounds.
04:42You can get one in music, or a couple.
04:43In an organ, you can get an acoustic coupler, which is a sort of modem, which transfers or transmits sounds.
04:51So, yes.
04:51All to do with breathing sounds.
04:52And railway characters, too.
04:53Yes.
04:53Exactly.
04:54Very good.
04:55All right.
04:56Eight apiece.
04:57Now then, Tricia.
04:58Hello, Rachel.
04:58Continent, please.
04:59Hi, Tricia.
05:00Start with D.
05:02And a second.
05:04N.
05:05And a third.
05:07S.
05:10And a vowel, please.
05:12A.
05:14And a second.
05:16E.
05:17And one more.
05:19I.
05:20And a consonant, please.
05:22Y.
05:25And another consonant.
05:27P.
05:31And another consonant, please.
05:33And the last one.
05:34M.
05:35Stand by.
05:36T politics.
05:37So print of that word is the primaryokus.
05:38T pode.
05:43T LGBT な Hareков.
06:05But it says,
06:05It says,
06:07Trisha seven a seven. Yes, Lawrence seven
06:11Trisha in pens in pens and
06:14Dumpins dumpins. Yeah, very happy. Yeah, David
06:19Well, we have dynamize
06:22Which sounds like a very dynamic word? Yeah, it is. No, it is a good word
06:26There's no, but it is to make dynamic to make something dynamic you dynamize it dynamize me
06:32Yeah, anything else at medians there for seven medium. Thank you very much
06:36All right, so 15 apiece numbers time Lawrence
06:40Can I have six from the bottom row please you can indeed thank you Lawrence all right?
06:44Let's see if this game separates you two six little ones and the first numbers game of this quarterfinal is
06:50six
06:50seven four another seven nine and one and
06:56the target
06:57217
07:31Lawrence at two one seven
07:32Trisha two once have not written down very well
07:35Shall we hear from you then Trisha? Okay?
07:39Four seven to twenty eight four sevens twenty eight nine minus six is three. Yep, and times by seven
07:47I'd sure add the two together
07:4931 yeah, and then times by the other seven perfect
07:52And Lawrence four times six four times six
07:5624 plus seven plus seven yet
07:59Thirty one again seven and the other seven well done two one seven well done twenty five points apiece
08:08Or even here so let's have a tea time teaser why not she's trim and the clue mr. Burns tears
08:14his assistant to pieces mr. Burns tears his assistant
08:17to pieces?
08:19and the answer is smithers
08:42Susie related related to smithereens and things yeah, it's
08:45Interchangeable means exactly the same thing so in small pieces david's been educating me on this thing. I think nick's
08:52a tiny bit like mr. Burns
08:54I've heard that before
08:55I've heard that before thank you so much twenty five points apiece trisha
08:58Another letters came for you consulment please rachel. Thank you trisha
09:03T and a second
09:06S and a third
09:09P and a vowel a
09:13And a second a and another a
09:18And a consonant please
09:20V
09:22And another
09:24T
09:27And a vowel please and the last one. Oh
09:31Stand by
09:31So
09:33T
09:33To
10:02Yes, Trisha?
10:03Eight.
10:04And eight.
10:05Lawrence?
10:05Just seven.
10:07And your seven?
10:07Teapots.
10:09Now then, Trisha?
10:10Apostate.
10:12Absolutely brilliant.
10:13It's a person, and I'm sure Trisha will know this, a person who renounces religious or political
10:17belief or principle.
10:18Very, very well done.
10:22Now, and then what else have we got over there, David?
10:24Well, we didn't have anything as good as apostate.
10:26We had toast and teapots, because essentially we were hungry.
10:29That was the best we could come up with.
10:31And I think you had avast as well, which is a kind of thing that pirates shout, I think.
10:36I just like it.
10:36It's a web.
10:3725.
10:37All right.
10:38So, Trisha's leapt into a lead.
10:4133 points.
10:42Lawrence is 25.
10:43So, Lawrence, what are you going to do about it?
10:45A consonant, please.
10:46Thank you, Lawrence.
10:47R.
10:48And another.
10:50Q.
10:51And another.
10:53S.
10:54And a vowel.
10:56I.
10:57And another.
10:58U.
10:59And another.
11:01O.
11:02And a consonant.
11:05T.
11:06And another.
11:07Another.
11:08L.
11:10And a final consonant.
11:14And a final F.
11:16Countdown.
11:16There.
11:18Ties.
11:29There.
11:45There.
11:46On each.
11:47Well, Lawrence?
11:49Seven.
11:50A seven.
11:50Tricia?
11:51I'll try an eight.
11:53Lawrence?
11:53Florist.
11:54And Tricia?
11:55Flouters.
11:56A flouter.
11:57Eee, Tricia.
11:58You'd have flouts, but not flouters.
12:00Yeah, flouters.
12:01Yeah, no, that doesn't work, does it?
12:03No.
12:04Bad luck.
12:05So, Lawrence, just one behind now, then 32 to 33.
12:08But over the corner...
12:10Well, we had one other possibility.
12:13Yes.
12:13We had tea and toast just a minute ago.
12:15Now we've got liquors sticking with the beverage.
12:18That'll be the alcoholic.
12:19Yeah, we've moved on from tea and toast.
12:21It's a bit later in the day.
12:23So, yeah, liquors.
12:24Very good.
12:2533, as I say, to Lawrence.
12:27It's 32, and it's a numbers game for Tricia.
12:31One large, please, Rachel, and five small.
12:34Thank you, Tricia.
12:35One from the top and five little ones.
12:37And this time around, the numbers are nine, seven, five, eight, nine, and 75.
12:46And the target, 493.
12:48Four nine, three.
12:51Thank you, T integrating, oh, my word.
12:52Here we go today.
12:52Thank you, Tricia.
13:07Thank you, Tricia.
13:13Thank you, Tricia.
13:20Well, Tricia.
13:22No.
13:23No?
13:24No.
13:24Lawrence?
13:254, 9, 3.
13:26So, Lawrence.
13:287 times 75.
13:30775s are 525.
13:329 minus 5 is 4.
13:33Yep.
13:34Times 8.
13:3532.
13:36Take it away.
13:37Perfect.
13:374, 9, 3.
13:38Well done.
13:39Well done.
13:42Excellent stuff.
13:43So, it propels you to 42 points.
13:45Well done.
13:46Tricia's still on 33.
13:48But now we turn to David.
13:50And, David, at the top of the show, we talked about your four novels and your new book.
13:55So, what kicked this one off?
13:58Well, this is called The Parent Agency.
14:00And it is about a child, a boy called Barry, who's about 9, about to be 10,
14:05and who's fed up with his parents in a kind of normal way.
14:08They're tired all the time.
14:09They don't buy him enough stuff.
14:10And so he wishes for better parents and goes through the wall of his bedroom into a world
14:15where children are able to choose their own parents from a place called The Parent Agency.
14:19But what bothers me most about it, even though I'm pleased with the book, is the idea came
14:22from my son.
14:23Yeah.
14:23Basically, it came from my son, Ezra, who himself is 9, nearly 10.
14:29And, to be fair, it wasn't that he was on the phone to the social services.
14:32It was that we were talking about Harry Potter.
14:35And he said, I don't know how well you know Harry Potter, but he said to me one day,
14:37Dad, why doesn't Harry run away from the Dursleys, which is a horrible muggle family
14:42that look after him when he's not at Hogwarts.
14:43Why doesn't he run away and go and find some better parents?
14:45And I said, I don't know, but that's given me an idea.
14:48And the idea it gave me with this book.
14:50Did you get a share of the...
14:51I bought him an iPod, actually, is what I've done.
14:54But he's an interesting chap, Ezra.
14:56He does come up with quite a lot of stuff.
14:58The other day, I'm on a diet, if you've noticed.
15:00I've lost a bit of weight.
15:01Great.
15:01And that started that diet because we were outside.
15:03It was a sunny day.
15:04And Ezra suddenly said to me, Dad, you've got a fat shadow.
15:08That, I felt, was a good reason to start a diet.
15:10That's an excellent line.
15:11Yeah.
15:12And also, the other day, this was something I thought was very clever.
15:14We were listening to the Ghostbusters theme.
15:16And you'll know, in the Ghostbusters theme, there's a line that goes,
15:18if you're seeing things running through your head, who are you going to call?
15:22And Ezra said, a psychiatrist.
15:24So I thought it was brilliant.
15:26He's a bright boy.
15:27He's a bright boy.
15:27He's got bright parents, creative parents.
15:30Where did you get your creativity from?
15:32Were your parents...
15:33Yeah, my parents were...
15:35My dad was a scientist and actually was very, very unkeen on me being a writer
15:39or anything like that.
15:39He wanted me to be a scientist, but I eventually went away from that.
15:42And I do think that he's a really clever bloke with a different kind of brain
15:46and it's filtered down in a different way, hopefully, to me.
15:48Well, well done, Ezra.
15:49And I think you're very mean.
15:51I think 35% of sales and royalties...
15:54You want to be his agent?
15:55Absolutely.
15:55And I'll take only 15%.
15:58There we go.
15:5842 to 33.
16:01Lawrence in the lead.
16:02And where should we go?
16:03Lawrence, letters.
16:05Consonant, please, Rachel.
16:06Thank you, Lawrence.
16:07R.
16:08And another.
16:10N.
16:11And another.
16:13G.
16:14And a vowel.
16:16E.
16:17And another.
16:18I.
16:19And another.
16:21A.
16:22And a consonant.
16:25B.
16:26And another.
16:28L.
16:28And a final.
16:31And a final consonant.
16:33And a final S.
16:35And it's countdown.
17:06Lawrence it and age Trisha seven not written down so Trisha regains regains Lawrence bearings
17:17bearings very very good happy enough excellent David Susie we had bangers yeah and blearing now
17:27blearing is a word I wasn't sure about but you're gonna tell me what it means we talk about having
17:31bleary eyes to blear as a verb is to make dim and there's a great example here which is she
17:36pursed her mouth lipstick blearing like a squashed berry blearing all right if you insist
17:4352 33 my word Lawrence is building a bit of a lead here Trisha your letters go consonant please
17:49Rachel thank you Trisha n and another ah and a third x and a vowel e and another a and
18:06another e
18:11consonant please t and another and and another consonant please and lastly s standby
18:30so
18:42so
18:43so
18:57Well, Trisha, seven, Lawrence, seven, Trisha, tenors, Lawrence, nearest, yes, we're happy
19:07with those. Nothing to argue about. We had Eastern, tenors as well, and tanners. Tanners. Tanners. Tanners of leather, yes.
19:16Tanners of leather, yes. Very good. All right, so 57 plays 40, and once again, Lawrence, it's numbers. Could I
19:25have a tea, please? You can, indeed. Three from the top, and three little ones. Thank you, Lawrence. And for
19:30this round, they are six, two, nine, and the large one's 25, 75,
19:37and 100, and the target to reach 247. 247.
20:13Lawrence, 247.
20:15Trisha. 247.
20:16Thank you, Lawrence.
20:1875 times 2.
20:1975 times 2, 150.
20:21Plus 100.
20:22250.
20:239 minus 6 is 3, and take it away.
20:26Perfect, 247.
20:27There we go, Trisha.
20:282 times 100, 200.
20:302 times 100, 200.
20:31Plus 75, minus 25.
20:34Plus 75, minus 25.
20:37Yeah, and then 9 minus 6 is the 3.
20:39Yeah, 9 minus 6 is the 3.
20:42Yeah.
20:43Perfect, well done.
20:43There we are.
20:4767 plays.
20:48Trisha's 50, as we move swiftly into a tea-time teaser, which is cough, son.
20:53And the clue, this is definitely a tea-time teaser.
20:57This is definitely a tea-time teaser.
21:14Warm welcome back.
21:15I left you with the clue, this is definitely a tea-time teaser, because it's Sushong.
21:21Sushong.
21:21Now then, Susie, tell us a little bit more about Sushong.
21:24A fine black variety of China tea, and it comes from the Chinese, meaning small sort, because it's so fine.
21:31Right.
21:32Normally, Lapsang Sushong.
21:34Lapsang.
21:34Sushong.
21:35Yeah.
21:35Correct.
21:36And Lapsang is probably in here as well, which is a variety of Sushong tea with a smoky flavour.
21:42Apparently, they invented the Lapsang.
21:44Who did?
21:45Somebody.
21:46The tea-drinkers of China invented it.
21:48So, there are lots of Sushongs, but the popular one seems to be the Lapsang Sushong.
21:53All right.
21:53And I'm sure it's very refreshing.
21:5567 to Trisha's 50.
21:57Trisha, you're back on with the letters game.
21:59Consonant, please, Rachel.
22:00Thank you, Trisha.
22:01R.
22:02And a second.
22:04T.
22:05And a third.
22:07B.
22:09And a vowel.
22:10I.
22:11And another.
22:13O.
22:13And one more.
22:16A.
22:17And a consonant.
22:19G.
22:21And another one.
22:23D.
22:25And a vowel, please.
22:27And the last one.
22:28O.
22:30Countdown.
22:30O.
22:31If you think of the knife I've been the one,
22:41All right.
22:41And another one.
22:42And another one.
22:45And a vowel.
22:47You have a vowel.
22:48And a vowel.
22:55You have two.
22:56You have a vowel at a vowel.
22:57Let's go.
22:57Do those.
22:59And a vowel.
23:00And a vowel.
23:00yes Trisha six a six Lawrence and just five and your five ratio ratio and
23:08toroid toroid it's a figure of toroidal shape which is it looks like a ring
23:18donut is the easiest way of describing it thank you is that the scientific
23:23definitely it's the easiest of the scientific explanation is quite long
23:26about a surface form by rotating a closed curve thank you stick with the
23:31donor yes I appreciate it anything else David yes we came up with a dirt bag which
23:37the younger well maybe the older now people amongst you might know there was
23:40a song called I'm just a teenage dirt bag by Wheatus by who Wheatus by Wheatus yes
23:47oh really yeah that's a new one on me 67 to 56 now then Lawrence letters for you
23:55and a continent please thank you Lawrence T and another F and another K and a vowel A and another
24:09I and a
24:12continent G and another C and a and another N and a final continent I think we actually need a
24:28vowel
24:28so thank you Lawrence E countdown
24:32so
24:34I
24:34I
24:55know
25:01I
25:02I
25:04Yes, Lawrence?
25:06A seven.
25:07A seven, Tricia?
25:08Seven.
25:09Lawrence?
25:10Tacking.
25:11Mm-hmm.
25:12There we are.
25:13Great.
25:14On the same track there.
25:16David?
25:17Well, we had tacking.
25:18We had faking as well, which is only a six,
25:22and intake, which is also only a six.
25:25So, yeah, I think tacking is good.
25:29Tacking.
25:30Anchors away.
25:31Okay, 74 to 63, and now you'll enjoy this, David.
25:35It's Susie's Origins of Words.
25:37Just a wonderful little interlude.
25:40Susie?
25:41Well, we had dirtbag in the previous round,
25:44so I apologise because this show is now going to be full of insults
25:48because I'm going to talk about a few others,
25:50and none of them apply to anybody in the studio at all.
25:52And I'm going to start with hobo
25:54because Jack Shepard emailed in to say,
25:56where does the term hobo come from?
25:58We know that it was in the U.S. after the Civil War,
26:02but hobos really made a name for themselves, really,
26:05after the Great Depression.
26:06And the number of train-hopping travellers in the States
26:09just grew exponentially.
26:10There was a lack of money,
26:11and it forced workers to seek jobs wherever they could.
26:16And Evan Morris, who I often talk about,
26:18has a lovely website called The Word Detective.
26:21He's done quite a lot of research into this
26:23because the name hobo or the term hobo
26:25has been a mystery for a very long time.
26:27But his theory is that it actually originated with ho-boy,
26:32which was a greeting that railway or migrant workers
26:35would shout to each other across the rails.
26:37But it could also have been short for hopping boxcars,
26:41because, of course, that's what they did.
26:42Or even Hoboken in New Jersey,
26:45which in those days was one of the nation's central train crossings,
26:48if you like.
26:50So, so much for hobo.
26:51As I say, the jury's out.
26:52But I quite like the ho-boy idea.
26:55And I've mentioned before that a similar story lies behind jerk,
26:58which is another insult, of course,
27:00also related to the railways.
27:02And that goes back to when trains really began to take off
27:06as a method of transport.
27:08Towns in the American Midwest
27:09would set themselves up as water stations.
27:14So the water steam trains would stop
27:16and the engine drivers would literally jerk water into their trains.
27:20And lots and lots of these jerk water towns,
27:22as they became known,
27:23set themselves up across the Midwest.
27:25But because they were in the middle of nowhere,
27:27became known as jerk water hicks,
27:29which over time, of course, was shortened to jerks.
27:31And that's the root of our insult today.
27:33Very good. Wonderful.
27:39I had quite an interesting little exchange
27:42with the taxi driver yesterday.
27:44He said, very odd, he said,
27:45I had a big American in the car.
27:47And as he got out, he said,
27:50thanks, homie.
27:51And I didn't know whether to hit him or not.
27:54I said, no, no, he mustn't hit them.
27:55It's got nothing to do with that.
27:57It's to do with homeboys, isn't it?
27:59It's neighbourhood.
28:00Yeah.
28:00It's a term of endearment, I think.
28:01You needn't worry.
28:03No, it wasn't me.
28:04It was the taxi driver, I was going to say,
28:05because he didn't hit this American.
28:06But anyway, there we are.
28:0874 plays Trisha's 63.
28:11Trisha, would you like another letters game?
28:13Right.
28:14Consonant, please, Rachel.
28:15Thank you, Trisha.
28:16H.
28:17And another.
28:19M.
28:20And another.
28:31And the last one, C.
28:47And the clock starts now.
29:20Yes, Trisha?
29:21Seven.
29:21Seven, Lawrence?
29:23Yes, seven.
29:24So, Trisha?
29:25Matched.
29:26Lawrence?
29:27Chanted.
29:28Yes.
29:29Happy?
29:30Very happy.
29:31Yeah.
29:32And what have we got?
29:32We're happy with that.
29:33I think we had median earlier today,
29:36but we've now got mediant.
29:38Mediant.
29:38Mediant.
29:39It's a musical turn for the third note of a musical scale.
29:42Yeah.
29:43And then also we've got an eight letter,
29:45which is machined.
29:46Pretty good.
29:46Which is the verb of machine.
29:48Yes.
29:49Past participle.
29:50Exactly.
29:50Machined piece of metal.
29:52Yes.
29:52Very good.
29:53Anything else, Susie?
29:53That's it.
29:54Good enough.
29:55Machined.
29:56All right.
29:5781 plays 70.
29:58And we're, well, frankly, we're down to the last letters again, Lawrence.
30:04Continent, please.
30:05Thank you, Lawrence.
30:07G.
30:07And another.
30:09N.
30:11And a vowel.
30:12U.
30:13And another.
30:15O.
30:16And a consonant.
30:18R.
30:19And another.
30:20D.
30:21And another.
30:23T.
30:24And a vowel.
30:27I.
30:29And a final consonant, please.
30:32And a final R.
30:34Stand by.
30:36Stand by.
31:05Yes, Lawrence?
31:06A seven.
31:07A seven, Tricia?
31:08Seven.
31:10Lawrence.
31:11Turing.
31:12And Tricia, are you touring too?
31:13Yes.
31:14Well done.
31:15Now, what excitement in the corner?
31:18Well, they've got touring very excitingly.
31:21We've gone for routing, which is basically touring, but slightly different word.
31:26Oh, is that routing or routing?
31:28Because some people say routing, don't they?
31:30Yes, particularly if you're an American.
31:31Yeah, American.
31:32Yes.
31:33But also, you go routing if you've got a router.
31:35That's true.
31:36Which is a woodworking tool.
31:37Is it?
31:38Yeah.
31:39Oh, I didn't know that.
31:40No, I'm thinking of modems, you see.
31:42I see.
31:42All right.
31:43Well, you're more up to date than that.
31:45Anything else?
31:46No, to sevens for a slim.
31:47All right.
31:48There we are.
31:4988 to 77, and it's the final numbers game, Tricia.
31:53One large five small, please, Rachel.
31:55Not time to gamble?
31:56Sticking with one large?
31:57No.
31:58Thank you, Tricia.
31:58One large one, five little ones.
32:00Still all to play for, though.
32:02And for this final numbers game, they are two, three, eight, four, another eight, and the
32:09large one, 50.
32:11And the target, 398.
32:15398.
32:47Yes, Tricia.
32:47398.
32:49398, Lawrence.
32:50398.
32:51Mm-hmm.
32:52Tricia.
32:52Eight times 50.
32:54Eight 50s are 400.
32:55Minus two.
32:56Nice and easy.
32:57398.
32:58Thanks, Lawrence.
32:58Same way.
32:59All right.
32:59We won't struggle over that one.
33:01Very good.
33:01So, 98 plays 87 as we go into the final round, conundrum time.
33:06So, fingers on buzzers.
33:08Let's play countdown conundrum.
33:15Trisha.
33:15Shorthand.
33:17Shorthand.
33:17Let's see whether you're right.
33:18That was so quick.
33:20Well done.
33:22Well done.
33:26Well done, Tricia.
33:28Just a point in it.
33:30Just a point in it.
33:31Look, Lawrence wins by a whisker.
33:34But, you know, well done.
33:36And you were the third highest scorer.
33:38But it's Lawrence's day today.
33:41Yes.
33:41So, we wish you all the best.
33:43Back to Dunsford.
33:45And we give you this kryptonite to drag with you.
33:48And our very best wishes to you.
33:50Travel safely.
33:51So, well done, Lawrence.
33:52Good man.
33:53Good man.
33:5398.
33:54Great score.
33:54You're back on Thursday for the second semifinal with Antoinette Ryan from Nina Cantatipperary.
34:00So, it's North versus the South.
34:02You have a good, quiet time before Thursday then.
34:06Good luck to you.
34:08Susie, thank you so much.
34:09And David, great having you with us.
34:11Great having you with us.
34:12Thank you very much.
34:12See you tomorrow.
34:13See you.
34:13See you tomorrow.
34:14Rachel, see you tomorrow.
34:16See you tomorrow.
34:16Join us tomorrow.
34:18Same time, same place.
34:19You'll be sure of it.
34:19A very good afternoon.
34:21You can contact the programme by email at countdown at channel4.com, by Twitter at C4Countdown, or write to us
34:28at countdownleadsls31js.
34:32You can also find our webpage at channel4.com forward slash countdown.
34:40Mr. Yupik is popping around for a pint tonight, but will he be made to have it in the corner?
34:45Nigel Farage meets Gogglebox's very own Stefan Dunn at 10 o'clock.
34:50Next this afternoon, though, it's time to deal.
35:02You