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This episode was kindly donated by SuperLegendary.
This episode's repeat was broadcast on Wednesday 8th July 2020.
This episode's repeat was broadcast on Wednesday 8th July 2020.
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00:31Well, good afternoon and welcome to the Countdown Studio.
00:34It's the final first round tie for the Champion of Champions Tournament.
00:40What a wonderful time we've had here at the Countdown Studio.
00:43Just one quarter final place left, so it's all to play for.
00:47I was reading an article, Rachel, the other day that will interest you, I'm sure.
00:51It's about success and failure.
00:53Let me just get some facts for you.
00:55Apparently, a ceramics teacher in a school looked at his class.
00:59He decided to split them into two at the start of term.
01:03Told one half that he would assess the quality of the pot that they had to make in terms of
01:10quality
01:11and the other one in terms of the number that they could make, the quantity issue.
01:16And what was actually fascinating was that the best pot came, perhaps no surprise to you, from the quantity brigade
01:26because they improved as they went along.
01:28Whereas that lot that just had one pot to make really, you know, went on and on,
01:33but didn't have a chance to refine what they had done before.
01:37So there we are.
01:38Well, I think it's quite interesting, the psychology of getting better at stuff.
01:42So they gave men and women a maths test, and they did it about equally,
01:45and then they gave a separate set of men and women a maths test,
01:48but they made them tick a box to say if they were a man or a woman before they did
01:52it.
01:52And just the psychology of people saying that women aren't as good or whatever
01:56made the women do less well in that test, where they put it in their minds
02:00and had that on the brain before they did it.
02:03When was that, Rachel?
02:04And there's quite a few studies.
02:05Men and women are supposed to be equally good at maths and spatial awareness
02:09and all that kind of thing.
02:10But if you plant a little seed where you think you're not supposed to do as well,
02:15then you don't, you live up to it.
02:16Very interesting.
02:17So it's all in the mind.
02:18Excellent.
02:20Fascinating stuff.
02:21Now then, we have the Irish in.
02:23We've got Antoinette Ryan.
02:25And we've got Antoinette Ryan, our friend from County Tip.
02:28She has one dog, two children, two cats, two ducks.
02:32So there's sort of a little bit of imbalance.
02:34They get another dog, and then it'll all be terribly neat.
02:37You have one husband.
02:39I have one fiancé.
02:40OK.
02:41Probably best to stick with one.
02:42Series runner-up in 2014, and you brought, I remember it very well,
02:47some great eight- and nine-letter words.
02:49And your favourite book is Fifty Shades of Grey.
02:52OK, I've not read it, but perhaps you can tell me what it is that fascinates you about it.
02:56It's a wonderful love story, Nick.
02:57It's a romance.
02:59Yeah, yeah.
03:00That's not what I'd heard.
03:01I thought it was all, you know, anyway.
03:06Mark Murray, Mark Murray, also from Dublin originally, now working in Bristol, I think.
03:12That's right, Nick.
03:12That's right.
03:13Very good.
03:13Champion back in 2014.
03:15And you're a collection specialist for an energy company.
03:19You started in business young, at the age of 15.
03:21You were making a fortune selling those fairy animals you stick on the windscreen.
03:26Quite entrepreneurial at 15, or whatever it was.
03:28Let's have a big round of applause for the Irish, then, Antoinette and Mark Murray.
03:37And Susie in the corner, joined once again, obviously, by John Inverdale, wonderful TV
03:44and radio sports presenter, lucky chap who's off to the Olympics in Rio.
03:48Gosh, imagine, three weeks in Rio, doing what you love best.
03:52No better place for it.
03:53Want to carry my bag?
03:55Any day, any day.
03:56I see that.
03:57Can I...
03:57Do you want to carry my bag?
03:58Yes, definitely.
04:00Oh, Susie.
04:01Sorry.
04:01We can carry one handle each.
04:03Not bad.
04:04Share the load.
04:05Excellent.
04:05I'm on for that.
04:06Now, Antoinette, letters game.
04:08Off you go.
04:09How you going, Rachel?
04:10How you going, Antoinette?
04:11Can I have a consonant, please?
04:13Start today with R.
04:15Another.
04:17L.
04:18Another.
04:20T.
04:21One more.
04:22C.
04:24Vowel.
04:26A.
04:27Another.
04:28I.
04:29Another.
04:31E.
04:32A consonant.
04:34G.
04:35And a final consonant, please.
04:39And the last one.
04:40L.
04:42Here's the countdown clock.
05:14Antoinette?
05:14Seven.
05:15And Mark?
05:16Eight.
05:17And an eight.
05:18Antoinette?
05:18Article.
05:20Mark?
05:21Allergic.
05:22And allergic?
05:23Fantastic.
05:24Very good.
05:25Very good.
05:29And those are the very two words we have written down here.
05:32That's it?
05:32Well.
05:32I have nothing else to add.
05:34Well done.
05:34All right.
05:35Very good.
05:35It's an eight.
05:36So Mark in an early lead there, and it's your letters game now, Mark.
05:42Hi again, Rachel.
05:43Hi again, Mark.
05:43Can I start with a vowel, please?
05:45Start with you.
05:47And another.
05:48E.
05:50And another.
05:51I.
05:52And a consonant.
05:54N.
05:56And another.
05:57L.
05:58And another.
06:00M.
06:01And another.
06:03S.
06:04And a vowel.
06:07O.
06:08And a vowel, please.
06:10And the last one.
06:11E.
06:12Stand by.
06:14And a vowel.
06:32And a vowel.
06:33And a vowel.
06:33And a vowel.
06:33And a vowel.
06:33And a vowel.
06:33And a vowel.
06:34and a vowel.
06:34and a vowel.
06:44yes mark eight and eight and Antoinette just seven and a seven you're seven new
06:51lands mm-hmm mark Murray emulsion thank you excellent very very good eight and
07:00Moulins are vertical or nearly vertical shafts in a glacier believe it or not
07:04nothing to the Moulin Rouge no very good 16 points to mark my word and now it's a
07:11numbers game Antoinette gambling time I think great to six more please gambling
07:16early on thank you Antoinette six little ones coming up for you and for the first
07:19numbers game of the day your selection is eight three four one eight and ten and the
07:28target eight hundred and fifty eight eight five eight
08:04Antoinette eight five four four away how about mark I'm just going to try to tell in on that round
08:11I'm sorry nowhere nothing we're nowhere we're with Antoinette then no we're not now that I look at it
08:17again no no all right we cast ourselves at your feet Rachel well I got to eight five six and
08:26I
08:27think two away is actually the best on this one it was impossible well done all right thank you very
08:31much and we now have a tea time teaser for you with the score standing at 16 points for mark
08:37Antoinette
08:38still to score but there's lots of time early days and this tea time teaser is one crisp and the
08:44clue
08:44plot to steal the church tower perhaps plot to steal the church tower perhaps
08:51and the answer is conspire conspire
09:2016 points to mark Antoinette yet to score but mark I'm gonna lurch into a lesser scale can I start
09:28with a constant please Rachel thank you mark ah and another zed and a vowel o and another a and
09:41another e and
09:43another I and a consonant are and a consonant B and a consonant please and lastly T stand by
09:59have a
10:00do
10:00and
10:00and
10:30Seven.
10:31A seven.
10:33Antoinette?
10:33Risky seven.
10:35Mm-hmm.
10:36Mark?
10:36Orbiter.
10:39Yes, Antoinette.
10:40Brazier.
10:41A brazier?
10:42What's up with that?
10:43Yeah, not risky.
10:44John and I were just having this discussion because I was thinking of the French with an
10:48S, but the British version does have a Z in it.
10:50That's very very good.
10:51You warm your hands on it when you're a night watcher?
10:53Yeah, that's right.
10:54Yeah, protocol heater.
10:55Or it can be a barbecue.
10:56While you're eating a Welsh rare bit.
10:58Well done.
10:59A rare bit in there as well.
11:00Very good, John.
11:01Anything else?
11:02No.
11:04Brazier and a rabbit.
11:05Very good.
11:05All right.
11:0623 plays seven.
11:07Antoinette, you're off.
11:10Consonant, please.
11:11Thank you, Antoinette.
11:12S.
11:13And another.
11:14R.
11:15Another.
11:17Another.
11:17L.
11:18One more.
11:20V.
11:22Ver.
11:23E.
11:24Another.
11:25A.
11:26Another.
11:27O.
11:29Another.
11:31I.
11:32And a consonant, please.
11:34And lastly, S.
11:36Here's the countdown clock.
11:39And here's the countdown clock.
12:09Yes, Antoinette.
12:11Nine.
12:11A nine.
12:12A nine.
12:13Nine.
12:14All right.
12:15And Antoinette?
12:16Valorizers.
12:17Valorizers, yes?
12:19Same.
12:19Same to shoot.
12:21Perfect.
12:21Well done.
12:21Big smile from Antoinette there.
12:24Well done.
12:28Well done.
12:29John?
12:30Not that we could get nine, but we had rissole, which is one of those words you know, and
12:35you like saying it.
12:37It sort of trips off the tongue, but I'm never really totally sure what a rissole is.
12:40It's meat fried in breadcrumbs in a little sort of patty.
12:44All right.
12:4525 plays marks 41.
12:47Mark, numbers game for you.
12:49We'll try three large.
12:51Thank you, Mark.
12:52Why not?
12:52Three from the top pro, and three from the bottom ones.
12:55And for this round, your three little numbers are three, four, and seven.
13:00And the big ones, 25, 100, and 75.
13:04And the target, 776.
13:07776.
13:08Thanks, John.
13:08Thanks, John.
13:09Let me shut it down.
13:25I'm Paul.
13:27Billy Ray.
13:27You
13:27Billy Ray.
13:31It's Hancpartame.
13:33You
13:36Billy Ray.
13:39mark seven seven six and and for net seven seven six okay let's go mark seven multiplied by the
13:48hundred seven hundred and at the 75 75 and then four minus three for the one to add on yeah
13:56nice
13:56and straightforward there we are and yeah so 35 plays 51 as we turn to john and john you've been
14:09telling us great stories about the olympics over the years more to come more to come i was just
14:14thinking actually earlier on about certain games the ones that i've been lucky enough to go to are
14:18there's an emblem or an individual or something anyway that defines those games and if i say
14:24if i say the 1988 olympics you say ben johnson is that ben johnson in soul you know until lance
14:32armstrong came along the biggest cheat that sport's ever known really but one story i didn't realize
14:37until i was sort of looking up bits and bobs to say on the show was actually there was another
14:42incident in the 88 olympics which really should be far far more famous than it is and it's a sailor
14:48called laurence lemur who actually also happened to be a canadian a french canadian and he was
14:52competing in the fin class of the of the sailing and he was secure in second place heading for a
14:59silver medal and with an outside chance of a gold and then suddenly as he got towards the end of
15:05the
15:05race he saw two singaporean yachtsmen in distress one who was hanging on to the boat and the other who
15:12was 50 yards away drifting out to sea and perhaps to the end and he had to make that instant
15:18decision
15:19about olympic medal or heroism and he went for the hero option and then but by the time anyway by
15:27the
15:27time so he literally steered off and managed to pick up both the singaporean yachtsmen by the time the
15:34rescue boats arrived he'd slipped from second to 23rd in the race and so the medal was never going
15:40to be his and he sort of trailed in at the back end of the field anyway but actually the
15:44end of
15:44the games baron the baron pierre de coubertin special award which is named after the guy who
15:48was the the instigator if you like of the reenactment of the olympics in 1896 his special
15:54award was given to this guy for an act of unbelievable sportsmanship and heroism and that's i think that's a
15:59real that's a very human story that in the heat of battle he actually knew what was more important
16:04yeah actually the competition itself there was something much greater at stake and he did the
16:09right thing beautifully put well done very you know not everybody would have done that so he was he's a
16:21good man yeah brilliant stuff 51 plays 35 and antoinette you're back on okay consonant again please
16:30thank you antoinette f and another l another t one more s a vowel u another e another i
16:48one more a and a consonant please and lastly d don't buy it
16:56thank you
17:23so
17:26Antoinette.
17:28I'll stick with a seven, please.
17:30A seven. Mark.
17:31I think I've got a nine.
17:34Now then, Antoinette.
17:36Faulted. Yes.
17:38Mr Murray. Feudalist.
17:40A feudalist?
17:42Absolutely brilliant.
17:44In the dictionary, all about
17:46the social system in medieval Europe,
17:48the feudal system.
17:49Very, very well done. Excellent start.
17:57Very good. Stunning, in fact.
17:59Now then, what has the corner got to offer?
18:00John? I think we retire
18:02Hurt after that.
18:05Alright, 69 plays
18:0635, and it's Mark's
18:08letters game. Mark.
18:10Can I have a consonant, please? Thank you, Mark.
18:12V. And another.
18:15R. And another.
18:17G. And a vowel.
18:21E. And another.
18:23I. And another.
18:25O.
18:27And another vowel, please.
18:30U.
18:31And a consonant.
18:33C.
18:34And a consonant.
18:36And lastly, M.
18:38Countdown.
18:39.
19:05And another.
19:10mark six a six Antoinette six to six is mark Morg and voicer thank you we happy yes yes very
19:22happy
19:22with that now John what's John written down there no any got fives we had grime and grove and other
19:28grows but voicer and Morg were the ones that's it brilliant stuff so mark on 75 Antoinette 41
19:36Antoinette it's your numbers game now good luck we'll show you six more again thank you six more
19:42little ones coming up and hopefully a possible one this selection is nine seven one four three
19:50and eight and the target five hundred seventy nine five seven nine
20:27Antoinette five seven nine five seven nine and mark five seven nine so Antoinette um okay one plus
20:35seven is eight yep sixty four sixty four sixty four times nine is five hundred and seventy six and I
20:43don't retreat lovely five seven nine well done and mark and I did nine multiplied by eight is seventy two
20:50nine by eight seventy two seven plus the one sorry yes same way but brilliant do the way around lovely
20:58all right well done
21:02so we're standing at 85 to 51 as we turn to a tea time teaser which is grot bags grot
21:11bags and the clue no
21:12whiskey involved but Scottish spirits no whiskey involved but Scottish spirits
21:33and the answer is boggarts
21:42Susie
21:44boggart yes they are or were believed to be evil or mischievous sprites and it's related to an old word
21:54bog which meant a bug bear and of course bug bear was again a sprite that was said to manifest
22:00itself in
22:01in as a bear in bear shape and was used by nannies and parents to terrify children into doing the
22:07right
22:07thing yeah in the old days yes yes you give them the sweetie these days all right well done 85
22:15to 51 mark
22:17letters game I can start with a continent please thank you mark p and another t and another x and
22:29a vowel
22:31e and another o and a consonant n and another p and a consonant d and a consonant I think
22:48we need a third vowel mark
22:50we're very strict I'm sorry yeah a coat down
22:54thank you
23:23and
23:25Mark? Just a six. A six. Antoinette? A seven not written down. And Mark? Panted. Panted. Antoinette? Notepad. Thank you.
23:36Notepad. Excellent. Very good. Can we beat it? No we can't. Can we match it? No we had, you've got
23:41one down there. Tonepad which is like notepad the other way round. Yes. I had pedant as six. There we
23:47are. So 85 plays. 58 and Antoinette. Off you go.
23:52Consonant please. Thank you Antoinette. M. Another. R. Another. N. Vowel. A. Another. A. Another. O. And one more. E.
24:10Consonant. D. And a vowel please. And the last one. A. Shall I buy him?
24:48Antoinette? Seven. A seven Mark? Seven.
24:52Antoinette?
24:53Roadman.
24:54A roadman, yep.
24:56Adenoma.
24:57Adenoma.
24:59Let's toss that over to Susan.
25:01Yes, we've had lots of medical terms today.
25:03This is a tumour that you'll find in tissue, but it's normally benign.
25:07In fact, I think it's probably always benign, an adenoma.
25:10John?
25:11Nothing medical.
25:12I've got Armada for six.
25:14That's a cracker.
25:15That's about it.
25:15An Armada.
25:17That's wonderful.
25:17Where does that come from?
25:18It's Spanish, all right?
25:19Spanish for being armed.
25:21Is it?
25:21Yes.
25:21So it is.
25:22Yes, armed force, yeah.
25:23Very good.
25:24Spanish Armada.
25:25Very good.
25:26All right.
25:27Nine to six to five.
25:28And now it's time for Susie's wonderful origins of words.
25:31Susie?
25:32Well, I just thought I would touch on geek as well.
25:36I've talked about geek before because it's one of those words that's had a really interesting
25:39transformation over the years, and in fact, probably over the centuries, really.
25:45Today, it is somebody who's quite cool, whose knowledge is quite incredible, and who has an
25:50in-depth expertise, if you like, or knowledge of a particular area.
25:55It never used to be that way.
25:56And in fact, if you look through Oxford's databases, you'll see all the horrible adjectives
26:00that used to be attached to a geek.
26:01It was boring, timid, drab, all those sort of things.
26:08It was never very good to be a geek.
26:10The word itself goes back to a Dutch word, in fact, ultimately, for geek, meaning a mad
26:16or silly person.
26:18And in fact, it became even stronger in English, in English dialect, where it meant somebody
26:21who really was quite insane.
26:24So that was sort of the early days of the geek, if you like.
26:26But then, in the 1990s, everything changed, mostly in the computer industry, of course,
26:32when it suddenly became quite cool to be a geek.
26:36And it's pretty much stayed there ever since.
26:38And if you actually look again at the corpus, at these databases, you'll see adjectives like
26:44a music geek with an awesome vinyl collection, knowledgeable film geek, happy geek, expert geek,
26:53which is a bit of a tautology, but anyway, the adjectives are always really good.
26:57But just to finish off, I wanted to give you a fantastic sentence, I think, from a novel
27:02written in 1950 about Chicago.
27:04And it shows you very much where geeks began, almost.
27:08Not quite the insane people who used to be the buffoons at fairs, but it's
27:12The jungle hiders come softly forth, geeks and gargoyles, old-blown winos, sour stew bums,
27:19and grinning gin soaks.
27:20I just thought that was the most brilliant sentence.
27:22And it shows you that geeks were very, very much looked down on, and everything's changed
27:26since then.
27:27Very good.
27:28Well done.
27:33Thank you, Susie, as ever.
27:35Now, 92 plays 65, and we're running the final straight, as it were.
27:40Mark, let us go.
27:41Can I have a consonant, please?
27:43Thank you, Mark.
27:44T.
27:44And another.
27:46W.
27:47And a vowel.
27:50O.
27:50And another.
27:52U.
27:53And another.
27:54I.
27:55And another.
27:57E.
27:59And a consonant.
28:01T.
28:02And a vowel.
28:04A.
28:06And a consonant.
28:07And the last one, R.
28:09Countdown.
28:11And a consonant.
28:28And a consonant.
28:29And a consonant.
28:30And a consonant.
28:30And a consonant.
28:30And a consonant.
28:30and a consonant.
28:32And a consonant.
28:41hmm mark I'll stick with seven a seven Antoinette my secret seven as well please all right mark
28:48out where out where and out wait out wait we happy Susie and yes wait longer than somebody else yeah
28:56yeah and John yeah we've got out right but as in to out right somebody as in writing yeah yeah
29:05is
29:06a word yes I think you know if you're a better if you've got better better penmanship than somebody
29:10else you'd say you outright them by far that kind of idea I think that's clumsy 99 to 72 Antoinette
29:18I would let it go consonant please thank you Antoinette k another yes another p another q
29:32a vowel o another a another o one more i and a final vowel please add a final e countdown
29:57so
30:08so
30:24Antoinette.
30:25I'll stick with a six, please.
30:27A six. Mark?
30:28Six.
30:29Antoinette.
30:30Porky's.
30:31Thank you. Mark?
30:33Oh, capy's.
30:34Oh, capy's.
30:35Yeah.
30:36Very good.
30:38Poky's are slot machines, fruit machines, in Australia.
30:41Yes.
30:42That's absolutely fine.
30:43And an okapi is a mammal of the giraffe family.
30:45You'll find them in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
30:48And London Zoo, in fact, as well.
30:50Yeah.
30:51And, John?
30:52We had pukos as well, which is kind of like an Irish hobgoblin.
30:57Well, we've got two Irish people here.
30:59Is it not?
30:59Well, puky's have been in...
31:01Puky's? Oh, I don't think so.
31:04No, that would be a blend of the two.
31:06That's not where...
31:07I love you.
31:08All right.
31:09105 to 78.
31:10And, Mark, final numbers game.
31:13We'll end, I think, on two large and any four small, please.
31:17Thank you, Mark.
31:17Two from the top and four little ones.
31:20And the final numbers game of the day is nine, one, two, four.
31:26And the big two, 50 and 75.
31:29And the target, 219.
31:32219.
31:33And the line.
31:46You know,
32:02you know,
32:04Mark 219 and Antoinette 219 so mark 4 multiplied by the 50 4 by 50 200 2 multiplied by the
32:169 18
32:17and add the 18 and the 1 yeah 219 lovely for example it's fine there we go well done
32:27so 115 plays 88 as we go into the final round which is the conundrum round so Antoinette
32:34Mark fingers on buzzers let's reveal today's countdown conundrum
33:03Mark is it substrata substrata let's see whether it is there's a good man
33:14125 well done 125 tremendous score well done indeed Antoinette we say farewell
33:22that's okay back to Nina back to the ducks what do they call these two ducks
33:26Sam and Dewey very good anyway back to the family of the dogs and the cats all
33:32rest to me take your copy of Fifty Shades of Grey with you dip in and out of that spanking
33:37good read I'm told and in the corner John and Susie we'll see you tomorrow yes
33:51all right we look forward to that didn't you just get an e-reader so people on the train can't
33:55see what
33:55you're reading no that wasn't the reason I got it because my poor old peepers aren't up to it
34:00no truthfully and I love it because you can now make it grow bigger you can take the font size
34:10up to
34:10everything you like brilliant and that enables me to read easily once again
34:14congratulations happy days make sure you don't go blind
34:23you're a very naughty girl we shall see you tomorrow same time same place you'll be sure of in a
34:30very good afternoon
34:32you can contact the program by email at countdown at channel 4.com by twitter at c4countdown or write to
34:39us at countdown leads ls3 1js
34:42you can also find our web page at channel 4.com forward slash countdown
34:51we're back behind the scenes at the rotunda in dublin tonight as unborn twins need saving
34:55an all-new 24-hour baby hospital on more 4 at 9
34:58next on channel 4 this afternoon health puts things into perspective for one couple
35:03time to seize a home in Benadorm for a place in the sun
35:07we're back in the sun