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00:00This programme contains strong language and adult humour.
00:04APPLAUSE
00:31Hello, everybody. Welcome to Countdown,
00:33the end of another epic week.
00:35It is our Champion of Champions.
00:37Today is our second quarterfinal, but, Rachel Riley,
00:40we must take it one step at a time.
00:42This day next week is the grand final
00:44and then we will be back to square one.
00:48Mm-hm.
00:49And that's the phrase I want to talk to you about
00:51to kick off the show, because on this day in 1927
00:53is the disputed origin of the phrase,
00:56back to square one.
00:58I love this because I love football on the radio,
01:00not just because of who I work for, but I love it.
01:04You know, when you put the radio on
01:05and you can imagine what it was like?
01:07Sport on the radio is fantastic.
01:09Do you get it?
01:10Do you like a bit of sport on the wireless?
01:12Yeah, especially when you're driving
01:13and you need to know the football scores.
01:15They're more descriptive, aren't they?
01:17Yeah, exactly. You have to.
01:18You have to paint the picture.
01:19When radio's good, it should paint the picture.
01:21But back on this day in 1927,
01:23when they broadcast the first live radio commentary
01:25of a football match, they were like,
01:27well, how are people going to know where the ball is?
01:29So the Radio Times printed a football pitch
01:32and all the squares were numbered
01:34and the goalkeeper was number one.
01:36So on the commentary, when it was on the right wing,
01:39they'd say, six, James.
01:41Imagine.
01:42And then when it back to keeper, back to square one.
01:46But it's disputed.
01:47I'm sure Susie's been bristling at that.
01:49You're doing my job for me now.
01:51Have I overstepped my mark?
01:52Let's ask her.
01:53Am I in trouble?
01:54Am I going back to square one career-wise after that?
01:56I might be.
01:57Sorry about that, Susie.
01:58That's OK.
01:59I couldn't steal your thunder with all the lightning in the world,
02:02so don't worry about that.
02:03Our Jay of the Day is ready to upstage us all.
02:05And alongside her, a woman with a voice that can make you
02:09fall in love and shatter your windows all at the same time,
02:12Heather Smalls.
02:13APPLAUSE
02:16Our search for a hero continues.
02:19Let's introduce first young Elliot Mellor.
02:22Revenge in the round of 16 over the very player Ardinos,
02:25who beat him in that Series 80 final.
02:27Does that feel just psychologically, Elliot,
02:30sort of a monkey off the back, if we're being honest?
02:32Yeah, a little bit.
02:33It was very nice when it was actually going into the conundrum
02:36and I could actually think, I've actually won this time.
02:39So that was a righting of a wrong, I suppose.
02:41So good luck to you today.
02:42Thank you very much.
02:43You're up against Dan Barham.
02:45Dan, and I mean this with such affection because we get on well,
02:48you look like you're ready to go surfing, not play Countdown.
02:50It's beautiful.
02:51Your hair looks great.
02:52Oh, thank you.
02:53I just, I'm really grateful to be here.
02:55I want to enjoy this experience.
02:57It's my first match where I'm the underdog.
03:01And it could be the last one.
03:03I'm going to try my best to make sure it's not.
03:05But either way, I want to be free and enjoy it to the maximum.
03:09Nothing to lose, except for this game against Elliot,
03:12if we're being honest.
03:13OK, good luck to Dan.
03:14Good luck to Elliot.
03:15APPLAUSE
03:19Shall we begin?
03:20Here we go.
03:21Elliot.
03:22Good afternoon, Rachel.
03:23Afternoon, Elliot.
03:24Can I start with a vowel, please?
03:26You can indeed.
03:27Start with E.
03:28And another?
03:30U.
03:31And another?
03:33I.
03:34And a consonant?
03:35R.
03:36And a second?
03:37K.
03:38And a third?
03:39T.
03:40And a fourth?
03:41M.
03:42And a vowel?
03:43A.
03:44And a final vowel, please?
03:47A final E.
03:48That's the whole man in the studio.
03:50Let's play Countdown.
03:52ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS
03:55ELECTRONIC MUSIC CONTINUES
04:21Elliot, how did you get on?
04:22Seven.
04:23And Dan?
04:24Seven as well.
04:25OK, what have you got, Elliot?
04:26Emirate.
04:27And Dan?
04:28Mercat.
04:29Back to Susie.
04:30All good?
04:31Yes.
04:32Emirate is the sort of province of an emir.
04:34Very good indeed, yeah.
04:35Brilliant.
04:36Anything else, Heather?
04:37I've got a nice six.
04:38Eureka.
04:39Oh, beautiful.
04:40Beautiful word.
04:41Right, seven points each.
04:42Dan, your first time picking the letters in this quarterfinal.
04:45Good afternoon, Rachel.
04:46Afternoon again, Dan.
04:47Could I start with a consonant, please?
04:50Start with S.
04:51And another consonant?
04:52G.
04:53And another?
04:55T.
04:56And another?
04:59G.
05:01And a vowel?
05:03A.
05:04And another?
05:05I.
05:07And another?
05:09A.
05:11And another vowel?
05:13E.
05:16And a consonant, please?
05:17Lastly, C.
05:1930 seconds.
05:20C.
05:2130 seconds.
05:51Talk to me, Dan.
05:53Seven.
05:54Elliot?
05:55Seven.
05:56Toe-to-toe. Dan?
05:57Cagiest.
05:58Elliot?
05:59Exactly the same.
06:00Anything but a cage.
06:01You start, 14 points each.
06:02Probably just keeping up a bit here, unless...
06:04unless...
06:05Let's find out.
06:06We also had cagiest, but there's a lovely six there.
06:09I was talking about children's games.
06:11Aggies.
06:12And aggies were highly prized marbles.
06:15So any true marble aficionado would know all about aggies,
06:18because they resemble agate, that's why.
06:20Brilliant.
06:21Let's get our first numbers round of the day.
06:23And, Elliot, you are up.
06:25Six small, please, Rachel.
06:27Six little ones said very confidently.
06:29How do you feel about that, Dan?
06:30On a normal day, I like six small, but today I'm nervous.
06:34Against Elliot, everything's scary.
06:36The first numbers.
06:37Nine, five, four, seven, nine and five.
06:43And the target for you, 709.
06:46709, numbers up.
07:17That's time up. Elliot?
07:20711, not written down.
07:22Two away. Dan?
07:24I've got it, but not written down.
07:26Go.
07:27Five times five times four...
07:30Five times five times four is 100.
07:32..times by seven...
07:33Yeah.
07:34..add nine.
07:35It was a very friendly target for these numbers.
07:37709, good spot.
07:40Dan takes a ten-point lead.
07:43So a very suitable first tea time teaser,
07:46because the word is underdog.
07:48Underdog.
07:49Down to earth, but not allowed out.
07:51Down to earth, but not allowed out.
08:09Welcome back.
08:10Down to earth, but not allowed out.
08:12Underdog becomes grounded,
08:14a word I'd use to describe all eight of our quarter-finalists
08:17of this champion of champions.
08:19Let's get back to it, then, with our two friends, Elliot and Dan.
08:23And, Dan, you're up.
08:24Can I start with a consonant, please?
08:26Thank you, Dan. R.
08:28And another one?
08:30L.
08:31And another?
08:33T.
08:34And another consonant?
08:36X.
08:38And a vowel?
08:39A.
08:40And another?
08:41I.
08:43And another?
08:44O.
08:46And another vowel?
08:48E.
08:50And a consonant, please?
08:52And, lastly, N.
08:54Thank you, Rachel.
09:11THEY PLAY
09:26Mr Barham?
09:27Eight.
09:28Mr Miller?
09:29Eight.
09:30Very good. Dan?
09:31Relation.
09:32Elliot?
09:33Relation.
09:34There you go.
09:35Eight each.
09:36What else do we have in there?
09:38I'm not looking any more for longer words,
09:40There's just words we can enjoy, I think, at this stage.
09:42I was saying lyxian or latex.
09:44Latex. Yeah.
09:45There's a word everybody can enjoy.
09:47Thank you very much for that one.
09:48There are a couple of retinols as well.
09:50There's retinol and retinol as well,
09:51if you want to go down to seven, but we had relation as well.
09:54Yeah, I'll take latex and we'll move on to the next round.
09:56And the letters are picked by Elliot.
09:58Round, please, Rachel.
09:59Thank you, Elliot.
10:00O. And another.
10:02U. And a third.
10:04I. And a consonant.
10:07P. And a second.
10:09S. And a third.
10:11F. And a fourth.
10:13C. And a vowel.
10:16E. And a final vowel, please.
10:18And a final U.
10:21Yes.
10:40MUSIC CONTINUES
10:53And that is time.
10:54Elliot? Try a seven.
10:56What about you, Dan? Seven.
10:57OK, what have we got, Elliot?
10:59Pichius. And Dan?
11:00Yeah, I have the same word.
11:02Yeah. You are both in luck.
11:05It's absolutely brilliant. It's from Entomology.
11:07So, to do with insects, of a brownish-black colour.
11:09Any other sevens? Well, it's absolutely brilliant, no?
11:11Nothing to beat that. There you go. So, let's move on, then.
11:13Get more numbers. Dan?
11:15Could I have two large ones, please?
11:16You can, indeed.
11:18Playing it cautious, two large and four little.
11:21One nil in the numbers round.
11:23And the little ones, six, nine, seven.
11:26Two, the big ones, 75 and 25.
11:29And your target, 168.
11:32168, numbers up.
11:37ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS
12:04168, Dan.
12:06Yeah, 168. Yeah, and Elliot?
12:07Yeah, 168.
12:08Don't mind that coming up when you're ten points ahead, do you, Dan?
12:11Off you go. 75 plus nine.
12:1375 plus nine, 84.
12:16And times by two.
12:17Times by two, that's one way to get there, yep.
12:20Many other ways, Elliot. Yeah, exactly the same.
12:22Same way, ten points each.
12:26Well, all this week, we've been getting a great insight
12:29into the life and career of Heather Small.
12:32And we get to turn the tables now,
12:34and we take the mic off you and ask our own questions, which is great.
12:37Do you want to go first, Suze?
12:38Yeah, I'm going to ask a fairly obvious one, really.
12:41I hope you don't mind me asking it.
12:42But how do you feel generally about songs being politicised
12:46when you have no input into that at all,
12:49so harnessed by one group or another?
12:51Is that just sort of a natural process of music-making?
12:54I think when you write and record, and when it's out there,
12:58you don't have much say unless they're going to use it
13:01in a way that you can legally bind them to say yes or no,
13:08or that they pay a fee.
13:10But when somebody takes it upon themselves
13:12to just use a song out of the blue,
13:15that you don't agree with their sentiment,
13:19that can be frustrating, very, very frustrating.
13:22But if they want to use it in a commercial sense
13:25to promote something,
13:27then they have to usually ask your permission.
13:30Yeah. OK, thank you.
13:31Rachel?
13:32I've got a completely different question,
13:34because Colin mentioned it earlier this week,
13:36I can't sing a note, he can't sing a note,
13:38but they always say that you can sing something,
13:40everyone can sing something.
13:41So, if you are rubbish at singing,
13:43what are your top tips for making yourself slightly more audible?
13:47Better?
13:49Singing just by yourself somewhere, like the bathroom,
13:52so no-one else has to hear you,
13:54because you always sound great to yourself.
13:57That's not the kind of tip I was after!
13:59That's what I would say to you, Rachel.
14:00Sing for yourself and yourself only,
14:02not those children that you have.
14:04Can I just second that?
14:05If you're going to sing, please sing in the bathroom alone.
14:07I'd like that.
14:08My question's a bit strange, in a way.
14:12There's one thing about you that I suppose is a phrase
14:15that I greatly admire.
14:16I have so much respect for you,
14:17because I think your definition of success
14:21is maybe different than a lot of people.
14:24It's not all about just singing a music, is it?
14:27I don't think I have a unique perspective,
14:30but I think that success is something
14:33that makes you feel good about yourself.
14:35And when I was in M People,
14:38and I thought I'd do something solo,
14:40people said, well, you're in a successful band.
14:42Yeah, it was successful in one regard,
14:45but I was then a mother,
14:46and I wanted to be a successful mother.
14:48I wanted to look after my son.
14:50So, it was easier to do a solo project
14:53rather than a band thing,
14:57where it was always to the vote,
14:59and sometimes the vote would go against you,
15:01and it's harder when you have a child.
15:04So, like I said, success was that I got pregnant,
15:08and I was going to have this beautiful baby.
15:10So, success comes in many guises,
15:12and sometimes if you go down a path
15:13of just about money and fame, you'll lose yourself.
15:17It's the perfect answer, isn't it?
15:19Perfect answer.
15:20Thank you, Heather.
15:23Right, let's get back to the game.
15:25Just the 10 points in it.
15:27Elliot, you're playing catch up, and it's the letters.
15:29Vowel, please, Rachel.
15:30Thank you, Elliot.
15:32E.
15:33And another.
15:34I.
15:35And a third.
15:36U.
15:37And a constant, sorry.
15:39R.
15:40And a second.
15:41P.
15:42And a third.
15:44L.
15:44And a fourth.
15:46M.
15:46And a vowel.
15:48E.
15:49And a final vowel, please.
15:51A final O.
15:53Half a minute.
15:56ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS
16:24And that is time.
16:25Elliot?
16:26Dan?
16:27Seven as well.
16:28There you go.
16:29Evan Stevens, what have you got?
16:30Lumpier.
16:30What are you saying?
16:31Also lumpier, yeah.
16:32Good, another shared word, lumpier.
16:35Anything else, Dictionary Corner?
16:36We have the same lumpier.
16:38OK, lumps everywhere.
16:39We'll just move on.
16:4110 points in it.
16:42More letters.
16:43Loving every minute of this, Dan, let's go.
16:45A consonant, please.
16:46Thank you, Dan.
16:47T.
16:49Another consonant.
16:50J.
16:52And another.
16:53M.
16:55And another.
16:56S.
16:58And a vowel.
17:00A.
17:01And another.
17:03E.
17:05And another.
17:07A.
17:09And another vowel.
17:11O.
17:13And a consonant, please.
17:14Lastly, M.
17:16Here we go.
17:17ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS
17:26ELECTRONIC MUSIC CONTINUES
17:48How many, Dan?
17:49Six.
17:50How many, Elliot?
17:50I'll stick on six.
17:52OK, Dan, what's the six?
17:53Ozmate.
17:55And Elliot, same word.
17:57Ozmate.
17:58Going to be asking questions soon.
17:59Same word again.
18:00Suze, happy?
18:02I am happy.
18:03It's a term from chemistry
18:05and it's basically a sort of osmic acid.
18:09I don't need to go further than that, I think.
18:11So most of us were sitting in fours and fives, Heather.
18:14What did you get?
18:15Yes, no, no, I was sitting in five, yes.
18:17So no need for me to repeat it.
18:19OK, let's get another numbers round then.
18:23I agree totally.
18:24I'm not saying anything that's written down in this bit of paper.
18:26I'd be embarrassed.
18:28Elliot, let's get some numbers.
18:30I'll have to try six small again.
18:31Trying six small once more.
18:34Try to get rid of that gap.
18:36Let's see if it works.
18:37These little ones.
18:38Three, nine, five, two, five and ten.
18:44And the target to reach, 783.
18:47783, numbers up.
18:49ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS
18:54ELECTRONIC MUSIC CONTINUES
19:19Did it work? Go for it, Elliot.
19:20What did you get? Yeah, 783.
19:21You've got it, done.
19:22Also 783.
19:24Elliot, off you go.
19:25Ten times five.
19:2750.
19:28Take five.
19:2845.
19:29Times two.
19:3090.
19:31Take three.
19:3287.
19:33Times nine.
19:34Perfect, well done, 783.
19:35Fantastic, fantastic.
19:36What about yourself, Dan?
19:38Five plus three is eight.
19:39Five plus three, eight.
19:40Times the ten.
19:4280.
19:43Add the five and the two for the 87.
19:44And the second five back to 87.
19:47And then nine at the end.
19:49Wonderful.
19:50APPLAUSE
19:53Absolutely sensational.
19:54Let's take a breather.
19:55Our second Tea Time teaser is Mail Comb.
19:59Mail Comb.
20:00Does the lion like to play this?
20:02Does the lion like to play this?
20:04MUSIC PLAYS
20:12APPLAUSE
20:20Welcome back.
20:21A musical Tea Time teaser.
20:22Nothing to do with The Lion King.
20:24Mail Comb becomes Cymbalum.
20:26Does the lion like to play this?
20:29Well, we've got musicians all over the studio
20:30that don't know what this is.
20:31Dan, no?
20:33Nah, there you go.
20:34Heather, Cymbalum on any of your records?
20:36No idea.
20:37Susie, you're going to have to tell us.
20:39Yeah, it's a Hungarian dulcimer.
20:42Believe it or not, a dulcimer is an instrument
20:44with a sort of sounding board or box,
20:46reading from the dictionary here,
20:48trapezoid in shape over which strings
20:50of different lengths are stretched.
20:52And there's a lovely...
20:53If you want to look in the Oxford dictionary,
20:54there's a lovely illustration of one.
20:55There you go.
20:56Something to do with five past three.
20:58Dan, let's get more letters.
20:59Could I start with a consonant, please?
21:01Thank you, Dan.
21:02R.
21:04And another?
21:05N.
21:07And another?
21:08L.
21:10And another?
21:12Y.
21:14And a vowel?
21:15E.
21:17And another?
21:19I.
21:21And another?
21:22O.
21:24And another?
21:27U.
21:31And another vowel, please?
21:34Lastly, E.
21:36I's done.
21:49ELECTRONIC MUSIC
22:08Dan, how did you get on, mate?
22:09I think I have to try a six.
22:11OK, and Elliot, what are you going to try?
22:13Six.
22:14And Dan?
22:14Only a.
22:15And what did you have, Elliot?
22:17Relying.
22:18Relying, relying on curtains, that's absolutely fine.
22:20Only a is not in, I'm afraid.
22:23I thought so.
22:24Six is as good as we can get, Susie Heather.
22:27Yes, we have oilery.
22:29An oilery?
22:30An oilery, yeah.
22:31The business of a person selling oil.
22:33Very good.
22:34Back within four points,
22:35so crucial countdown conundrum territory
22:38with just five rounds left.
22:39Soon to become four, Elliot, as it's your letters.
22:42Vowel, please, Rachel.
22:43Thank you, Elliot.
22:44I.
22:45And another?
22:46E.
22:48And a third?
22:49O.
22:50And a consonant?
22:51S.
22:52And another?
22:54F.
22:55And a third?
22:56N.
22:57And a fourth?
22:59R.
23:00And a fifth?
23:02T.
23:03And a final vowel, please?
23:06A final A.
23:08I beg 30 seconds.
23:17ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS
23:39That'll be time, Elliot.
23:41Eight.
23:41Dan.
23:42Eight.
23:43Elliot.
23:44Seafront.
23:45Yes, Dan's in.
23:46Same word here.
23:48There you go.
23:49Two seafronts for you.
23:50It's a marvellat.
23:50Anything else?
23:51No, three seafronts.
23:53OK, four rounds left.
23:55Four points in it.
23:56The champion of champions,
23:57living up to its billing again today.
23:59But origins of words.
24:01Now, you've been taking us on a little virtual tour
24:03all over the UK this week.
24:05Yes, and looking at the different influences
24:07on place names, really,
24:09which are so steeped in history
24:12and give hints of these sort of secret paths
24:15that I think we just pass by
24:16because they're no longer relevant.
24:19And I talked about the Romans,
24:21I talked about the Celts,
24:22and I'm going to talk about the Anglo-Saxons, really,
24:25and the Old English is based on their language.
24:29This is the Germanic tribes who came to England
24:32from the fifth century
24:34and left lots and lots of different place names for us.
24:37So the Angles, of course, gave us East Anglia
24:40and England itself, which was Angleland, really.
24:44Sussex, Middlesex and Wessex, originally,
24:47were South, Middle and West Saxon land, if you like.
24:52So again, we look back to those.
24:54But place names from around this time,
24:55it's got a lot of variety of different names.
24:57And again, hat tip here to English Heritage
24:59who've done such lovely work
25:00on sort of making it very accessible,
25:04the history of our place names.
25:05So some common elements, people's names,
25:08just to take a few West Midlands examples today.
25:12Birmingham.
25:12Now, I mentioned Ham yesterday
25:14was probably a hamlet or a borough, most often.
25:18And we were talking earlier tonight,
25:20before we came on, actually, in terms of Oldham.
25:23And we were wondering what the old bit was.
25:25Either an old hamlet,
25:26so it was one that was existing already,
25:28or it was established by someone called Old,
25:32who may have had that nickname.
25:33And Birmingham's case,
25:34it was probably founded by a man called Burmer.
25:37Dudley, by someone called Dudder.
25:40And Wolverhampton,
25:42it's a woman actually called Wolfruna.
25:44And as I was telling Elliot,
25:46Nottingham began as Snottingham,
25:48because it was originally set up as a hamlet
25:50by someone called Snotter.
25:52But quite understandably, the S dropped off.
25:55Then we have animals informing names.
25:56So Oxford is a forward crossing for Oxen.
26:00Swinton in Greater Manchester,
26:02that actually means pig village.
26:04Gateshead was the city of the headland
26:07where goats would travel.
26:10And Hartford was the forward for hearts or deer.
26:14And Wick at the end usually means a dairy farm as well.
26:18So you've got animals coming in there.
26:20Then you have the fortified towns.
26:21The Saxons built Burghs, B-U-R-G-S or B-U-R-H-S
26:26to ward off the Vikings, a big threat.
26:29And so Borough comes from there.
26:32Likewise, Burr at the end of something,
26:33and Bury, it's like Shrewsbury, et cetera.
26:35They all relate to that original Anglo-Saxon settlement.
26:39Rivers and river mouths, particularly,
26:41Musa means mouth.
26:43So we have Exmouth, Plymouth, Yarmouth, et cetera,
26:45at the mouth of the river.
26:47Burner gives us a brook.
26:49And then Ac, meant oak, Acton, et cetera.
26:53And we have Ashtoreys and Ashton, Aston and Ashford.
26:57And so it goes on religious settlements.
26:59We have all the minsters, et cetera.
27:00So once you have these building blocks,
27:02as I say, you can just put your finger on a map
27:05and try and decode it.
27:06And it is honestly, it's really good fun.
27:08And it's lovely teaching kids this as well,
27:10because I think you probably think they won't be interested,
27:12but when you start explaining it, it's like,
27:13oh, the light goes on.
27:15Brings them up to life.
27:16Yeah. Fantastic.
27:17APPLAUSE
27:19Four rounds left.
27:20Dan, your letters.
27:22Could I start with a consonant, please?
27:24Thank you, Dan.
27:24B.
27:26And another?
27:27D.
27:29And another?
27:30P.
27:32And another?
27:34S.
27:36And a vowel?
27:37E.
27:39And another?
27:40A.
27:42And another?
27:43I.
27:45And another vowel?
27:48U.
27:50And a consonant?
27:51Lastly, R.
27:54Kind time.
28:07MUSIC PLAYS
28:25Declaration time.
28:26Dan?
28:27Eight.
28:28Elliot?
28:29Eight.
28:30Dan, what have you got?
28:31Subidari.
28:32And Elliot?
28:33Upraised.
28:34OK.
28:35One of those, I'm sure, is English.
28:37Yes, and I think Dan also knows what subidari is then.
28:40It's another term for a subarship,
28:42which is the position or office of the government of a subar,
28:46and that is a province or district of the Mughal Empire.
28:49OK, Elliot, Dan, fantastic.
28:52Well done, both of you.
28:53And Elliot, last letters round now.
28:55Vowel, please, Rachel.
28:56Thank you, Elliot.
28:58E.
28:59And another?
29:00A.
29:01And a third?
29:02E.
29:03And a fourth?
29:04I.
29:05And a consonant?
29:06S.
29:08G.
29:09And a third?
29:10N.
29:11And a fourth?
29:12W.
29:13And a final consonant, please?
29:15A final R.
29:16Last letters.
29:17MUSIC PLAYS
29:37Time is up.
29:48Elliot?
29:49Eight.
29:50Dan?
29:51Eight.
29:52What have you got, Elliot?
29:53Swearing.
29:54Yes.
29:55And Dan?
29:56Yeah, I'll go swearing as well.
29:57There you go.
29:58Let's have a little look.
29:59Yes, swearing.
30:00So there you go, swearing.
30:01Can you go wearings as a little...?
30:02No.
30:03So swearing's the only way you can...?
30:04Yeah, pretty much the only eight we could find.
30:05There you go.
30:06OK, let's have a look at the last numbers round of this quarterfinal of our champion
30:09of champions, and, Dan, you're picking them.
30:11I think I'm going to hope for an easy one and hope that the conundrum is as hard as
30:16some of the other ones have been.
30:17So I'm going to say one large.
30:19One large.
30:20I mean, I have not barely recognised any of the words.
30:23I wouldn't know which one was the conundrum and the anagram, so good luck.
30:27Right, you're hoping that these will be easy.
30:29We have six, one, one, uh-oh, two, five, and the large one, 25.
30:37Let's have a look at the target.
30:39Ah!
30:40115.
30:41115, last numbers.
31:06Let's just keep everything ship-shape and above board.
31:15Dan, 115?
31:16Yeah, 115.
31:17Elliot?
31:18Yeah, about a second to spare, but 115.
31:20Go ahead, Dan.
31:2125 minus two...
31:2223.
31:23..and then times by five.
31:24It is 115.
31:25How about you, Elliot?
31:26Yeah, exactly the same.
31:27You're not getting a round of applause for getting that, but you will both get a hearty
31:31round of applause for breaking 100 at the same time.
31:35APPLAUSE
31:39Mr Miller, please put your finger on the buzzer.
31:41Mr Barham, please put your finger on the buzzer.
31:46As we reveal today's crucial Countdown conundrum.
32:05MUSIC
32:14Elliot?
32:15Candelada?
32:16For the win, let's have a look.
32:18It isn't, so it's a lap of honour for Dan.
32:25And he'll have a go.
32:27Andalacid.
32:28LAUGHTER
32:30I'm saying not, but let's...
32:32Yeah, cos I'm right, it's not.
32:34Let's just reveal that crucial Countdown conundrum.
32:37Dandiacal!
32:39Diabolical dandiacal, Susie Den.
32:42Good grief.
32:43Er, relating to or characteristic of a dandy.
32:47There you go.
32:48Of course it is.
32:49Of course it is.
32:50It was played in a brilliant, brilliant spirit today.
32:52Elliot, you're such an impressive young man.
32:55I've loved the chats we've had, fun and important over the two shows.
32:58It's been brilliant to have you here.
33:00I've got to point out, obviously, hindsight's 20-20,
33:03but the eight that you didn't go for...
33:05Yeah, I mean, it would have made a difference,
33:07but you can't really grumble at losing to a performance like that.
33:10And Dan is such a lovely lad.
33:12We chat a lot off-screen, so I can't complain.
33:14Yeah, absolutely.
33:15Yeah, thanks for the game, man.
33:17Yeah, I can't believe it, really, but it was a pleasure to play you.
33:20Elliot's a legend of the game, so for me it's really special, this moment.
33:24Listen, legends are born every day.
33:26You might just become one yourself.
33:28So thank you very much to Elliot and Dan.
33:30Congratulations.
33:31APPLAUSE
33:34What a week, Susie.
33:36Oh, love that.
33:37And what a lovely time with Heather.
33:39Second time in Dictionary Corner,
33:41first time I've had the pleasure of your company.
33:43I meant what I said, I admire you so much and thank you for being here.
33:46I've had a wonderful, wonderful time,
33:48and it's lovely to see a game played with such a true, dignified spirit.
33:51Lovely.
33:52That's very, very true indeed.
33:53Rachel, usually when you work Monday to Friday,
33:55you love when the weekend comes.
33:57Like, come on, just get it over with.
33:59I know, next week is going to be huge.
34:01And am I allowed to say that your pick has now gone out?
34:04Yes!
34:05Oh!
34:06Yeah, my pick, who actually is going to play Dan,
34:09the winner of Luke versus Ahmed, is still in.
34:13So, you know, well done, little Rachel.
34:15Elliot, there you go.
34:16It's out of the bag, you were the apple of my eye.
34:18Still my champion as far as I'm concerned.
34:20One of the best players we've ever had.
34:22Well done.
34:23But unlucky today.
34:24Two quarter-finals, two semi-finals,
34:26the Champion of Champions final.
34:28That's next week.
34:29We'll see you on Monday.
34:30Rachel, Susie and I will be here in Count On Us.
34:34You can contact the programme by email...
34:49The first of a fascinating two-parter.
34:51Sunday evening at 6.45,
34:53Jon Snow meets residents of a Greek island,
34:55where life expectancies are a decade longer than the average.
34:59How to live to 100.

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