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The Countdown Tips Page

If you're ever struggling at the game, want to know how to do better so you can finally beat your spouse/parents/children while playing along at home, or if you've recently applied for the show and need help at the audition/recordings, then this is the place for you- many of these tips may be common sense, but that doesn't make them any less valid. Many thanks go to contributors from the old Talk4 forum for helping me to fill this out- credit has been given where applicable.

LETTERS GAME

Often, finding 3, 4 or 5 letter words and linking them together may help, as will finding foreign words that have worked their way into the English languag, such as BOUDOIR.. Don't be afraid to take a chance! [Thanks to Sassoon Messropian for those words of advice]

Write down the letters in a different order to the way they were put on the board- although you can see the letters in the monitor, a different perspective can and will help no end. [In his experiences on Mike Brown's site, Kevin Thurlow suggests using a 3X3 grid, and I wholeheartedly endorse that idea]

Look for particular words- "magic words" such as NOTARISE, to which you can add an A, B, C, D, L or P to get a nine-letter word. Usually, 5C and 4V will get you the most points.

Look for endings- -ING, -IEST, -IER (not all will be allowed, but it's usually worth a go). -MAN and -MEN are two woefully underused suffixes that do yield points if used correctly.

Here's an obvious one that strangely fades in the heat of the moment- always go with the least risky word. Never risk LAUGHTERS (probably not there, one for the new mass noun rule methinks) if you've seen SLAUGHTER, for example.

Stick to a particular order of letters- you'll be surprised how used to the order you can get (and if you practice with an odd order, it can throw your opponent).

Write down a list of six-letter words that are likely to come out, such as RETAIN or INSERT, so they'll just jump out at you when you play. [Thanks to Soup for that one] Hint- the most used letters in the English language are AEINORST, so try the trick on those 8, adding a ninth as you feel like it.

Here's one that worked wonders for me- write down the longest word you can find, then write the remaining letters to the side of it. You will be surprised how often words can jump out at you when you use that method.

Practice makes perfect! Quiz books, board games, the electronic game (which was an aid to none other than Julian Fell), and, most of all, playing along at home, will all help improve your game no end (this applies to all types of rounds, but to the letters games in particular).

If you're serious about winning, then buy, or at the very least, borrow a copy of the NODE from the library (actually, if you do end up winning, the NODE won't be redundant as they now give out the two-volume Shorter Oxford Dictionary of English to beaten champions/octochamps).

NUMBERS GAME

Learn your 75X table!

If you think you're better at numbers games, go with 6 small ones. It irritates Carol (a lot) but it's worth it if it gets you 10 more points than your opponent.

Another trick from Kevin Thurlow- the 11X trick for two-digit numbers. Add the two together and put the result in the middle (if the result is 10 or higher, add the 1 on to the hundreds column). Example- 43 X 11= 473 59 x 11= 649. Easy!

A similar trick exists concerning the 9x table. If you have a three digit number, and the digits all add up to equal 9 or 18 (or 27, but only 999 applies in that case), then that number can be divided exactly by 9, or 18 if it's an even number. Example- 495. 4+9+5=18, so it's divisible by 9 (it's 9x55 in this case). This also works with the number 3 in the same way (if they add up to equal 3, 6, 9, 12 etc. all the way up to 27).

Also, and for god's sake remember this one, if you have one large number, try adding onto it BEFORE multiplying. 50 x 8 1= 401. (50 1) x 8= 408. It can give you a much-needed boost.

CONUNDRUM

Normally, the only tip here would be the obvious "get it first", but there are some tricks you can use for this round. If usually, you can get it within 2 seconds, but this time you can't, don't panic, and treat it as an ordinary letters game, applying the "-ING" rules and so forth.

AND REMEMBER-

RELAX
IT'S ONLY A GAME
BE CONFIDENT
EVERYONE'S BEATABLE
BE YOURSELF
DON'T SHOW OFF

And above all else-

DON'T PANIC!!!

Neb 2003