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Difference between revisions of "Countdown:Featured articles"

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===January 2010===
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===February 2010===
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[[Image:Chris Davies trophy.jpg|130px|right|thumb|Davies with the [[Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy]].]]
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[[Image:Harvey_Freeman.jpg|130px|right]]
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'''[[Chris Davies (Series 61)|Chris Davies]]''' was the champion of [[Series 61]]. He was a musician and charity shop volunteer from Greasby in Merseyside, who on his first show impressed not only with his defeat of [[Scrabble]] player [[Ed Rossiter]] but also with his exceptionally fast Rubik's cube solutions. In his second game against [[Matt Shepherd]] he failed to secure a century, but words including {{word|PUEBLOS}} and {{word|TANDOORI}} gave him victory by 95 points to 46. This points difference was eclipsed the following day as Davies ran out the winner by a margin of 75 points, and just one day later [[Michael Jocelyn]] suffered an even worse fate as {{word|SEPTUPLE}}, {{word|ISOMERS}} and the conundrum {{word|IMISSBOYS}} saw Davies win with a scoreline of 113 – 37 in his favour - an even greater margin than the day before.
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'''[[Harvey Freeman]]''' was the champion of [[Series 10]], [[Championship of Champions III]] and the [[series 33|Supreme Championship]], and is widely regarded as one of the greatest Countdowners of all time. Freeman made his debut on 31 October 1986 against [[David Whiting]] as a 21-year-old Cambridge University undergraduate from Enfield, Middlesex. He won that game and the seven which followed to achieve [[octochamp]]dom with an aggregate score of 523 points. This was a record at the time, and stood for almost 14 years before being beaten by [[David Williams (Series 43)|David Williams]] in [[Series 43]]. In his second heat game, Freeman amassed 82 points which was also a record at the time. He returned for the series finals as #1 seed, and dominated his opponents [[Elisabeth Jardine]] and [[Les Martin]] in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively, before going on to face [[Mike Percik]] in the grand final. Despite having {{word|OUTTAKES}} {{X}} disallowed in the second round, Harvey produced a commanding performance running out the winner by 96 points to 52.
  
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Having so far failed to find a [[nine-letter word]] in his heats, Davies found two in the first four rounds against [[Ross Mackenzie]]. However, Mackenzie found them both as well and was on Davies' tail throughout the game. The pressure helped Davies who secured victory through the words {{word|MALAPERT}} and the [[Darren]]ic {{word|PUPATED}}. After solving the conundrum {{word|CIRCUSHEN}}, Davies had amassed a score of 139, the second highest of all time. Further Darrens including {{word|RIBCAGE}} and {{word|RIVULETS}}, along with the nine-letter word {{word|SCLEROTIA}}, gave Davies victory in his sixth game against Jonathan Seal. Of note, in round two of this game Seal beat Davies, the first time he had failed to score in 51 consecutive rounds. Two further centuries helped Davies win his last two heat games against [[Marcus Bearpark]] and [[John Smoker]] respectively.
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Freeman returned for [[Championship of Champions III]], beating [[Michael Stephenson]] and [[John Clarke (Series 11)|John Clarke]] to set up a grand final against [[David Trace]]. Freeman lost out in the first conundrum to Trace, putting him ten points behind, but he scored in every other round before solving the [[crucial conundrum]] {{word|PURSUEPAT}} to win 115–107 — the highest ever score in a 14-round grand final, and the only time anyone has ever scored over 110 under that format. In 1996, Freeman participated in the [[series 33|Supreme Championship]]. Given a bye in the first round, Harvey defeated [[Ian Bebbington]] in the second round and [[Barry Grossman]] in a closely-fought group final to put himself into the series quarter-finals. Therein, he beat [[Andrew Perry]] before once again beating [[John Clarke (Series 11)|John Clarke]] in the semi-final. In the final, he faced former [[:Category:Prodigies|prodigy]] [[Allan Saldanha]]. Freeman spotted a [[nine-letter word]] in the first round and was able to hold on to his lead to win 82–79, winning the title of all-time supreme champion, and maintaining his winning streak at an unprecedented 19 games. ('''[[Harvey Freeman|more...]]''')
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Davies returned for the finals as number two seed. Against fellow [[octochamp]] [[Steve Wood]], the words {{word|RELLINOS}} and {{word|RANDOMISE}} assisted Davies in building a 43-point lead after just five rounds. He ran out the winner, setting up a semi-final against [[Innis Carson]]. After twelve rounds of this game only seven points separated the two players. In round 13, Carson beat Davies with {{word|SOLENOID}}, opening up a fifteen point lead with just two rounds to go. Carson missed the numbers target in round 14 whereas Davies found a perfect solution, but he still needed to solve the crucial conundrum {{word|EPITUSSLE}} to win. After 25.5 seconds he doubtfully offered {{word|SLEEPSUIT}} — and exclaimed "Oh my God!" as this was revealed to be correct. In the grand final Davies faced #1 seed [[Andrew Hulme]], who often equalled but never bettered him. The words {{word|TETRODE}}, {{word|DIARISES}} and the conundrum {{word|ARTLEPOOL}} gave Davies the series by 117 points to 86. He remains an active member of the [[:Category:Online community|online Countdown community]] and is often seen on [[Apterous]]. ('''[[Chris Davies (Series 61)|more...]]''')
 
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==

Revision as of 00:02, 1 May 2010

A featured article is of one The Countdown Wiki's finest articles. These are selected by the editors of The Countdown Wiki on this very page. A featured article could be a player, a game or a piece of terminology. The article should be of a certain length and preferably contain images and external links to make the article more readable.

List of featured articles

Proposed featured articles

Yeah, maybe we should have a Project of the Week and try to bring some of those articles up to full strength for future FAs. We'd have to pick the more recent players I suspect, because for a lot of the older one we don't have any more than the scores. Soo 22:31, 8 April 2008 (BST)
Yes I could start that project right now, we need to decide how often to change the featured article. One thing I noticed is that the <ref></ref> doesn't seem to work on here, or doesn't that matter? As for players with games, there's me, Ben and Conor that all have round details. I will think more about which players have round details as well, and of course series and CofCs are another good source of FA's. Mglovesfun 13:35, 9 April 2008 (BST)
  • Graham Nash - there's now a photo and the articles a lot longer with more detail. Mglovesfun 17:25, 29 April 2008 (BST)
  • Mark Tournoff is another possible one, although we nearly have enough for a year already. My next project will be to get the Paul Gallen article up to the same standard. Mglovesfun 15:35, 3 May 2008 (BST)
  • I've done a lot of work to Series 60, which might well make it feature worthy. Also, I'm not particularly notable but I've savoured my vanity and given my contestant page a bit of a going over! As an aside, has anyone spotted my suggestion of a featured article symbol on Countdown talk:Featured articles? -- Crispy 13:26, 27 June 2009 (BST)
  • It's only just over a week until the start of November, so its time to decide which article should next appear on the front page. I've crossed out those mentioned above which have already been featured, which leaves Martin Gardner, Harvey Freeman, Graham Nash, Mark Tournoff, Paul Gallen, Series 60 and, erm, Chris Philpot. Joking aside, which of these - if any - does the community back for featured status? It would also be nice to think ahead and see if we can have a vaguely Christmas themed FA next month. Thanks in advance, Chris 'Crispy' Philpot 19:36, 23 October 2009 (BST)
I vote for Mark Tournoff, because he is still very much involved in Countdown, and has just attended CoLei2, so it seems a good time to feature him. Vande 19:58, 23 October 2009 (BST)
I've given the copy on Mark Tournoff's page a bit of TLC, so this is feature ready for November. Any ideas for a Christmas special? -- Chris 'Crispy' Philpot 22:08, 24 October 2009 (BST)
  • It's nearly time for our festive featured article - who or what should be on the front page in December? -- Chris 'Crispy' Philpot 19:19, 22 November 2009 (UTC)
Christmas Philpot! -- Vande 19:23, 22 November 2009 (UTC)
Am I sufficiently notable? How about Christmas Wills? -- Chris 'Crispy' Philpot 18:56, 23 November 2009 (UTC)
Ah, but is Chris Wills willing to dress up in a Santa Claus hat for a page of festive fun?
Anyway, it's no more than you deserve for reviving the front page articles in the first place! -- Vande 19:04, 23 November 2009 (UTC)
Should I pose for a new photo in a Santa hat, then? On a related note of good humour, are there any other ways we could make the homepage a little more festive over September? -- Chris 'Crispy' Philpot 09:34, 26 November 2009 (UTC)
There seems to be tumbleweed blowing round here at the moment! Yeah, at least doing something fun and festive like that might generate some more interest in the Wiki again. I'll have a think about anything else, but you seem to have a pretty good imagination. Vande 11:10, 26 November 2009 (UTC)
  • January 2010 It would probably make sense to have Christmas Davies as the featured article next month - as it is still officially Christmas into January, but more importantly because he has just won the latest series of Countdown. I have written a few words to start with, but they will need to be tidied up, and a lot more added if we are going to use it. --Vande 18:04, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
Seems sensible, and topical. Drawoh 22:50, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
Harvey Freeman has been suggested a couple of times now, and his article contains an excellent amount of detail for a pre-2000s player. I think he's a real possibility for an upcoming month. Just to spice things up, other articles which have been passed over for promotion in the past include Martin Gardner, Graham Nash, Paul Gallen and Series 60. It's a little early in the month to be making decisions, but nonetheless are there any thoughts? -- Chris 'Crispy' Philpot 23:13, 2 January 2010 (UTC)
Sorry, I completely forgot about the need to do this and am snowed under at the moment running an RSL radio station. Could someone else step in to help me out? Thanks in advance, Chris 'Crispy' Philpot 18:43, 6 March 2010 (UTC)
What a shame nobody else felt capable of doing this! - Co:Lon (Countdown in London) on 22 May 2010. --Vande 10:03, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

How to make a new proposal

Follow this edit link, or the one at the top of the page, and add your own suggestion. The name of the article should be placd between two square brackets to make a blue link (example: [[Jon O'Neill]]).

Future featured articles

When an article is featured, it is given a short write-up on the front page. This is not editable by ordinary users (the risk of vandalism to the front page is too high.) But we will post a draft here well in advance, so please feel free to edit that and who knows -- your words may appear on the front page!

Previous featured articles

See also : Countdown:Featured article archives

February 2010

Harvey Freeman.jpg

Harvey Freeman was the champion of Series 10, Championship of Champions III and the Supreme Championship, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest Countdowners of all time. Freeman made his debut on 31 October 1986 against David Whiting as a 21-year-old Cambridge University undergraduate from Enfield, Middlesex. He won that game and the seven which followed to achieve octochampdom with an aggregate score of 523 points. This was a record at the time, and stood for almost 14 years before being beaten by David Williams in Series 43. In his second heat game, Freeman amassed 82 points which was also a record at the time. He returned for the series finals as #1 seed, and dominated his opponents Elisabeth Jardine and Les Martin in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively, before going on to face Mike Percik in the grand final. Despite having OUTTAKES ☓ disallowed in the second round, Harvey produced a commanding performance running out the winner by 96 points to 52.

Freeman returned for Championship of Champions III, beating Michael Stephenson and John Clarke to set up a grand final against David Trace. Freeman lost out in the first conundrum to Trace, putting him ten points behind, but he scored in every other round before solving the crucial conundrum PURSUEPAT to win 115–107 — the highest ever score in a 14-round grand final, and the only time anyone has ever scored over 110 under that format. In 1996, Freeman participated in the Supreme Championship. Given a bye in the first round, Harvey defeated Ian Bebbington in the second round and Barry Grossman in a closely-fought group final to put himself into the series quarter-finals. Therein, he beat Andrew Perry before once again beating John Clarke in the semi-final. In the final, he faced former prodigy Allan Saldanha. Freeman spotted a nine-letter word in the first round and was able to hold on to his lead to win 82–79, winning the title of all-time supreme champion, and maintaining his winning streak at an unprecedented 19 games. (more...)

See also

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