Cifras y Letras

A game of Cifras e Letras (Galician) in progress

Cifras y Letras is a Spanish game show developed from Des chiffres et des lettres in the same way as Countdown. During the 1990's it was shown on the chanell La 2 on Televisión Española and was presented by Elisenda Roca, in which time a main focus of the show was a much more relaxed atmosphere, with the music used on the show being set to a controversial theme. It is currently broadcast on Canal Sur 2 with most of the program now consisting of computer generated components on screen, now presented by Paco Lodeiro (Television Autonomicas). It also holds a variation broadcast in Latin American (Mexico), and also the Galician version: "Cifras e Letras".

Format and scoring

Like DCeDL, the game is divided into three disciplines.

Letters games

Selections are generated by each contestant alternately selecting either a vowel or a consonant. Words which they decalre must be in the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española. Like the French version, conjugated verb forms are not allowed but participles (present, past and infinitive) are allowed. Unlike both Countdown and DCeDL, plurals are not allowed, though feminine forms are permitted. As in Countdown, contestants receive one point per letter in a valid longest word, and a score of 18 points is awarded for a nine letter word (in Cifras y Letras, the set flashes if the word is correct). "Professores" of Letters: Antonio Elegido (Spain and Latin America), Yolande Castanho (Galician)

Numbers games

The players must attempt solve a numbers game with the exact same format as Countdown, but they have 45 seconds to do so instead of the 30 seconds available on Countdown. This is just as on the original French version. Also unlike Countdown, contestants receive just nine points for a correct numbers game. "Professores" of Numbers: Gema Ramos or Paz Alarcon (Spain & L.America), Jorge Mira (Galician)

Duels

Just as DCeDL, Cifras y Letras features a duel where the players are shown two words jumbled together, and have to buzz in with the correct pair of unscrambled words to earn 10 points. However, if a contestant buzzes in and gets the answer to the duel wrong, their opponent receives 10 points. Therefore the maximum possible score is 190. Words are along a set theme. (For example: References to Rosalia de Castro)

Order of rounds

The version of Cifras y Letras on La 2 had 10 rounds, but the format has now been extended to 13 rounds with the following order:

• Numbers
• Letters
• Letters
• Numbers
• Letters
• Letters
• Duel
• Numbers
• Letters
• Letters
• Numbers
• Letters
• Letters

See also

• Cifras y Letras on the Spanish language Wikipedia.
• Cijfers en Letters