Countdown:Recap checking style guide

This page is an attempt to help with the task of recap checking. It is written in three sections. First, an illustration and description of a complete recap. Second, definitions of the templates. And third, a set of suggestions as to how such a recap can be produced.

Illustration and Description

Here's an example of a recap of a fictitious cut-down game, with one example of each type of round.

Rnd	Selection	Gordon Brown	Score	David Cameron	Others	Max.
1	NTSOIEZNV	INVEST	6 – 0	VENTS	INTONES, INVENTS*, TENSION*, TENZONS*, VENISON	7
2	100 7 4 1 3 2 → 623	627 100×3×2+7×4−1	13 – 0	615	CV: 624 Best: 623 = (100+4)×3×2−1	17
TTT	GINBIDET	Taking what's yours, by all accounts.			DEBITING
3	FIESTATED	fitseated ☓ (13 seconds)	13 – 10	DEFEATIST (29 seconds)		27

The column headings are fixed, and pretty self-explanatory.

The Rnd column contains the round number, normally 1 to 15, with the tea-time teaser shown as TTT, as it is not actually part of the competition.

The Selection column contains the selected letters for each round or the numbers together with the target.

The third column heading is the name of the contestant sitting closer to dictionary corner, and the column contains that contestant's offerings.

The Score column contains the cumulative score of the two contestants.

The fifth column heading is the name of the contestant sitting closer to programme presenter, and the column contains that contestant's offerings.

The Others column contains answers not offered by the contestants.

The Max. column contains the cumulative score that would have been achieved by the "perfect contestant".

Now to look at each of the four types of round in more detail.

Letters rounds

In the Selection column, the letters are given in the order chosen and displayed.

Under the contestants' names, if a contestant gives an incorrect solution because they've given a word not in the dictionary or they've used a letter which isn't in the selection, then the word is given in a smaller font, and is followed by a cross. If a contestant gives a valid word, but had declared the wrong word length, then again the word is given in smaller font followed by a cross, but this in turn is followed by the declared word length in superscript form. Both are illustrated here, Gordon Brown not realising that there was only one D in the selection, and David Cameron thinking that TOTAL had only four letters.

Rnd	Selection	Gordon Brown	Score	David Cameron	Others	Max.
1	DLONATGIT	adding ☓	0 – 0	total ☓4	DOTTING, LOADING*, LOTTING	7

If words are found which equal or better those given by the contestants, they are listed in alphabetical order in the Others column. Only the longest words found are listed, and an asterisk is appended to any word which was not offered during the programme, by dictionary corner or by anyone else. In the above example, DOTTING and LOTTING were offered by dictionary corner, and the recap writer discovered LOADING. Dictionary corner also came up with GLOAT, but that is not listed because longer words were found.

If a contestant fails to offer any word at all, then a dash is given. For example:

Rnd	Selection	Gordon Brown	Score	David Cameron	Others	Max.
1	DLONATGIT	adding ☓	0 – 0	—	DOTTING, LOADING*, LOTTING	7

Numbers rounds

In the Selection column, the numbers are given in the order displayed, followed by an arrow, and then the target number.

In the contestants' columns, a winning offering is shown as the number offered, with the method of solution shown below. An offering which is beaten by the other contestant is simply shown as the number offered. If a total is offered, but the contestant then fails to produce it, the number is shown followed by a cross. If the contestant fails to make a declaration, then a dash is shown. These are illustrated here:

Rnd	Selection	Gordon Brown	Score	David Cameron	Others	Max.
5	100 7 4 1 3 2 → 623	627 100×3×2+7×4−1	19 – 0	615		49
10	100 9 6 2 5 1 → 938	938 ☓	26 – 0	—		85

The Others column only contains entries if a winning contestant's score in that numbers round can be bettered, and there are four different possibilities.

1. Carol gets better than the contestants, shows her method, and it's impossible to beat Carol.
2. Carol gets better than the contestants and doesn't show her method, but it's impossible to beat Carol.
3. Carol gets better than the contestants, but she herself can be beaten.
4. Carol can't beat the contestants, but Jono can!

These are illustrated below in rounds 1, 2, 3, 4 respectively.

Rnd	Selection	Gordon Brown	Score	David Cameron	Others	Max.
1	100 7 4 1 3 2 → 623	627 100×3×2+7×4−1	7 – 0	615	CV: 623 = (100+4)×3×2−1	10
2	100 50 25 75 1 7 → 394	394 ☓	7 – 0	—	CV: 393 Best: 393 = (75−25−1)×7+50	17
3	100 7 4 1 3 2 → 623	627 100×3×2+7×4−1	14 – 0	615	CV: 624 Best: 623 = (100+4)×3×2−1	27
4	100 1 9 6 2 5 → 938	933 100×9+6×5+2+1	21 – 0	—	Best: 938 = (100+5)×9−6−1	37

When giving solutions, either in the contestants' columns or in the Others column, the following are guidelines, but not obligatory.

• Use brackets only when necessary. e.g. ((50×3)+4)×5 is better written as (50×3+4)×5. The brackets around the addition are necessary, but those around the multiplication are not.
• With a string of additions and subtractions, put the additions first, and remove brackets if possible. e.g 100−(50−(25−1) is better written as 100+25−50−1
• With a string of multiplications and divisions, put the multiplications first, and remove brackets if possible. e.g 100÷(8÷2) is better written as 100×2÷8
• Omit spaces

Tea-time Teasers

The only entries required here are:

• under Selection, the scrambled word
• under the central three columns, the clue as given by the programme presenter
• under Other, the solution

No scores are given, as this is not part of the contest.

Conundrums

In the Selection comment, the nine letters are given, in the order displayed.

A contestant's response is given in the contestant's own column, and beneath it is given the time that elapsed before the buzzer sounded. If the response is wrong, then it is given in a smaller typeface, and is followed by a cross.

If neither contestant gets the solution, the solution is given in the Other column.

If a candidate doesn't offer a solution, then the space in the candidate's column is left blank.

In the special case of a tie-break conundrum, there are just two differences. "TB" is entered in the "Rnd" column, and the score in the Max. column is not increased beyond the score as given in the previous round. This is because is would be impossible for either of the contestants to have scored any more than the maximum score as given in the first conundrum round.

These situations are all illustrated here:

Rnd	Selection	Gordon Brown	Score	David Cameron	Others	Max.
15	GIVENPRAM		35 – 21	amperving ☓ (2 seconds)	REVAMPING	135
TB	FIESTATED	fitseated ☓ (13 seconds)	35 – 31	DEFEATIST (29 seconds)		135

Template Definitions

The recap is produced using an overall template, within which there a number of individual templates, one for each round.

Overall template

This takes the form:

{{Rounds-start|aaa|bbb}}

individual-template ...

{{Rounds-end}}

• aaa is the name of contestant one
• bbb is the name of contestant two

There are four types of individual templates

• letters template
• numbers template
• conundrum template
• tea-time teaser template

Letters template

This takes the form:

{{R-letters|nn|aaa|bbb|ccc|ddd|xx|yy|zz}}

• nn is the round number
• aaa is the list of letters (upper case, with no spaces)
• bbb is contestant one's offering
• ccc is contestant two's offering
• ddd is the contents of the Others entry (each word in upper case, with no spaces - see definition section, above, for details)
• xx is contestant one's cumulative score
• yy is contestant two's cumulative score
• zz is the cumulative maximum possible score

Parameters bbb and ccc are provided in upper case, with no spaces, provided the offering is a valid one, whether or not it wins. If the offering is invalid, it is written in lower case, and followed by a cross, and, if necessary, a superscripted suffix. The cross is formed using either the ☓ character (copying and pasting it from another location), or by typing ☓. A superscripted suffix is formed by typing ⁿ, where n is the suffix. If a contestant makes no offering, then the appropriate parameter, aaa or bbb, is a dash, formed by typing —.

Numbers template

This takes the form:

{{R-numbers|nn|a|b|c|d|e|f|ggg

|hhh|sol1=iii

|jjj|sol2=kkk

|cv=mmm|solcv=ppp|other=qqq|solother=rrr

|xx|yy|zz}}

• nn, xx, yy, zz are the round number and the scores, as in the letters template
• a, b, c, d, e, f are the six numbers in the order displayed
• ggg is the target
• hhh is contestant one's declaration
• iii is contestant one's method
• jjj is contestant two's declaration
• kkk is contestant two's method
• mmm is Carol's declaration
• ppp is Carol's method
• qqq is the best possible result
• rrr is a method which gives the best possible result

If one contestant is beaten in the round by the other, then the sol1 (or sol2) parameter of the losing contestant is omitted.

If a contestant makes a misdeclaration, then the hhh (or jjj) is followed by a ☓, and the sol1 (or sol2) parameter is omitted.

If a contestant fails to make a declaration, then the hhh (or jjj) is a dash, entered as —

If the winning contestant(s) in the round cannot be beaten, then the whole of the fourth line of the template is omitted.

If Carol gets better than the contestants, shows her method, and cannot herself be beaten, then the other and solother parameters are omitted.

If Carol gets better than the contestants, doesn't show her method, and cannot herself be beaten, then the solcv parameter, and qqq is a repeat of mmm.

If Carol gets better than the contestants, and can herself be beaten, then the solcv parameter is omitted.

If the contestants can be beaten, but not by Carol, then the cv and solcv parameters are omitted.

In all cases, if a parameter is omitted, then so is its preceding |.

In entering a method of solution, iii, kkk, ppp or rrr, the following apply:

• a single arithmetic expression is given, using numbers, the four basic arithmetic operators, and brackets
• brackets are always entered using the ( and ) characters, no matter how deep the nesting
• the addition symbol is entered using the + key
• the subtraction symbol is entered using −
• the multiplication symbol is entered using ×
• the division symbol is entered using ÷

Conundrum template

This takes the form:

{{R-conundrum|nn|aaa|c1sol=bbb|c1time=cc|c2sol=ddd|c2time=ee|sol=fff|xx|yy|zz}}

• nn is the round number for the first conundrum, and TB for any tie-break conundrum
• aaa is the string of letters to be unscrambled, upper case with no spaces
• bbb is contestant one's offering
• cc is contestant one's time in seconds
• ddd is contestant two's offering
• ee is contestant two's time in seconds
• fff is the solution
• xx, yy, zz are the scores, as in the letters template

If a candidate misdeclares, then bbb (or ddd) is entered in lower case, and is followed by ☓.

If a candidate does not declare, then the c1sol and c1time (or c2sol and c2time) parameters are omitted.

If one of the candidates offers a correct solution, then the sol parameter is omitted.

If any parameter is omitted, then so is its preceding |.

Tea-Time Teaser template

This takes the form

{{R-TTT|aaa|bbb|ccc}}

• aaa is the set of letters to be unscrambled, upper case and no spaces
• bbb is the clue
• ccc is the answer

Suggestions and Tips

Producing a recap in the Countdown Wiki is a two stage process. Firstly running the recap dumper, and secondly manually editing the output of the dumper.

The dumper is run by a sysop here, and the output of the dumper can vary from an almost complete recap to only the heading line. This variety depends upon the quality of the recap as submitted to the Countdown Corral. As well as producing an attempt at a recap according to the format defined in the previous section, an additional template is added before the recap. This template can take a variety of forms, depending on the success of the dumper, two of these are as follows:

{{Rounds-partial|nnn}}

{{Rounds-to-check|nnn}}

Each of these causes an explanatory message to be displayed, saying that the manual editing is still required, and most importantly, provides a link to the recap in the Countdown Corral.

In the second stage, it is important to use the Corral recap as a reference, and ensure that all rounds are displayed correctly. There are, of course many ways of doing this. Each person has his/her own preference; what follows is just one suggestion.

1. First ensure that a template is present for each round. If any are missing, copy and paste an appropriate one, from another completed recap if necessary.
2. After this stage, and again after any further editing, it's advisable to use the Show preview facility to check the output.
3. Edit the tea-time teasers as necessary. This stage is always required, as the dumper (currently) never picks up the clue correctly.
4. Check and, if necessary, edit the numbers rounds. This is probably the most awkward of the tasks due to the complexity of the template, and the large number of different options.
5. Check and, if necessary, edit the conundrum round, including the tie-break if applicable.
6. Check and, if necessary, edit the contenstants' declarations in the letters rounds
7. Check that all of the offerings in the Others column for the letters rounds really are in the appropriate dictionary, and that asterisks are not included for words offered during the programme.
8. Check and, if necessary, edit the contestants' cumulative scores in each round.
9. Check and, if necessary, edit the maximum score in each round.
10. When all is done, and you are completely happy with the outcome, delete the additional template inserted by the dumper to indicate that manual editing is required, put a brief comment in the Summary box, and press Save page

If you have any problems at all, don't worry. If the problem can be described briefly, explain it in the Summary box, and press Save page, but don't erase the additional template indicating that manual editing is required. Alternatively, if the problem takes a little more explaining, put it in the Discussion section for the appropriate episode, and again save the work without clearing the manual editing template. If you have a general comment, then make it here on this page, in the Discussion section. Whichever way, someone will quickly see it and answer the problem.

Good luck.