Episode Cats81

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8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Series 11, Episode 1 was a special episode broadcast on 24 April 2017, as part of 8 out of 10 Cats Mash-ups Series 11.

8 Out of 10 Cats regular Jon Richardson was a contestant, along with James Acaster who were against acting team captain Lee Mack and Sarah Millican, while Jimmy Carr reprised his role as the host.

The match saw Jon Richardson, with the assistance of James Acaster, winning by 49 – 36 in an 7-rounder.

Rachel Riley was the arithmetician for this episode. The Dictionary Corner guest was John Cooper Clarke, and the lexicographer was Susie Dent.

There was a bonus round in which both teams had to compose a poem for John Cooper Clarke to hear and he would choose whichever team had the better one in between the second Teaser and Round 5; 5 points were awarded to Jon's team for having the better poem in John's opinion.

Interesting and notable moments from the episode are listed below:

1) In Round 1, just as Rachel put up the first vowel, she mistook it as a "V" as she placed an "A" which was inverted. Oddly enough, "V" is a consonant and could not have been in the box she drew the letter from. Also, the vending machine prop used consisted of candy brands that were made up such as "Carr's Bar" and "Toblo-Moan".

2) Just before the start of Round 2, Jon and James changed their nameboards to "Rico + Rico +". This would remain until the show ended.

3) In Round 3, James asked Rachel to jumble up the letters on the board. Had he not done that, the selection in the correct order would have be "ENLSIOGTR" rather than "SORTEIGLN". Also, Jimmy "stripped" himself naked and stood in front of the contestants once the time was up. Sarah, although not playing that round, spotted the seven-letter word SORTING in the selection.

4) In Round 4, Jon lighted up his prop which was a "bulb" to indicate he had gotten the solution while the clock was still running. By shear coincidence, just as the contestants were joking after the round, the tungsten caught fire and shattered the bulb.

5) In Round 6, the countdown music was replaced with a funky music alongside with Rachel and Jimmy lookalikes dancing in the centre of the studio acting as a battleground.

6) Finally, in the conundrum round, although James declared the correct answer, the points were given to Lee's team as Lee, who also gave the correct answer, had buzzed in literally a split second before James did; this was proven by the indicator on the nameboards.

NOTE: In this version, both players' declarations were allowed, although points were only awarded for the best answer.

NOTE: The conundrum, BIRTHDAYS should have been thrown out as the conundrum answer can never be in plural form.

Rounds

Rnd	Selection	Sarah & Lee	Score	Jon & James	Others	Max.
1	MANDORIVU	DOMAIN ROUND	6 – 6	daviour ☓ RANDOM	AROUND, DURIAN*, INROAD*, ORDAIN*, NIMROD*, RADIUM*, DAIMON*, RUMINA*, MANDIR*	6
2	75 25 50 100 7 4 → 453	453 453 (4 x 100) + 50 + (75 ÷ 25)	16 – 16	453 54 ☓ (4 x 100) + 50 + (75 ÷ 25)		16
TTT	MOISTONE	You might need a tissue.			EMOTIONS
Rnd	Selection	Lee Mack	Score	James Acaster	Others	Max.
3	SORTEIGLN	resloting ☓	16 – 21	RIOTS	STERLING, RINGLETS, RESOLING*, TRIGONES*, GENITORS*	24
Rnd	Selection	Sarah Millican	Score	Jon Richardson	Others	Max.
4	25 100 4 1 1 5 → 599	599 (5 x 100) + (25 x 4) - 1	26 – 31	599 [(5 + 1) x 100] - 1		34
TTT	TASTEPOO	I have it with every meal.			POTATOES
Rnd	Selection	Sarah & Lee	Score	Jon & James	Others	Max.
5	MASREUNLO	AROUSE —	26 – 43	MOANERS MANURE	NUMERALS, ENAMOURS, ALMONERS*, NEUROMAS*, MENSURAL*	47
TTT	MICROSEX	Somebody call a priest.			EXORCISM
6	EGAMIFSEO	GAMES geomes ☓	26 – 49	IMAGES/figame ☓ samfog ☓	IMAGOS*, FOGIES*, OMEGAS*, AGEISM*, SAMFIE*, EGOISM*, AMIGOS*	53
7	DIRTYBASH	BIRTHDAYS (24.50 seconds)	36  – 49	☓ (5.00 seconds)		63