Due to persistent vandalism, account creation has been suspended. If you would like an account, please contact Charlie Reams on Apterous.

Difference between revisions of "Letters game"

From Countdown
Line 4: Line 4:
 
When the show was first broadcast, and for a number of years, contestants could choose as many vowels and consonants as they liked, which often led to poor selections where only 4's and 5's were available. Since then the rules have been changed. In the original [[9 round game|9-round format]], there were 6 letters games.
 
When the show was first broadcast, and for a number of years, contestants could choose as many vowels and consonants as they liked, which often led to poor selections where only 4's and 5's were available. Since then the rules have been changed. In the original [[9 round game|9-round format]], there were 6 letters games.
  
A player scores points on a letters game by writing down a valid word within the 30 seconds. This word must be in the current New Oxford English Dictionary, but not a proper noun, nor an abbreviation. Players can use each lettter only once, but can use a letter more than once if it appears more than once in the selection. For example from EEEECDLST the player could play SELECTED, which uses three E's, but there are four E's in the selection. Words score 1 point per letter, but 18 points for a [[niner|nine-letter word]].
+
A player scores points on a letters game by writing down a valid word within the 30 seconds. This word must be in the current New Oxford English Dictionary, but not a proper noun, nor an abbreviation. Players can use each lettter only once, but can use a letter more than once if it appears more than once in the selection. For example from {{word|EEEECDLST}} the player could play {{word|SELECTED}}, which uses three E's, but there are four E's in the selection. Words score 1 point per letter, but 18 points for a nine-letter word.
  
 
[[Des chiffres et des lettres]] also uses letters games, but there are no tiles. Letters are generated by a computer, and contestants take it in turns to select one letter at a time, so one contestant selects 5 of the letters and the other 4. The [[Cifras y Letras|Spanish version]] also uses this system.
 
[[Des chiffres et des lettres]] also uses letters games, but there are no tiles. Letters are generated by a computer, and contestants take it in turns to select one letter at a time, so one contestant selects 5 of the letters and the other 4. The [[Cifras y Letras|Spanish version]] also uses this system.
  
 
[[Category:Terminology]]
 
[[Category:Terminology]]

Revision as of 10:00, 18 April 2008

Example of a letters game.

A letters game is one of the 11 rounds during a 15 round game in which the contestant chooses 9 letters by selecting either a vowel or a consonant until there is a total of 9 letters. The player in the champions chair chooses 6 letters games and the challenger chooses 5, but gets an extra choice of numbers. The player can choose the letters in any order, but the selection must include at least 4 consonants and 3 vowels, hence there are only three valid choices in modern Countdown: 3 vowels, 6 consonants; 4 vowels, 5 consonants and 5 vowels, 4 consonants.

When the show was first broadcast, and for a number of years, contestants could choose as many vowels and consonants as they liked, which often led to poor selections where only 4's and 5's were available. Since then the rules have been changed. In the original 9-round format, there were 6 letters games.

A player scores points on a letters game by writing down a valid word within the 30 seconds. This word must be in the current New Oxford English Dictionary, but not a proper noun, nor an abbreviation. Players can use each lettter only once, but can use a letter more than once if it appears more than once in the selection. For example from EEEECDLST the player could play SELECTED, which uses three E's, but there are four E's in the selection. Words score 1 point per letter, but 18 points for a nine-letter word.

Des chiffres et des lettres also uses letters games, but there are no tiles. Letters are generated by a computer, and contestants take it in turns to select one letter at a time, so one contestant selects 5 of the letters and the other 4. The Spanish version also uses this system.