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Maria Boyes

From Countdown
Revision as of 20:12, 13 February 2017 by DaveW1980 (talk | contribs)

Maria Boyes was the runner-up of Series 36. She was a 41-year-old School Secretary from York.

She beat Ian Brunton in her first game, and won a further seven to become an octochamp and #2 seed for the series. In the heats, she faced only one crucial conundrum, in her fifth game against Andrew Auger, which she won after neither player was able to unscramble the conundrum HAILSTONE.

Returning in the quarter-finals as #2 seed, she saw off #7 seed Malcolm Fairy by 61 – 43 after spotting the Crucial Conundrum fractionally ahead of her opponent, and then faced #3 seed Simon Pryde in the semi-final, which proved a low-scoring but closely-fought affair that saw the lead change hands several times - however, when the smoke cleared, Boyes held on to win by 43 – 40 after neither player was able to unscramble the crucial conundrum, RUSTPROOF, in the 30 seconds; thus it was Boyes who advanced to the final against #4 seed Tony Baylis. The final was nip and tuck up until the penultimate round, when a botched numbers game solution from Boyes sealed her defeat.

Boyes returned for Championship of Champions IX a few months later, and convincingly beat Amy Godel 54 – 37 in the first round to set up a rematch of her Series 36 semi-final before against Simon Pryde in the quarter-finals; unfortunately for Boyes, this time, Simon would emerge as the winner by 41 – 33.

Boyes is famous for making one of the most famous letters games spots in Countdown history – picking the niner JAPONICAS out of a seemingly terrible selection in the very first round of her Countdown career.

Preceded by
Dag Griffiths
Series runner-up
Series 36
Followed by
Christine White

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
2050 16/07/1997 P Ian Brunton 29 – 56 Maria Boyes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Susie Dent 83
2051 17/07/1997 P Arthur Singleton 46 – 52 Maria Boyes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Susie Dent 71
2052 18/07/1997 P Ray Millar 40 – 68 Maria Boyes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Susie Dent 82
2053 21/07/1997 P Gwenda Sacks 11 – 49 Maria Boyes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Susie Dent 70
2054 22/07/1997 P Andrew Auger 45 – 53 Maria Boyes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Susie Dent 71
2055 23/07/1997 P Keith Berrett 34 – 65 Maria Boyes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Susie Dent 73
2056 24/07/1997 P Diane Sells 35 – 49 Maria Boyes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Geoffrey Durham Susie Dent 93
2057 25/07/1997 P Brad Driver 28 – 47 Maria Boyes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Geoffrey Durham Susie Dent 76
2097 19/09/1997 QF Maria Boyes 61 – 43 Malcolm Fairy Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Stilgoe Hannah Robertson 73
2101 25/09/1997 SF Maria Boyes 43 – 40 Simon Pryde Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Nicholas Parsons Hannah Robertson 73
2102 26/09/1997 GF Maria Boyes 52 – 66 Tony Baylis Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Nicholas Parsons Hannah Robertson 115
2166 1/01/1998 CP Maria Boyes 54 – 37 Amy Godel Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Denis Norden Mark Nyman 74
2171 8/01/1998 CQF Simon Pryde 41 – 33 Maria Boyes Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gloria Hunniford Mark Nyman 76