"Bristol" format

See also: "Lincoln" format

The "Bristol" format, sometimes referred to as the "classroom" format, is one of the two principal ways in which co-events are carried out. It was introduced by Series 49 contestant Jerry Humphreys at the first Countdown in Bristol event in July 2005. At the time, Bristol and Lincoln were the only locations on the co-event circuit, with the Bristol event taking place in the summer, and Lincoln in the winter.

Setup

The "Bristol" style involves a large screen at the front of the room, displaying on-screen graphics (now typically provided by Fiona Titcombe's "RoboRiley" software) for the relevant round type. There are rows of tables in front of the screen where the pairs of players sit.

Playing games

Letters rounds

For the letters rounds at "Bristol"-style tournaments, the host calls on a participant to choose the number of vowels and consonants they would like, which everyone in the room works from for that round. The host will make their way around the room as the tournament progresses. The numbers of participants, rounds in each game, and games being played determine whether or not everyone gets to make a selection.

Numbers rounds

For the numbers rounds, a five-line display is presented, which displays all of the combinations simultaneously: 1 large, 2 large, 3 large, 4 large, and 6 small. This permits the selecting player in each pair to choose the combination they would like them and their opponent to work from.

Conundrum rounds

Traditionally, the conundrum rounds work in a similar way to the letters, whereby everyone will be shown the same one; however, some hosts choose to split the room in two, giving each half a separate one. This can facilitate harder conundrums being set for higher-seeded players in the later stages of the tournament.

Round structures

Over the years, "Bristol"-style events have experimented with multiple formats. While most have stuck to the traditional 9-round format, others have changed it up — a notable example is Reading, which has always used the 15-round format. Longer formats come at the expense of fewer games being played but increase the chance of comebacks for any players falling behind.

"Prune"

In the "Bristol" style, a "Prune" — named after the Apterous Prune bot — is used if there's an odd number of attendees present. For the sake of fairness, Prune always request 1 large number in their numbers game choice(s).

Grand final and prize presentation

Conventionally, a grand final match is held at the conclusion of the heat games. This match is contested between the two top-performing contenders to determine the overall winner. A prize presentation immediately follows, with recipients of prizes being determined either by results or — in the case of special prizes (best word spot, etc.) — the event host(s).

Grand final at the FOCAL finals event

At the end-of-year FOCAL finals event, which is two separate tournaments played concurrently (the finals and the open) the showpiece at the end is the championship grand final. This oversees the two top-performing players in the finals division* competing for the title of FOCAL champion for the incumbent season. No grand final match is played between the top two in the open division; the winner is whoever tops the leaderboard at the completion of the seven heat games.

*The finals division consists of the top eight players in the FOCAL standings at the end of the season's preliminary events. Anyone who doesn't qualify as a finalist will play in the event's open division.