"Lincoln" format

The "Lincoln" format, originally known as the "Edinburgh" format, is one of the two styles of gameplay used at co-events. It was devised by the Edinburgh Countdown Club in the 1980s, then reintroduced by the Series 46 champion, Ben Wilson, at the first COLIN tournament in 2005. While it traditionally involves three rounds (six games) being played over the course of the day, some organisers have extended this to four rounds (eight games) in recent times.

Setup

Events running in the "Lincoln" style have tables set up around the venue, enough to fit three participants at each. The tables are equipped with letters and numbers packs, as well as scoresheets for the game hosts to record the round details.

Playing games

Making selections

Unlike in the "Bristol" format, where everyone in the room plays to the same letters selections throughout the day, players make their own choices in "Lincoln"-style games. This scenario is favoured by some, as it reflects the way contestants select on the show. It also provides the opportunity to make tactical — and sometimes crucial – letters choices; for instance, vowel-heavy selections (those with five vowels but only four consonants), which are often trickier.

Conundrum rounds

For the conundrum rounds, the game host collects a conundrum slip from the event organiser before returning to the table to reveal it to the players. If the scores are tied after the conundrum, tiebreak conundrums are given until one is solved.

Round structures

Because nine games are played at each table throughout the day (twelve at four-round tournaments), "Lincoln"-style events have always used the 9-round format for the sake of timekeeping. Although the 15-round format has been used in some grand finals at "Lincoln"-style events, Co:Durham 2026 will be the first to experiment with it in the preliminaries.

Hosting games

The other role, which each participant carries out once per round, is the hosting role. This consists of overseeing the game played between the other two people on the table by dealing out the letter and number cards, noting down the players' declarations, revealing any missed longer words and numbers solutions, and keeping track of the scores.

Table rotation

Three games take place on every table in each round. Players and their opponents rotate between games until they have competed in two and hosted one. While the order of rotation doesn't matter, the different order of selections in 9-rounders means it's essential that everyone sticks to the Player 1 and Player 2 allocations for the sake of fairness.

"Prunes"

In this style of event, a "Prune" — mimicking the Apterous Prune bot — is added if the total number of players is unequal to the required multiple of three, which ensures all three games on the table can be played. This means a second "Prune" can be included at a "Lincoln"-style event, though with only one per table in order to prevent a human player sitting alone. For the sake of fairness, Prune always request 1 large number in their numbers game choice(s), and 4V5C (four vowels and five consonants) for all of their letters picks.

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. At present, the final sees a game board positioned upright at the front of the room to give everybody — not just the two finalists — the opportunity to spectate, play along, and provide better solutions (if any) should the contestants miss them. A prize presentation immediately follows, with the majority of recipients being determined by results and statistics. Special prizes (best word spot, rudest word spot, etc.) are chosen by the event host(s).