Ben Bazzard

Ben Bazzard Octochamp Statistics
Final position	Semi-finalist
Seeding	3
Points total	822
Conundrums solved	5

Ben Bazzard in Series 88.

Ben Bazzard was an octochamp and semi-finalist in Series 88. He was Head of Maths at a preparatory school near Bristol, teaching Years 7 and 8, and is also an Apterite who joined after the recording of his heat games.

Appearances

Heat games

Bazzard began his heat run the very next show after fellow teacher Paul O'Brien became an octochamp himself. Dispatching former Series 28 contestant Richard Hendron to start his run, Bazzard completed his run with 7 further winning performances, which included 5 centuries in his tally. Of particular note, in his third game, despite scoring his lowest total and getting an unfortunate miss with endtimes ☓, he did well to recover from a 17-point deficit to confirm victory after the final numbers round.

Bazzard's personal best of 119 points in his seventh victory was helped by spotting his first 9-letter word in a letters game with GROWLIEST. He added a second 9 to his run via the spot of PARENTING in the following match to wrap up with a final octotal of 822, which made him the second member of the 800 club member in Series 88 after Harry Savage, and the 109th member in the 15 round format.

Finals

Entering the finals as the No. 3 seed, Bazzard faced off against fellow maths teacher and octochamp Caroline McManus. Although the game was close early on, and a couple of semi-easy numbers targets were missed, Ben was on excellent form. He scored points in every round, and eventually zoomed off to finish on an impressive personal best of 124 points; in the process, he spotted QUESTIONS for 9 and unravelled GETMEDUNG into NUTMEGGED. This set up an intriguing semi-final against fellow unbeaten player Viraj Seelam.

The aforementioned match was a tightly fought contest; only two points separated both of them by the time the game reached the Origins of Words slot. Unfortunately for Bazzard, an unfortunate misfire with the gamble of snowday ☓ , and Viraj getting closer on the last numbers round meant he succumbed to his first defeat, which Seelam compounded by spotting SEDITIOUS from SUSIEDOIT to certify the end of Ben's run. He finished with his lowest score of 74 points in that game, and a final tally of 1,020 from 10 appearances.

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
8112	25/09/2023	P	Richard Hendron	72 – 93	Ben Bazzard	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Grace Dent	Susie Dent	122
8113	26/09/2023	P	Ben Bazzard	110 – 55	Alex Gordon	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Grace Dent	Susie Dent	122
8114	27/09/2023	P	Ben Bazzard	83 – 69	Jenny Best	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Grace Dent	Susie Dent	136
8115	28/09/2023	P	Ben Bazzard	100 – 55	Karl Niklas	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Grace Dent	Susie Dent	126
8116	29/09/2023	P	Ben Bazzard	99 – 70	Pat Arnold	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Grace Dent	Susie Dent	145
8117	02/10/2023	P	Ben Bazzard	107 – 38	David Ashton	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Susie Dent	136
8118	03/10/2023	P	Ben Bazzard	119 – 73	Joanna Neville	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Susie Dent	145
8119	04/10/2023	P	Ben Bazzard	111 – 54	David Whittington-Bradley	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Gloria Hunniford	Susie Dent	132
8172	18/12/2023	QF	Ben Bazzard	124 – 61	Caroline McManus	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Christopher Biggins	Susie Dent	143
8175	21/12/2023	SF	Viraj Seelam	98 – 74	Ben Bazzard	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Christopher Biggins	Susie Dent	114