Joe Dobinson
| Joe Dobinson octochamp statistics | |
|---|---|
| Final position | Semi-finalist |
| Seeding | 5 |
| Points total | 794 |
| Conundrums solved | 6 |
Joe Dobinson was an octochamp in Series 86. He was a Spanish and linguistics student at the University of Southampton but is originally from Southend-on-Sea, Essex. He is also an Apterite.
Making his debut on 9 November 2022 with a solid score of 93, Dobinson won a further seven games to become the sixth octochamp of Series 86 (as well as the eventual overall last of 2022) and the second of the series whose run spanned across two presenters. He achieved a provisional personal best of 116 in his second game, and solved six conundrums; three of which were crucial.
In his eighth game, he notably risked MARBLEISE in the final letters game for the sole nine of his heats before wrapping up with an octotal of 794 (the same as Paul James in Series 67, Laurence Killen in Series 71 and Maggie Barlow in Series 80).
Dobinson returned for the series finals on 20 December as the No. 5 seed and kicked off by playing his quarter-final against No. 4 seed, Alan Young. Young took an early lead after the first numbers game, with Dobinson staying close behind by two points. But crucially, Dobinson later found LANGOUSTE to take a sixteen-point lead before the conundrum which was left unsolved. This meant that Dobinson advanced to the semi-final against "The History Maker" Tom Stevenson. This also made Dobinson the first semi-finalist outside the top four seeds since Tony Manwani and Alan Duval in Series 79.
In the semi-final, both contestants started by matching each other early on. But Stevenson broke away with spots like LEGGIER in Round 5 and IMPASTO in Round 7, along with a successful six small numbers selection to establish a 24-point lead. Joe and Tom then maxed out from Rounds 10 to 14 which included them both spotting WINTEROUS, before Tom maintained his scoring record by solving his tenth conundrum on the bounce to qualify for the final with 129 points. This meant that Dobinson suffered his only defeat, bowing out with a very respectable score of 95 points (the highest-losing score of any of Stevenson's opponents in 2022) and an overall total of 988 points across his run.
Episodes
| # | Date | Type | Contestant 1 | Score | Contestant 2 | Presenters | Guest | Lex | Max | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7889 | 09/11/2022 | P | Samantha Baker | 88 – 93 | Joe Dobinson | Richard Coles | Rachel Riley | Dan Walker | Susie Dent | 125 | ||
| 7890 | 10/11/2022 | P | Joe Dobinson | 116 – 23 | Richard Waldron | Richard Coles | Rachel Riley | Dan Walker | Susie Dent | 133 | ||
| 7891 | 11/11/2022 | P | Joe Dobinson | 107 – 80 | Adam Fleetwood | Richard Coles | Rachel Riley | Dan Walker | Susie Dent | 122 | ||
| 7892 | 14/11/2022 | P | Joe Dobinson | 99 – 82 | Neil McCall | Trevor McDonald | Rachel Riley | Bobby Seagull | Susie Dent | 135 | ||
| 7893 | 15/11/2022 | P | Joe Dobinson | 81 – 63 | Rahul Leal | Trevor McDonald | Rachel Riley | Bobby Seagull | Susie Dent | 128 | ||
| 7894 | 16/11/2022 | P | Joe Dobinson | 95 – 62 | Andy Alden | Trevor McDonald | Rachel Riley | Bobby Seagull | Susie Dent | 134 | ||
| 7895 | 17/11/2022 | P | Joe Dobinson | 88 – 70 | Michael Nicholson | Trevor McDonald | Rachel Riley | Bobby Seagull | Susie Dent | 126 | ||
| 7896 | 18/11/2022 | P | Joe Dobinson | 115 – 46 | Sunita Lakhanpaul | Trevor McDonald | Rachel Riley | Bobby Seagull | Susie Dent | 140 | ||
| 7918 | 20/12/2022 | QF | Alan Young | 83 – 99 | Joe Dobinson | Colin Murray | Rachel Riley | Neil Delamere | Susie Dent | 151 | ||
| 7919 | 21/12/2022 | SF | Tom Stevenson | 129 – 95 | Joe Dobinson | Colin Murray | Rachel Riley | Neil Delamere | Susie Dent | 135 | ||
