Luke Boynton
| Luke Boynton octochamp statistics | |
|---|---|
| Final position | Runner-up |
| Seeding | 1 |
| Points total | 1,032 |
| Conundrums solved | 7 |
Luke Boynton was a contestant in Series 51, and an octochamp in and the runner-up of Series 83. At the time of his 2004 appearance, he was an undergraduate studying History at the University of Nottingham. As of his second set of appearances, he was a senior finance manager from Birmingham.
He is also a poker player, and is the winner of the 2019 International Poker Open.
Heat games
Boynton first appeared on Countdown in 2004. On his initial debut, he played well but lost on an unsolved crucial conundrum against Sweyn Kirkness.
On his incredible return in 2021, Boynton achieved his first victory with a massive 138 points to Apterite Tom Vincent. On top of this, Boynton pulled off a perfect letters round performance to make this one of the most impressive maiden wins in Countdown history. Clips of the game were shown on Gogglebox on 26 March 2021.
Boynton improved on his personal best score in his second win with 141 and again in his fifth victory with 147 – at the time, the equal third-highest score on Countdown. Along the way: he reduced three players to scores under 30, won by over 100 four times and scored a Jos game against Matthew Hallas.
In his last heat game of his second stint, Adam Peel came close to unseating him but Boynton confirmed octochampdom in the final numbers round. Boynton wrapped up with the then second-highest cumulative octotal of 1,032 points, giving him an average of 129 per game and making him the third member of the 1,000 club after Elliott Mellor and Luke Johnson-Davies – the total points available of 1,149 was also the highest ever available across a potential octorun in the 15-round format. Boynton also broke the record for the most valid nine-letter words offered across preliminary matches with twelve, beating Johnson-Davies' record of eleven.
Finals
Boynton returned for the series finals in June as the No. 1 seed.
He took on Dave Lomax in the first quarter-final. Although he broke away with another nine-letter word spot of ACRITUDES, Lomax managed to reduce Boynton to 99 points by defeating him in one letters round and solving the conundrum.
Boynton then faced Louis Ross in his semi-final. Boynton built an early lead but had ramphoids ☓ disallowed due to RAMPHOID only being an adjective, allowing Ross to narrow the gap to seven points. However, Boynton took another letters round off Ross and won the last numbers round to win with 98 points.
In the grand final where he challenged Adam Latchford, Boynton lost by 86 – 101 after losing three of the first four rounds to Latchford. But as a consolation, he solved the conundrum of WASNOMORE. Boynton amassed an overall score of 1,315 points in his Series 83 run. With his 2004 appearance, his overall score is 1,398 points.
After Countdown
Boynton chose not to take part in Championship of Champions XVI, focusing on his tournament poker endeavours instead.
| Preceded by Sam Cappleman-Lynes |
Series runner-up Series 83 |
Followed by Florence Cappleman-Lynes |
Episodes
| # | Date | Type | Contestant 1 | Score | Contestant 2 | Presenters | Guest | Lex | Max | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3703 | 13/05/2004 | P | Sweyn Kirkness | 88 – 83 | Luke Boynton | Richard Whiteley | Carol Vorderman | Barry Norman | Susie Dent | 119 | ||
| 7468 | 19/03/2021 | P | Tom Vincent | 57 – 138 | Luke Boynton | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Paul Zenon | Susie Dent | 144 | ||
| 7469 | 22/03/2021 | P | Luke Boynton | 141 – 77 | Alex Davidson | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Paul Zenon | Susie Dent | 146 | ||
| 7470 | 23/03/2021 | P | Luke Boynton | 136 – 10 | Matthew Hallas | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Paul Zenon | Susie Dent | 147 | ||
| 7471 | 24/03/2021 | P | Luke Boynton | 120 – 6 | Bobby Casey | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Konnie Huq | Susie Dent | 138 | ||
| 7472 | 25/03/2021 | P | Luke Boynton | 147 – 25 | John Lorimer-George | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Konnie Huq | Susie Dent | 155 | ||
| 7473 | 26/03/2021 | P | Luke Boynton | 107 – 34 | Dan Gardner | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Konnie Huq | Susie Dent | 149 | ||
| 7474 | 29/03/2021 | P | Luke Boynton | 137 – 34 | Martin Curtis | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Konnie Huq | Susie Dent | 146 | ||
| 7475 | 30/03/2021 | P | Luke Boynton | 106 – 78 | Adam Peel | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Konnie Huq | Susie Dent | 124 | ||
| 7532 | 17/06/2021 | QF | Luke Boynton | 99 – 47 | Dave Lomax | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Rufus Hound | Susie Dent | 135 | ||
| 7536 | 23/06/2021 | SF | Luke Boynton | 98 – 76 | Louis Ross | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Rufus Hound | Susie Dent | 122 | ||
| 7538 | 25/06/2021 | GF | Luke Boynton | 86 – 101 | Adam Latchford | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Rufus Hound | Susie Dent | 125 | ||
