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Elliott Mellor was an octochamp and the runner-up of Series 80. He is a Maths Student at Manchester Metropolitan University from Oldham.
He is also an Apterite who peaked at No.1 in the Pro Ranks on Apterous, less than 12 months after joining the site. Arguably one of the most talented and dominant Apterites ever, he made his TV debut on 9 November 2018 as the audience member who solved the conundrum after a failed attempt from both contestants.
Mellor first appeared as a contestant in Series 80 on Thursday 16 May 2019 against 2 game winner Arran Cleminson, maxing 13 rounds and setting the then highest-ever debut score: 131. He spotted impressive word findings such as TAIAPURE and NEOTERISM, while Cleminson scored only in the four numbers rounds. This was the start of, undoubtedly, the greatest octochamp run in Countdown history. The following day, three 9-letter words, NODALIZES, ANIMATEUR and INFRACTED, helped him card the highest-ever score of 152, toppling Zarte Siempre's four-month old record of 150. A third consecutive 13-max performance followed, which also marked the first ever consecutive hat trick of scores over 130. During his fifth match, Mellor shattered yet another record by defeating his challenger Kieran Matley by 133 points, overcoming the previous record winning margin by 21. He was so dominant that 5 of his 8 wins were by over 100, and reduced opponents to scores of just 10 twice on the trot. He also dropped just 3 points from one of his thirty-two numbers rounds, giving him an aggregate score of a record 317 points (out of 320) from the numbers rounds alone in an octochamp run. Mellor wrapped up with a record cumulative score of 1,061 points – the first ever over 1,000 – overhauling Dylan Taylor’s record by 87 points. His average heat score is also the first ever over 125 (132.625).
Qualifying as the #1 seed, Mellor faced the #8 seed and 6-time winner Mark Decouto. Although Mellor never went behind in the game, he undoubtedly faced his toughest opposition to date. Decouto reduced Elliott to a score of 109 to 73, having beaten Mellor with the 8-letter word PROCLAIM. Nevertheless, Mellor beat Decouto comfortably, although Decouto was only 13 points behind by Round 12. Mellor next defeated #4-seeded Maggie Barlow with a commanding performance featuring 13 maxed rounds, including the darrenic CAJEPUT and MELODION and a sub-second solution on the tricky conundrum IBURPTOOL.
In the final against number 2 seed Dinos Sfyris, the game was close under pressure. Mellor lost out on a potential 18 points in the first round after deciding not to risk the nine letter word FILATURES. Sfyris then defeated Mellor in the first numbers game, in which Mellor chose six small, to take the lead. Throughout the game, Mellor clawed his way back to near distance of Sfyris with his plays of COALISED and DEFROST, whilst Sfyris beat him with findings of TREASURE and GOATISH to retain the lead despite a failed attempt to wing it with forestudy x. Ultimately, Sfyris solved a very difficult crucial conundrum – ending Mellor’s run of 10 solved conundrums in a row – and won the series by 20 points to relegate Mellor to runner-up spot. Nonetheless, Mellor broke yet another record set by Siempre two series ago; highest cumulative score – 1,373 points – across a single series.
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