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Ricky Cohen

From Countdown
Ricky Cohen
octochamp statistics
Final position Quarter-finalist
Seeding 6
Points total 801
Conundrums solved 4
Ricky Cohen in Series 40...
...and 26 years later in Series 92!

Ricky Cohen was a quarter-finalist in Series 40 and 92, also achieving the status of octochamp in the latter. At the time of his first run, he was a bookkeeper from Stanmore, Middlesex but he was retired as of his return nearly 27 years later. His father, Cyril, was a one-time winner in Series 47.

Appearances

Series 40

Cohen originally appeared back in 1999, where he notched up six victories before coming unstuck against Jill Miller. Regardless, those wins were enough to qualify for the end-of-series finals as the fourth seed. A very tense game against Terence English was then played where both players ended up tied going into a very crucial conundrum. Unfortunately for Ricky, Terence quickly turned FUNNICOGS into CONFUSING to end Cohen's first run, with English actually going on to win the whole series.

Series 92

Heat games

Nearly 27 years later, Cohen came back for another go and started with a century against Wayne Benson, which also included the nine-letter-word spot of MANTICORE. And this time though, he could not be stopped as he racked up seven more victories including a high score of 112; coincidentally this was achieved in his next game. Rather unusually, he actually had at least one nine-letter-word available in every one of his heats, though the only other one he spotted was in his fifth heat in DAINTIEST; that game actually saw his lowest score across all of his second run.

He also survived a crucial conundrum in his third game after a valiant effort from Ian Matthews and after recording a fourth century in his last heat against Steph Whitehead, it meant Cohen secured octochampdom with a final tally of 801. This also squeezed him into the 800 club, but it was only enough to secure the sixth seed owing to the large number of high-scoring octochamps across the series. Rachel then declared him "The Silencer", as a final nod to his achievements to date.

Finals

Cohen, having qualified for the end-of-series finals for the second time, saw himself drawn into combat against No. 3 seed Ben Hocking. Unfortunately, the latter played a relative blinder thanks to spots like MELODICA and HEROISED, as well as Cohen making some crucial mis-declarations to end the game before the final numbers round. With neither of them solving the conundrum of PLUMBSEAS, "The Silencer" was the one silenced this time with a final score of 61 and 862 points racked up across his Series 92 run. Coincidentally, he finished at the exact same stage that he did nearly 27 years prior in Series 40. With his earlier run, his overall tally is 1,317 points.

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
2462 19/02/1999 P David Andrew 51 – 56 Ricky Cohen Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gwen Taylor Damian Eadie 71
2463 22/02/1999 P Ricky Cohen 46 – 26 Sue Rose Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gwen Taylor Damian Eadie 72
2464 23/02/1999 P Ricky Cohen 69 – 35 Raymond Devey Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Gwen Taylor Damian Eadie 73
2465 24/02/1999 P Ricky Cohen 47 – 34 Mary George Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Rick Wakeman Susie Dent 74
2466 25/02/1999 P Ricky Cohen 60 – 46 Brian Bull Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Rick Wakeman Susie Dent 92
2467 26/02/1999 P Ricky Cohen 67 – 43 Michael Rollings Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Rick Wakeman Susie Dent 75
2468 1/03/1999 P Ricky Cohen 45 – 49 Jill Miller Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Rick Wakeman Susie Dent 73
2548 21/06/1999 QF Ricky Cohen 65 – 75 Terence English Richard Whiteley Carol Vorderman Richard Digance Susie Dent 82
8653 21/11/2025 P Wayne Benson 69 – 102 Ricky Cohen Colin Murray Rachel Riley John Thomson Susie Dent 147
8654 24/11/2025 P Ricky Cohen 112 – 79 Will Pratt Colin Murray Rachel Riley Pam Ayres Susie Dent 133
8655 25/11/2025 P Ricky Cohen 106 – 91 Ian Matthews Colin Murray Rachel Riley Pam Ayres Susie Dent 136
8656 26/11/2025 P Ricky Cohen 97 – 49 Stephen Harrison Colin Murray Rachel Riley Pam Ayres Susie Dent 128
8657 27/11/2025 P Ricky Cohen 83 – 70 Chris D'Andilly Colin Murray Rachel Riley Pam Ayres Susie Dent 132
8658 28/11/2025 P Ricky Cohen 95 – 44 Paul Deemer Colin Murray Rachel Riley Pam Ayres Susie Dent 145
8659 01/12/2025 P Ricky Cohen 95 – 63 Rita Mullen Colin Murray Rachel Riley Harry Aikines-Aryeetey Susie Dent 131
8660 02/12/2025 P Ricky Cohen 111 – 60 Steph Whitehead Colin Murray Rachel Riley Harry Aikines-Aryeetey Susie Dent 134
8669 15/12/2025 QF Ben Hocking 108 – 61 Ricky Cohen Colin Murray Rachel Riley Christopher Biggins Susie Dent 120
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