Tom Chafer-Cook
| Tom Chafer-Cook octochamp statistics | |
|---|---|
| Final position | Champion |
| Seeding | 1 |
| Points total | 896 |
| Conundrums solved | 5 |
Tom Chafer-Cook was a contestant in Series 76, an octochamp in and the champion of Series 77, and a semi-finalist in Championship of Champions XV. At the time of all his appearances, he was a software developer from Horsehay in Shropshire. He is also an Apterite. Prior to his TV appearances, he made his Co-event debut at CoNot 2011.
Appearances on the show
Heat games
Chafer-Cook first appeared in the penultimate heat game of Series 76, winning two games and amassing 243 points – giving him the highest average score of any contestant in the series – before stepping aside for the series finals. He maxed fourteen rounds in his second game.
He then returned for the opening heat game of Series 77 – the first played on the new blue set – showing no sign of slowing down as he spotted the nine-letter word, MACROLIDE.
In the sixth game of the series, Chafer-Cook rounded off his heat game run with an octotal of 896 to become the first octochamp of Series 77 and an 800 club member.
Finals
In his quarter-final, he maintained his edge by delivering a 105 – 60 defeat against Graeme Staples with the help of word spots like POTLINES and TRAINEAU.
In his semi-final, he pitted against Noel McIlvenny; here, he asserted his dominance even further by prevailing early on with UNDERSEAL and racking up 134 points (only one point short from a max game) to beat his own record for the highest score of the series.
He then went up against Bradley Horrocks in the grand final. Despite falling five points behind in the first round due to his offering of resexed ☓, he proceeded to score in every subsequent letters and numbers round to ultimately eke out a nine-point lead by beating Horrocks with POOLIES and ENLIVEN in the lead up to the crucial conundrum round. But after neither player were able to unscramble RILEYISMS in the time, the final score was confirmed at 100 – 91 and Chafer-Cook achieved the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy. His xicount total is 1,235 points.
Championship of Champions XV
Chafer-Cook returned to the show in January 2019 for Championship of Champions XV.
He took on fellow Apterite, Martin Hurst, in the tournament's sixth preliminary. Both players put up an impressive fight by spotting ROYALISED and ELASIPODS, but Chafer-Cook sealed victory prior to the final numbers game and unscrambled ITIESCORE to finish with 129 points.
In his quarter-final, he went up against Matthew Tassier. He went ahead very early on, despite both players messing up in the first numbers round. Chafer-Cook picked up speed in the second half when he risked OPERATEES. Eventually, he racked up 111 points to Tassier's 62 by maxing all ten letters rounds.
In his semi-final, he went up against Bradley Horrocks in a rematch. This game was on a knife's edge: Chafer-Cook won the opening round with UNASKED but blanked on Horrocks' pick of six small in the third numbers round and in the final letters round, Horrocks spotted ATHEROMA to extend his lead to eleven points. Both players got the last numbers round, before Chafer-Cook spotted the conundrum to lose by a single point.
| Preceded by Stephen Read |
Series winner Series 77 |
Followed by Zarte Siempre |
Episodes
| # | Date | Type | Contestant 1 | Score | Contestant 2 | Presenters | Guest | Lex | Max | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6606 | 19/06/2017 | P | John Trueman | 38 – 117 | Tom Chafer-Cook | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Suzi Perry | Susie Dent | 125 | ||
| 6607 | 20/06/2017 | P | Tom Chafer-Cook | 126 – 52 | Bobbi Ramsammy | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Suzi Perry | Susie Dent | 134 | ||
| 6615 | 3/07/2017 | P | Tom Chafer-Cook | 118 – 37 | Carmel O'Brien | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Greg Rusedski | Susie Dent | 134 | ||
| 6616 | 4/07/2017 | P | Tom Chafer-Cook | 129 – 21 | Nick Knight | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Greg Rusedski | Susie Dent | 134 | ||
| 6617 | 5/07/2017 | P | Tom Chafer-Cook | 110 – 55 | Rob Spereall | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Greg Rusedski | Susie Dent | 132 | ||
| 6618 | 6/07/2017 | P | Tom Chafer-Cook | 107 – 51 | Al Harris | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Greg Rusedski | Susie Dent | 132 | ||
| 6619 | 7/07/2017 | P | Tom Chafer-Cook | 91 – 73 | Martin Smith | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Greg Rusedski | Susie Dent | 123 | ||
| 6620 | 10/07/2017 | P | Tom Chafer-Cook | 98 – 17 | Barry Taylor | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Suzannah Lipscomb | Susie Dent | 130 | ||
| 6730 | 14/12/2017 | QF | Tom Chafer-Cook | 105 – 60 | Graeme Staples | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Paul Zenon | Susie Dent | 121 | ||
| 6734 | 20/12/2017 | SF | Tom Chafer-Cook | 134 – 83 | Noel McIlvenny | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Rufus Hound | Susie Dent | 135 | ||
| 6736 | 22/12/2017 | GF | Tom Chafer-Cook | 100 – 91 | Bradley Horrocks | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Rufus Hound | Susie Dent | 122 | ||
| 6985 | 9/01/2019 | CP | Tom Chafer-Cook | 129 – 89 | Martin Hurst | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Dr Linda Papadopoulos | Susie Dent | 142 | ||
| 6990 | 16/01/2019 | CQF | Matthew Tassier | 62 – 111 | Tom Chafer-Cook | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Jon Culshaw | Susie Dent | 128 | ||
| 6993 | 21/01/2019 | CSF | Bradley Horrocks | 111 – 110 | Tom Chafer-Cook | Nick Hewer | Rachel Riley | Jon Culshaw | Susie Dent | 128 | ||
