Rhys Jones

Rhys Jones octochamp statistics
Final position	Champion
Seeding	1
Points total	800
Conundrums solved	5

Rhys Jones in Series 91.

Rhys Jones holding the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy after winning Series 91, the first Welsh winner in 28 years.

Rhys Jones was an octochamp in, and the champion of Series 91. He was a mathematics masters graduate of Cardiff University, and Apterite from Rhondda Cynon Taf in South Wales. He was the first Welsh series winner since Series 34 champion, Huw Morgan.

Appearances

Heat games

Jones made his debut with an impressive nine-max performance against incumbent champ Ben Grinyer, and he followed that up with seven further victories including four centuries to become only the third octochamp of the series so far – his devotion to a six-small numbers round pick every time helped with giving a cutting edge through his heats. Of further note; in his fifth game, he recorded the then-highest total of the series and his personal best of 119, which also saw him spot the only nine-letter-word of his run in IDOLATERS. He also overcame particularly stiff competition in his sixth game against fellow Apterite and returnee, Anthony Endsor, by spotting the crucial conundrum in MUSTERING. After seeing off his eighth opponent, Stephen Maidens, he finished with a very round 800 points to take the number one spot for the finals in June from Tim James, and just squeak into the 800 club as well. Colin Murray christened him as "The Word" as a final send-off to mark his accomplishments to date.

Finals

He returned at the top of the tree for the quarter-finals against number eight seed, Michael Kane. Jones took the lead and never relinquished it but Kane kept well within range, right up until the point he spotted INTEGRALS for a nine to effectively end the contest. After solving the last numbers round, Jones officially progressed into the semi-finals although Kane went out with a bang by spotting GALLSTONE from LONGLASTE.

In his semi-final, Jones took the lead early against Amy Berry with TOENAILS and never relinquished it but Berry kept well within range throughout the game. Jones’ superior numbers play was a key reason that he stayed ahead and the match was officially over before the conundrum, which neither of them was able to solve. This gave Jones his tenth victory despite scoring his lowest total to date, and he continued onward into the grand final.

The grand final against Tim James was a very tightly fought encounter – James took an initial lead after an uncharacteristic blank on a six-small selection from Jones, but the latter soon struck back with OUTRAGE. They then matched each other for the next eight rounds which also saw a double spot of OUTLANDER for a nine. But crucially, another unfortunate gamble from James in warfield ☓, and Jones cracking the last four-large numbers round meant Jones was able to snatch the series crown, lift the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy, remain undefeated and rack up a xicount total of 1,087.

Preceded by Fiona Wood

Series winner Series 91

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
8496	16/04/2025	P	Ben Grinyer	69 – 90	Rhys Jones	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Debbie McGee	Susie Dent	128
8497	17/04/2025	P	Rhys Jones	102 – 65	Phil Hall	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Debbie McGee	Susie Dent	125
8498	18/04/2025	P	Rhys Jones	98 – 70	Peter Littleton	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Debbie McGee	Susie Dent	121
8499	21/04/2025	P	Rhys Jones	85 – 58	Kirsty Herring	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tanni Grey-Thompson	Susie Dent	141
8500	22/04/2025	P	Rhys Jones	119 – 71	Tim Fuller	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tanni Grey-Thompson	Susie Dent	128
8501	23/04/2025	P	Rhys Jones	102 – 84	Anthony Endsor	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tanni Grey-Thompson	Susie Dent	124
8502	24/04/2025	P	Rhys Jones	105 – 27	Michael Taylor-Brown	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tanni Grey-Thompson	Susie Dent	121
8503	25/04/2025	P	Rhys Jones	99 – 50	Stephen Maidens	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tanni Grey-Thompson	Susie Dent	135
8542	19/06/2025	QF	Rhys Jones	97 – 64	Michael Kane	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Ricky Wilson	Susie Dent	129
8546	25/06/2025	SF	Rhys Jones	84 – 66	Amy Berry	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Bob Harris	Susie Dent	119
8548	27/06/2025	GF	Rhys Jones	106 – 89	Tim James	Colin Murray	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Bob Harris	Susie Dent	131