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Difference between revisions of "List of Countdown records"

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* [[Dan McColm]] was the first player to get a maximum score in [[15 round format (new)|"new" 15-round format]]. He scored '''[[Episode 6054|123]]''' out of 123 in his [[Series 71]] semi-final against [[George Ford]].
 
* [[Dan McColm]] was the first player to get a maximum score in [[15 round format (new)|"new" 15-round format]]. He scored '''[[Episode 6054|123]]''' out of 123 in his [[Series 71]] semi-final against [[George Ford]].
  
* The largest winning margin ever was in '''[[Episode 5749]]''', where [[Dylan Taylor]] beat [[Leone Mitchell]] by 107 points, {{score|129|22}}. There are only three other games in the new 15-round format that have been won by 100 points or more: Dylan Taylor's (again) {{score|121|17|Episode 5751}} victory over [[Russ Millhouse]], [[Robin McKay]]'s {{score|112|8|Episode 6366}} rout of [[Struan Charters]] (also noted above as the new 15-rounder with the highest max), and [[Giles Hutchings]]'s game against [[Mike Lee]], which finished {{score|119|19|Episode 5674}} to the [[Series 68]] Champion.
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* The largest winning margin ever was in '''[[Episode 6580]]''', where [[Stephen Read]] beat [[Alan Jefferson]] by 110 points, {{score|131|21}}. There are four other games in the new 15-round format that have been won by 100 points or more: Dylan Taylor's {{score|129|22|Episode 5749}} and {{score|121|17|Episode 5751}} victories over [[Leone Mitchell]] and [[Russ Millhouse]] respectively, [[Robin McKay]]'s {{score|112|8|Episode 6366}} rout of [[Struan Charters]] (also noted above as the new 15-rounder with the highest max), and [[Giles Hutchings]]'s game against [[Mike Lee]], which finished {{score|119|19|Episode 5674}} to the [[Series 68]] Champion.
  
 
===Low scores===
 
===Low scores===

Revision as of 17:19, 15 May 2017

The following is a list of Countdown records compiled using The Countdown Corral, The Countdown Page, Countdown Update UK and automated and human research from this wiki. Much of the list is divided up into records from the 15 round era, the 9 round era and the 14 round finals, since the considerable differences between these formats make it almost impossible to compare the games like for like. This is particularly difficult when comparing the classic 15 round format to the current one, where differences of just a few points per game are to be expected.

15 rounds (New)

High scores

  • The highest ever total over 11 games, the maximum possible in one series, was 1319 by Dylan Taylor, despite not winning his series. The record for a series winner is 1296 by Series 71 winner Dan McColm.
  • The highest possible score was available in Episode 6366, when four niners made for a possible 166. None of the nine letter words were found by the contestants (or noted by anyone else in the studio), though one still managed to score a century. This is one of only three games in this format in which four niners have been available, along with the second- and third-highest-maxing games, Episode 6450 (Series 75) and Episode 5844 (Series 70) respectively.
  • The highest ever losing score was Andy Platt's 125 against Dylan Taylor in a quarter-final of Championship of Champions XIV. The game was poised 125 – 117 in Platt's favour going into the conundrum MINUTEPUN which Taylor solved, leaving Platt as the loser with 125 points. Interestingly, prior to this match, Taylor had been the holder of this record, having achieved a losing score of 116 in the Series 69 grand final.
A few other losing scores over 100 have been recorded: Ciaran McCarthy is the only player to have lost on his début whilst scoring over 100, with a score of 104.
  • The highest-scoring game with a tie-break conundrum was between John Hinchliffe and Dave Costello in Series 74. After the regular conundrum RINGSUSIE, the scores were neck and neck at 93 – 93, so a second conundrum BAGELCHIN was necessary. Costello solved this to score 103 after the tie-breaker.
  • While the all-time record score is 141, Dylan Taylor holds the record for the highest score with no nine letter words of 124. The highest with one nine is Dan McColm's score of 137 and the highest with two is Glen Webb's 141, which is also the overall record score. If you ignore the nine-point bonus for nine-letter words altogether in order to combine these records, Dan McColm's above score of 137 becomes 128, and is the record score under this system. Glen Webb's all-time record score of 141 would be worth 123.

Low scores

  • The lowest maximum score for an episode was 110 in Episode 6423.

Other

15 rounds (Old)

High scores

  • The highest score set by a challenger was 134 by Hamish Williamson. The highest score for a debutant was 124, set by Jonathan Coles. Williamson had already appeared once before in Series 40, so the matter of who holds the record for highest debut score is somewhat controversial.
  • The highest ever total score over an octochamp's eight preliminary games was 946, set by Jack Hurst. The only other players to score over 900 are Andrew Hulme who scored 930, Kirk Bevins who scored 925 points, Julian Fell who scored 924, Craig Beevers who amassed 907, and Adam Gillard who achieved 903. The next highest total is 898 by Eoin Monaghan. Hurst, Hulme, Fell, Beevers, Gillard and Monaghan are the only players to have scored eight centuries in their run of eight games. Andy Platt scored eight centuries in his run, but half were in the old format and half in the new format. His total was 889.
  • The highest ever total over 11 games, the maximum possible in one series, was 1307 by series 48 winner Julian Fell, including the aforementioned scores of 146 and 138.
  • The highest possible score was available in Episode 3967, when five niners and a number of other favourable rounds made for a possible 173. Only one of the nine letter words was found by the contestants (oddly by the losing contestant), neither of whom managed to score a century. This is the only episode to date in which five nine-letter words have been available.
  • The most nines found by one contestant in one game is four; Julian Fell found SALMONIDS, DEPORTING, INGATHERS and DEFLATION in his record-breaking game.
A few other losing scores over 100 have been recorded: Terry Rattle lost with a score of 107 in Series 47, which was later beaten by David Williams's losing score of 113 – 111. Both Rattle and Williams lost to Chris Wills. Rattle and Lesley Hines are the only players ever to have lost on their début whilst scoring over 100, Hines getting 104 in Series 61.
In the 30th Birthday Championship, no fewer than 8 matches ended with the defeated contestant scoring 100 or more. They were: Mark Deeks (losing to Jack Hurst 108 – 103), Nick Deller (losing to Mark Tournoff 101 – 100), Chris Davies (losing to David O'Donnell 127 – 117), Innis Carson (losing to Kirk Bevins 112 – 102), Jack Worsley (losing to Jon O'Neill 122 – 104), Jonathan Rawlinson (losing to Jack Hurst 116 – 105), Jon O'Neill (losing to Conor Travers 120 – 102) and Jack Hurst (losing to Conor Travers 146 – 111).
  • The highest-scoring game with a tie-break conundrum was between Chris Davies and David O'Donnell in the second round of the 30th Birthday Championship. After the regular conundrum PATRANGME, the scores were neck and neck at 117 – 117, so a second conundrum BAGOGLORY was necessary. O'Donnell solved it to score 127 after the tie-breaker.
  • While the all-time record score is 146, Jon O'Neill holds the record for the highest score with no nine letter words of 122, which also happened to be a perfect game. The highest with one nine is Jack Hurst's score of 133 and the highest with two is Chris Davies' 139. Conor Travers found three nine in his 146 point game, whilst Julian Fell achieved the same total with four nines in episode 3387. Nobody has ever found five nines in one game, largely because this has only been possible once. If you ignore the nine-point bonus for nine-letter words altogether in order to combine these records, Jack Hurst's above score of 133 becomes 124, and is the record score under this system. Interestingly, Julian Fell's equal all-time record score of 146 would only be worth 110. Conor Travers's 146 would be worth 119.
  • Kirk Bevins was the first player to get a maximum score in a 15 round game. He scored 126 out of a possible 126 on 4 March 2009. Bevins equalled this feat with his score of 130 out of 130 during the 30th Birthday Championship. This same mini-series contained four further perfect games. Jon O'Neill scored 122 out of 122 in his quarter-final against Jack Worsley, and Conor Travers achieved three consecutive perfect games with 119 in his second round and quarter-final matches, and 120 against O'Neill to reach the tournament final.
  • The largest winning margin ever was in episode 5264, where Tom Barnes beat Christine Buffrey by 112 points, 119 – 7, which was also notable for Buffrey's record-breaking low score, as you can see below. Only on 3 other occasions have games been won by over 100 points; episode 3349, where Julian Fell beat Carl McDermott by 109 points, 138 – 29, including three niners: VALORISED, REPULSION and ANTIPODES, and episode 5188, when Adam Gillard beat Mavis Riley by 102 points, with the score 125 – 23. By coincedence, both these records were set when Fell and Gillard were on their 8th preliminary match. The others were when Graeme Cole beat Mike Linnell by 106 points, with the score 125 – 19 and Andy Platt's crushing victory over Carl Anderson by a score of 109 – 7 (notably in the final match of the 'old' 15 round format).

Low scores

  • The lowest recorded maximum was 105, which included a numbers game in which no points were available and a series of difficult letters rounds. The Championship of Champions XI final had a maximum of 106, only one point more.


9 rounds

High scores

  • At least two contestants found two nine letter words in a nine round game. Jill Bright scored 81 in her second game. She got two nine letter words in rounds 1 and 2, but failed to solve the conundrum and could have beaten the highest ever score by 8 points. Similarly, John Snedden found two nine-letter words in Episode 2693 and scored 80 points before the conundrum, but also failed to break the high score record. See the list of 9-round scores over 75.
  • The highest ever eight game total was 535, achieved by David Williams. This beat Harvey Freeman's total of 523 in Series 10. The highest ever total over the maximum eleven possible games in one series was 760, also set by Harvey Freeman. This includes 10 9 round games and a 14 round final.
  • The highest known max score for a 9 round game is 106. This included three niners, EXTENSION, CRUDITIES/DIURETICS and GUARDIANS. The Richard Whiteley Gotcha episode actually also had a max of 106, but this is not usually considered to count because the rounds were set up to include certain words.
  • The highest known 9-round score with no nine-letter words is 75 points; this record is shared by Harvey Freeman, achieving this score in Episode 466, and Richard Campbell, who got it in Episode 1504. If the 9-point bonus for nine-letter words were excluded, these would also have been the joint highest 9-round scores of all time.

Low scores

  • The lowest known maximum score for a 9-round game is 59 points, shared by Episodes 1211 and 1999.

Other

  • The longest for which the contestants have remained on equal scores is probably Episode 1734, in which the score was tied from the beginning up until a second tie-break conundrum finally separated them.

14 rounds

Other

  • Conor Travers holds the record for the most Countdown appearances since the introduction of the 15 round format. In 20 appearances, in which he has won 19 of them, he's scored 2,279 points; this is the highest ever total, though players who have played more games than Travers did so in the shorter format. For this reason, Travers also holds the record for the most airtime, with 900 minutes or 15 hours. He averaged 113.95 points per game.
  • The longest word to come up in reverse order on the letters board was the niner DECANTERS in Episode 4523. Neither contestant spotted it, but Carol did and additionally commented on its perfect reverse ordering.
  • The numbers game that has been furthest away from being solvable occurred in Round 8 of Episode 2722. It featured the six small numbers 1,2,2,3,3,7 and the closest reachable value was 378, 596 away from the target of 974.
  • The numbers game with the lowest starting numbers appeared in Round 9 of Episode 6307, also notable as the new 15-rounder with the lowest max score. The small numbers were 1,1,2,2,3,4, making the highest target achievable with them 108.