July 1, 2026

Howdy doo everybody, and welcome to my Countdown blog for the 1st of July 2026.

Colin starts the show by reminding us that it's Canada Day today.  Before I continue with this blog, I must pay my condolences to a man who has been gone for 6 years already but is still not forgotten and very much missed.  Please allow me to say he would have loved Countdown if ever he saw it because it is a very cerebral game, and his constant desire to learn would have made Susie proud.  He was seen in the US by Stephen Fry, and he became enamored with him.  He was someone who brought peace to this hectic world.  It's a little darker without him.  RIP Alex Trebek.  We miss you.

Karen Pearson is back again after scoring her 3rd century in a row.  If her confidence of playing Countdown hasn't boosted by now, I don't know if it ever will.  After 6 wins, I think she has no reason to believe she can't win another game.  She has a husband, 3 brothers, 1 sister, and 18 nephews and nieces, who live all around the world.  In Ireland, the UK, Holland and Australia, to be exact.  I'm sure they're all rooting for her.  Hoping to put all that to a screeching halt is Nick Cant (yes, that his name) from Eastbourne.  He is a retired chartered accountant, who is obsessed with folk music and took over arranging concerts at his local pub for someone who retired in 2020.  He has a tough champion to face in Karen, but will he defeat her? Let's hope he "can."

Karen's first letters selection is SWCYUAIILD.

Karen declares WAILS, while Nick declares DAILY.  DC had SAUCILY.

Nick's first letters selection is FSEATIMEK.

Nick declares MATES, while Karen declares MISTAKE.

DC had the same

Karen first numbers selection is 75, 25, 50, 4, 1 and 10, and the target is 796.

Karen has 797, and Nick has 7965.

Nick's method was 75 x 10 + 50 - 4.  Another easy one if you spotted the trick.

The first Teatime Teaser is SAIDBLUE, and the clue is, "Lots of these in American football.  Hear hear."

The solution is AUDIBLES, which I got!

Nick's next letters selection is RNADECUTN

Nick says NATURE, and Karen says CURATED.

Karen's next letters selection is RSPXEIETG

Karen has RESPITE, while Nick has EXPIRES

DC had EXPERTS and PRESTIGE

Nick's next numbers selection is 50, 100. 75, 6, 5 and 9, and the target is 610.

Nick has 610, while Karen has 609.

Nick's method is 6 x 100 = 50/5.  Yet another one that looks trickier than it is.

Jon confesses that 39 years ago, when he was hosting the graveyard shift at Red Rose Radio, he set the newsroom on fire.  He used to smoke back then.  He went into the newsroom, took a cigarette break and let the current record he was playing at the time to come to an end.  Then, he carried on with the show.  All of a sudden, the red light by the side of the clock pulses, the alarms blare, and the soundproof studio shields all of it.  At that time, the newsroom was nothing but a blue fog of smoke.  His cigarette was in the bin of one of the records, and it was burning the end of the wooden table in the newsroom.  He got a tea towel, soaked it and put it over the bin, and the fire went out.  The vortex took out all the smoke.  In between the firefighting measures, he put on Hotel California.  Things still weren't quite ready, so he put another tea towel over the bin and played Blue Monday.  By the times things were pretty much done, the smoke goes out the window and to make sure things were ok, he played Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.  When the song was over, he sat back in the chair, the emergency was averted and nobody ever knew.

Karen's next letters selection is NHLCUEOEW

Nick declares CLOWB, while Karen declares LOUCHE.

DC had ECHELLON.

Nick's next letters selection is RTOINRESP

Nick and Karen both have POINTERS

DC had SPORTIER, PRISONER and PROTEINS.

Karen's next numbers selection is 25, 4, 8, 7, 3 and 10, and the target is 475.

Karen's method is 10 + 18 + 1 x 25.  What is it with all these numbers solutions that are trickier than they actually are?

Nick has the same method, but he transposed the 4 and the 3.

The next Teatime Teaser is MINORREF, and the clue is "Forget green beans! This describes the red ones."

The answer is RENIFORM, which means kidney-shaped, or to do with anything RENAL.  What a shame I just ate dinner tonight because that makes me hungry for a bowl of chili!

Nick's next letters selection is NLIEGFTAS

Nick says STEALING, and Karen says FEASTING

DC had FINAGLES

Karen's next letters selection is TNTUAOAVB

Karen has TAUNT, while Nick has BUTTON

DC had AVAUNT, which means go away in Shakespearean terms.

For Origins of Words, a woman named Cat, who saw a kitchen video.  Her friend saw it with her, and she kitten in the video, and she said that the kitten was a "spit" of her cat, Molly.  She is wondering where the term "spitting image" came from.  Well, the phrase spitting image began as the phrase "spit and image, meaning the spit and the image of something.  It is to do with the idea of being like another person, so much so that you could say they have been "spat out of their mouth."  Essentially, you have reproduced yourself to look like that person.  

Nick's next letters selection is NRIUSTOLG

Nick said RUSTLING, and Karen said ROUSTING.

DC had LUSTRING, which is a glossy silk fabric.

Karen's last letters selection is PTDIAEILH

Nick declared HALTED, while Karen declared PITHEAD, which is the top of a mineshaft

DC had PLAITED, which means containing plaits.

Nick's last numbers selection is 25, 50, 100, 1, 4 and 7.

Nick and Karen both declare 146.

Nick's method is 100 +50 - 4, and Karen has the same method.  No trick here.  Even a 10-year-old can solve that!

The conundrum is GIANTMICE, and Karen buzzes in to say ENIGMATIC.  That, with 5 seconds to spare, is the right answer!

Whoa! How in the world did Karen pull that off? That was a tough one!

So, unfortunately, Nick "can't" beat Karen, but he came very close -- by a margin of just one point.

That means Karen will be back tomorrow, one game away from becoming an Octochamp.  What a dogfight that was.  I was sweating bullets there for a minute.

This concludes my blog entry for today.  Join me tomorrow for Karen's final preliminary game.  I bet it'll be one to watch.  We'll have to wait and see if Karen becomes an Octochamp.  Until then, tally ho!

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