SH*TFA*E?

[JayDLewis]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'250334\' date=\'Nov 6 2010, 07:35 AM\'][quote name=\'vtown7\' post=\'250331\' date=\'Nov 5 2010, 11:53 PM\']First, from the OED that every contestant gets in their goody bag upon departure from the programme: sh*tface is "an obnoxious person" and is acceptable whereas sh*t-faced is "drunk or under the influence of drugs" and is unacceptable.  They are very strict that the OED is the only acceptable source and has sunk many a scrabbler.[/quote]
Wait, confused.  You're saying BOTH words are in the OED, yet one is acceptable and the other isn't?  How does that work?
[/quote]

Kind of lost in the italics and censoring. SHITFACE is ok. SHIT-FACED is not (you can't break the hyphen).

Also, I'm sure everything in the scrabble dictionary is in the COMPLETE OED (20 volumes). The show uses a single volume edition of the OED.

[vtown7]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'250334\' date=\'Nov 6 2010, 07:35 AM\'][quote name=\'vtown7\' post=\'250331\' date=\'Nov 5 2010, 11:53 PM\']First, from the OED that every contestant gets in their goody bag upon departure from the programme: sh*tface is "an obnoxious person" and is acceptable whereas sh*t-faced is "drunk or under the influence of drugs" and is unacceptable.  They are very strict that the OED is the only acceptable source and has sunk many a scrabbler.[/quote]
Wait, confused.  You're saying BOTH words are in the OED, yet one is acceptable and the other isn't?  How does that work?

[quote name=\'vtown7\' post=\'250331\' date=\'Nov 5 2010, 11:53 PM\']/"Please say consonant clearly so it does not come out as constonant, continent or even condiment.[/quote]
THIS they have a rule about?
[/quote]

My apologies - the nine letter is indeed hyphenated and thus would be disallowed.

And there are many other requests in the rules - mostly they are things like the consonant/continent subject.  Apparently the production team doesn't like letters from viewers dealing with that topic!  I was also asked not to do things like ask Rachel for the third number to the left of the pentultimate row for the numbers game, and not to say please when asking for letters (which IIRC Wheel asks you to do as well).

Ryan

/is waiting for Greek letters or Egyptian hieroglyphs to pop up on Countdown

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'vtown7\' post=\'250336\' date=\'Nov 6 2010, 07:59 AM\']I was also asked not to do things like ask Rachel for the third number to the left of the pentultimate row for the numbers game, and not to say please when asking for letters (which IIRC Wheel asks you to do as well).[/quote]

The please thing is a bugger. Does "Jeopardy!" also make that request? It's the vulgarization of the Western World!

[Twentington]

[quote name=\'vtown7\' post=\'250336\' date=\'Nov 6 2010, 08:59 AM\']I was also asked not to do things like ask Rachel for the third number to the left of the pentultimate row for the numbers game, and not to say please when asking for letters (which IIRC Wheel asks you to do as well).[/quote]

During my audition I was told that Pat wants you to say only the letter. That way you don't have "OK, can I have aaaaaaa... T?"

[quote name=\'vtown7\' post=\'250336\' date=\'Nov 6 2010, 08:59 AM\']/is waiting for Greek letters or Egyptian hieroglyphs to pop up on Countdown[/quote]

How about a Z, a 4, three Q's and the Batman symbol?

[chad1m]

[quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'250342\' date=\'Nov 6 2010, 11:22 AM\']Does "Jeopardy!" also make that request?[/quote]Considering that was a quirk I noticed I did every time I picked a category ("I'll take x for $y, please.") I'd certainly hope not.

[davidbod]

My understanding is that if a rude word pops up during the letters selection, they re-pick. If you claim a rude word as your scoring word and it's a game-changer, they'll either give you another word of the same length to claim or, if no such word exists, they'll - in extremis - invent a rack of letters that allows you to claim the right number of points.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'250334\' date=\'Nov 6 2010, 05:35 AM\'][quote name=\'vtown7\' post=\'250331\' date=\'Nov 5 2010, 11:53 PM\']/"Please say consonant clearly so it does not come out as constonant, continent or even condiment.[/quote]
THIS they have a rule about?[/quote]
It looks more like a polite request, kinda like when their policemen say "Stop! Or I'll ask you to stop again!"

[vtown7]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'250384\' date=\'Nov 6 2010, 11:47 PM\'][quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'250334\' date=\'Nov 6 2010, 05:35 AM\'][quote name=\'vtown7\' post=\'250331\' date=\'Nov 5 2010, 11:53 PM\']/"Please say consonant clearly so it does not come out as constonant, continent or even condiment.[/quote]
THIS they have a rule about?[/quote]
It looks more like a polite request, kinda like when their policemen say "Stop! Or I'll ask you to stop again!"
[/quote]

Yes Chris, indeed it was.  And considering they paid my hotel for myself and a guest for two nights, our meals, our taxi rides to and from the train station, and my train ticket RT from where I was staying in England, I was happy to oblige!

R.

[Unrealtor]

[quote name=\'davidbod\' post=\'250380\' date=\'Nov 6 2010, 08:46 PM\']My understanding is that if a rude word pops up during the letters selection, they re-pick. If you claim a rude word as your scoring word and it's a game-changer, they'll either give you another word of the same length to claim or, if no such word exists, they'll - in extremis - invent a rack of letters that allows you to claim the right number of points.[/quote]

I'd be kind of curious how "game changer" would be defined. I can just see someone complaining when they get a winning but unbroadcastable word early in the game, the producers decide to throw the round out (rather than providing a word of equal length) and the new round has a different outcome which ends up making the difference between that contestant winning and losing a tight game. I assume there's an "all decisions are final" clause in there somewhere that means that the person who lost doesn't have any formal grounds for complaint, but I always wonder when it's left up to the producers' discretion like that.

[davidbod]

I'd presume 'game changer' means 'when the outcome of the game is still in doubt'. Quite often in the 45 minute version of Countdown, a player can win the show several rounds from the end.

Countdown is built on reasonableness and fair play (in the early series, players didn't even need to prove they'd got the same word as their opponent) so I can't imagine it causes too many problems.