Anyone know if this is real?

[Kevin Prather]

First of all, there are nine letters, not eight.

Second of all, I think you're missing my point. Some Countdown players would rather have consonants and vowels come up in a certain order to make words easier to find.

There are lots of roots to look for. For example, lets say my first letter is a vowel: I. I then pick a consonant: G. I'm gonna start picking consonants hoping to get an N to create the suffix "-ing," giving me ample possibilities for 5, 6, or even 7 letter words.

Perhaps I'm not explaining this all too clear. And don't get me wrong, Chris. I totally see your point. I only hope you see mine as well.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Jul 6 2005, 02:49 PM\']First of all, there are nine letters, not eight.
[/quote]
'Kay. So add a fourth forced consonant in there.

There are lots of roots to look for. For example, lets say my first letter is a vowel: I. I then pick a consonant: G. I'm gonna start picking consonants hoping to get an N to create the suffix "-ing," giving me ample possibilities for 5, 6, or even 7 letter words.

I understand that, and perhaps this is the "subtle nuance" I'm missing. But it still seems to me that no matter what you're gonna have to call for four consonants and three vowels ANYHOW, and since you're getting thirty seconds of think time and paper and pencil regardless, the order in which those seven forced letters come up is of little relevance.

Now, maybe the part I'm missing (as a crappy Scrabble player) is that a good Countdown player is working on their word as the letters are coming up, instead of starting their work when the thirty seconds starts. If that is the case then I TOTALLY see where the order in which the letters come up might make a difference.

[Brig Bother]

I largely suspect it's because that's the way it's always been and that's the way it is. What does Vanna White actually do?

Incidentally, AFAIK, Countdown is the only version of the Des Chiffres et des Lettres format where each person has the entire round to select the letters. In all the other versions I've seen (original French, Spanish, South African, the players take it in turns to select either vowels or consonants to the current line-up.

[Kevin Prather]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 6 2005, 03:15 PM\']Now, maybe the part I'm missing (as a crappy Scrabble player) is that a good Countdown player is working on their word as the letters are coming up, instead of starting their work when the thirty seconds starts. If that is the case then I TOTALLY see where the order in which the letters come up might make a difference.

[snapback]90913[/snapback]

[/quote]

Bingo.