In the British game show Countdown, how are the numbers 6 and 9 differentiated?
When Rachel Riley (and Carol Vorderman before her) pull the small numbers from the stack for the numbers round, how is the number six differentiated from the number nine?
Do they just keep track of the orientation and the logo on the back? Usually board games in this situation would have it underlined to make sure it's not upside down.
Or does it simply not matter, since if it's flipped upside-down it's still random?
Best Answer
Or does it simply not matter, since if it's flipped upside-down it's still random?
The internet appears to believe there should only be two examples of each number 1-10 available, so it does matter.
According to the Countdown wiki, at least in the early days this has sometimes led to confusion:
Episode 79 was broadcast on 1 July 1983, and was the second semi-final of Series 2.
... It appears that three 9's were selected for the Round 8 numbers game; it is likely that one of the 9's was an upside down 6.
Episode 103 was broadcast on 26 October 1983, as part of Series 3.
...
It appears that three 6's were selected for the Round 4 numbers game; it is likely that one of the 6's was an upside down 9.
I can't readily find later examples so I would speculate that a procedure was changed. That wiki is still active so its participants may know more.
Pictures about "In the British game show Countdown, how are the numbers 6 and 9 differentiated?"
How many points is a 9 letter word on Countdown?
Each of the nine letters can be used only once when compiling words. If a nine letter word is achieved the score is doubled to eighteen points. If more than one player has the joint longest word then these players all score.How does the scoring work on Countdown?
Points are awarded for the closest solution, and again both contestants score if the solutions are equally close. 10 points are given for an exact answer, 7 points for a non-exact solution up to 5 from the target, and 5 points for a solution between 6 and 10 from the target.What are the rules of Countdown numbers game?
The contestants have 30 seconds to work out a sequence of calculations with the numbers whose final result is as close to the target number as possible. They may use only the four basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and do not have to use all six numbers.Can you square numbers in countdown?
All intermediate totals must be positive integers. Squares and square roots do not require a 2-card, but higher powers and roots require a card to represent the power or root. For example you can take the square root of 64 to get 8 without using a card, but taking the cube root to get 4 would use up a 3.Countdown Game Show - Number Rounds (9 May 2022)
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