Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back;
obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me
at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.
Win or lose, this will be Daniel's last night (except for the finals series, which he seems likely to make). Richard asks about the highlights for him, and Daniel responds that it has been meeting the contestants, and that they've all been worthy opponents. Particularly Mitchell from last night, in that very close game.
Challenging Daniel is secondary school teacher Karla Treves. She is described as an animal lover, and if she had not become a teacher she might well have chosen zookeeping as a profession. She says that she "loves all creatures, great and small". Richard asks if this extends to both domestic and wild creatures; she remarks that her domestic Jack Russell is pretty wild.
My recollection of Karla is that she was fairly vivacious. She had just come back from France, where some of her schoolkids had been on a two-week (I think) excursion to various places there, although Lourdes is the only one I recall. Field trips have certainly changed since I was in school! She hadn't even had time to go home yet, which suggests that she might have been jetlagged but was bearing up pretty well.
It's yet another close game to finish things off. Daniel drops behind in the first letters round by missing a word he should have seen, but gets some back in the numbers to stay in touch. It's matching performances from each until the final numbers game, where Karla oddly misses and allows Daniel to get 9 points ahead. But she finds the conundrum quickly, and squeaks home with a victory, 53 to 52.
I was mostly on target here; I got thrown by one set of tricky letters in round 2, and beaten to the conundrum, but superior results in other rounds saw me comfortably home.
On another note, it looks like SBS has updated their video player; I hope this one manages to buffer data better, although to be fair I've had much less troubles recently than at times in the past.
As usual, details after the jump.
Thursday, 24 November 2011
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Ep 323: Daniel Chua, Mitchell Fly (November 23, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back; obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.
I suspect Daniel was running short of things to talk about, as Richard asks him if he has picked up any techniques from his previous four appearances. Daniel responds that he hasn't in the letters rounds, but for the numbers rounds he's come to like the "classroom" mix because the five small numbers provide some intricacies, while the large number helps get to larger targets.
Mitchell Fly is today's challenger, a year 12 student who is also studying mathematics part time at university. He is asked how he balances that workload, and says that it was difficult at first because he was trying to keep up with all the work from school and university; then he learned just to do the assignments for university and that was much easier. I admit to being a bit bemused by this statement, as I'm not sure whether he is saying that he has avoided some schoolwork, or some non-assignment university work. It seems to be working out for him, anyway.
Mitchell was pleasantly engaging during the group conversations in the green room. My memory of conversational specifics is long gone, alas.
It's a fairly close game, although low-scoring. The lead switches back and forth, with Mitchell's superior performance in the numbers giving him an edge; Daniel proves slightly more adept at the letters, however, and manages to solve the conundrum for a narrow 36 to 33 victory.
I definitely had some strong memories of this episode, but nothing that is likely to have affected the scoreline (except possibly avoiding an eight not listed). It was another case of solving a conundrum more quickly than I did at the time, but my recollection again is of solving it ahead of Daniel during the filming. With perfect numbers rounds, and letters rounds going as well as they could, this was a very easy victory.
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back; obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.
I suspect Daniel was running short of things to talk about, as Richard asks him if he has picked up any techniques from his previous four appearances. Daniel responds that he hasn't in the letters rounds, but for the numbers rounds he's come to like the "classroom" mix because the five small numbers provide some intricacies, while the large number helps get to larger targets.
Mitchell Fly is today's challenger, a year 12 student who is also studying mathematics part time at university. He is asked how he balances that workload, and says that it was difficult at first because he was trying to keep up with all the work from school and university; then he learned just to do the assignments for university and that was much easier. I admit to being a bit bemused by this statement, as I'm not sure whether he is saying that he has avoided some schoolwork, or some non-assignment university work. It seems to be working out for him, anyway.
Mitchell was pleasantly engaging during the group conversations in the green room. My memory of conversational specifics is long gone, alas.
It's a fairly close game, although low-scoring. The lead switches back and forth, with Mitchell's superior performance in the numbers giving him an edge; Daniel proves slightly more adept at the letters, however, and manages to solve the conundrum for a narrow 36 to 33 victory.
I definitely had some strong memories of this episode, but nothing that is likely to have affected the scoreline (except possibly avoiding an eight not listed). It was another case of solving a conundrum more quickly than I did at the time, but my recollection again is of solving it ahead of Daniel during the filming. With perfect numbers rounds, and letters rounds going as well as they could, this was a very easy victory.
As usual, details after the jump.
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Ep 322: Daniel Chua, Sandy Clarke (November 22, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back; obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.
Tonight we find out that Daniel is a twin, and when he and his twin were babies they were apparently able to communicate in their own babble that they understood. (Or, the cynical part of me says, they believed that they understood.)
The challenger for this episode is Sandy Clarke, a statistical consultant; this means that she helps to interpret data from various projects, determining what results are meaningful. She gives an example of a recent project on music therapy, where they were looking at physiological changes in response to musical stimulus and deciding if outcomes were likely to be more than just chance.
I got to interact with Sandy somewhat at the filming, too. My recollection is that she was personable and pleasant to chat with, and she certainly seemed to enjoy her work.
It's a very close game tonight; in fact only the first round separated the contestants. If Sandy had been a bit more familiar with the "retsina mix" then she would probably have tied that one up as well. There was another chance to get clear, in a numbers round that oddly neither contestant managed to get anything for, but the opportunity was lost and Daniel was ahead going into the conundrum. It was still anyone's game, but with the conundrum proving elusive Daniel lived to play another day, 53 to 45.
Obviously my performance is suspect here, but I think that only shows up in the conundrum. If memory serves me correctly I managed it relatively quickly back then, but not nearly as quickly as this time around. Aside from that, I'd managed to get ahead in enough rounds for a comfortable win, which again matches my recollections of performance on the day.
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back; obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.
Tonight we find out that Daniel is a twin, and when he and his twin were babies they were apparently able to communicate in their own babble that they understood. (Or, the cynical part of me says, they believed that they understood.)
The challenger for this episode is Sandy Clarke, a statistical consultant; this means that she helps to interpret data from various projects, determining what results are meaningful. She gives an example of a recent project on music therapy, where they were looking at physiological changes in response to musical stimulus and deciding if outcomes were likely to be more than just chance.
I got to interact with Sandy somewhat at the filming, too. My recollection is that she was personable and pleasant to chat with, and she certainly seemed to enjoy her work.
It's a very close game tonight; in fact only the first round separated the contestants. If Sandy had been a bit more familiar with the "retsina mix" then she would probably have tied that one up as well. There was another chance to get clear, in a numbers round that oddly neither contestant managed to get anything for, but the opportunity was lost and Daniel was ahead going into the conundrum. It was still anyone's game, but with the conundrum proving elusive Daniel lived to play another day, 53 to 45.
Obviously my performance is suspect here, but I think that only shows up in the conundrum. If memory serves me correctly I managed it relatively quickly back then, but not nearly as quickly as this time around. Aside from that, I'd managed to get ahead in enough rounds for a comfortable win, which again matches my recollections of performance on the day.
As usual, details after the jump.
Monday, 21 November 2011
Ep 321: Daniel Chua, Philip McNally (November 21, 2011)
Rounds: Here.
Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back; obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.
Tonight we find out that Daniel is hoping to major in mathematics and Japanese. When asked why that combination, he responds that mathematics is close to his heart -- he really does like it a lot. That certainly meets with my approval! As for Japanese, Daniel talks about the difference in cultural perspective: Japan is a culture that really embraces maths, or as he puts it: Mathematicians are cool in Japan! He makes mention of TV shows about physicists solving crimes using mathematics, which he says is unique; that's not the most clear-cut claim given that NUMB3RS has a very similar synopsis, but I can certainly believe that the shows are vastly different.
Challenging Daniel is Philip McNally, a logistics manager who hopes to represent Australia in lawn bowls. He's been playing for three years now, and loves the team aspect in particular. He tried to qualify for the Australian Open last year and only just missed out. Richard brings up the perception that bowls is only for retirees, remarking that it's not actually the case. Philip agrees, saying that there are many young players nowadays, and it's a good game for them because they are fearless. Philip's son is very good at it, but won't take it up because he says it is social suicide -- Philip hopes to talk him around eventually.
As I mentioned in the post about becoming a contestant, I met both Daniel and Philip that day. I didn't get that much of a chance to chat with Daniel once the filming started, but he did a great job of putting us new contestants at our ease, displaying a wonderful attitude. I was able to have more of a chat with Philip, which I also enjoyed. Overall, what characterises the show for me is how pleasant everyone was; everyone hoped to do well, but I didn't perceive any aggressive competitive streaks.
Daniel manages to outdo Philip in early letters rounds, and an invalid word can't hold him back. With a perfect effort on the numbers Daniel is comfortably uncatchable by the time the conundrum rolls around; neither can solve it, and the final score is 56 to 30.
I have a suspicion that I might have actually done better when I was in the audience. There was definitely an eight that I missed this time that I found then, and a more obvious seven than the disputable one that I had for one round. Sadly, I didn't keep my jottings; I wish that I had, now. In any case, my recollection is that I won from the audience, and I did so again this time.
As usual, details after the jump.
Disclaimer: I attended the filming of this show some months back; obviously this may lead to me recollecting some solutions that eluded me at the time, and my scoreline is not necessarily a fair one.
Tonight we find out that Daniel is hoping to major in mathematics and Japanese. When asked why that combination, he responds that mathematics is close to his heart -- he really does like it a lot. That certainly meets with my approval! As for Japanese, Daniel talks about the difference in cultural perspective: Japan is a culture that really embraces maths, or as he puts it: Mathematicians are cool in Japan! He makes mention of TV shows about physicists solving crimes using mathematics, which he says is unique; that's not the most clear-cut claim given that NUMB3RS has a very similar synopsis, but I can certainly believe that the shows are vastly different.
Challenging Daniel is Philip McNally, a logistics manager who hopes to represent Australia in lawn bowls. He's been playing for three years now, and loves the team aspect in particular. He tried to qualify for the Australian Open last year and only just missed out. Richard brings up the perception that bowls is only for retirees, remarking that it's not actually the case. Philip agrees, saying that there are many young players nowadays, and it's a good game for them because they are fearless. Philip's son is very good at it, but won't take it up because he says it is social suicide -- Philip hopes to talk him around eventually.
As I mentioned in the post about becoming a contestant, I met both Daniel and Philip that day. I didn't get that much of a chance to chat with Daniel once the filming started, but he did a great job of putting us new contestants at our ease, displaying a wonderful attitude. I was able to have more of a chat with Philip, which I also enjoyed. Overall, what characterises the show for me is how pleasant everyone was; everyone hoped to do well, but I didn't perceive any aggressive competitive streaks.
Daniel manages to outdo Philip in early letters rounds, and an invalid word can't hold him back. With a perfect effort on the numbers Daniel is comfortably uncatchable by the time the conundrum rolls around; neither can solve it, and the final score is 56 to 30.
I have a suspicion that I might have actually done better when I was in the audience. There was definitely an eight that I missed this time that I found then, and a more obvious seven than the disputable one that I had for one round. Sadly, I didn't keep my jottings; I wish that I had, now. In any case, my recollection is that I won from the audience, and I did so again this time.
As usual, details after the jump.
Weekly summary: Episodes 316 to 320
A much better week for me than last week; the only score below 60 was the result of two invalid words. It features my highest score this series, although it's still a long way short of my personal best -- need to get two nine-letter words for that, and the opportunities don't come that often, even when I do see them!
Not much joy on the full monty front this week, either. I haven't complained that much recently about the contestants' choices, though, so it looks like just one of those things.
I've added a collation by average score per game. I'm pleased to see two contestants that I thought had potential unfortunately cut short place highly on this: Ryan Sutton, topping the chart, and Natasha Podesser coming in at fifth place. Both of them are ahead of sixth place Shaun Ellis, who is comfortably in first place under the standard ranking.
Current rankings:
Other statistics:
Contestants averaging over 30 points a game (an arbitrary cutoff, I know):
Not much joy on the full monty front this week, either. I haven't complained that much recently about the contestants' choices, though, so it looks like just one of those things.
I've added a collation by average score per game. I'm pleased to see two contestants that I thought had potential unfortunately cut short place highly on this: Ryan Sutton, topping the chart, and Natasha Podesser coming in at fifth place. Both of them are ahead of sixth place Shaun Ellis, who is comfortably in first place under the standard ranking.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me | 61 | 64 | 59 | 77 | 69 |
| Champion | 45 | 31 | 20 | 10 | 28 |
| Challenger | 45 | 40 | 6 | 10 | 10 |
| David + Lily | 87 | 88 | 76 | 75 | 78 |
Current rankings:
| Shaun Ellis | 43 | 56 | 38 | 59 | 40 | 44 | 280 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Terry | 71 | 46 | 55 | 35 | 217 | ||
| Alex van der Kooij | 42 | 51 | 35 | 25 | 153 | ||
| Peter Crop | 61 | 60 | 31 | 152 | |||
| Colin Jones | 36 | 56 | 19 | 111 |
Other statistics:
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Monties | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Missed Full Monties | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Tough Numbers | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Impossible Numbers | 0 |
Contestants averaging over 30 points a game (an arbitrary cutoff, I know):
| Total | Games | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Sutton | 57 | 1 | 57.00 |
| Nick Terry | 217 | 4 | 54.25 |
| Daniel Chua | 103* | 2* | 51.50 |
| Peter Crop | 152 | 3 | 50.67 |
| Natasha Podesser | 47 | 1 | 47.00 |
| Shaun Ellis | 280 | 6 | 46.67 |
| Michael Nichols | 90 | 2 | 45.00 |
| James Godfrey | 45 | 1 | 45.00 |
| Nick Compton | 44 | 1 | 44.00 |
| David Bradley | 77 | 2 | 38.50 |
| Alex van der Kooij | 153 | 4 | 38.25 |
| Adrian Lonigro | 38 | 1 | 38.00 |
| Colin Jones | 111 | 3 | 37.00 |
| Ilona Coote | 36 | 1 | 36.00 |
| Kane Gross | 34 | 1 | 34.00 |
| Hannah Marshall | 33 | 1 | 33.00 |
| Sushma Garudadwajan | 62 | 2 | 31.00 |
Ep 320: Daniel Chua, Kane Gross (November 18, 2011)
OK, the SBS website fixed their bad links and I finally got to play through Friday's episode. Enjoy!
Rounds: Here.
Richard opens the contestant chat by asking what kind of magicians Daniel admires; Daniel responds that he likes magicians that don't try to outsmart the audience, but focus on entertainment, on keeping them happy and mystified. I'm not entirely sure about the distinction being drawn here between outsmarted and mystified, but certainly magic should be first and foremost about entertainment.
Daniel's challenger today is Kane Gross, a creative arts student who has recently founded a new literary and arts journal with his wife. It's currently online only, but they hope to move to a print version early next year.
Both contestants move in lockstep for the first five rounds, but then Kane fades and Daniel takes the remaining main rounds, ending up a 59 to 34 point victor. The numbers were a bit friendlier this time, but Daniel was able to use them more effectively. They both could have done more with the early letters rounds, but the latter ones (and the conundrum) were trickier than average.
I was mostly on target this game; I just missed out on one eight-letter word, and decided not to risk another, but aside from that I tracked well. I had a tough time with the conundrum, but unravelled it with three seconds left to cap off a comfortable win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Rounds: Here.
Richard opens the contestant chat by asking what kind of magicians Daniel admires; Daniel responds that he likes magicians that don't try to outsmart the audience, but focus on entertainment, on keeping them happy and mystified. I'm not entirely sure about the distinction being drawn here between outsmarted and mystified, but certainly magic should be first and foremost about entertainment.
Daniel's challenger today is Kane Gross, a creative arts student who has recently founded a new literary and arts journal with his wife. It's currently online only, but they hope to move to a print version early next year.
Both contestants move in lockstep for the first five rounds, but then Kane fades and Daniel takes the remaining main rounds, ending up a 59 to 34 point victor. The numbers were a bit friendlier this time, but Daniel was able to use them more effectively. They both could have done more with the early letters rounds, but the latter ones (and the conundrum) were trickier than average.
I was mostly on target this game; I just missed out on one eight-letter word, and decided not to risk another, but aside from that I tracked well. I had a tough time with the conundrum, but unravelled it with three seconds left to cap off a comfortable win.
As usual, details after the jump.
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Becoming a contestant
Friday's analysis will have to wait, as the SBS website is accidentally showing next Monday's episode instead; hopefully they will get that sorted out soon! This is a reasonable time to talk about why the next week's episodes will be difficult to score sensibly: I was at the filming of them. In fact, I'll make an appearance on next Friday's episode, as I was not just an audience member but also a contestant. I'm going to omit most of the details as I don't wish to spoil any unaired episodes, but hopefully there will be some small points of interest in the following.
Earlier this year, inspired by an online friend who has taken some steps outside her comfort zone, I decided that I would audition for the show. I was busy with some project at work at the time, but once that was finished I filled out and sent in the contestant registration form (available from the show's website here). I had no idea how long it would take to hear back from them, so I went about things and almost-forgot about it. It was a pleasant surprised when some time later I got the email inviting me to an audition at the SBS studios in Artarmon.
(As I understand it, originally auditions were only held in Melbourne. Recently they branched out to Sydney, and I think that they have held one in Brisbane. The locations that they will hold auditions at is information that I hope they will provide on their website eventually, as it is key for some potential contestants. Similarly for filming locations, as audience members would want to know this; it's currently all in Melbourne but I understand there is a possibility of a Sydney filming at some point.)
I won't go into the audition process, but I don't think it will give anything away to say that it does involve playing several rounds of the game (but not against anyone). I arrived somewhat early, and got to meet a few of the other hopefuls, and have several pleasant chats. Ryan Sutton from episode 316 was one of those I met there, and we got on fairly well; Toby Baldwin from episode 330 was another.
Another reasonably obvious thing is that they will want to know things about you, so that they can assess your potential to be interesting on TV. It's worth thinking about a few things in advance (as I did, although I'm not sure that they were that interesting).
All in all, the audition was a fairly enjoyable process, with time to socialise with like-minded others there, and a chance to play the game in what feels like more realistic circumstances. If you think you'd like to participate, then I'd certainly encourage you to give it a go. The results aren't final; if you don't get a callback then you can keep practicing at home and audition again another time.
I knew that I'd done very well on the technical part of the audition; not quite as well as possible, but definitely well above average. So I was very pleased, but honestly not completely surprised, when sometime later I got contacted to arrange my appearance on the show.
The filming took place in the ABC studios in Elsternwick, Melbourne; apparently it's the same studio that is used for Spicks & Specks (although not any longer, alas). Getting there early again allowed time to chat with the other contestants of the day; with a week's worth of episodes filmed in a day, there's a minimum of six contestants needed. If there's the possibility of a retiring champion (as there was this time, with Daniel Chua returning after two victories) then a standby seventh may be required.
The day's contestants were a lovely bunch, and Daniel in particular did a great job of putting us at ease and making us feel welcome. That allowed people to get over any nerves and just focus on having a good time.
Since I was going to make my appearance on the last show of the day, I spent most of it in the audience (or the green room). So did the other contestants, of course, except when in make-up or competing. There's a wonderful energy on the set, and most of the crew play along with the game also -- pens and small pads of paper are distributed to audience members -- calling out suggestions for words to David during the filming breaks, and trying to good-naturedly one-up each other.
Just being in the audience was a very enjoyable day, and it's thoroughly recommended to anyone who has the time and is in the vicinity. They sometimes have school visits in the mid-morning sessions, but otherwise there are plenty of seats available and enthusiastic clappers are always welcome.
I won't say much about the process of the game itself -- best experienced in person -- but I will note that David and Lily are both just as good as they are portrayed. There's no computers or extra time thinking involved, they come up with their answers in the same thirty seconds as the contestants. (OK, there's a tiny amount of extra time while Richard asks the contestants what they have, but that's not quality thinking time. The real advantage that Lily and David have over contestants -- aside from their ability, of course -- is not needing to write answers down. But I digress.)
What I do want to say again is that it was a very pleasant time, even aside from getting a chance to play. It was good to meet Richard, David, and Lily, of course, but also all of the other members of the crew. Most of my interactions were with those who I think of as the contestant wranglers: Gillian, Rochelle, and Josie; then there were Maureen, Monica, and Sue in make-up, Nee in wardrobe, Voula and Emma on the show floor, Brose who kept the audience entertained, Steve from security, and I'm sure I've overlooked others that I met for which I apologise. A very friendly bunch all, and I want to thank them for making the experience a good one for me, and I'm sure for the other contestants also.
Earlier this year, inspired by an online friend who has taken some steps outside her comfort zone, I decided that I would audition for the show. I was busy with some project at work at the time, but once that was finished I filled out and sent in the contestant registration form (available from the show's website here). I had no idea how long it would take to hear back from them, so I went about things and almost-forgot about it. It was a pleasant surprised when some time later I got the email inviting me to an audition at the SBS studios in Artarmon.
(As I understand it, originally auditions were only held in Melbourne. Recently they branched out to Sydney, and I think that they have held one in Brisbane. The locations that they will hold auditions at is information that I hope they will provide on their website eventually, as it is key for some potential contestants. Similarly for filming locations, as audience members would want to know this; it's currently all in Melbourne but I understand there is a possibility of a Sydney filming at some point.)
I won't go into the audition process, but I don't think it will give anything away to say that it does involve playing several rounds of the game (but not against anyone). I arrived somewhat early, and got to meet a few of the other hopefuls, and have several pleasant chats. Ryan Sutton from episode 316 was one of those I met there, and we got on fairly well; Toby Baldwin from episode 330 was another.
Another reasonably obvious thing is that they will want to know things about you, so that they can assess your potential to be interesting on TV. It's worth thinking about a few things in advance (as I did, although I'm not sure that they were that interesting).
All in all, the audition was a fairly enjoyable process, with time to socialise with like-minded others there, and a chance to play the game in what feels like more realistic circumstances. If you think you'd like to participate, then I'd certainly encourage you to give it a go. The results aren't final; if you don't get a callback then you can keep practicing at home and audition again another time.
I knew that I'd done very well on the technical part of the audition; not quite as well as possible, but definitely well above average. So I was very pleased, but honestly not completely surprised, when sometime later I got contacted to arrange my appearance on the show.
The filming took place in the ABC studios in Elsternwick, Melbourne; apparently it's the same studio that is used for Spicks & Specks (although not any longer, alas). Getting there early again allowed time to chat with the other contestants of the day; with a week's worth of episodes filmed in a day, there's a minimum of six contestants needed. If there's the possibility of a retiring champion (as there was this time, with Daniel Chua returning after two victories) then a standby seventh may be required.
The day's contestants were a lovely bunch, and Daniel in particular did a great job of putting us at ease and making us feel welcome. That allowed people to get over any nerves and just focus on having a good time.
Since I was going to make my appearance on the last show of the day, I spent most of it in the audience (or the green room). So did the other contestants, of course, except when in make-up or competing. There's a wonderful energy on the set, and most of the crew play along with the game also -- pens and small pads of paper are distributed to audience members -- calling out suggestions for words to David during the filming breaks, and trying to good-naturedly one-up each other.
Just being in the audience was a very enjoyable day, and it's thoroughly recommended to anyone who has the time and is in the vicinity. They sometimes have school visits in the mid-morning sessions, but otherwise there are plenty of seats available and enthusiastic clappers are always welcome.
I won't say much about the process of the game itself -- best experienced in person -- but I will note that David and Lily are both just as good as they are portrayed. There's no computers or extra time thinking involved, they come up with their answers in the same thirty seconds as the contestants. (OK, there's a tiny amount of extra time while Richard asks the contestants what they have, but that's not quality thinking time. The real advantage that Lily and David have over contestants -- aside from their ability, of course -- is not needing to write answers down. But I digress.)
What I do want to say again is that it was a very pleasant time, even aside from getting a chance to play. It was good to meet Richard, David, and Lily, of course, but also all of the other members of the crew. Most of my interactions were with those who I think of as the contestant wranglers: Gillian, Rochelle, and Josie; then there were Maureen, Monica, and Sue in make-up, Nee in wardrobe, Voula and Emma on the show floor, Brose who kept the audience entertained, Steve from security, and I'm sure I've overlooked others that I met for which I apologise. A very friendly bunch all, and I want to thank them for making the experience a good one for me, and I'm sure for the other contestants also.
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