MovieChat Forums > Countdown (1982) Discussion > Why don't they replace dictionary corner...

Why don't they replace dictionary corner?

posted 11 years ago by Mighty_Duck_4
2 replies | jump to latest

So they've had dictionary corner for ages to see what the contestant could come up with. About half the time though they don't always find the best words. They may say the best you could do was a 6, when there might be an 8 they could have gotten.

There are simple programs 'scrabble solvers' that will tell you the longest possible matching words in the OED. And free sites google will turn up you can do it on. Why do they need someone like Susie thumbing through an actual dictionary to give the best she could find. This isn't the 70's anymore. Just give her a laptop already.

PS: This is what part of the alphabet would look like if Q and R didn't exist.

[–] paul-m-uk 10 years ago

They're going to use computers in dictionary corner from the start of the next series! This is so they can always use the most up to date dictionary rather than wait for new editions of the dictionary to be published.

The whole point of the programme is to see what words people can spot. When a very obscure word is spotted in dictionary corner it's only impressive because a real person has spotted it. Using computer programs would spoil that wow factor. It's the same with the maths, there are computers that can do it but part of the fun is being amazed when Rachel comes up with a very impressive solution herself (as she so often does).

You have a point though. Susie is probably the weaker of the two experts. She is often beaten by contestants where as you never see a contestant who is better at the maths than Rachel.

[–] kissprufe 10 years ago

The whole thing seems a bit phony. While Susie Dent is licking her fingers and busily flicking through the OED, the Control Room is feeding her words that they've looked up somewhere (through an earpiece). I wish we could have a variety of Dictionary Corner experts like before. I enjoyed seeing Alison Heard, Richard Samson, Damien Eady and Michael Neiman's contributions. But now, Dr Dent seems to rule supreme. And.....I'd love to know if Nick Hewer is sincere with his praise for her (when he introduces the 'origins of words' section)? Maybe he is merely being sarcastic? My impression is that the material used on that section is gleaned from the internet. Regarding the OED edition they are using on Countdown, some perfectly good words are inadmissable. I remember a 'Conundrum' solution which was supposed to be 'LENGTHIER'. My 'LIGHTENER' was deemed a 'non word'!