The best numbers game on Countdown 27.10.14

This has to be one of the best (if not THE best) Numbers games from Channel 4's Countdown.
Aired on 27th October 2014

[@soundhealer6043]

As soon as the target was revealed, I heard Joe Wilkinson say "Bloody heeel!

[@BrightonEarly]

"Oh, give up" "Joe, did you get it?" "Uhhh, 1000"

[@goncalofreitas2094]

666 likes, not gonna ruin it

[@soundhealer6043]

@@goncalofreitas2094 I don't blame you, mate! lol

[@soundhealer6043]

@@BrightonEarly lol "WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU DOOOOO? THERE'S NO HUUUNDRED!"

[@aclay1662]

I didn't hear it the first time, but when I went back I heard it O.o

[@ColinRichardson]

Roisin, did you get it?

[@cameron581]

'I didn't get it.'

[@ctoshplays]

Katherine: You're saying like it's obvious

[@robinnes2662]

Joe: Ah, shit.

[@CucumberpatchAddict]

NEWS

[@201081hero]

She didnt get it but she always spots the D

[@maorsragovich8870]

I like how Rachel looks like she solved it already when reading the target.

[@kanraku6129]

0:18 "See if this one's possible ... Yes, 940, got it."

[@andrewbloom7694]

She probably did. She's the definition of a mathematics savant.

[@i-am-ishaan6282]

@@andrewbloom7694 faxx

[@d4ve19]

Anything near 937.5 is pretty simple if you know the tricks, both Rachel and the contestant solved that before the button was pressed.

[@sigmasquadleader]

@DingoDooable Quiet down, my neighbors are sleeping

[@asomelord]

Almost as impressive as the time Richard Ayoade cubed one of the numbers

[@sandoumir4348]

Is the jelly factory hiring?

[@TallSilentGuy]

But I'm guessing that's an illegal move, right?

[@QwertyScream]

You can't do that on Countdown

[@matthewedwards9423]

@@QwertyScream You can in rare circumstances. For example, let's assume we have a board of 3 3 75 25 and two other numbers. You can cube the number 3 by saying 3*3*(75/25). But you can't use cube as a function, you have to multiply the same number three times.

[@sysop073]

​@@matthewedwards9423Or to put it another way...no, you can't cube a number. Obviously you can get to the same result by other, actually allowed methods

[@Cowman9791]

Rachel Riley: ok, that's right Carol Vorderman: (laughing uncontrollably), you know, i think you're right! that's incredible

[@johnmartinez7440]

What's with all the weird recent comments about Carol Vorderman laughing?

[@gamewithgreg]

@@johnmartinez7440 kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppfEZIB-gbGGjas

[@johnmartinez7440]

@@gamewithgreg I'm aware she used to laugh during the numbers game, what I was confused by was the strange influx of comments all commenting the same thing in the past few months. All a bit weird, half of them basically mocking her for being awful at maths.

[@gamewithgreg]

@@johnmartinez7440 I think they're referring specifically to this link as she said "you know, I think you're right" during that game. Not mocking her for not knowing, as she is clearly very intelligent when it comes to maths, but she clearly didn't know the calculations in the linked game.

[@icturner23]

But the one you’re referring to was actually much more impressive. This one was quite easy. I got it myself pretty quickly. I got the other one too, but took much longer than thirty seconds and had to really think about it, and only persisted because I knew from the title of the video that it was possible.

[@NoComment79]

That's numberwang.

[@TheVicar]

Remain indoors

[@darthkahn45]

Scoff a number!!

[@immortalsofar5314]

Must be those countdown groupies keeping him in shape.

[@ilyrm89]

Ah, a man of culture

[@godfather3002]

48.5? That's numberwang!!

[@leena6615]

You ever stumble across a group of people who you could never be apart of but you’re glad they have each other? That’s what this comment section feels like.

[@JeSuisRene]

Let's be honest. If Carol were doing this one, she'd be laughing so much!

[@henryordish]

which is weird, because it's not actually funny

[@MKRM27]

A nervous laugh. She always did that when she wasn’t filling keeping up with the calculations.

[@sbssmachine1]

She drank a lot though

[@cloverite]

And waiting for the answer to come through the headphones

[@justme-hh4vp]

@@cloverite oh..., seriously?

[@SamM-oh2cx]

That is just insane! He had the answer in about 10 seconds! Amazing!

[@quentind1924]

Well if you pick all 4 big numbers, you probably know the trick "(25×75)/(100/50)=937.5". After that, the solve is pretty easy

[@Fishy_17]

It’s not actually that impressive. They did what they did to just look flashy. 100/50 = 2. 75x25 = 1875. (1875+1)/2 = 932. 938+2 = 940 There isn’t much you can do other than try multiplying the big numbers and it just so happens that the product of 25 and 75 is almost double of the target, 940.

[@bluejadeblue]

such a different vibe from 8OO10 cats does countdown!

[@johnmartinez7440]

Well duh.

[@bluejadeblue]

@@johnmartinez7440 booo don’t be mean in the comments section of a youtube video,, unnecessary.

[@johnsmodularjams2123]

I read that as 80010 cats does countdown. Think I was still thinking about the maths in the video...

[@bluejadeblue]

@@johnsmodularjams2123 😂

[@PawSmalls]

@@bluejadeblue if you can't handle that level of meanness, you shouldn't be on the internet.

[@jorgelenny47]

Given that he went for the 4 big ones, sounds like he knows instantly how much all of them muliplied together are

[@NathanWubs]

Ding, this is not the funny comedian version after all. So you can actually use strats.

[@D1Dune]

He doesn't need to, he might just know about 1875. You don't need to know about 93800 in order to know that 1876 x (500/1000) = 938. He probably ruled out 500 and 1000 as a "probably going to use this to double or half something". 940 x 2 = 1880, from which you can notice the proximity of 1875 if you know it by heart, and work it out from there. Naturally, that's still very difficult and impressive in such a small time!

[@Untoldanimations]

@@D1Dunewell actually i think that everyone who chooses to play 4L knows that 25*50*75/100 = 937.5 so anything near that is doable by just adding or subtracting from these number

[@RebornAudio]

God bless the absolutely beautiful congratulatory reaction from Ita ❤️

[@Chalky29]

Shows my confidence when I just don’t skip through the 30 seconds on the clock but rather tried to work it out

[@user-ek7yc5zm1v]

I love how excited his opponent was for him

[@archieindoorschallis2885]

He's good isn't he Rachel? But put subtitles on and it gets better

[@chickentikka4383]

BRUHHHH, normally those automatic captions are a mess, but every once in a while, a gem like this is found

[@archieindoorschallis2885]

@@chickentikka4383 yeah I've seen a few 'odd' captions on youtube videos and i find it funny how auto captions always say completely different things to what the people are actually saying

[@rachelroberts5775]

Whoa 😳

[@kalenrobey947]

Lmaooo, good find 😂😂

[@JohnSmith-ws7fq]

lol :p

[@porl99]

What a legend he's my daughter's MATHS TEACHER AND FORM TUTOR NOW!!!

[@Wimpleman]

He looks like he'll never be old enough to be a teacher!

[@davidc4408]

@@Wimpleman my maths teacher was 45 but looked like a teenager

[@redmen2008]

Thank you

[@leolimitedition]

I did some research and he is not a teacher, either you’re a total liar or your daughter’s teacher is Indian so you assumed it was the same guy

[@michaelsingleton5173]

I wonder what the look on Jon Richardsons face would've been if Lee Mack did this instead of Steadings.

[@mattfrank7796]

Jon only has one facial expression though. He literally never has anything but a smug face.

[@Czeckie]

what a beast lad

[@mitchellweiner4990]

Carol Vordermann would have been in hysterics with this! 😅

[@blaze4111]

yeah, she does seem to downplay how good she actually is.

[@MKRM27]

She laughed when she wasn’t keeping up with the calculations. A nervous laugh, to try and distract.

[@johnmartinez7440]

@@MKRM27 25x75 is a pretty common calculation though.

[@JimmyBoosterCrate]

@@johnmartinez7440 Only for good numbers players who know that method. Not your average Gertrude.

[@JimmyBoosterCrate]

I found it fast, it's a known technique. The "937.5" trick, where you use 75x25, add/substract small numbers and then divide for results around 930-940. You can sometimes use a 3750/4 or 7500/8 base if those tiles are available.

[@ChrisWagner89]

So you are that one person that actually watched Celebrity Countdown, where Rachel explained this trick. The Countdown team would like to thank you for watching, but you should have told your friends about it to save the show.

[@Nullifidian]

Also 5625 / 6. It looks like a weird number, but it's 75 squared, so it can be made either by (100 - 25) x 75 or (50 + 25) x 75 depending on whether you want to save the 50 or the 100. For example, the target 986 in a four-large game with 9 and 6 as the two small numbers can only be solved in the following way: 100 - 25 = 75 75 x 75 = 5625 5625 - 9 = 5616 5616 / 6 = 936 936 + 50 = 986

[@michaelreid6984]

That's what i thought yeah. Well basically you.... wait i think that was the doorbell.

[@icturner23]

It’s not really a ‘technique’. That makes it sound like it is a special strategy. It’s just playing the game in the obvious fashion.

[@icturner23]

@@Nullifidian I don’t get why you’ve given the solution to an imaginary game here.

[@97channel]

Hurrah! I got it!* Same method as him, without the unnecessary multiplication at the end just to show off. …*in over 2 minutes and with the aid of a calculator. But hey maan, I'm like totally having that.

[@joanbo15]

In Countdown, it's not "unnecessary multiplication" - you get bonus points for using all of the numbers.

[@TheMoonRover]

@@joanbo15 No, you don't. The points are only based on how close to the target you get, not how many of the numbers are used.

[@TheMoonRover]

@@joanbo15 There is not and has never been extra points for using all the numbers in Countdown. _You_ look it up. Solutions often require using all the numbers. However there is however a bonus for using all 9 letters in a words round. Perhaps that is what you're thinking of.

[@joanbo15]

@@TheMoonRover fair enough; I concede. I made the assertion based on an episode of 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown where Rachel realised too late in the numbers round that she could've used all the numbers for a "perfect score" - probably just a throwaway line.

[@kevinshanahan6064]

Well done that man and anyone who takes 2 mins and uses a calculator. I had a Ferrari, I had the 6 pack, I had it all. It was when I could do the Countdown numbers that got me crumpet on tap.

[@MVSLight]

Really Amazing. Congratulations!!!

[@SR1Records]

He sensationalised it. There was no need to times by 50 then divide by 100. To get the same number, he could have just divided the 1876 by 2 to give him 938. 100 divided by 50 equals 2. Add that 2 to the 938 for 940.

[@ukbarney1]

@@SR1Records but you can only use the 2 once?

[@SR1Records]

@@ukbarney1 You get the second 2 by dividing 100 by 50.

[@plywoodcarjohnson5412]

I feel like protesting.... "All human beings are created equal!"

[@HDzSpudzx21]

He didn't need to * by the 50. All he needed to do was 1876 / 2 to get 938, 100 / 50 is 2, and add the 2 to 938. Still though, fantastic way to get it

[@00vaag]

You get imaginary style points for going into the big numbers :p

[@sherlockholmeslives.1605]

Your cleverer than me, HDzSpudzx21.

[@EFreD-ed4ds]

Thought the same thing. No need to make it difficult just to show off.

[@HDzSpudzx21]

E. FreD Nobody likes a show off!

[@sherlockholmeslives.1605]

***** Lol! Especially a show off that succeeds! They're by far the worst kind! Happy Christmas! Cheers - Mike.

[@christophercarroll5195]

I searched for Matt Le Tissier and ended up here

[@juliettexo1]

If anyone fancies a laugh just turn on the automatic subtitles, they’re so wildly wrong at some points 😂

[@mattrees8228]

Oh no, no hernia

[@Jmcinally94]

This is sort of the dream selection of numbers really

[@jamesm7721]

It's amazing how some people's brain works 💪

[@tomgreaney1]

Outstanding

[@pufcharrison]

proper stud, love you to bits fordy x

[@junglejuice4037]

Who's a clever boy then. Fantastic.

[@snazzyquizzes2336]

Those are some skills!

[@TekkoNet]

I have no idea what's going on

[@ChrisMac2489]

This one is just like the 952 target 🎯

[@JimmyBoosterCrate]

952 was harder. This is a really basic 75x25/2 one.

[@jamesl8640]

100/50=2 25*75= 1875 +1 =1876 /2 = 938 +2 = 940

[@stephencarr8853]

You used 2 twice

[@jamesl8640]

@@stephencarr8853 two from numbers given other one from the two gained in the first line

[@toulow]

I legit thought that was coming out of my monitor for a minute

[@Hedning1390]

(75*25+1)(50/100)+2 The first part is the tricky one, but I guess if you play this game a lot you know all the permutations of the big numbers. I wouldn't have noticed that 75*25 is roughly 940*2 even if I had 5 minutes.

[@atomicmrpelly]

Once he did 25*75 i thought I knew where he was going because 1875 is close to 1880, which is double the target.

[@liamholloway7885]

Why did they have the lights switched off?

[@undead.rising]

George: "75 times 25" Carol would have already been struggling...

[@UnChannelDuVulpineX]

Nope.

[@xx8782]

It's Over 9000!

[@happilyhadesbound]

I felt really stupid for not getting it and then this guy just did magic

[@RoadRunnerMeep]

I always find the younger people on countdown use this approach. Not sure if it's them being aware on how to do larger sums or just calculating with another method that's being taught now

[@JimmyBoosterCrate]

Young guys are often good at numbers and less at letters, I've observed. They can learn the 937.5 trick easily, when older people who've had all their experience before that trick became mainstream have a hard time incorporating it in their thought process.

[@CallumAtwal]

Don't be put off by the 93800, it's basically just halving 1876 by multiplying by 50/100

[@avrilpeters]

My brain hurts just thinking about it 😲

[@dzfz2100]

Astonishing

[@Kiko_165]

Harry Maguire has done alright here

[@chriswelcome8102]

I couldn't get close in my head. Not even in range with a calculator, but I had a feeling it was going to be 90,000 divided by something lol

[@scragar]

Because he multiplied by 50, then divided by 100 he really just divided by 2. This is just a case of recognising that 940×2=1880 which is close to 72×25=1875 And then figuring out how to close the gap. Still impressive, but not as impressive as it looks when he multiplies by 50 without knowing where he's going. He could just as easily have said divide by two, then add 100/50 for another 2.

[@chriswelcome8102]

@@scragar Cool

[@ChrisMac2489]

Holly Molly that smarts 🤯

[@Simon1985_]

Holy moly that’s smart*

[@irishsixtysixfanGbrf66739]

Third time it's been done with a very high number like that

[@icturner23]

Not really. It’s not like the classic one with Carol. A contest in this case would normally have divided the 100 by 50 and then the 976 by the resultant 2, but George just wanted to show off. In the Carol one, they actually had to go high because they needed to add or subtract 50 before dividing.

[@easternbrown]

So many digits it's surprising her pen didn't run out

[@fluffycrabvideos394]

George is my teacher

[@Yvanasp3]

Same

[@IoEstasCedonta]

I want Catherine Tate's reaction.

[@hambonejamboree7750]

Rachel: "Thank god he's not sexy or I'd be out of a job"

[@simonnolan2063]

Good man

[@bluequarters2593]

He done that a hard way

[@makbulhusain]

2nd best numbers game I’ve seen

[@ilyrm89]

After numberwang

[@VenomousSpyro]

I got 950 and thought I was doing well 🤣 75÷25=3 2+1=3 3x3=9 9x100=900 900+50=950 I was sure you couldn't get closer 🙈

[@lyrimetacurl0]

I ran out of time but got this: 75/25 = 3 50 - 3 = 47 47 *2*100 = 9400 (leaves the 1 out)

[@Cruithneach]

​@@lyrimetacurl0Only 8460 away 😁

[@sephalon1]

That was his chance to ask Rachel out!

[@jakster909]

This is actually a really easy target number, provided you know the 937.5 trick

[@b-dog3207]

What trick. I know how to get to 937.5 how to get the other 2.5?

[@ChrisWagner89]

​@@b-dog3207 ​@@b-dog3207 You can use the large numbers to generate 937.5, e.g. (25x75)/(100/50) = 1875/2 = 937.5. So how does he add the 2.5? Well, he does it in two steps. Adding 0.5 and adding 2. You can't have fractions on Countdown. So you have to add an odd number to the odd numerator of the first equation in order to get a whole number. That's what the contestant does by adding the 1. (25x75 + 1)/(100/50) = 1876/2 = 938. You can write that equation as (25/75)/(100/50) + 1/(100/50) = 1875/2 + 1/2 = 937.5 + 0.5. And there you can see the 0.5 being added. Then you have to add the 2, which is easy. Because you have a 2 to play with. And you can use the "add an odd number"-trick to add any odd number. If there was a 5 on the board, he could have used the 5 in order to add 5/2 to the 937.5.

[@b-dog3207]

Chris Wagner Z COOL thanx for sharing

[@DaveDexterMusic]

Anything's easy if you know stuff that makes it easy. That's kind of the point.

[@StrangeAttractor]

the crazy thing is that the dude had obviously done it before the countdown was even halfway through. I did 75 x 25/ 2 + (1/50 x 100) = 939.5.... not good enough!

[@d4ve19]

Also not valid, you cannot use decimals at any point.

[@Glub2]

me sitting here with a headache 🥴🤕 yeah i’m not even gonna attempt lol

[@CRyan71]

How does one see so fast how to do it

[@earltan7067]

I like that I have no idea what the hell is going on

[@jamiedavy_]

R.I.P Dave Myers 🕊️

[@jayd.o.t]

"I dont take shortcuts i know the way"

[@resnonverba137]

Blimey!

[@Mr_Miracle]

Yep I should’ve paid more attention in maths

[@humphreychannel582]

There’s been much greater ones than this, it just looks harder as it has big numbers in it. Whereas other people may have said 100/50=2 as a side calculation, then done 1876/2 and then add 2. With one of those 2s being from (100/50)

[@grumpylibrarian]

Did you put the microphone in the next room and turn the sound all the way on your TV?

[@jsi11i]

I just see Rachel and miss the rest of the video. Happens every time.

[@joshuagcwong734]

I just came for Rachel... I also watched the numbers game

[@joec4387]

Managed it. In about double the time, mind. Did the same as I think everyone else in the comments did, by dividing 1876 by (100/50) to avoid the ridiculous multiplication

[@JackAsian]

So sad I only got 939 and almost had the right idea.

[@gui18bif]

That's numberwang

[@jeremyslaney5644]

I thought that I had made a creditable effort in managing to attain 939. I had the idea of trying to attain 1880 and then divide that by 2, but could only attain 1878, and then divide that number by 2

[@TheBloodsuger150]

x50 then /100 is just divide 2.

[@anonymousbastard6462]

That's Number Wang

[@SuperSmashBros-co9gf]

This is Episode 6214.

[@QwertyScream]

No, this is Episode 6019

[@tayyibali5052]

He was so gassed

[@petersavage4207]

It’s a shame they didn’t pair up for a video - I mean program 😉

[@steffen5121]

Someone explain me the rules to this game please. Are you getting more points when you use all available numbers, or doesn't it matter?

[@rad1c1e]

Doesn't matter

[@ashley.sterling]

doesn't matter how many of the numbers you use, as long as you get the number you get the full ten points... if you get close, like one or two away, you get partial points (can't rememberhow many, don't wanna lie and give a false number)

[@steffen5121]

Thanks

[@ronster1703]

You get 7 points for being up to 5 away from the correct answer (in either direction), and 5 points for 6-10 away from the correct answer.

[@XaviRonaldo0]

Did you get it Rachel?

[@andrewbattisti1391]

Can you use square roots to calculate?

[@Nullifidian]

No, just the four basic arithmetic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

[@Dr.Ian-Plect]

I was dithering, I got 5000 when the time ran out.

[@hullandproud4134]

Well done Harry maguire

[@mrbearexe5579]

Yoo my teacher

[@BrettCahill]

Here I was buzzing with 950. How tf...

[@martinvanveldhoven8328]

He multiplied by 50 just for fun.😂 Dividing by 100 after that is just the same as 1876÷(100÷50)=938 He was bloody quick , so hed time for that 😂

[@elfro1237]

Could you also go from 1876 to 938 and 100/50?

[@Nullifidian]

Yes. Or you could divide by the given 2 and then add 100 / 50 at the end. It's all the same basic calculation.

[@XoIoRouge]

To clarify on the rules, can we do 25 / 2 ? What happens to decimals?

[@d4ve19]

You may not go into decimals, whole numbers only

[@TheVicar]

@@d4ve19 What about fractions?

[@beeble2003]

@@TheVicar "whole numbers only"

[@dielaughing73]

@@andymerrett concatenation would make it a lot easier for me..

[@QwertyScream]

@@dielaughing73 You can't do that either

[@bluwolf098]

And to think they laughed when he said 93800

[@philiplawson7402]

50x25=1250 1250+2=1252 1252x75=93900 93900/100=939 939+1=940

[@georgemg988]

Looks like a young Harry Maguire

[@mordicaiknode]

Woah that was scary.

[@SuperChickenBurgers]

I got .5 off. 25/2 = 12.5 12.5 x 75 = 937.5 50/100 = 2 937.5 + 2 = 939.5

[@whosdr]

Sadly you're not allowed to go into fractional values during Countdown's numbers game. (Negatives are also dis-allowed)

[@georgielancaster1356]

I would have leaned over and said, "May I just touch your forehead? I want to check if it's hot..."

[@MR-eh5mk]

hes my math tutor!!

[@BaMenace]

Equals... 93 thousand.... you see her then click and #sploosh over math

[@tequillaknight551]

That’s my math teacher

[@cordrust]

really

[@lewisfryer2261]

Someone should buy this lad a ps5