Rachel, Nick and Susie welcomed returning champion Archana Desurkar against challenger Rhyl Jones for the final Coutndown episode of the week. It was a tense and close contest to say the least, with both Archana and Rhyl almost neck and neck throughout the Channel 4 show, all the way to the crucial conundrum. However, when the challenger had the perfect opportunity to extend his lead, Rachel and Nick had to step in and prevent him from doing so.
In the penultimate round of yesterday’s episode, Rhyl had decided to take a punt on the numbers with a pick of one large and five small.
With a ‘Crucial Conundrum’ looming, it was the perfect opportunity for Rhyl to extend his lead – and all looked set for him to do so.
The target to hit in the numbers round was 162, and each player had the numbers eight, nine, one, four and six to do so.
And Rhyl claimed he had landed the target, albeit not written down, while Archana could only reach 164.
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However, when Rhyl went to give his answer, Rachel and Nick leapt into action.
“So Rhyl,” Nick began as he awaited to hear the working. “Take it away.”
Rachel stood by the famous numbers board with her marker in hand but Rhyl appeared to stumble on his working.
Silence descended on the studio as Rhyl tried to work out how he’d ended up with the 162 target, but Rachel and Nick weren’t prepared to let him drag out time any longer.
“I think we’re in trouble,” Nick weighed in as he confirmed Rhyl had run out of time.
The Countdown host added “we’re time up,” as Rachel looked on anxiously.
Nick turned his attention to Archana who provided her workings for the 164 answer she’d claimed.
Archana did manage to get her sums out in time and claimed seven points for being two away from the target.
However, Rhyl didn’t dwell on being cut off for too long as he managed to buzz in and guess the conundrum.
Rhyl managed to unjumble the conundrum to give the answer “toothcomb,” to which Nick confirmed was correct.
The challenger will now take the champion’s chair for Monday’s episode of Countdown, knocking Archana off the top spot.
Countdown continues weekdays at 2:10pm on Channel 4.