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the countdown king
27. May 2006 at 04:50
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Countdown king aged 14

HE’S the teenage word wizard whose talent for letters and numbers has stunned TV audiences.

And schoolboy Conor Travers’ special skills yesterday saw him become the youngest person EVER to clinch the crown on hit quiz Countdown.

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For those not familiar with the Channel 4 show, the latter stages see contestants racing to solve a jumbled-up nine-letter word, known as the Countdown Conundrum.

In 14-year-old Conor’s case, the puzzle should be LILBTRIAN — because his performances have been nothing short of BRILLIANT.

Experts in the show’s Dictionary Corner have been stunned with some of the complex words he’s uncovered in the game, including craniates, renegado, tzardoms and valorise.

In one show, host Desmond Lynam was so impressed he cheekily asked the teenager: “You haven’t got a man under the desk with a dictionary, have you?”

Champ Conor is so good he even solved a numbers puzzle that brainy co-host Carol Vorderman thought impossible. She joked afterwards: “He’ll be after my job soon!”

The Luton lad first discovered his amazing gift for the game when he fell ill last year and spent several weeks at home watching the show while he recovered.

And yesterday he beat 33-year-old model maker Matthew Shore to land the title and was presented with the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy, named in honour of the show’s former host who died last June.

Afterwards, puzzle fiend Conor said: “I am over the moon. I really wanted to win.”

The scruffy-haired youngster also revealed he felt more nervous about appearing on the Countdown final than he is about taking his GCSE exams next year.

The Year 10 student at Cardinal Newman High School in Luton said: “I worried I would play below my best as it took me a while to get to sleep the night before. But I was also excited and concentrating on the game ahead.”

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Proud dad Martin, a building firm director, beamed: “We always knew he would do well — but we didn’t expect him to do this well.”

As well as his champion’s trophy, Conor was awarded a set of encylopaedias — although they are probably not every teenager’s idea of a great prize.

Recalling his introduction to the show, he said: “I watched it every day and soon found I was getting better scores than the people on the TV, so I decided I would like to be on it.”

Shy Conor, who enjoys scrabble, chess and computer games, honed his Countdown skills by competing online and even set up his own website dedicated to the show.

After applying he was invited to an audition in London where he was tested with various Countdown-style questions and proved himself a worthy contender.

His mum Maureen added: “He doesn’t work amazingly hard at school, but things come naturally to him.”

Conor reached the finals of the show, in which contestants have to make words out of random sequences of letters or solve maths puzzles against the clock, after notching up eight astounding victories in a row last year.

His winning streak made him an “octo-champ” — a contestant who wins eight shows back-to-back before retiring.

While reigning champions usually get average scores in the low 90s, Conor’s average is an astonishing 107. And during Wednesday’s semi-final he equalled his best score of 124, also a series record.

Indeed, Conor admits he found it “a bit embarrassing at first” when he started leaving adult contestants red-faced by beating them with his slick solutions.

On his first outing Conor solved the conundrum before the famous Countdown clock could even manage a tick.

But his crowning glory was the nine-letter word CRANIATES, meaning a human or animal skull, made by unscrambling NTRIAECAS.

Countdown also enjoyed a ratings boost this week thanks to Conor’s return for the finals — which bosses have dubbed The Conor Effect.

Carol Vorderman added: “Conor is fabulous. He is a Countdowner through and through.”

The boy genius has now been invited to compete in Countdown’s Champion Of Champions series next week.

Countdown’s Champion Of Champions starts on Monday at 3.30pm on Channel 4.

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Some of Conor's conundrums

ON his way to becoming the youngest Countdown champ ever, Conor often took just seconds to unscramble the show’s famous Conundrums, which included:

PONYGLIDE (DEPLOYING)
CAMINOSIN (INSOMNIAC)
MONOGRAIN (MAROONING)
MEEKCATCH (CHECKMATE)
KNEWAGAIN (AWAKENING)
PETLOVERS (OVERSLEPT)
TORCINDOG (DOCTORING)
MOTORCARN (CORMORANT)
LAGERPAID (PARAGLIDE)

The youngster was also way ahead when it came to taking nine random letters and turning them into the longest word possible while the 30-second clock ticked down. Here are some he managed to come up with:

SOCIETAL: Relating to society
OPTIMA: Plural of optimum
VALORISE: To fix an artificial price of (a commodity) by governmental action
DEVALUES: To lessen or cancel the value of
NITRILES: An organic cyanide
RENEGADO: One who rejects an allegiance
RELEASOR: One by whom a release is given
PERSONAE: A voice or character representing the speaker in a literary work
DERAILED: To run or cause to run off the rails
LORINERS: Plural of Lornie
PEONIES: Type of garden plant
PELOTAS: A ball used in Jai alai, a court game
MERINOS: A breed of sheep
ALBEDOS: The ratio of the intensity of light reflected from an object
TZARDOMS: Male monarch or emperor
PROTAMINE: Any of a group of simple proteins found in fish sperm

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thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006240555,00.html
« Last Edit: 28. May 2006 at 04:24 by apple »  
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Re: the countdown king
Reply #1 - 28. May 2006 at 04:23
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for anyone with access to uk tv - conor will be on again this week performing in the `champion of champions` competition.

beginning tomorrow - 29 may.

daily - 15.30 hours, channel 4.
  
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Re: the countdown king
Reply #2 - 28. May 2006 at 09:25
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What a smart kid!

In the pics you posted he looks about 12...  I think that's a good thing but he probably doesn't.

Now if only I was hooked up to one of those slingbox things ... I'd check it out for sure.

I'll just have to remember to keep a watch out for the slim possibility that our one UK TV channel here might pick up the show.
  
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Re: the countdown king
Reply #3 - 30. May 2006 at 05:38
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at the final they showed flashbacks from his earlier appearances.

he looked about 9 when the series started.

he's obviously enjoying a growth spurt.

for the next three weeks countdown is screening a `champion of champions` contest.

the best champions from the last four years compete against each other.

good luck to conor, of course - but i'm not sure i'll be watching.

i find the programme tedious {but don't tell conor i said so!].

the presenters irritate me.

the man's smug and carol vorderman is an idiot (even tho' she's good at sums!}

i read that she pockets £2 million a year - here's her latest commercial wheeze :

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carol used to be one of britain's leading anti-paedophile campaginers - tho' we haven't heard much from her on this topic recently.
  
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Re: the countdown king
Reply #4 - 31. May 2006 at 05:29
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letter from leeds in today's sun newspaper :

WELL done 14-year-old Conor Travers on winning Countdown.

I used to play chess locally and was constantly beaten by boys like Conor.

It's probably the peak age for speedy brain function.

STEVE PALMER

Leeds

thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001340002-2006250074,00.html
  
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Re: the countdown king
Reply #5 - 31. May 2006 at 07:04
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It's probably the peak age for speedy brain function

I didn't know that.
  
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Re: the countdown king
Reply #6 - 01. Jun 2006 at 04:35
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it's probably true; it was in my case, anyway.

unfortunately i didn't have a `countdown` outlet where i could show off my prowess to the world.

i don't think i'll post any more updates after today because there's a web site which provides comprehensive coverage :

thecountdownpage.com

it's excellent.
***
conor seems to be becoming something of a sex symbol.

he was on yesterday's show where his appearance and utterances were greeted with cheers and gasps of pleasure from the audience.

he trounced john hunt, a 70-year-old man - beating him 124 points to 91 points.

conor's voice has descended from treble to husky baritone during the run of the series.

soon, no doubt, it'll be a `willard white`-style bass rumble.
  
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Re: the countdown king
Reply #7 - 01. Jun 2006 at 05:13
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Well thanks for the introduction   Smiley

The above pics of him remind me of:
  
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