cdb - the Countdown database

Recap Writer - The Manual

The recap writer is a tool to help writers of the daily summaries of Countdown episodes that appear on C4Countdown. It saves time and prevents errors by adding up all the running scores automatically, and detects a number of common errors (like words and selections that don't match up.) It's easy to get started with, but has a few quirks, so this manual is designed to help new users get going, and to highlight some subtler bits that experienced users may have missed.

Overview

The overview allows you to enter basic details about the show. There's nothing too surprising in here. If the "wins" and "points" fields are left blank, they are omitted from the recap.

Letters rounds

• Enter the selection (without spaces) into the first field. It should of course be 9 letters long, and the writer will prompt you if not.
• The contestants words should be entered in UPPER case if it was accepted as a valid word, and lower case otherwise. A word scores no points if it is shorter than the opponent's word, but is still valid and should still be entered in upper case. If you enter several words into these fields, they are relayed verbatim into the recap. This is useful if you want to add a comment about the word, e.g. "EMBARGO - thought about EMBARGOS, which is not valid" would still give the player 7 points, and adds the comment to the recap.
• You can then enter words into the DC (Dictionary Corner) field. You can enter any text into here, and words in upper case will be taken as DC's actual offerings. This is useful for things like, "HYDROGEN but, even better, GREYHOUND", which the recap writer will correctly recognise as an 8 and a 9 when computing the maximum score for the round.
• "Other" words follows the same principle as DC's words. Usually this field holds words at least as long as those offered by DC, and anything better that DC missed.

Numbers rounds

• First enter the 6 numbers in the selection, separated by spaces.
• Then enter the actual target, and the contestants' declarations.
• The "Method" field for each contestant is only available if the contestant would actually be asked for a method - i.e. they are nearer than their opponent, or their opponent made a mistake in their working. You can enter their method in any format that you think is suitable. Some people compress it into a single equation (e.g. 4x(7+100)), while others give the working in full (e.g. 7+100=107, 4x107=428.)
• If neither contestant solves the game exactly, the CV (Carol Vorderman) fields are available. You can enter the target that Carol claimed, and her method (if known.) Carol does not usually give her method if she didn't solve it exactly, but the field is available just in case.

• If even Carol could not solve the round exactly, the "Other" fields become available. A useful tool here is the online Numbers Game Solver, which will give you the simplest and best solution for any numbers game. Of course sometimes the round cannot be solved exactly, but it's still good to know the closest it's possible to get.

Tea-time teaser

I think this is self-explanatory - I've never had any questions about it!

Conundrum

Again this is fairly self-explanatory if you follow the structure through.

Making the recap

When you are finished, you will probably want to click the "Make text recap" button, which generates the final recap in plain text form. The text should coincide with the Preview panels on the right which you have probably noticed already. You can then copy this text and paste it into an email, making any manual adjustments that you feel necessary (for example, providing definitions for the more obscure words.) Send it off to the group (c4countdown@yahoogroups.com) and congratulations! The hard bit is done.

Submitting your recap

Once the email arrives at the group, you'll probably want to add your recap to our index of all recaps ever. If you're recapping for the first time, someone else might do this for you, but the procedure is fairly simple so I'll lay it out here:

• In the Recap Writer, click the "Automatic submit page" link. (If you've closed the window, you can enter the details manually but this takes a bit longer.)
• Fill in the Contributors field with your own name (and anyone else who helped out by, say, checking words for you in the dictionary.)
• The password is fruity - this isn't much of a secret!
• To find the c4countdown message number, browse the c4countdown group online to find your recap. It should be easy to find your recap as it will be one of the most recent emails to arrive. For example, here is one written by Ben Wilson. The message number is at the end of the Web address - in Ben's case, 16719.
• The remaining fields should have been filled in automatically, but it's not too difficult to do this yourself if not.
• Click "Submit this recap" and hooray! You're done.

Adding your recap to the wiki

This is more technical and not usually necessary. This part of the manual will follow at some point in the future.