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Guides to Countdown rules, scoring, practice, and related shows.

How the numbers solver works

The aim of the Countdown numbers game is to get as close as possible to a target number using some or all of the given number tiles. Each tile can be used at most once.

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Numbers game

In the Countdown numbers game, one player chooses how many large numbers they want. They can choose 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 large numbers. The remaining numbers are small numbers, until a total of 6 numbers have been selected.

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Teatime teaser

The Countdown teatime teaser is a word puzzle for viewers at home. It is not a scoring round for the contestants.

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How the letters solver works

The aim of the Countdown letters game is to find words that can be made using some or all of the given letter tiles, without using any tile more than once. Longer words are worth more points.

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8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown is a comedy panel show based on Countdown. It combines the letters, numbers, and conundrum rounds from Countdown with the panel-show format of 8 Out of 10 Cats.

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Letters game

In the Countdown letters game, there are 2 stacks of letter tiles, one for vowels and one for consonants. One player calls out "vowel" or "consonant", and a tile is drawn from the appropriate stack and placed on the board, revealed to both players immediately. The same player keeps calling out "vowel" or "consonant" until a total of 9 letters have been selected.

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Countdown letter frequencies

The letters practice game uses separate vowel and consonant stacks. Each stack is shuffled, and each chosen vowel or consonant is taken from the top of the relevant stack.

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Conundrum

The Countdown conundrum is the final round of the game. It is a buzzer round based on a 9-letter anagram.

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Play Countdown over Zoom

You can use the Countdown practice games on this site to host a game of Countdown over Zoom, Teams, Discord, or any other video call with screen sharing.

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