Conundrum

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

The contestants are shown 9 letters in a jumbled order. The answer is a valid 9-letter word made by rearranging all of those letters.

Example: CHINALUNG

The answer is "launching".

Once the conundrum is revealed, the 30 second clock starts. Either player can buzz in as soon as they think they know the answer. The first player to buzz in must give their answer straight away.

If the answer is correct, that player scores 10 points. If the answer is wrong, or the player buzzes in and does not give an answer, that player is frozen out of the round and the remaining time is left for the other player.

Each player is allowed only one guess. If neither player solves the conundrum within the time limit, nobody scores, and the studio audience is consulted to see if anyone in the audience had solved it.

If the scores are tied after the conundrum, extra conundrums are played until one player solves one correctly and wins the game.

The conundrum is referred to as a "crucial conundrum" when the players are within 10 points of each other before the round, because the result can decide the match or force a tie-break.