Editing Countdown (game show) (section)

===Letters Round===
The contestant in control chooses between two stacks of face-down letter tiles, one containing [[vowel]]s (A-E-I-O-U only) and the other [[consonant]]s, and the assistant reveals the top tile from that stack and places it on the board. This is done nine times and the final grouping must contain at least three vowels and four consonants.<ref name="rulesref">''Countdown: Spreading the Word'' (Granada Media, 2001) p. 24.</ref> The contestants then have 30 seconds to form the longest single word they can, using the nine revealed letters; no letter may be used more often than it appears in the selection.<ref name="rulesref" /> The frequencies of the letters within each stack are weighted according to their [[Letter frequency|frequency in natural English]], in the same manner as [[Scrabble letter distributions|Scrabble]]. For example, there are many ''N''s and ''R''s in the consonant stack, but very few tiles for rarely used letters such as ''Q'' and ''J''. The letter frequencies are altered by the producers from time to time, so any published list does not necessarily reflect the letters used in any particular programme.<ref>[http://www.thecountdownpage.com/letters.htm The Countdown Page: Letters]—Retrieved 8 April 2010.</ref> The two stacks of tiles are not replenished between rounds.

Both contestants write down the words they form, in case they select the same one. After time runs out, the host asks the contestants to declare their word lengths, starting with the contestant who chose the letters. The host then asks the discovered words, starting with the shorter declared length. If one contestant has not written their word down in time, they must state this fact; if both then declare the same length, that contestant must give their word first to prevent cheating. If both contestants state that they have not written their words, the host allows them a moment to do so; this is typically edited out of the final broadcast. The contestant with the longer valid word scores one point per letter, or 18 points if they have used all nine. If the words are identical or of the same length, both contestants score. In the former case, the contestants must show their written words to each other as proof that they are the same. If a contestant is visually impaired, Dictionary Corner will verify the word. Contestants who inaccurately declare the length of their word score zero, even if the word is valid. Each round ends with Dictionary Corner revealing the longest words and/or any unusual ones that can be formed from the available letters, aided by the production team.<ref>[http://www.ukgameshows.com/ukgs/Countdown UK Game Shows] on production team aid—Retrieved 20 June 2006.</ref>

Any word which appears in the ''[[Oxford Dictionary of English]]'' is valid,<ref>[http://www.thecountdownpage.com/dictionaries.htm The Countdown Page] on dictionaries—Retrieved 20 June 2006.</ref> as well as accepted forms of them that may not be explicitly listed. Examples are:
* Common [[noun]]s and their plurals
* [[Verb]]s and their inflections (e.g. "escape", "escaped", "escaping")
* [[Comparative]] and [[superlative]] forms of [[adjective]]s (if the adjective is more than one syllable, the form must be explicitly listed)<ref>The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' (2005, Oxford University Press), p. xvii.</ref>
* Plurals of foods specified as mass nouns that may be ordered in restaurants (e.g. "pastas", as in "We'll have two pastas")

Words that are not allowed include:
* Terms which are always capitalised, including proper nouns (e.g. "Jane" or "London")
* Words spelled with an apostrophe (e.g. "Didn't" or "Wouldn't")
* Hyphenated terms
* Words that are never used alone (e.g. "gefilte"; only used as part of "gefilte fish")
* Since 2002,<ref name="rulesref" /> [[American English|American spellings]] of words are not allowed (e.g. "flavour" and "signalled" are allowed, but "flavor" and "signaled" are not). Notably, though, words with the suffix ''-ize'' (e.g. "realize") and derived words thereof (e.g. "realizing") are permitted in addition to the corresponding ''-ise'' spellings (e.g. "realise"), as the ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' regards both as British English spellings per the [[Oxford spelling]] convention.

:'''''Example:'''''
::Contestant One chooses five consonants, then three vowels, then another consonant.
::Selection is:
:::<span style="display:block;float:left;margin:0 0.25em;width:1.5em;text-align:center;border:1px solid #000">G</span> <span style="display:block;float:left;margin:0 0.25em;width:1.5em;text-align:center;border:1px solid #000">Y</span> <span style="display:block;float:left;margin:0 0.25em;width:1.5em;text-align:center;border:1px solid #000">H</span> <span style="display:block;float:left;margin:0 0.25em;width:1.5em;text-align:center;border:1px solid #000">D</span> <span style="display:block;float:left;margin:0 0.25em;width:1.5em;text-align:center;border:1px solid #000">N</span> <span style="display:block;float:left;margin:0 0.25em;width:1.5em;text-align:center;border:1px solid #000">O</span> <span style="display:block;float:left;margin:0 0.25em;width:1.5em;text-align:center;border:1px solid #000">E</span> <span style="display:block;float:left;margin:0 0.25em;width:1.5em;text-align:center;border:1px solid #000">U</span> <span style="display:block;float:left;margin:0 0.25em;width:1.5em;text-align:center;border:1px solid #000">R</span>{{clear left}}
::Contestant One declares 7, while Contestant Two declares 8.
::Contestant One reveals ''younger'', but Contestant Two reveals ''hydrogen'' and scores 8 points. Contestant One does not score.
::Dictionary Corner notes ''greyhound'', which would have scored 18 points for using all nine letters.