ChatGames Countdown Rules

Games of Countdown are currently hosted weekly by racefan12 on Sundays at 3:00 AM GMT (or Saturdays at 10:00 PM EST for the Americans too lazy to convert that).

Countdown (based on the British game show of the same name: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countdown_%28game_show%29) consists of several letters rounds and numbers rounds, ending with a Conundrum.  All rounds last for two minutes, and a warning is given with 30 seconds left in the rounds.  Players are allowed as many guesses as they want within the time limit.  The player's best valid guess at the end of the round is the one that will be counted.

*NOTE:  For the letters rounds, you are only to select the number of consonants and vowels you want to appear, not the actual letters.  Similarly, for the numbers rounds, you are only to select the number of large and small numbers you want to appear, not the actual numbers. The actual letters, numbers, and target are randomly determined.*

*NOTE 2:  It will not always be possible for a 9-letter word to be formed in the letters rounds, and it will not always be possible to reach the target exactly in the numbers rounds.*

In the letters rounds, players select 9 consonants and vowels (with at least 3 of each), and then must try to form the longest word with the available letters.  Only English words are allowed, and because ChatGames features players from all around the world, both American and British/International spellings of words are allowed.  The player with the longest word scores that number of points, and they score double points (i.e. 18 points) if they use all 9 letters.  (If multiple players have words of the same length, they all score the points.)

So the letters rounds choices are:
3 consonants and 6 vowels
4 consonants and 5 vowels
5 consonants and 4 vowels
6 consonants and 3 vowels

In the numbers rounds, players select 6 numbers from a group of 4 large numbers (25, 50, 75, and 100) and 20 small numbers (2 each of 1-10).  Then, a random three-digit target number is selected.  The players must then use any or all of the 6 given numbers and addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to reach the target number (or as close to it as possible).  Use of parentheses to change the order of operations is also allowed; however, no fractional answers are allowed.   The player closest to the target gets points (again, if players tie, all tied players get the points.)  If a player reaches the target exactly, they get 10 points; if they're off by 1-5, they get 7 points; if they're off by 6-10, they get 5 points; if they're off by more than 10, they get 3 points.

So the numbers round choices are:
6 small
1 large and 5 small
2 large and 4 small
3 large and 3 small
4 large and 2 small

The final round is the Conundrum, where a scrambled 9-letter word is revealed.  The first person to unscramble the word receives 10 points.  However, if no one unscrambles the Conundrum within the 2-minute time limit, no points are awarded for the Conundrum.  After the Conundrum, the player with the most points is the winner.