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REVIEW: Wordle fans rejoice – a version of your daily obsession is about to hit prime-time.
Currently available to watch on TVNZ+, the British game show Lingo will now screen at 7pm on Saturday nights on TVNZ 1.
While its recent resurgence has coincided with the rise online of Welsh software engineer Josh Wardle’s addictive online game, Lingo actually debuted in the US in 1987, the UK version that kicked off a year later one of 15 iterations in countries as diverse as Indonesia and Italy. But while the series originally was built around elements of bingo, this latest edition appears very much inspired by the now New York Times-owned quotidian puzzle.
As the genial and gregarious host Adil Ray (an actor best known for shows like Citizen Khan and Ackley Bridge) informs us, each episode sees three teams of two compete “to prove they are as good as their word”. At stake are potentially thousands of pounds, although more of the holiday away, or significant whiteware purchase ballpark, than anything life-changing.
Lingo
Long before Wordle, there was Lingo.
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Thankfully though, it’s a refreshingly simple, as well as cheap, conceit – and, for viewers at home, has the potential to become highly addictive.
The first round involves each of the teams attempting to guess three four-letter words within five attempts (they are given the first letter). They also each get a nine-letter “Countdown Conundrum-esque” puzzle to solve, complete with a clue and letters gradually appearing. The quicker they solve it, the more money they will get.
Round 2 essentially ups the ante to five and 10-letters respectively, although their competitors now have the opportunity to “steal”, should a team fail in their task. It’s at this point that the bottom-placed duo are eliminated, or as Ray rather harshly puts it: “There’s only one word left to say – ‘goodbye’.”
The remaining two teams now enter the Lingo Battle to decide “which team will be better with the letters”. One player on each side has to solve four-letter words, the other five, before the sides go head-to-head on an 11-letter “conundrum”. Finish on top here and it’s off to the final round, where the pair can win half, all, or double their earnings so far, depending on their ability to solve a four, five and six-letter word within 90 seconds.
Lingo is a show that doesn’t ask too much of its contestants or audience, but unlike so many celebrity-led British quizzes, you do get plenty of bang for your buck in terms of posers per hour.
Plus, it’s not only fascinating to watch the teams’ different approaches, share in their frustration and shout at what you perceive as their incompetence, you also might just pick up a few Wordle tips along the way.
Lingo makes its prime-time debut on TVNZ 1 on Saturday, October 15 at 7pm. Episodes are also available to stream on TVNZ+.
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