Conundrums, sums and an hour of fame beckoned for Pauline Latham.
But after two triumphant Countdown shows, millions of viewers saw the mum-of-two from Colchester knocked out of the words and numbers game on Channel 4 on Tuesday.
Pauline, of Magnolia Drive, Greenstead, was persuaded to enter by her sister Olivia, herself a former champion.
"It's quite exciting," said Pauline. "It's a very enjoyable experience and quite satisfying, having watched the programme for quite a few years thinking 'I could do better than that'."
Six programmes a day were filmed at Yorkshire Television's studios in Leeds, where she found Richard Whitely and the team "very friendly and hospitable".
Pauline, who works at Great Eastern Railways' customer services centre in Colchester, was presented with a game, a mug and a T-shirt for her efforts.
Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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