Des chiffres et des lettres (, "numbers and letters") is a French television programme. It was created by Armand Jammot and tests the numeracy skills and vocabulary of two contestants. It is one of the longest-running game shows in the world, and the inspiration for Countdown on Britain's Channel 4. The game debuted in 1965 as Le mot le plus long using letters only, and reached its present format in 1972. It is currently transmitted on France 3 after 39 years first on Antenne 2 and then France 2. It has been hosted since 1992 by Laurent Romejko, Arielle Boulin-Prat, and Bertrand Renard. The former two check words proposed by the contestants and Renard provides solutions to the number problems the contestants fail to solve. Renard was hired on the show at the age of 19, after having won as a contestant in 12 consecutive matches. The show is seen throughout the world on TV5Monde including TV5 Québec Canada throughout Canada. Rules Two contestants play against one another. As the title of the game indicates, it is based on two skills: numeracy and literacy. In the television version, there are also "duels". These are speed problems for which only the first player to provide the correct answer receives points. Both contestants may receive points in solving the other problems. Finally, there is a game called "sprint final" where the contestants have to be the fastest to solve the two final rounds. The winner of a match is the first player to win two games or a player who wins the opening game by 50 points or more. Each show is made up of 16 problems presented in three sections. The first and second sections consist of two letter problems and two numbers problems played alternatively and followed by a duel. The third round consists of two letter problems and two numbers problems played alternatively and followed by the final sprint. If the players are tied at the end of the program a buzzer question is used to break the tie. Winners can remain on the show for up to 10 consecutive matches. Numbers round The goal of this round is to arrive at a chosen number (from 101 to 999) using the four basic arithmetic operations (+, -, ×, ÷) applied to six numbers chosen randomly from the following alternatives: 1 to 10; 25; 50; 75; 100 (each number is