Pilar, the 77-Year-Old Contestant from ‘Cifras y Letras’ Who Came Just One Answer Away from Winning the Jackpot

Pilar made her debut last week on Figures and Letters. In her first program, she declared herself the winner and took home 900 euros in the final challenge. The contestant, who hails from Ávila and is 77 years old, returned to the contest on La 2 this Monday. She won again and was just one word away from the coveted jackpot.

To reach the final round, Pilar, a mother of six and grandmother of 12, first had to overcome Gabriel, her opponent from Mislata (Valencia). At the beginning of the program, the contestant successfully obtained the key, a wildcard she could use in the final challenge.

Although Gabriel closed the gap with Pilar as the mathematical and language challenges progressed, ultimately it was the contestant from Castile and León who triumphed, scoring 146 points compared to her opponent’s 106.

When the host Aitor Albizua asked her what she would do if she won the jackpot, which by this point had risen to 245,000 euros, Pilar responded that she would go on a cruise with her family in the Baltic or the fjords. She competed for three minutes to guess 12 words, all related to a very broad theme: a lot of everything.

“Overflowing, substantial, a ton…” were some of the terms the contestant discovered through a jumble of letters. Thanks to the wildcard, she managed to guess 11 out of the 12 words, but the last one eluded her: ubérrimo. Pilar had previously competed in the TVE program decades ago when it was hosted by Elisenda Roca.

Figures and Letters achieved its highest ratings since returning to La 2 last night, according to data collected by Kantar Media. It had an average viewing share of 7.2%, double the network’s monthly average, with an average of 794,000 viewers. Over 1.2 million people watched the program for at least one minute this Monday.