Key Parameters
1. Total contestants in the initial pool: 501
2. Bracket format: Single elimination
3. Matchups per episode: 3 (so 6 players per episode, 3 advance)
4. Battle back round: Every 6 episodes, one eliminated player re-enters
5. Episodes released weekly
6. More players may enter
Each episode eliminates 3 of the 6 (since 3 winners advance).
Every 6 episodes, a previously eliminated player re-enters the bracket. So:
• Over 6 episodes:
• 6 episodes × 6 players = 36 enter
• 6 episodes × 3 winners = 18 advance
• One eliminated player returns = +1
This requires roughly log₂(501) ≈ 9 rounds of eliminations (since 2⁹ = 512 > 501).
However, because of the format (groups of 6, 3 advance), it doesn’t follow a strict power-of-two bracket.
Comments
let’s break this down step-by-step to estimate how many Diary Room podcast episodes would be needed to complete the full tournament, given:
1. Total contestants in the initial pool: 501
2. Bracket format: Single elimination
3. Matchups per episode: 3 (so 6 players per episode, 3 advance)
4. Battle back round: Every 6 episodes, one eliminated player re-enters
5. Episodes released weekly
6. More players may enter
Each episode eliminates 3 of the 6 (since 3 winners advance).
Every 6 episodes, a previously eliminated player re-enters the bracket. So:
• Over 6 episodes:
• 6 episodes × 6 players = 36 enter
• 6 episodes × 3 winners = 18 advance
• One eliminated player returns = +1
We need to go from 501 players down to 1 winner.
This requires roughly log₂(501) ≈ 9 rounds of eliminations (since 2⁹ = 512 > 501).
However, because of the format (groups of 6, 3 advance), it doesn’t follow a strict power-of-two bracket.