Tens across the board

[aleCcowaN]

I don't understand this expression. I just heard "having X as a partner is ten across the board [x2]" and clearly it was a positive thing. A quick search on Google get me a lot of examples but no explanations. Instances like "I think I deserved ten's across the board....", "The emphass should be on the work of a subject or interir- local plan nature, rather than long-ten-across-the-board"(sic).

What does it mean?

Thank you in advance.

[Awaken]

Warning: This is a guess

Tens across the board means that in a competition you get perfect scores of 10 by all the judges.

[wrholt]

My first thought was the same as Awaken's: 10s across the board means to receive the highest score in an evaluation, as if one were receiving highest marks at a sports competition such as figure skating or gymnastics.

[JPablo]

My input, (probably Awaken and wrholt, perception is closer, but you can also check this defintion.)
"across the boards"
including or embracing all classes, categories, areas, groups, etc. ; comprehensively or generally. The expression comes from horse racing and refers to the notice board at a race track which displays the odds in a race. When a person bets "across the board, "he wagers the same amount of money on a single horse to win the race, come in second or finish third. Thus, if the horse places first, second or third, the bettor collects money. The sporting use of this term originated in the 1930s and around 1950 had come to be used more generally.

Probably you can double check in the context...

[pjt33]

My initial instinct was also similar to Awaken's, with a twist. I associated it with 10 in each category rather than 10 from each judge. Either way, I think it's certainly related to getting 10/10.

[aleCcowaN]

Thank you very much! You guys are amazing!

In the context I heard it, it is both all the judges raising their boards with tens in them, or getting ten in every imaginable category. In fact, one of the judges uses it in this last meaning, later in the same show. The other meaning is one of the reasons I got confused when I search the web for examples.

In this context I would temporarily translate it "puros dieces" (puro=mero=solo--->"tens, and nothing else") and "diez absoluto" in a more formal context.

[JPablo]

Seems good to me!