Spoilers for Tuesday 15th December 2020 (Series 82, 4th Quarter-Final)

[Rhys Benjamin]

Number 4 seed: Ian Volante
Highest score: 119 vs Josh Parmley, game 3
Lowest score: [strike]78 vs Bradley Cates[/strike] 90 vs Jack Austin, game 5
Score: 826
Average: 103.25
Max faced: 1,045
% score: 79.0%
Raw score: 871
Raw average: 108.88
Raw % score: 83.3%
Conundrums: 6/8

Number 5 seed: Ryan Styles
Highest score: 128 vs Paul Varlaam, game 7
Lowest score: 74 vs Julian Hawthorne, game 4
Score: 820
Average: 102.50
Max faced: 1,097
% score: 74.7%
Raw score: 849
Raw average: 106.13
Raw % score: 77.4%
Conundrums: 4/8

[Tom S]

Well done Ian- was an entertaining game with some strong spots! Did feel for Ryan as I think he may have got over the line if the stakes weren't so high, but definitely one of the most talented non-Apterite players we've seen recently, and I was glad that the 6S gamble paid off at the end for the sake of the viewer

Only realised afterwards that I'd have got a max if I'd spotted that blasted conundrum Even if I was playing that game in the studio, I couldn't have used the "much easier at home" excuse

[Oliver Garner]

The conundrum and scramble ITSSOEVEN used today was (according to Damian) the one that was planned for my series final in June 2010 had it been a crucial. Also Paul Varlaam (referenced in Rhys's OP) was also in Series 61 and in my audition

[Toby McDonald]

Another great game! Wd Ian and vul Ryan.

ROMULEAS in R2
MAESHIE/MEALIES in R7

R14 Alt.: ((((8+5)*4)+1)*5)+1 = 266

[Ian Volante]

I never even saw the conundrum message until now! Also, immediately yesterday I saw PEAHEN in round 1, which went unremarked on by DC.

Unlucky Tom!

[Ryan Lam]

If you thought that I have forgotten to write this post, no I did not. I had something that popped up at the very last-minute when the show was airing yesterday afternoon which is why this is coming so late now that I've watched the full episode. By the way, nice Top Christmas presents for the last 50 years that John Inverdale has given us over his run, I wonder what will be the top Christmas present of 2020 amidst all the chaos we have out there.

Letters: Nice spot from Ian with MORULAE in Round 2; both players were literally neck and neck, even as to having invalid words in Round 7 The next round, Ian jumps ahead with CANDOUR and after the second Teatime Teaser, Ryan chases him with ERUPTION in Round 11. Unfortunately, with the rest of the rounds being so even, that spot wasn't enough to halt the former in his tracks.

Numbers: Both go with what is comfortable to most people watching at home too, with one and two large in all but one of the rounds. Easy going for Round 3 but more importantly, Ian breaks the deadlock in Round 6 and as expected, Ryan gambles with six small in Round 14 and it actually pays off with him closing the gap to force the needed Crucial Conundrum if he wants a chance at winning!

Conundrum: Well, IT'S not SO EVEN battleground with Ian still leading. With the time nearly up, Ryan buzzes. Does he have the answer?? Nope, oh dear, and with that his chances of going into the Semi-Finals just disappeared. It was a hard one, I only got it after the time was up so this one doesn't count towards how many Conundrums I've managed to unscramble (so far that's two out of four).

Given how both of their averages and performances as Rhys and Tom have pointed out were so, so close, I correctly predicted a Crucial Conundrum would occur. I also had predicted Ian would just slightly inch ahead of Ryan by a less than 10 point margin which was exactly what happened with a six point difference. I really feel sorry for Ryan because he had to face someone that had the same level as him which is ideally what finalists would want to avoid at all costs since the match could go either way and ultimately, it was not in his favour. But cheer up, you were excellent at the start of the year and to still have that energy to play on despite having to wait a few extra months is honourable. More importantly, you can be proud to say that you have been a finalist in the longest running Series of the show, given that it's been very difficult to defend your spot with many extra players coming into the picture!

So there we have it, just like last year in Series 81 at this point, no upsets so far with the top four going through to the Semi-Finals. Will Ian hold up as strong as David when he faces Luke in the first Semi-Final? It sure is going to be an interesting lineup.

Progress:
QF1 (10 December): Luke Johnson-Davies (#1) vs David Kempshall (#8) (136 - 89)
QF2 (11 December): Sam Cappleman-Lynes (#2) vs Damien Doughty (#7) (121 - 71)
QF3 (14 December): Leo Smith (#3) vs Phil Hulme (#6) (91 - 80)
QF4 (15 December): Ian Volante (#4) vs Ryan Styles (#5) (82 - 76)
SF1 (16 December): Luke Johnson-Davies (QF1 Winner) vs Ian Volante (QF4 Winner)
SF2 (17 December): Sam Cappleman-Lynes (QF2 Winner) vs Leo Smith (QF3 Winner)
GF (18 December): (SF1 Winner) vs (SF2 Winner)