Monday 26th January 2015 (series 72, prelim 16)

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Andy McGurn
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Monday 26th January 2015 (series 72, prelim 16)

Post by Andy McGurn »

Countdown recap for Monday 26 January 2015.

C1: Champion Tracey Mills (3 wins, 302 points) Tracey from Stockport has three good wins and will be the second octochamp of the series if she wins all the games this week.

C2: Challenger Mickie Wynne-Davies. A retiree (Nick doesn’t say what she is retired from) who splits her time between the UK and the south of France. Nick seems to want her to be one of those that goes nude on the beaches of the Riviera, but she disappoints him

DC: Susie Dent and Helen Skelton.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: W N S A I A B D T
R02: Q S E A F K I T A
R03: 4, 8, 3, 2, 6, 25. Target: 124.
TTT: BALECOST - "Gareth Bale cost £80m, money is not this for Real Madrid"
R04: R W D O U N E S L
R05: R X N G O E I A L
R06: 1, 10, 5, 8, 4, 100. Target: 618.
R07: C P T L O U E I T
R08: C M D E O E F T A
R09: 3, 6, 3, 5, 1, 50. Target: 765.
TTT: RUBYPLAT - "The conversation ended without real warning"
R10: Z S N E I H T E O
R11: S M G N U I A B O
R12: C R Y I E G S A N
R13: S R T D I O E P U
R14: 9, 4, 3, 100, 25, 75. Target: 267.
R15: D I V E R S E T I (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: W N S A I A B D T

Tracey: ABSTAIN (7)
Mickie: BANDITS (7)
DC: WAISTBAND (18)
Score: 7–7 (max 18)

Both conestants start with nice sevens but DC get to shine immediately with the niner.



Round 2: Q S E A F K I T A

Tracey: FAKES (5)
Mickie: FEAST (5)
DC: FIESTA (6) FAKIES (6)
OT: FAKEST (6) KIAATS (6) KIFEST (6) SIFAKA (6) TAFIAS (6)
Score: 12–12 (max 24)

Contestants just get fives but there were plenty of sixes available, though ll except 2 or 3 of them were pretty obscure.
A KIAAT (plural KIAATS) is a tropical African leguminous tree
A SIFAKA is any of several species of long tailed lemur.
A TAFIA (plural TAFIAS) is a cheap rum distilled from molasses that originates in the West Indies.



Round 3: 4, 8, 3, 2, 6, 25. Target: 124.

Tracey: 124. (25*4)+(8*3) (10)
Mickie: -
Score: 22–12 (max 34)

Its an easy one but Mickie misses it, giving Tracey a ten point lead.



Teatime teaser: BALECOST -> OBSTACLE

Round 4: R W D O U N E S L

Tracey: ROUNDELS (8)
Mickie: wounders
DC: DOWNERS (7)
OT: UNDERSOW (8) UNSOLDER (8)
Score: 30–12 (max 42)

Worth a risk by Mickie but wounders isn’t valid so she is now one nine letter word behind her opponent.


Round 5: R X N G O E I A L

Tracey: RELAXING (8)
Mickie: RELAXING (8)
DC: REGIONAL (8)
OT: GERANIOL (8)
Score: 38–20 (max 50)

RELAXING just leapt out of that solution so the gap stays at 18.



Round 6: 1, 10, 5, 8, 4, 100. Target: 618.

Tracey: 618. ((5+1)*100)+10+8 (10)
Mickie: 618. ((5+1)*100)+10+8 (10)
Score: 48–30 (max 60)

Another easy numbers game but this time Mickie spots it meaning she does not fall further behind at this stage.


Round 7: C P T L O U E I T

Tracey: POULTICE (8)
Mickie: outlie
DC: COUPLET (7) OCTUPLE (7)
OT: OCTUPLET (8)
Score: 56–30 (max 68)

Bizarrely DC spot OCTUPLE but miss OCTUPLET. I did just that in one of my games on the show


Round 8: C M D E O E F T A

Tracey: DEMOTE (6)
Mickie: DEFAME (6)
DC: DEFEAT (6) MOATED (6) TEAMED (6)
OT: FACETED (7)
Score: 62–36 (max 75)

Standard sixes here, but there was a seven, FACETED is one you would expect Susie to spot.


Round 9: 3, 6, 3, 5, 1, 50. Target: 765.

Tracey: 765. (50+1)*(5*3) (10)
Mickie: 760.
Score: 72–36 (max 85)

Numbers are clearly not Mickie’s strength at all. That’s three easy ones in a row and she’s missed two of them. For Tracey it looks almost certain that win number four is hers.



Teatime teaser: RUBYPLAT -> ABRUPTLY

Round 10: Z S N E I H T E O

Tracey: ZENITHS (7)
Mickie: SHINE (5)
DC: HONEST (6)
OT: HISTONE (7)
Score: 79–36 (max 92)

ZENITHS takes Tracey further clear.



Round 11: S M G N U I A B O

Tracey: AMUSING (7)
Mickie: ABUSING (7)
DC: BIGAMOUS (8)
Score: 86–43 (max 100)

Nice darrenic max from DC here, its hard to tell whether Helen Skelton is getting any of these on merit or whether its down to Susie or an earpiece.



Round 12: C R Y I E G S A N

Tracey: CREASING (8)
Mickie: CREASING (8)
DC: CRINGES (7) SYRINGE (7)
OT: SYNERGIC (8)
Score: 94–51 (max 108)

Two eights in this round and both contestants spot the simpler of the two. I can think of several former contestants who’d have chosen SYNERGIC over CREASING here had they spotted both.


Round 13: S R T D I O E P U

Tracey: DIOPTRES (8)
Mickie: PROUDEST (8)
DC: SPROUTED (8) OUTSIDER (8) STUPIDER (8) DIPTEROUS (18)
Score: 102–59 (max 126)

Some nice eights but there was a nine which Susie spots.


Round 14: 9, 4, 3, 100, 25, 75. Target: 267.

Tracey: 266. (100*3)-25-9 (7)
Mickie: 268. Mistake in working.
RR: 267. ((75-9)*4)+3 (10)
Score: 109–59 (max 136)

Mickie decides to try something different as this is her “last appearance on countdown” and goes for three large. She has messed up her attempt though and Tracey gets seven more points with her 266. Rachael demonstrates that pot on is possible however.



Round 15: D I V E R S E T I

Mickie buzzes on 27 seconds to say that she just wanted to push the button. Nick asks her if she wants to take a guess and she says reverted which is incorrect.

Tracey does not buzz.

The answer was REVISITED.
Final Score: 109–59 (max 146)


Mickie says that her points total was younger than her age, and in response to Nick telling her about her goody bag, she says she could use a nice new dictionary anyway. She seems to have enjoyed it though

Tracey moves to four wins and if she can win all the games this week she’ll have made it to octochampdom.

Jennifer will be here tomorrow to recap Tracey’s fifth game.




Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=72
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