Enjoy what's left......
Countdown recap for Thursday 30 June 2016.
C1: Champion Andrew Fenton (3 wins, 283 points.) A sales director from Rhoose, Vale of Glamorgan.
C2: Challenger Rhys Danino. A private tutor from Witney, Oxfordshire. He tutors A-Level students who are preparing for university. He once went to the University of Reykjavik to try and learn Icelandic, which didn't work out too well....
DC: Susie Dent and Jon Culshaw.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: F E G U S R I D R
R02: S A M U I T Y O N
R03: 25, 50, 4, 9, 6, 5. Target: 157.
TTT: VEINSITE - "It sounds like you ask lots of vowels to come to your party"
R04: S E A T J I L N O
R05: S B E A E N G N R
R06: 25, 8, 6, 4, 2, 10. Target: 315.
R07: S M N I A P L O E
R08: R C U P I E A X T
R09: 50, 100, 5, 6, 10, 4. Target: 875.
TTT: MUDLORDS - "Is she depressed about Barbie's musical accessories?"
R10: D G O I T V A E D
R11: G O R A W O T M I
R12: P N A E V T I O N
R13: D A P U T L I A E
R14: 100, 50, 25, 2, 6, 9. Target: 811.
R15: L I C I T D U F F (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: F E G U S R I D R
Andrew: furries
Rhys: ferried
DC: FIGURES (7) FIGURED (7) GUIDERS (7)
OT: DURRIES (7) FRIDGES (7) FRISEUR (7) GIRDERS (7) RIDGERS (7)
Score: 0–0 (max 7)
Great start......
Rhys sees a 2nd E, and Andrew's furries sound nice enough, but not to Susie, they don't..... 
A DURRIE (or DHURRIE) is a heavy cotton rug of Indian origin.
Round 2: S A M U I T Y O N
Andrew: MUTINY (6)
Rhys: MUTINY (6)
DC: MANITOUS (8)
OT: AUTONYMS (8) TINAMOUS (8)
Score: 6–6 (max 15)
Oh dear, a double MUTINY
Round 3: 25, 50, 4, 9, 6, 5. Target: 157.
Andrew: 156. (4 x 25) + 50 + 6 (7)
Rhys: -
RR: 157. (5 x 25) + 50 - ((6 - 4) x 9) (10)
Score: 13–6 (max 25)
A small target seems to have got to both players, as Rhys blanks, while Andrew is one away.....
Teatime teaser: VEINSITE -> INVITEES
Round 4: S E A T J I L N O
Andrew: ELATION (7)
Rhys: ELATION (7)
DC: SALIENT (7) TOENAILS (8)
OT: ALNOITES (8)
Score: 20–13 (max 33)
Both players sensibly go for ELATION, rather than the illegal elations, but of course, when there are illegal elations, there are TOENAILS.....
An ALNOITE is a dark, alkaline, intrusive igneous rock chiefly composed of augite, biotite, and olivine phenocrysts in a groundmass of augite and melilite.
Round 5: S B E A E N G N R
Andrew: BANGERS (7)
Rhys: BANGERS (7)
DC: BEANS (5) BANNERS (7)
OT: BARGEES (7) BEANERS (7) BERGENS (7) ENRAGES (7) ENSNARE (7) GRABENS (7) REBEGAN (7)
Score: 27–20 (max 40)
Yummy, loads and loads of BANGERS.
A BERGEN is a British type of rucksack supported by a frame, used by the military.
A GRABEN is an elongated block of the earth’s crust lying between two faults and displaced downwards relative to the blocks on either side, as in a rift valley.
Round 6: 25, 8, 6, 4, 2, 10. Target: 315.
Andrew: 314.
Rhys: 315. (((8 x 4) + 2) x 10) - 25 (10)
Score: 27–30 (max 50)
Well, a change of fortune for Rhys, as he takes the lead thanks to his perfect solve.
Jon talks about the unfortunate explorer Guillaume Le Gentil.
Round 7: S M N I A P L O E
Andrew: pomaines
Rhys: animals
DC: MANIPLES (8) SEMOLINA (8) NEOPLASM (8)
OT: IMPANELS (8) LAMINOSE (8) OPALINES (8) PLEONASM (8) POLISMAN (8) POLISMEN (8)
Score: 27–30 (max 58)
Oh dear, oh dear, round 1 syndrome has resurfaced
Another phantom duplicate letter for Rhys, and an illegal offering from Andrew too.NEXT
PLEONASM is the use of more words than are necessary to convey meaning (e.g. see with one’s eyes), either as a fault of style or for emphasis.
A POLISMAN (plural POLISMEN) is an Irish and Scottish term for a policeman.
Round 8: R C U P I E A X T
Andrew: PIRATE (6)
Rhys: PICTURE (7)
DC: CUPRITE (7)
OT: CAPTURE (7) PARETIC (7) PICRATE (7)
Score: 27–37 (max 65)
It's PICTURE perfect for Rhys, who now goes 10 points clear.
Round 9: 50, 100, 5, 6, 10, 4. Target: 875.
Andrew: 880. ((10 + 6) x 50) + 100 - (5 x 4) (7)
Rhys: 870. Mistake in working.
RR: 875. (100 / 4) x (50 - 10 - 5) (10)
Score: 34–37 (max 75)
Hmmm, another tricky numbers appears, and both players are 5 away either side, but Rhys has messed it up, so Andrew has got the gap back down to 3 points......
Teatime teaser: MUDLORDS -> DOLDRUMS
Round 10: D G O I T V A E D
Andrew: GODETIA (7)
Rhys: oviate
DC: OVATE (5)
OT: AVOIDED (7) TOADIED (7)
Score: 41–37 (max 82)
Ah, the LEOTARD of 2016 appears once again, and in good time for Andrew, who takes the lead thanks to the GODETIA.
Round 11: G O R A W O T M I
Andrew: GROOM (5)
Rhys: MOTOR (5)
OT: MARIGOT (7)
Score: 46–42 (max 89)
A hard round with just 5's in the studio, but there is a darrenic 7 hidden here......
In West Africa, a MARIGOT is a side channel of a river.
Susie's Origins of Words talks about the origins of "May Day" and "D-Day".
Round 12: P N A E V T I O N
Andrew: INNOVATE (8)
Rhys: PATIO (5)
DC: VENATION (8)
OT: PAVONINE (8)
Score: 54–42 (max 97)
Andrew starts to pull away thanks to his great 8.
Round 13: D A P U T L I A E
Andrew: PLAITED (7)
Rhys: plaudit
DC: PALATED (7)
OT: PLAUDITE (8)
Score: 61–42 (max 105)
Cruel on Rhys as you can't have a single plaudit, but by sticking an E on it......
A PLAUDITE is an appeal for applause at the end of a play, etc.
Round 14: 100, 50, 25, 2, 6, 9. Target: 811.
Andrew: 811. ((2 + 6) x 100) + 9 + (50 / 25) (10)
Rhys: 811. ((2 + 6) x 100) + 9 + (50 / 25) (10)
Score: 71–52 (max 115)
Time for a 3 large gamble for Rhys, with him being 19 points behind. Unfortunately, a relatively straightforward one comes up, and so, Andrew is now a half-octochamp.
Round 15: L I C I T D U F F
Rhys buzzes on 5.25 seconds to say DIFFICULT which is correct.
Final Score: 71–62 (max 125)
Well, that wasn't DIFFICULT for Rhys, who solves it to just miss out by 9 points........
But, Andrew, who wasn't on top form today, has scraped through and is now a half-octochamp, but is he vulnerable I wonder....
Join me next week for what could be Andrew's swansong. Till then, bye for now.
Statistics Corner
Andrew:
Total score - 71
Raw score - 84
Total % of max - 57
Raw % of max - 67
Total average score per round - 4.7
Raw average score per round - 5.6
Number of maxes - 4
Rhys:
Total score - 62
Raw score - 67
Total % of max - 50
Raw % of max - 54
Total average score per round - 4.1
Raw average score per round - 4.5
Number of maxes - 5
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=75