Well what a week we have had. Ciaran Crawley has swept all before him since his arrival on Tuesday, starting with our then champion Bobby Banerjee. Today, with 3 wins under his belt, he steps out against Jamie Halliwell. Will Jamie put an end to this run, or will Ciaran march on into next week?Countdown recap for Friday 17 January 2014.
C1: Champion Ciaran Crawley (3 wins, 288 points.) An Apterite from Dundalk, County Lough, Republic of Ireland. He once did a bungee jump at a music festival in Denmark, and has also dressed up as St. Patrick in Barcelona.
C2: Challenger Jamie Halliwell. From Huyton in Liverpool, currently doing Post Graduate research in the Eurovision song contest at Manchester's Metropolitan University. Also a big fan of Downton Abbey.
DC: Susie Dent and Helen Skelton.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: N A C O T I N L E
R02: P U X O S T M E O
R03: 4, 9, 3, 6, 1, 50. Target: 471.
TTT: SEEPARKS - "You can see these corners in many parks."
R04: D T P Y E A I D E
R05: N A M O S E N O G
R06: 7, 2, 3, 3, 50, 75. Target: 901.
R07: W A B U S O R E H
R08: T V R U A L D I E
R09: 7, 10, 5, 8, 6, 100. Target: 313.
TTT: THEUNDRY - "The undry have been caught in these showers."
R10: O A E I Z H N D N
R11: S E T U P A S I H
R12: T D V E A R S I J
R13: N O G I M A S O R
R14: 1, 9, 75, 100, 50, 25. Target: 355.
R15: C A S K E T B A G (conundrum)
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Round 1: N A C O T I N L E
C1: CONTAIN (7)
C2: CONTAIN (7)
DC: ENACTION (8)
OT: OCTENNIAL (18)
Score: 7–7 (max 18)
Both players CONTAIN each other with a 7. But they've missed a 9 - OCTENNIAL!
Round 2: P U X O S T M E O
C1: UPMOST (6)
C2: TEMPOS (6)
OT: SEPTUM (6) SEXPOT (6)
Score: 13–13 (max 24)
Ciaran does his UPMOST to take the lead but the TEMPOS are increasing as Jamie keeps up with him.
Round 3: 4, 9, 3, 6, 1, 50. Target: 471.
C1: 471. (50+3) x 9 -6 (10)
C2: 471. (50 x 9) + (6x4) -3 (10)
Score: 23–23 (max 34)
Good numbers from both, and still the scores are level.
Teatime teaser: SEEPARKS -> SPEAKERS
Round 4: D T P Y E A I D E
C1: TAPED (5)
C2: EDITED (6)
DC: TYPED (5) TEPID (5) TEDDY (5) IDEATED (7)
Score: 23–29 (max 41)
Jamie takes the lead as his word is EDITED. Ciaran TAPED it but it wasn't enough.
Round 5: N A M O S E N O G
C1: MANGOES (7)
C2: MANGOES (7)
OT: GNOMONS (7) MANNOSE (7) NONAGES (7)
Score: 30–36 (max 48)
A fruity round as both players get MANGOES for 7.
Round 6: 7, 2, 3, 3, 50, 75. Target: 901.
C1: 900. (7+3+2) x 75 (7)
C2: 901. Mistake in working.
RR: 901. (75+50+3) x 7 + 2 +3 (10)
Score: 37–36 (max 58)
Jamie goes wrong in his attempt to get 901. Ciaran gets 900 easily enough, but it's left to Rachel to find the extra 1.
Helen Skelton talks about her time broadcasting the Wimbledon final from the hill when broadcasters weren't supposed to be there.
Round 7: W A B U S O R E H
C1: AROUSE (6)
C2: BROWSE (6)
DC: WAREHOU (7)
Score: 43–42 (max 65)
Ciaran maintains his 1 point lead as both players get 6 with AROUSE and BROWSE. DC get 7 though - WAREHOU - a marine fish in New Zealand apparently.
Round 8: T V R U A L D I E
C1: VAULTED (7)
C2: VIRTUAL (7)
DC: DURATIVE (8)
Score: 50–49 (max 73)
Jamie gets a VIRTUAL 7 as Ciaran is VAULTED with another 7.
Round 9: 7, 10, 5, 8, 6, 100. Target: 313.
C1: 313. (8-5) x 100 +6+7 (10)
C2: 308.
Score: 60–49 (max 83)
And now Ciaran is 11 in front as Jamie misses the numbers by 5. Jamie with it all to do now.
Teatime teaser: THEUNDRY -> THUNDERY
Round 10: O A E I Z H N D N
C1: inhand
C2: DOZEN (5)
DC: ANODIZE (7) HANDI (5)
Score: 60–54 (max 90)
Ciaran thought he had it all 'inhand', but it's 2 words, so no good. Jamie only scores 5 points even though he got a DOZEN.
Round 11: S E T U P A S I H
C1: PUSHIEST (8)
C2: PUSHIEST (8)
DC: PASTIES (7)
OT: HIATUSES (8)
Score: 68–62 (max 98)
Who is the PUSHIEST between these 2 players? Both of them according to this round.
Susie Dent talks about words invented and used for the first time. Chortle, Freelance, Knickerbocker, Nerd, Robot and Yahoo are the words in question today.
Round 12: T D V E A R S I J
C1: DIVERTS (7)
C2: DIVERTS (7)
DC: RIDES (5) TIDES (5) RIVET (5) STARVED (7) ADVERTS (7)
OT: ADVISER (7) ASTRIDE (7) DATIVES (7) DISRATE (7) STAIDER (7) STRIVED (7) TIRADES (7)
Score: 75–69 (max 105)
And now the game DIVERTS to 7 apiece.
Round 13: N O G I M A S O R
C1: ROAMING (7)
C2: MOORINGS (8)
DC: ORGASM (6) ORGANISM (8)
OT: SMOORING (8) SONOGRAM (8)
Score: 75–77 (max 113)
Jamie takes the lead with MOORINGS for 8. Ciaran is ROAMING, but is now 2 points behind. DC had an ORGASM while Rachel got ORGANISM. Can't be the first time surely
Round 14: 1, 9, 75, 100, 50, 25. Target: 355.
C1: 354. (9x50) -100 + (75/25) +1 (7)
C2: 354. (9x50) -100 + (75/25) +1 (7)
RR: 355. 75-(100/25) x (50/(9+1)) (10)
Score: 82–84 (max 123)
A difficult numbers game and both players fall 1 short. Rachel shows how it's done though.
Round 15: C A S K E T B A G
C2 buzzes on 6 seconds to say BACKSTAGE which is correct.
Final Score: 82–94 (max 133)
So Jamie comes from behind to win. A great game between 2 very good players, and unfortunately I don't think Ciaran has done enough to return for the Quarter Finals, but he has done well to get 3 good wins. He'll take home a teapot with his goody bag for his troubles. Meanwhile, Jamie Halliwell will carry his bat into next week. Join Andy McGurn on Monday to see if he can get a 2nd win, and I'll be back next Friday to pick up the pieces of another week.
Thank you once again for reading, and goodbye. Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70
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