Monday 26th May 2014 (series 70 prelim 88)

[Andy McGurn]

Countdown recap for Monday 26 May 2014.

C1: Challenger Samir Pilica. (3 wins, 287 points) An apterite originally from Bosnia, now living in London. He beat Harold 95-73 on Friday.


C2: Challenger Simon Gillam. A retired forestry statistician from Edinburgh. He is a member of the Edinburgh scrabble club and participated in the scrabble champions tournament last year but was quickly quoifed out of the tournament by the reigning world champion. Nick thinks Simon will be a tough opponent for Samir.


DC: Susie Dent and Julia Bradbury.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: S N G R A E O D U
R02: T E R O K D I S A
R03: 6, 1, 8, 9, 100, 25. Target: 692.
TTT: ITSATRAP - "dad moves unsteadily to these pieces of music"
R04: N V E T I M E R O
R05: S N G P A I E C U
R06: 7, 9, 10, 10, 6, 25. Target: 867.
R07: S L V S O I E D T
R08: H A P O N I X T O
R09: 9, 5, 3, 8, 75, 100. Target: 598.
TTT: MANRENTS - "the man rents an apartment full of old pieces of carpet"
R10: M A P E G O H R E
R11: N S D W A O E M O
R12: B I T E J I S E F
R13: L T D R U E I M A
R14: 7, 9, 6, 9, 3, 75. Target: 883.
R15: F E R R E T L U G (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: S N G R A E O D U

Samir: DANGEROUS (18)
Simon: ORANGES (7)
DC: ORGANS (6) GROANS (6)
Score: 18–0 (max 18)


Nick’s intro set Simon up as a DANGEROUS opponent for Samir, but it’s the champ who proves to be that in round one as he immediately shoots 18 points into the lead.




Round 2: T E R O K D I S A

Samir: ASTEROID (8)
Simon: TIRADES (7)
DC: DARKEST (7)
OT: DORKIEST (8)
Score: 26–0 (max 26)


Simon must feel like an ASTEROID has hit him as the champ makes it two maxes out of two.



Round 3: 6, 1, 8, 9, 100, 25. Target: 692.

Samir: 692. ((6+1)*100)-8 (10)
Simon: 692. ((6+1)*100)-8 (10)
Score: 36–10 (max 36)


An easy opening numbers game gives Simon his first points of the game.




Teatime teaser: ITSATRAP -> PARTITAS

Round 4: N V E T I M E R O

Samir: OVERTIME (8)
Simon: OVERTIME (8)
OT: VIREMENT (8)
Score: 44–18 (max 44)


Excellent max here by both contestants as its likely they have both been putting in some OVERTIME with their practice for the show.
VIREMENT is the process of transferring items from one financial account to another




Round 5: S N G P A I E C U

Samir: ESCAPING (8)
Simon: SPACING (7)
DC: UPCASING (8)
Score: 52–18 (max 52)


Samir shows his class again as the scrabble player is so far proving no match for the apterite (a common thing on countdown). Simon may already be looking for a way of ESCAPING the studio.



Round 6: 7, 9, 10, 10, 6, 25. Target: 867.

Samir: -
Simon: -
RR: 866/ 868 (7)
OT: 867= (6 × 10 − 9) × (10 + 7) (10)
Score: 52–18 (max 62)


Surprising Samir didn’t spot one away which is quite easy, but even Rachel can’t spot the exact solution in the time



DC Guest – Julia recounts a great surfing story that unfortunately went unfilmed.



Round 7: S L V S O I E D T

Samir: DISSOLVE (8)
Simon: DISSOLVE (8)
DC: DIVEST (6)
OT: SOLIDEST (8)
Score: 60–26 (max 70)


DISSOLVE is an impressive spot by both contestants, Simon will probably be cursing his luck that he was up against a quality player like Samir as he could probably have won a few games against many opponents.



Round 8: H A P O N I X T O

Samir: PHOTINO (7)
Simon: HATPIN (6)
Score: 67–26 (max 77)


Another great spot by Samir, he has maxed the letters games so far and could be in for a really big score here.

Round 9: 9, 5, 3, 8, 75, 100. Target: 598.

Samir: 598. (75*8)-(5-3) (10)
Simon: 600.
Score: 77–26 (max 87)


Numbers games are often a major stumbling block for scrabble players on countdown and so it proves here for Simon. Its likely he didn’t think to use the common two large tactic of ignoring the larger of the bigs.



Teatime teaser: MANRENTS -> REMNANTS

Round 10: M A P E G O H R E

Samir: HOMAGE (6)
Simon: homager
DC: GOPHER (6) GRAPHEME (8)
Score: 83–26 (max 95)


A case of the risk being worth a try by Simon, given how far behind he is. Its not allowed though and Samir’s lead is going up and up.


Round 11: N S D W A O E M O

Samir: DAEMONS (7)
Simon: MEADOWS (7)
DC: WOODSMAN (8)
OT: WOODSMEN (8)
Score: 90–33 (max 103)


Did DC spot WOODSMAN and miss WOODSMEN or was it the other way round?
And with four rounds left to play Samir has already sealed his fourth win.


OoW- Susie talks about the origins of the words peasants and villains






Round 12: B I T E J I S E F

Samir: EEJITS (6)
Simon: BEFITS (6)
OT: BETISE (6)
Score: 96–39 (max 109)


Some routine sixes sees both players increase their scores by the aforesaid number of points.



Round 13: L T D R U E I M A

Samir: DILUTER (7)
Simon: TRAILED (7)
DC: MITRED (6) MURIATE (7)
OT: MALTIER (7) MATURED (7) MIAULED (7) READMIT (7)
Score: 103–46 (max 116)


Another routine round seems appropriate given that the game has been over for two rounds already.




Round 14: 7, 9, 6, 9, 3, 75. Target: 883.

Samir: 884. ((9+3)*75)-(9+7) (7)
Simon: 884. ((9+3)*75)-(9+7) (7)
RR: 882/ 884. (7)
Score: 110–53 (max 123)

An impossible numbers game sees both players max it. Samir has been really impressive today and could even be a contender in the finals.


Round 15: F E R R E T L U G

Samir buzzes on 3 seconds to say REGRETFUL which is correct.
Final Score: 120–53 (max 130)


Given the great game he’s had today its fitting that Samir finishes it with a quick conundrum spot.

Mark Murray has seemed to be the inevitable series champion since his octochamp run earlier in the series. Samir may now be second favourite for the title and maybe the only player with a realistic chance of beating Mr Murray.

Still, lets not get ahead of ourselves, as he’s only halfway through his run at the moment. Callum will be here tomorrow to see if Samir can make it five…


Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70

[James Robinson]

Round 14: 7, 9, 6, 9, 3, 75. Target: 883.
Score: 110–53 (max 123)

Round 15: F E R R E T L U G

Samir buzzes on 3 seconds to say REGRETFUL which is correct.
Final Score: 120–53 (max 130)

Erm, 123 + 10 = 133 last I looked..............

[szodiac]

Just a minor, technical, point to note for the future. (and was always drummed into me as editor of the London Scrabble League Newsletters)

Scrabble is in fact a trade name and should always should be spelt with a capital S.

Mauro

[Gavin Chipper]

Scrabble

[Kevin Thurlow]

Was this the same Simon Gillam who was on years ago? He used to work for Treasury in London (so might reasonably be a statistician) and I played chess against him in various competitions. Simon then moved to Scotland probably in the late 80s (off the top of my head). He then made one appearance on Countdown I believe.

Of course it could be a complete coincidence or a relative...

[James Robinson]

Was this the same Simon Gillam who was on years ago? He used to work for Treasury in London (so might reasonably be a statistician) and I played chess against him in various competitions. Simon then moved to Scotland probably in the late 80s (off the top of my head). He then made one appearance on Countdown I believe.

Of course it could be a complete coincidence or a relative...

Same one, Kevin.

[Martin Thompson]

He also came to Newcastle to work in the Department of Social Security in the late 80s. That's how I met him and we co-founded an office Scrabble club there. He then moved on to Edinburgh to work for the Forestry Commission.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Thanks! I was actually in that pm and didn't bother to watch - typical.