Well, let's see what he does today. Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Wednesday 4 June 2014.
C1: Champion Roy Taylor (2 wins, 169 points.) A former Club 18-30 rep from Manchester.
C2: Challenger Pad(raig) Scanlon. A fitness instructor from Celbridge, County Kildare, Republic of Ireland. He has a cocker spaniel called Kayla, and once cycled Ireland top to bottom in 5 days.
DC: Susie Dent and Myleene Klass.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: F E I N S D A U T
R02: W E S M A D T I H
R03: 100, 25, 9, 1, 10, 8. Target: 423.
TTT: MINIRAGE - "Flew into a mini rage due to a severe headache"
R04: R O E G B U S E Z
R05: O N R I M E S P U
R06: 50, 25, 100, 10, 5, 3. Target: 906.
R07: M O E E O D L T R
R08: A P Y O D R E I C
R09: 50, 8, 3, 6, 7, 2. Target: 313.
TTT: TRUEPACE - "The disease takes hold at some pace, and you don't stand a chance"
R10: P O L T E N B I R
R11: X L E A S E J N H
R12: R I E P Q A D S O
R13: G S C K T E A O F
R14: 50, 100, 75, 25, 10, 3. Target: 270.
R15: Y A L L G R E E N (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: F E I N S D A U T
Roy: FIENDS (6)
Pad: STAINED (7)
DC: DEFIANT (7) AUNTIES (7) SINUATE (7)
OT: DESTAIN (7) DETAINS (7) FAINTED (7) FUNDIES (7) FUSTIAN (7) INFUSED (7) INSTEAD (7) SAINTED (7) SATINED (7) SNAFUED (7) TIENDAS (7)
Score: 0–7 (max 7)
Plenty of 7's to start the day, but not for Roy though.............
FUSTIAN is a fabric of stout twilled cotton or of cotton and low-quality wool, with a short nap or pile.
Round 2: W E S M A D T I H
Roy: WAISTED (7)
Pad: WASTED (6)
DC: westham
OT: ATHEISM (7) MISDATE (7) SMITHED (7) SWATHED (7)
Score: 7–7 (max 14)
Ouch, Pad misses the I out, which Roy doesn't, and we're level immediately.
Round 3: 100, 25, 9, 1, 10, 8. Target: 423.
Roy: 424. ((9 + 8) x 25) - 1 (7)
Pad: 424. ((9 + 8) x 25) - 1 (7)
RR: 423. ((25 - 1) x (10 + 8)) - 9 (10)
Score: 14–14 (max 24)
Easy enough for one away in the numbers, but Rachel does spot the method to perfection.
Teatime teaser: MINIRAGE -> MIGRAINE
Round 4: R O E G B U S E Z
Roy: BROGUES (7)
Pad: GRUBS (5)
DC: subzero GREBES (6) ROGUES (6)
OT: BURGEES (7)
Score: 21–14 (max 31)
Not even DC spot Roy's 7, as he takes the lead for the first time today with his BROGUES.
A BURGEE is a triangular flag or one having a shallow, angular indentation in the fly, forming two tails, used as an identification flag, especially by yachts.
Round 5: O N R I M E S P U
Roy: PRIMES (6)
Pad: MINERS (6)
DC: SUPREMO (7) PRUINOSE (8)
Score: 27–20 (max 39)
Nothing much from the contestants, but there's clearly a SUPREMO in DC with PRUINOSE, courtesy of Susie.
Round 6: 50, 25, 100, 10, 5, 3. Target: 906.
Roy: 910. (10 x 100) - 50 - 25 - (3 x 5) (7)
Pad: -
RR: 906. (((100 - 10) x 5) + 3) x (50 / 25) (10)
Score: 34–20 (max 49)
Pad asks Rachel to surprise him, and she obliges with a 3 large selection, which completely fools Pad
Myleene talks about her business ventures, mainly her items in the baby market.
Round 7: M O E E O D L T R
Roy: METEOR (6)
Pad: REMODEL (7)
DC: TREMELO
(should be TREMOLO............ 
)OT: ODOMETER (8) RETOOLED (8)
Score: 34–27 (max 57)
Pad halves the deficit, but the main talking point is Rachel inaccurately spelling TREMOLO on the board..............
An ODOMETER is an instrument for measuring distance travelled, as by an automobile.
Round 8: A P Y O D R E I C
Roy: PARODY (6)
Pad: PRICED (6)
DC: COPYREAD (8)
Score: 40–33 (max 65)
A superb darrenic 8 from DC, with the contestants stuck on 6.
Round 9: 50, 8, 3, 6, 7, 2. Target: 313.
Roy: 313. (6 x 50) + 8 + 2 + 3 (10)
Pad: 313. (6 x 50) + 8 + 2 + 3 (10)
Score: 50–43 (max 75)
A simple numbers today at last
Are we still in for a tight finish, I wonder 
Teatime teaser: TRUEPACE -> PERACUTE
Round 10: P O L T E N B I R
Roy: POLITE (6)
Pad: BOLTER (6)
DC: POINTER (7) RETINOL (7) POLITER (7)
OT: BORNITE (7) PROLINE (7) PROTEIN (7) REPOINT (7)
Score: 56–49 (max 82)
Ooooooooooh, will Roy rue not going the extra mile with POLITE/R
BORNITE is a common mineral and important ore of copper, copper iron sulfide, Cu5FeS4, occurring in masses, of brownish colour when first exposed to the air.
PROLINE is an alcohol-soluble amino acid, C4H9NHCOOH, occurring in high concentration in collagen.
Round 11: X L E A S E J N H
Roy: EXHALES (7)
Pad: LEASH (5)
OT: HEXANES (7)
Score: 63–49 (max 89)
Another DC beater from Roy with his EXHALES. Is the game now turning his way now.............
A HEXANE is any of five isomeric hydrocarbons having the formula C6H14, of the alkane series, some of which are obtained from petroleum.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of words and puns inspired by The Beatles.
Round 12: R I E P Q A D S O
Roy: PARODIES (8)
Pad: SPIDER (6)
DC: ROADIES (7) ASPIRED (7) PRAISED (7) DIAPERS (7)
OT: DIASPORE (8)
Score: 71–49 (max 97)
Surely, the game is up for Pad now thanks to Roy's PARODIES.
Round 13: G S C K T E A O F
Roy: SOCKET (6)
Pad: SOCKET (6)
DC: GASKET (6)
OT: CASKET (6) COSTAE (6) FACETS (6) FAKEST (6) GECKOS (6) KOFTAS (6) SOCAGE (6)
Score: 77–55 (max 103)
And that puts the SOCKET in it, completing Roy's hat-trick.
A COSTA (plural COSTAE) is the midrib of a leaf in mosses.
A KOFTA is a Southeastern European, Middle Eastern and South Asian meatball or dumpling.
A SOCAGE is a tenure of land held by the tenant in performance of specified services or by payment of rent, and not requiring military service.
Round 14: 50, 100, 75, 25, 10, 3. Target: 270.
Roy: 270. (3 x 100) - 25 - (50 / 10) (10)
Pad: 270. (3 x 100) - 25 - (50 / 10) (10)
Score: 87–65 (max 113)
Well, we've had a complete set of 1, 2, 3 and 4 large today
Interesting that the fairly simple (100 - 10) x 3 was missed too........ Round 15: Y A L L G R E E N
Pad buzzes on 2.75 seconds to say INCORRECT which is incorrect.
Roy buzzes on 5 seconds to say GENERALLY which is correct.
Final Score: 97–65 (max 123)
Hmmm, a very interesting bit here, as Pad buzzes in and presumably thinking that his guess was wrong and says "INCORRECT", which of course normally appears with a wrong answer nowadays, but instead we cut straight to Roy, who gets in with the correct answer moments afterwards.
So, Roy gets his best score to date, and is still in with a shout of making the finals, which start in just 9 days time. Of course, as soon as he loses (if he does), the finals line-up will be complete.
I'm off tomorrow, as I'm out quizzing, so Graeme Cole has kindly agreed to step in for tomorrow's stint, which happens to be the last regular show of the week, as the horse racing takes over on Friday.
So, I'll be back next Wednesday and Thursday for the final 2 preliminaries before the finals begin a week on Friday.
So, have a great weekend everyone, and see you soon. Bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Roy:
Total score - 97
Raw score - 109
Total % of max - 79
Raw % of max - 89
Total average score per round - 6.5
Raw average score per round - 7.3
Number of maxes - 8
Pad:
Total score - 65
Raw score - 87
Total % of max - 53
Raw % of max - 71
Total average score per round - 4.3
Raw average score per round - 5.8
Number of maxes - 4
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70