Tuesday 24th June 2014, Series 70 QF4

[Callum Todd]

Countdown recap for Wednesday 25 June 2014.

C1: Champion Neil Green (6 wins, 655 points.) A high-ranking scrabbler who impressed many with his excellent letters skills in his 6 winning games, before meeting his match against the man who will contest him for a second time today.
C2: Champion Sean Fletcher (6 wins, 633 points.) A new member of c4c, Sean stopped the seemingly unstoppable Neil in his tracks in a preliminary game, before finishing with 6 wins under his belt. The similar points totals shows how evenly matched these two players are, although having beaten Neil once before, Sean may be feeling confident here.
DC: Susie Dent and Mark Foster.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: S T J R O E A N O
R02: L S D A I H S E Y
R03: 75, 6, 7, 3, 10, 10. Target: 868.
TTT: ICONDUST - "Rule out the chances of knocking some money off"
R04: B P H A O R S I C
R05: N S X R E O E N O
R06: 100, 9, 10, 2, 7, 9. Target: 359.
R07: D R C G I E U S O
R08: V T B E O D I R U
R09: 50, 3, 5, 1, 9, 7. Target: 968.
TTT: HUFFTAIL - " Marianne show loyalty to the cause"
R10: N P M E O Z R E O
R11: N S P D U I E F I
R12: T K W O A T L U I
R13: D T G M O I E G L
R14: 75, 9, 7, 10, 1, 8, . Target: 939.
R15: D H E L I M U G S (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: S T J R O E A N O

Neil: TREASON (7)
Sean: ROOTS (5)
DC: SENATOR (7)
OT: RATOONS (7) ROANEST (7) SANTERO (7) SANTOOR (7)
Score: 7–0 (max 7)

It's a good start for Neil, who picks up where he left off in the heat games with a letters maximum. Unfortunately Sean can't equal him on this occasion, but the game is still very much in its infancy and there is all to play for yet.

Round 2: L S D A I H S E Y

Neil: SLASHED (7)
Sean: HASSLED (7)
DC: DIALYSES (8)
Score: 14–7 (max 15)

Good sevens from the contestants. DC get an excellent darrenic eight though. To DIALYSE something is to use DIALYSIS, which means "the separation of particles in a liquid on the basis of differences in their ability to pass through a membrane", often used in medicine to replicate the function of a missing or non-functional kidney.

Round 3: 75, 6, 7, 3, 10, 10. Target: 868.

Neil: 867. (75+6+7)x10-10-3 (7)
Sean: -
RR: 868. (75-7)x(10+3)-(10+6) (10)
Score: 21–7 (max 25)

During his heat games, some people highlighted numbers as a potential weak spot for Neil, but they've served him well today as he gets closer to the target than Sean does and picks up seven points for it. Rachel has the exact solution.

Teatime teaser: ICONDUST -> DISCOUNT

Round 4: B P H A O R S I C

Neil: ABHORS (6)
Sean: asorbic
DC: PHOBIAS (7)
OT: PIBROCHS (8)
Score: 27–7 (max 33)

Sean tries to make up for points lost on the numbers here but is very unlucky and has his word disallowed. He may be thinking of ascorbic acid here, although ASCORBIC is a CSW-only word, not allowed on Countdown. The darrenic 8 here was PIBROCHS, which are examples of "a form of music for the Scottish bagpipes involving elaborate variations on a theme, typically of a martial or funerary character".

Round 5: N S X R E O E N O

Neil: NOONERS (7)
Sean: SOONER (6)
Score: 34–7 (max 40)

A good darrenic seven here sees Neil extend his lead to a comfortable margin. But, we are only a third of the way into the game, so Sean has plenty of time to launch a comeback.

Round 6: 100, 9, 10, 2, 7, 9. Target: 359.

Neil: 359. Mistake in working.
Sean: 359. 100x7/2+9 (10)
Score: 34–17 (max 50)

And could the comeback begin here? Neil makes a mistake so Sean decreases his arrears by ten points. Perhaps Sean can come out on top with the numbers rounds today after all.

Round 7: D R C G I E U S O

Neil: SCOURGED (8)
Sean: SCOURGED (8)
Score: 42–25 (max 58)

Both contestants get the darrenic eight. Great stuff.

Round 8: V T B E O D I R U

Neil: OUTDRIVE (8)
Sean: debitor
Score: 50–25 (max 66)

Again, Sean is very unlucky to have a word disallowed. However, he wouldn't have scored for his seven anyway, as Neil spots a good darrenic eight yet again.

Round 9: 50, 3, 5, 1, 9, 7. Target: 968.

Neil: 963.
Sean: 964. (50x5-9)x(3+1) (7)
RR: 968. ((3-1)x50+7)x9+5 (10)
Score: 50–32 (max 76)

Sean firmly asserts here that he's in charge when it comes to numbers, and the game is now very much alive.

Teatime teaser: HUFFTAIL -> FAITHFUL

Round 10: N P M E O Z R E O

Neil: REZONE (6)
Sean: OPENER (6)
DC: PROZONE (7)
Score: 56–38 (max 83)

Sixes for both contestants, while DC spot the darrenic seven.

Round 11: N S P D U I E F I

Neil: UNIFIED (7)
Sean: INSIDE (6)
DC: FUNDIES (7)
OT: INFUSED (7) UNIFIES (7) UNIPEDS (7)
Score: 63–38 (max 90)

A good seven spot from Neil gives him a 25 point lead, which looks very strong as the game grows old.

Round 12: T K W O A T L U I

Neil: WALKOUT (7)
Sean: TOTAL (5)
OT: KILOWATT (8)
Score: 70–38 (max 98)

An even better seven spot from Neil means he is very close to booking a place in the semi-finals. Other sevens available here include OUTWAIT and the pleasant KOTWALI, but there is also a darrenic eight lurking.

Round 13: D T G M O I E G L

Neil: TOGGLED (7)
Sean: GLIDE (5)
Score: 77–38 (max 105)

Fruit machine for Neil as he seals the victory with a nice darrenic seven.

Round 14: 75, 9, 7, 10, 1, 8. Target: 939.

Neil: 937. (75+9+8+1)x10+7 (7)
Sean: 937. (75+9+8+1)x10+7 (7)
RR: 939. (75+9)x(10+1)+8+7 (10)
Score: 84–45 (max 115)

Both contestants manage two away, as did I from the audience, but Rachel is first over the line with a perfect solution.

Round 15: D H E L I M U G S

Sean buzzes on 6 seconds to say GUMSHIELD which is correct.
Final Score: 84–55 (max 125)

So Neil gets his revenge for the preliminary round defeat in this game, but it is Sean who strikes the parting blow with a good conundrum spot. He's been a very good competitor and offered us some great games, in particular his two clashes with Neil. The scale of occasion at the finals is very grand, and unfortunately it looks like that pressure restricted him to a slow start, and Neil took full advantage with his usual letters excellence.

We will be seeing Neil again tomorrow as he takes on the unenviable task of facing #1 seed Mark Murray. Mark will be considered the favourite in that game, but if Neil can play at his absolute best on the letters he's close to unbeatable. Join James tomorrow to see how that one goes.

In honour of tomorrow's recapper, I should say that if you are sensing the grandeur of the finals from watching them and want to get involved in some Countdown action yourself, alongside many past and future contestants and finalists, do come along to Countdown in St Albans in just over two weeks' time. Full details may be found on this thread.

Statistics
Raw scores: Neil 84 - Sean 82
Maximums: Neil 6 - Sean 3

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