Monday 30th June 2014 (series 71 prelim 1)

Andy McGurn · Post by **Andy McGurn** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 3:47 pm

Countdown recap for Monday 30 June 2014.

Nick begins the show by allowing Susie to introduce the fact that they will now be using the ODO rather than the book version of the dictionary. Susie explains that this will mean that more recent words will now be allowable as soon as they come into the dictionary rather than the previous wait for a new dictionary for new words to be accepted.

C1: Champion James Wall – A Bank Cashier from Redcar. He is a darts fan and recently hit his first 180

C2: Challenger Trisha Blatherwick.– A business development director from Nottinghamshire who once trained to be a fire eater and a fire blower. It would be good if she could attend COLIN next year in order to make the introductions more spectacular.

DC: Susie Dent and Jon Culshaw.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: M C E P H A O E N
R02: U G O S A N I S O
R03: 50, 4, 8, 9, 8, 2. Target: 817.
TTT: HORSECAP - "they'll cook eggs and fish which they've acquired illegally"
R04: E L D O E R B G U
R05: A S M R I G L D E
R06: 1, 7, 10, 1, 8, 50. Target: 329.
R07: T W L O A T V E S
R08: I M R E D O T I J
R09: 1, 3, 9, 6, 2, 75. Target: 264.
TTT: ONEDROVE - "one drove to the restaurant to avoid eating the tough meat"
R10: U S E N R I F E T
R11: A N S P I O D B I
R12: R A Z E S O E M A
R13: C P S E U H I P L
R14: 4, 3, 8, 8, 10, 9. Target: 864.
R15: V I N E G O U R D (conundrum)

And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: M C E P H A O E N

James: MENACE (6)
Trisha: cephane
DC: PHENOM (6)
OT: CHAPMEN (7) CHEAPEN (7) PACEMEN (7) PHONEME (7)
Score: 6–0 (max 7)

Susie uses the ODO straight away to check Trisha’s word and it proves to be invalid. Despite four sevens being available DC fail to spot any of them

Round 2: U G O S A N I S O

James: SONGS (5)
Trisha: ooing
DC: SOUSING (7)
OT: SUASION (7)
Score: 11–0 (max 14)

Trisha is 0 for 2 on allowable words thus far. It’s a pretty poor round by James but he is already 11 ahead due to Trisha’s risks.

Round 3: 50, 4, 8, 9, 8, 2. Target: 817.

James: 817. 8*2*50+9+8 (10)
Trisha: 815.
Score: 21–0 (max 24)

An easy numbers game, but its only the champion who can get it and James already looks set for another win

Teatime teaser: HORSECAP -> POACHERS

Round 4: E L D O E R B G U

James: BLUDGER (7)
Trisha: BURGLED (7)
DC: BOULDER (7) REDOUBLE (8)
Score: 28–7 (max 32)

Trisha finally scores some points with BURGLED. James seems unsure of his word buts its fine too and he maintains his lead.

Round 5: A S M R I G L D E

James: GRIMED (6)
Trisha: RIDGES (6)
DC: GLIDER (6) MISREAD (7) ADMIRES (7) GIRDLES (7)
OT: REGALISM (8)
Score: 34–13 (max 40)

For the second round in a row James seems unsure of his word but its again fine and he maintains his lead.

Round 6: 1, 7, 10, 1, 8, 50. Target: 329.

James: 330. (50-8-7-1-1)*10 (7)
Trisha: 329. Mistake in working.
RR: 329. (50-(10-8+1))*7 (10)
Score: 41–13 (max 50)

Trisha declares it spot on but is all at sea, James is one away but as in earlier rounds a poor round can still enable him to increase his lead.

DC Guest: Jon Culshaw does an impression of David Attenborough

Round 7: T W L O A T V E S

James: VOLES (5)
Trisha: TOWELS (6)
DC: WATTLES (7)
OT: SOLVATE (7)
Score: 41–19 (max 57)

Trisha finally wins a round outright. James continues to be unimpressive but still has a 22 point lead

Round 8: I M R E D O T I J

James: REMIT (5)
Trisha: MITRED (6)
DC: DIORITE (7)
OT: TIMIDER (7)
Score: 41–25 (max 64)

James might be nervous kicking off the new (ODO) era as champion. His play thus far suggests that, and Trisha wins her second consecutive round thanks to her 6.

Round 9: 1, 3, 9, 6, 2, 75. Target: 264.

James: 262. (75*3)+((6-2)*9)+1 (7)
Trisha: 258.
RR: 264. ((3+1)*6)*(9+2) (10)
Score: 48–25 (max 74)

As in the previous numbers game James misses the target but its enough for him to take seven points ad restore his 20+ point advantage.

Teatime teaser: ONEDROVE -> OVERDONE

Round 10: U S E N R I F E T

James: infester
Trisha: furnitures
DC: INTERFUSE (18)
Score: 48–25 (max 92)

Trisha declares a nine, that’s a) not there, b) actually a 10, & c) invalid. Question: Has there ever been a time before when a contestants word could be ruled out for all three of these reasons at the same time?

Round 11: A N S P I O D B I

James: PIANOS (6)
Trisha: OBSIDIAN (8)
Score: 48–33 (max 100)

When Trisha declared OBSIDIAN, I was sure it was invalid, not because I’d heard it disallowed or anything like that but just because it was Trisha declaring it. You have to give her credit for that though, its an awesome spot by any standards.
It’s a low scoring game but can she come through and win now?

Round 12: R A Z E S O E M A

James: amazers
Trisha: reamazes
DC: MAZERS (6) AMAZES (6)
OT: AROMAS (6) RAMOSE (6) SEAMER (6) ZEROES (6)
Score: 48–33 (max 106)

In a game full of poor rounds this could be the least AMAZING of any of them…

Round 13: C P S E U H I P L

James: spices
Trisha: pilches
DC: CUPELS (6)
OT: SCHLEPP (7) SPICULE (7)
Score: 48–33 (max 113)

…or maybe its this one?

Round 14: 4, 3, 8, 8, 10, 9. Target: 864.

James: 864. (((10+3)*8)+4)*8 (10)
Trisha: -
Score: 58–33 (max 123)

Nice solution by James here though, he probably knew he needed to find 108*8 and he duly does.

Round 15: V I N E G O U R D

James buzzes on 4 seconds to say DEVOURING which is correct.
Final Score: 68–33 (max 133)

So despite a low standard throughout most of the game, James maxes the final two rounds to avoid a winning score below 60 (which is very rare).

Trisha certainly took a lot of risks today, hardly any of which paid off. I suppose if you eat fire, risking a few dodgy words on a game show is not that big a deal.

Nick tells her that 33 is a good score, make what you want of that…

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