So the first week of the new series has safely passed us by without incident in the Octochamp department
Will today's contestants do any better than what we've seen so far? Current champion Rob Jennings is playing Neil Rigby. Enjoy. 
Countdown recap for Friday 4 July 2014.
C1: Champion Rob Jennings (2 wins, 110 points.) From Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The 'Soulman'.
C2: Challenger Neil Rigby. An optical technician from Beaston, Nottinghamshire. Loves Ibiza for the 'incredible sunsets' apparently.
DC: Susie Dent and Griff Rhys Jones.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: G R N J I E O T E
R02: F Y U E D R I H S
R03: 5, 7, 1, 1, 25, 100. Target: 906.
TTT: SENSEMAN - "The cruel monster was known for this."
R04: V N P E U T H A O
R05: S D S M E I A P Q
R06: 1, 10, 1, 9, 5, 75. Target: 172.
R07: K C V N E I A T D
R08: P I W L O S N A R
R09: 4, 4, 8, 9, 50, 100, . Target: 402.
TTT: SACKGAPE - "Small ones are said to be full of good things."
R10: Z L B O A E N T G
R11: S M R D I O E S T
R12: N F P A O I D A R
R13: C G T R U A E M R
R14: 10, 5, 9, 4, 2, 25. Target: 962.
R15: I N N I D U V E T (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: G R N J I E O T E
Rob: JOINER (6)
Neil: JEERING (7)
DC: INTEGER (7)
OT: GENITOR (7) JOINTER (7) TREEING (7) TRIGONE (7)
Score: 0–7 (max 7)
Neil is JEERING as he gets a 7 to start. Rob has a JOINER, but can only manage 6.
Round 2: F Y U E D R I H S
Rob: rudeish
Neil: shired
DC: FISHERY (7) REDFISH (7)
Score: 0–7 (max 14)
Rob tries 'rudeish' and Neil has 'shired'. May as well have EXPired
as neither player scores.Round 3: 5, 7, 1, 1, 25, 100. Target: 906.
Rob: 906. Mistake in working.
Neil: 900. Mistake in working.
RR: 905. (7)
OT: 905. (100 x (7 + 1 + 1)) + 5 (7)
Score: 0–7 (max 21)
And again neither player troubles the scorers, as both make a mess of their 906 attempts. It is in fact impossible to get 906. Rachel did get 905 but didn't say how. A little birdie tweeted me the 905 solution though.
Teatime teaser: SENSEMAN -> MEANNESS
Round 4: V N P E U T H A O
Rob: PANTO (5)
Neil: ATONE (5)
DC: PEANUT (6) PHAETON (7)
OT: PHONATE (7)
Score: 5–12 (max 28)
Neil tries to ATONE for the last 2 rounds and Rob is at PANTO.
Round 5: S D S M E I A P Q
Rob: IMPASSE (7)
Neil: spasmed
OT: APSIDES (7)
Score: 12–12 (max 35)
Rob makes an IMPASSE for 7. Neil makes a mess as 'spasmed' is disallowed. A high scoring game so far - 12 all after 5 rounds.
Round 6: 1, 10, 1, 9, 5, 75. Target: 172.
Rob: 174. (1+1) x 75 + 10 + 5 + 9 (7)
Neil: 169.
RR: 172. (9 x 10) + 75 + 5 + 1 + 1 (10)
Score: 19–12 (max 45)
Rob gets closest with 174, so gets 7 points. Neil gets 169. The requirement was 172, which Rachel delivered.
Griff Rhys Jones talks about his day to day life with Mel Smith.
Round 7: K C V N E I A T D
Rob: DETAIN (6)
Neil: TACKED (6)
DC: ADVENT (6)
OT: DEVIANT (7)
Score: 25–18 (max 52)
It's 6 points each here with DETAIN and TACKED.
Round 8: P I W L O S N A R
Rob: PLAINS (6)
Neil: PLAINS (6)
DC: POLAR (5) SPOIL (5) PARISON (7)
OT: INWRAPS (7)
Score: 31–24 (max 59)
Both players get PLAINS for 6 points each.
Round 9: 4, 4, 8, 9, 50, 100. Target: 402.
Rob: 401.
Neil: 402. (100 x 4) + (8/4) (10)
Score: 31–34 (max 69)
It's 10 points for Neil with 402, but Rob only sees 401, so doesn't score. Neil has the lead now.
Teatime teaser: SACKGAPE -> PACKAGES
Round 10: Z L B O A E N T G
Rob: BANGLE (6)
Neil: - (0)
DC: TANGLE (6) AGENT (5) ZONAL (5) NOTABLE (7)
OT: ONGLAZE (7) TANGELO (7)
Score: 37–34 (max 76)
Rob gets a BANGLE for 6, whilst Neil double uses a letter, so has an undisclosed disallowed word.
Round 11: S M R D I O E S T
Rob: STORMED (7)
Neil: STORMED (7)
DC: STEROIDS (8) MODISTES (8)
OT: MORTISED (8) MORTISES (8)
Score: 44–41 (max 84)
Both players STORMED their way to 7 points in this round.
Susie talks about the origin of jaywalking, from Evan Morris.
Round 12: N F P A O I D A R
Rob: AFRAID (6)
Neil: PARDON (6)
DC: PARANOID (8)
Score: 50–47 (max 92)
Rob is clearly AFRAID here. What was Neil's word? PARDON? I said what was Neil's word? Oh never mind.
Round 13: C G T R U A E M R
Rob: CREAM (5)
Neil: GARTER (6)
DC: MATURER (7)
OT: ERRATUM (7)
Score: 50–53 (max 99)
Rob gets the CREAM but fails to score as Neil gets a GARTER for 6.
Round 14: 10, 5, 9, 4, 2, 25. Target: 962.
Rob: 955. (10 x 4) - 2 x 25 + 5 (5)
Neil: 952.
RR: 962. (4 x 9) x (25 + 2) - 10 (10)
Score: 55–53 (max 109)
Rob gets 5 points for his 955. Neil gets 952 but it isn't good enough to score. Rachel is working hard today, and duly got 962.
Round 15: I N N I D U V E T
Rob buzzes on 7 seconds to say UNINVENTED which is incorrect.
Neil buzzes on 15 seconds to say UNINVITED which is correct.
Final Score: 55–63 (max 119)
Rob blows his chance with the conundrum. His attempt of 'uninvented' was promptly greeted with the 'incorrect' display. Neil however did get UNINVITED. The word that is, he certainly isn't uninvited to Monday's show.
So after 2 wins, Rob comes unstuck in his 3rd game against Neil Rigby. We may not yet have seen the creme de la creme of series 71, but I'm sure things will improve as the weeks go on. Neil will be back on Monday to defend his crown. Join Andy McGurn to see how he goes on. I am once again banished to the recap sidelines by the G G's next week,
so I will be back in 2 weeks time to brighten up your Friday once again. Thank you very much for reading, and goodbye. Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=71
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