Finally I have been released from the recap wilderness 
to present this to you today.We have a 3 times champion with us today. Steve Redfern, a relative newbie to apterous has emerged as a possible late contender for the Quarter Finals. Standing in his way today though is Sam Steele. Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Friday 22 May 2015.
C1: Champion Steve Redfern (3 wins, 241 points.) An Apterite and IT manager from Droitwich, Worcestershire.
C2: Challenger Sam Steele. A copywriter originally from Bovey Tracey, now working in London. Loves football, snowboarding and travelling. Has been in South America the last 5 months and has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.
DC: Susie Dent and Steve Backshall.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: G T N D A O I A M
R02: R S E B H U E N D
R03: 5, 3, 50, 75, 25, 100. Target: 766.
TTT: ITSCLEAR - "It's clear to see she has given public performances before."
R04: P R A L S I B T O
R05: H N P Z E I E J N
R06: 6, 2, 5, 9, 9, 75. Target: 323.
R07: T C L S A A E I R
R08: G M E L T O V S A
R09: 7, 3, 6, 4, 10, 25. Target: 636.
TTT: NICEDINT - "Did Susie have an occurrence with a spider?"
R10: Q N U G R E S I M
R11: T D K W E O E A L
R12: C R P I T S A F O
R13: D M T N E I U R L
R14: 10, 10, 9, 6, 100, 75. Target: 518.
R15: S L I M E N E M Y (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: G T N D A O I A M
Steve: MOATING (7)
Sam: DOTING (6)
OT: ANGIOMA (7) ANIMATO (7)
Score: 7–0 (max 7)
A great start for Steve with MOATING for 7. Sam was DOTING for just 6.
Round 2: R S E B H U E N D
Steve: BRUSHED (7)
Sam: BRUSHED (7)
DC: DEER
OT: BENDERS (7) BURDENS (7) ENDURES (7) ENSURED (7) REDBUSH (7) USHERED (7)
Score: 14–7 (max 14)
Both players BRUSHED their way to 7 here.
Round 3: 5, 3, 50, 75, 25, 100. Target: 766.
Steve: 760. 100 - ((75 + 50) / 5) x (5 + 3) (5)
Sam: 765. Mistake in working.
Score: 19–7 (max 21)
Sam thought he had levelled the scores, but made a mistake on his way to 765, still 1 away in itself, so Steve gets 5 points with 760. Rachel informs us 765 is the max, but sadly didn't tell us how she got there
Teatime teaser: ITSCLEAR -> RECITALS
Round 4: P R A L S I B T O
Steve: PORTALS (7)
Sam: PORTALS (7)
DC: ORBITALS (8) PARBOILS (8) BIPOLAR (7)
OT: STROBILA (8)
Score: 26–14 (max 29)
Both players got 7 with PORTALS.
Round 5: H N P Z E I E J N
Steve: jennie
Sam: PINE (4)
DC: JEEP
OT: PINENE (6)
Score: 26–18 (max 35)
Steve got 'jennie' but it has to spelt with a y at the end, so was disallowed, allowing Sam to PINE for 4 points.
Round 6: 6, 2, 5, 9, 9, 75. Target: 323.
Steve: 321. (6 - 2) x (75 + 5) - (9 / 9) (7)
Sam: 319.
RR: 323. (75 x 5) - (9 x 6) - 2 (10)
Score: 33–18 (max 45)
Sam fell 4 away from 323 here, Steve got 321, still 2 away but enough to score. Rachel showed us how 323 is done.
Steve Backshall talks about his encounters with animals.
Round 7: T C L S A A E I R
Steve: RACIEST (7)
Sam: TRAILS (6)
DC: TARSAL (6) RECITALS (8) ARTICLES (8) CLARETS (7)
Score: 40–18 (max 53)
Steve got RACIEST for 7, as Sam TRAILS with his 6.
Round 8: G M E L T O V S A
Steve: GLOVES (6)
Sam: GLOVES (6)
DC: MOLES (5) TEALS (5) GOATS (5) MEGAVOLTS (18)
Score: 46–24 (max 71)
The GLOVES are kept on in this round, with both players getting 6 points. There was a 9 though.....
Round 9: 7, 3, 6, 4, 10, 25. Target: 636.
Steve: 637. (4 x 6) x 25 + (3 x 10) + 7 (7)
Sam: 639.
RR: 636. (25 x 4) + 6 x (10 - 7 + 3) (10)
Score: 53–24 (max 81)
Sam falls 3 short with 639, while Steve gets 7 for coming 1 away. Rachel is then invited to 'shave one off'
so shows us ..... how to get 636.Teatime teaser: NICEDINT -> INCIDENT
Round 10: Q N U G R E S I M
Steve: SQUIRM (6)
Sam: SQUIRE (6)
DC: RESUMING (8) MINGERS (7)
Score: 59–30 (max 89)
It's 6 points each here with SQUIRM and SQUIRE.
Round 11: T D K W E O E A L
Steve: toweled
Sam: WALKED (6)
DC: TWEAKED (7)
Score: 59–36 (max 96)
Steve got 'toweled' disallowed, as that is the American spelling. A second l is required for English spelling. So Sam WALKED off with 6 points.
Susie talks about parts of the body, and 'arms'.
Round 12: C R P I T S A F O
Steve: FACTORS (7)
Sam: PASTOR (6)
DC: PROSAIC (7) CARPS (5) TAPIRS (6) CAPTORS (7)
OT: APRICOTS (8) PISCATOR (8)
Score: 66–36 (max 104)
Sam got PASTOR for 6, but it wasn't enough. Steve FACTORS in another 7 points to his score.
Round 13: D M T N E I U R L
Steve: untiled
Sam: RUINED (6)
DC: RUDIMENT (8) MURINE (6) UNDERLIT (8)
Score: 66–42 (max 112)
Another disallowed word for Steve with 'untiled'. Sam RUINED the round and got 6 points.
Round 14: 10, 10, 9, 6, 100, 75. Target: 518.
Steve: 516.
Sam: 517. (6 x 100) - 75 - 9 + (10 / 10) (7)
Score: 66–49 (max 119)
Steve got 2 away, but Sam got within 1 to score 7 points. We are reliably informed this is the max.
Round 15: S L I M E N E M Y
Steve buzzes on 7 seconds to say IMMENSELY which is correct.
Final Score: 76–49 (max 129)
So Steve gets his 4th win, and is half way to Octochampdom and has one foot in the Quarter Final door. A good performance today. He is going to be difficult to dislodge. Will he go all the way? Next week should reveal all. With the Quarter Finals now less than 2 weeks away from beginning, time is fast running out for any late entrants. Join Andy McGurn on Monday to see if Steve can get win number 5. I'll be back next Friday. I hope you will join me then. In the meantime, thank you very much for reading, and goodbye.
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=72
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