Here we go
Countdown recap for Wednesday 27 May 2015.
C1: Champion Steve Redfern (6 wins, 499 points.) An Apterite and IT manager from Droitwich, Worcestershire.
C2: Challenger Ann-Marie Davies. An accountant from Widnes, Cheshire. She likes playing Countdown with her husband, Mark (Yes, the same Mark Davies, who was the #4 seed in the last series, as well as being a great c4cer.
)DC: Susie Dent and Steve Backshall.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: D W N R O E A L C
R02: N Z P O I O S G P
R03: 100, 8, 2, 7, 10, 4. Target: 585.
TTT: LETSREST - ""Let's rest here", they said. And they've been there ever since"
R04: S D G E O U T S T
R05: L V S T E A E I N
R06: 75, 100, 25, 7, 6, 1. Target: 538.
R07: R B T D A E O F W
R08: R S H A O I K S A
R09: 25, 100, 50, 75, 7, 9. Target: 602.
TTT: GRABSEAR - "Grabs someone's ear and gives them lots of abus"
R10: T B S E I A E N Y
R11: L G S R A E I T L
R12: M H N O U O J P D
R13: C N P M E O I A Q
R14: 100, 75, 9, 10, 8, 9. Target: 910.
R15: M U D O N F I R E (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
Enjoy the show.
Round 1: D W N R O E A L C
Steve: CLOWNED (7)
Ann-Marie: CLOWNED (7)
DC: CROWNED (7) COLANDER (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)
A great darrenic 8 from DC, while both players seem to happy to have CLOWNED about.
Round 2: N Z P O I O S G P
Steve: OPPOSING (8)
Ann-Marie: SOPPING (7)
DC: POOPING (7)
Score: 15–7 (max 16)
Now Steve enters the darrenic action with an 8 of his own.
Round 3: 100, 8, 2, 7, 10, 4. Target: 585.
Steve: 584.
Ann-Marie: 585. ((4 + 2) x 100) - (7 + 8) (10)
Score: 15–17 (max 26)
But, he misses a simple numbers and Ann-Marie snatches the lead off him............
Teatime teaser: LETSREST -> SETTLERS
Round 4: S D G E O U T S T
Steve: TOUTED (6)
Ann-Marie: GUESTS (6)
DC: outsets OUSTED (6)
OT: TESTUDOS (8)
Score: 21–23 (max 34)
Hmmm, I wonder what Steve was thinking of there.... As it is, he goes for safety first, and he's still 2 behind.........
Round 5: L V S T E A E I N
Steve: vaseline
Ann-Marie: INVEST (6)
OT: VASELINE (8) VEINLETS (8)
Score: 21–29 (max 42)
CONTROVERSY ALERT!!! CONTROVERSY ALERT!!! CONTROVERSY ALERT!!! VASELINE may be in as a trademark, with a capital V, but there are senses mentioned on this page, which allow it with a small letter, which are all specifically mentioned on the examples.
Agree with me or not, but I think it's a bit of a boo-boo here...........
Round 6: 75, 100, 25, 7, 6, 1. Target: 538.
Steve: 538. ((6 - 1) x (100 + 7)) + (75 / 25) (10)
Ann-Marie: 534.
Score: 31–29 (max 52)
No controversy here, as Steve reclaims the lead from this 3 large.
Steve talks about whales and how they manage to catch herrings.
Round 7: R B T D A E O F W
Steve: FEDORA (6)
Ann-Marie: BOATER (6)
DC: ABORTED (7) FORBADE (7)
Score: 37–35 (max 59)
A FEDORA and a BOATER seem to go together, and in a way, so do ABORTED and FORBADE.....
Round 8: R S H A O I K S A
Steve: SHARKS (6)
Ann-Marie: SHARKS (6)
DC: SIKA (4) KARAHIS (7)
OT: SHIKARAS (8)
Score: 43–41 (max 67)
SHARKS in the water and the room too........... No-one spotted the hidden darrenic 8 though........
In Indian Kashmir, a SHIKARA is a houseboat.
Round 9: 25, 100, 50, 75, 7, 9. Target: 602.
Steve: 600. (7 x 100) - 75 - 25 (7)
Ann-Marie: 600. (7 x 100) - 75 - 25 (7)
RR: 602. ((75 - (50 / 25)) x 7) + 100 - 9 (10)
Score: 50–48 (max 77)
Tricky without going some weird way involving some sort of multiple of 7, but Rachel gets one way, while both Steve and Ann-Marie are happy to stick with being 2 away......
Teatime teaser: GRABSEAR -> BARRAGES
Round 10: T B S E I A E N Y
Steve: BEANIES (7)
Ann-Marie: beaniest
DC: BEASTIE (7) SATINY (6)
OT: BETAINES (8)
Score: 57–48 (max 85)
A worthy risk by Ann-Marie there, as she's still within striking distance, but will it be costly later.....
A BETAINE is any zwitterionic compound of the type represented by betaine.
Round 11: L G S R A E I T L
Steve: TILLERS (7)
Ann-Marie: RETAILS (7)
DC: REALIST (7) REGALIST (8) ALLERGIST (18)
OT: GALLERIST (18)
Score: 64–55 (max 103)
Some 7's and 8's, but there's even a great 9 (or two) there...........
A GALLERIST is a person who owns an art gallery or who exhibits and promotes artists' work in galleries and other venues in order to attract potential buyers.
Susie's Origins of Words talks about the origins of "face" and other facial features.
Round 12: M H N O U O J P D
Steve: HOUND (5)
Ann-Marie: POUND (5)
DC: UNHOOD (6) MOJO (4) DOJO (4)
Score: 69–60 (max 109)
Nothing much here, but DC can at least UNHOOD the darrenic 6.
Round 13: C N P M E O I A Q
Steve: CINEMA (6)
Ann-Marie: MINCE (5)
DC: MOPANE (6)
OT: APNOEIC (7) CAMPION (7) ENCOMIA (7) PAEONIC (7)
Score: 75–60 (max 116)
Ooooooh, has Ann-Marie's beaniest gamble backfired on her now, I wonder
Steve just needs to score in the numbers game to win......A CAMPION is a plant of the pink family, typically having pink or white flowers with notched petals, found in both Eurasia and North America.
(Genera Silene and Lychnis, family Caryophyllaceae)
An ENCOMIUM (plural ENCOMIA) is a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly.
Round 14: 100, 75, 9, 10, 8, 9. Target: 910.
Steve: 910. (100 - 9) x 10 (10)
Ann-Marie: 910. (9 x 100) + 10 (10)
Score: 85–70 (max 126)
Well, 2 large is selected, but so is an easy target, and Steve has reached 7 heaven.
Round 15: M U D O N F I R E
No one buzzes. The answer was UNIFORMED.
Final Score: 85–70 (max 136)
No-one gets the conundrum, not even an audience member (although, I bet Mark did, but he probably wouldn't have been allowed to answer, having got it yesterday...........)
As it is, VASELINE-gate has been avoided, as Steve won the match without it. Now, he has 7 wins, but his points tally is alarmingly low, that staying in the #7 spot seems the most likely scenario for him......... It's a shame for Ann-Marie, who couldn't emulate he husband's achievements of last year, but maybe a special between the 2 might be on the cards.
Steve's currently on 584 points. Since his technical maximum is 814 points, the top 4 seeds can't be dislodged from their places, so Tom Cappleman, Gerry Tynan, Tracey Mills and Andy Noden will be the #1-4 seeds respectively. With Kevin Steede being 208 points clear as well, his #5 seeding is pretty much secure too.
So, only Jordan Barker at #6 is a target, and even so, Steve needs to score 130 points to go above him, but with him having no centuries to his name, it does seem like a tall order. So, the smart money is that Steve will stay at #7, which would mean a quarter-final with Gerry Tynan next Thursday.
I'll be back next week for the first quarter-final, which we can now confirm is between the #1 seed, Tom "The Enfield Enforcer" Cappleman and the #8 seed, Gavin "The Horsham Hurricane" Woolnough.
See you then. Bye for now.
Statistics Corner
Steve:
Total score - 85
Raw score - 92
Total % of max - 63
Raw % of max - 68
Total average score per round - 5.7
Raw average score per round - 6.1
Number of maxes - 3
Ann-Marie:
Total score - 70
Raw score - 89
Total % of max - 51
Raw % of max - 65
Total average score per round - 4.7
Raw average score per round - 5.9
Number of maxes - 2
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=72