Friday 18th September 2015 (Series 73, Prelim 55)

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Giles
Series 68 Champion
Posts: 92
Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:11 pm
Location: Farnham, Surrey

Friday 18th September 2015 (Series 73, Prelim 55)

Post by Giles »

Countdown recap for Friday 18 September 2015.

It's all kicking off today! That is the rugby, with England vs Fiji being tonight* and the final's on 31st October. Nick says Ireland might be able to clinch the title. (Quick, we need to check with Paul the octupus to see what his prediction is! Or is he dead?) This reminds Rachel of Invictus, which she said she saw and enjoyed but Nick avoided it for some reason.
C1: Champion Thomas Carey (1 win, 120 points.) A 17 year-old (same age as yours truly when I debuted) sixth form student from Bingley, roaring in with 110 (shouldn't that be 120, Nick? He gets it right at the end of the show) yesterday.
C2: Challenger Billy Richardson. A student about to go to Nottingham to study Economics, who's a sales assistant from Bristol and also works as a part time DJ and is *also* a "streetwear" fashion guru. Streetwear is apparently urban fashion where lots of people wear similar looking items. Who knew?
DC: Susie Dent and Jon Culshaw.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: S E T U Q O R A T
R02: N R E A V T E I N
R03: 50, 1, 3, 9, 6, 4. Target: 845.
TTT: HADMOWER - "If you like Paul and Art, you're bound to get this"
R04: S R E A V K U E T
R05: L I R E T A X E S
R06: 50, 9, 10, 2, 3, 2. Target: 351.
R07: B O G E L I P A N
R08: B G I E S F A U D
R09: 75, 7, 8, 3, 1, 6. Target: 652.
TTT: BLAMESUN - "His music's not the happiest, but it's colourful"
R10: T C A I H N O A J
R11: D E P I R O H A D
R12: M P E O D R I E N
R13: L A W I R O N I T
R14: 50, 9, 4, 1, 2, 8. Target: 810.
R15: W I L L B E G O N (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: S E T U Q O R A T

Thomas: SQUATTER (8)
Billy: QUARTETS (8)
DC: EQUATORS (8) OUTSTARE (8)
OT: QUAESTOR (8)
Score: 8–8 (max 8)

Strong start for both contestants as they find 8s, and Jon mentions that they should have competitions in outstaring. Can you outstare Leo?
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Round 2: N R E A V T E I N

Thomas: TRAINEE (7)
Billy: VAINER (6)
DC: INNERVATE (18)
Score: 15–8 (max 26)

A wild 9 has appeared! Not to be mistaken with its homophone, but INNERVATE is a verb meaning to supply an organ or body part with nerves. Susie reads one of the incomprehensible example sentences.

Round 3: 50, 1, 3, 9, 6, 4. Target: 845.

Thomas: 845. (6 x 3 - 1) x 50 - (9 - 4) (10)
Billy: -
Score: 25–8 (max 36)

Relatively nice numbers which Billy can't see but Thomas can.

Teatime teaser: HADMOWER -> HOMEWARD

Really thought this one was wormhead. Or headworm.

Round 4: S R E A V K U E T

Thomas: RETAKES (7)
Billy: STREAK (6)
DC: VESTURE (7)
OT: AUSTERE (7)
Score: 32–8 (max 43)

Thomas gets a word floor manager Jay (unngh those arms tho) knows only too well.

Round 5: L I R E T A X E S

Thomas: EARLIEST (8)
Billy: RETAILS (7)
DC: ATELIERS (8)
Score: 40–8 (max 51)

An atelier is a workshop or studio.

Round 6: 50, 9, 10, 2, 3, 2. Target: 351.

Thomas: 351. (9 - 2) x 50 + 3 - 2 (10)
Billy: 351. (9 - 2) x 50 + 3 - 2 (10)
Score: 50–18 (max 61)

Les chiffres prochaines, merci!

Jon offers a verse for Mike Yarwood, who sounds like he's one of the founding fathers of impressionism or something. Jon goes through a whole host of characters, with Patrick Moore, Terry Wogan, Alan Carr, Michael Parkinson, Bruce Forsythe and Tom Baker all making appearances.

Round 7: B O G E L I P A N

Thomas: LEAPING (7)
Billy: GLOBE (5)
DC: BEGONIA (7) PEALING (7) ELOPING (7) BIPLANE (7)
OT: IGNOBLE (7) OPALINE (7)
Score: 57–18 (max 68)

A flat 7-y round, Thomas leaps even further into the lead as Billy is stuck on 5.

Round 8: B G I E S F A U D

Thomas: BUDGIES (7)
Billy: BUDGIES (7)
DC: GAUDIES (7)
OT: BAGSIED (7)
Score: 64–25 (max 75)

Round 9: 75, 7, 8, 3, 1, 6. Target: 652.

Thomas: 652. (75 + 6) x 8 + 3 + 1 (10)
Billy: -
Score: 74–25 (max 85)

Billy blanks on another numbers, giving Thomas an even greater lead.

Teatime teaser: BLAMESUN -> BLUESMAN

Round 10: T C A I H N O A J

Thomas: ACTION (6)
Billy: CHAIN (5)
DC: CATION (6)
OT: JACINTH (7)
Score: 80–25 (max 92)

A recent addition to ODO is JACINTH, which is a red gem variety of zircon. Jon got an incorrectly pronounced cation which Susie saved.

Round 11: D E P I R O H A D

Thomas: HOARDED (7)
Billy: paddier x
DC: PARODIED (8) DROPHEAD (8)
Score: 87–25 (max 100)

An unlucky spot for Billy here as PODDIER is valid but not paddier. Thomas misses the two 8s, one of which is very applicable to Jon's line of work.

OOW: Rita Bland asked where the word 'magpie' comes from and Susie discusses it. Apparently, pastie was first seen in 1296 as a surname, as were lots of other words. Even the F word is first sighted as a surname!

Round 12: M P E O D R I E N

Thomas: DOMINEER (8)
Billy: ROMPED (6)
DC: PIONEER (7) REMIND (6) PIEMEN (6)
OT: EPIMERON (8)
Score: 95–25 (max 108)

A good 8 from Thomas, to which Jon rhymes with PIONEER, and Susie gets in PIEMEN at the last minute to go with her story about pies and magpies.

Round 13: L A W I R O N I T

Thomas: WAITRON (7)
Billy: TRAIL (5)
OT: WAITRON (7)
Score: 102–25 (max 115)

The stupid word that nobody uses, WAITRON, comes up. The talk of robots reminds Nick of the show Humans, where there are synths (Cylons are obviously infinitely better). Thomas gets his second century in 2 games.

Round 14: 50, 9, 4, 1, 2, 8. Target: 810.

Thomas: 810. 50 x 2 x 8 + 9 + 1 (10)
Billy: 805.
Score: 112–25 (max 125)

Round 15: W I L L B E G O N

Thomas buzzes on 2 seconds to say BELLOWING which is correct.
Final Score: 122–25 (max 135)

Nick congratulates Thomas and now correctly says his score from yesterday. 120 and then 122 is a very impressive start!
Rachel talks about her brother being at Nottingham, and the wild things he gets up to like cross-dressing, which might appeal to Billy (?).

Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=73
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