Countdown recap for Tuesday 23 February 2016.
C1: Champion Paul Erdunast (3 wins, 379 points).
C2: Challenger Julie Hall. A fiction writer who lived in Toulouse, France, for 20 years and fondly reminisces about its scenic vistas and, like, pink houses or something.
DC: Susie Dent and Julia Bradbury.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
SELECTION ZONE AHEAD – GO SLOW.
R01: D W U A C G O I O
R02: S R T E U I N D E
R03: 100, 10, 3, 1, 6, 4. Target: 679.
TTT: REELFISH — “You try to reel in the biggest fish; it's not as bony as the rest.”
R04: R P T A U O X G A
R05: N T I A M S E I R
R06: 100, 2, 2, 1, 3, 6. Target: 670.
R07: S N O E P F D I U
R08: V T G E E A T D R
R09: 100, 10, 5, 2, 1, 4. Target: 794.
TTT: NICEIDOL — “You'll have your work cut out trying to teach someone like this.”
R10: N K R E I A Y H R
R11: M L O I G T A E O
R12: M R T L I E A N I
R13: P Q A O N C I E L
R14: 100, 10, 1, 8, 3, 6. Target: 451.
R15: K E N S T O U R S (conundrum)
END SELECTION ZONE. ALSO, SHOULDN'T THE PHRASE REALLY BE “GO SLOWLY”?
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Round 1: D W U A C G O I O
Paul: GOOD (4)
Julie: AUDIO (5)
OT: GUIDO (5)
Score: 0–5 (max 5)
WHOA! A slow start for Paul and a breakaway for Julie as her 4-vowelled 5 makes her the first person to have ever denied points to Paul in any round. In my opinion, that feat is almost worthy of being placed on a CV!
Geek Note: With this single miss, Paul's projected octototal drops into the triple digits, going from 1010 to 989 based on average scores per round. Still, obviously, a record, and the most significant record at that.Round 2: S R T E U I N D E
Paul: REUNITED (8)
Julie: interest
DC: INTRUDES (8) NERDIEST (8)
OT: DENTURES (8) ESURIENT (8) INSERTED (8) NEURITES (8) NURDIEST (8) RESIDENT (8) RETINUES (8) REUNITES (8) SEDERUNT (8) SINTERED (8) TRENDIES (8) UNDERSET (8) UNRESTED (8)
Score: 8–5 (max 13)
But Paul immediately gets back on the right foot after Julie puts in a T that isn't really there, meaning that he is REUNITED with the continuous, treasured lead he has held since his first appearance.
Related Geek Note: Astonishingly, picking up 8 points actually causes Paul's expected octototal to drop again from 989 to 988, because so far, he's been averaging over eight points per round!ESURIENT means hungry or greedy.
In Scotland, a SEDERUNT is a sitting of a church assembly or other body.
Round 3: 100, 10, 3, 1, 6, 4. Target: 679.
Paul: 679. (100 + 10 + 3) × 6 + 1. (10)
Julie: —
Score: 18–5 (max 23)
Thus far, it has never taken more than four rounds for Transude to escape striking distance, and his strong split multiplication skills in Round 3, coupled with Julie's declaration (or lack thereof), affirm that this game will be no exception. Will today's show be another washout, or will the challenger find dramatic beaters and take it to a crucial? That's a rhetorical question, of course; I know it's 3:20pm on Tuesday and none of you know the answer yet.
Teatime Teaser 1: REELFISH
“You try to reel in the biggest fish; it's not as bony as the rest.”
Answer: FLESHIER
Round 4: R P T A U O X G A
Paul: RAGOUT (6)
Julie: APART (5)
DC: GROUT (5) RAGOUT (6)
OT: GOPURA (6) PAGART (6) RAGTOP (6) TRAAGU (6)
Score: 24–5 (max 29)
I definitely didn't mean to RAG OUT (fine, “rag on”) Paul's Round 1 performance too much, because he sets himself APART from the competitor with another excellent spot here. While playing along, I was myself stuck resorting to four-letter words.
In southern India, a GOPURA is a large pyramidal tower beside the entrance to a temple precinct.
PAGART is a variant spelling of POGGLED (WTF?), which is an adjective, used chiefly in Scottish slang, meaning exhausted or completely collapsed.
Also in India, a TRAAGU (or TRAGA) is a method whereby a complainant seeks to cause dishonour to an offender by self-harming, committing suicide or harming or killing others.
Round 5: N T I A M S E I R
Paul: RAINIEST (8)
Julie: REMAINS (7)
DC: MINARETS (8) RAIMENTS (8)
OT: INTERIMS (8) MARINISE (8) MINESTRA (8) MINIATES (8) MINISTER (8) MISANTER (8) MISANTIR (8) SERIATIM (8) TIERSMAN (8)
Score: 32–5 (max 37)
No 9 4 U. For the second time this game, Paul grabs an eight from a promising-looking selection that proves to be flatter than Saskatchewan. There's your little tidbit of Canadian geography (topography?) for the day, coming to you direct from my igloo. Susie and Julia take us straight back to the roots of Countdown, offering the plurals of the first two words ever to be declared on the show.
In Italian cuisine, a MINESTRA is a soup consisting of vegetables or grains in broth.
A verb found mainly in poetic usage, to MINIATE is to impart a red colour or tinge to something. Examples: This sentence is miniated.
MISANTER and MISANTIR are both variant spellings of MISAUNTER, which is a Scottish and northern regional term for MISADVENTURE.
Round 6: 100, 2, 2, 1, 3, 6. Target: 670.
Paul: 671. (3 × 2 × 2 + 100) × 6 − 1. (7)
Julie: —
RR: 670. ((6 × 2 + 100) × 3 − 1) × 2. (10)
Score: 39–5 (max 47)
Julie plumps for the typically easy inverted T selection, but a cluster of super-small numbers make this one very difficult to do without the split technique, which, as of yet, she unfortunately does not seem to have mastered. The use of another multiple of 6 guides Paul very close to the answer, but it takes a double-bracketed effort from the arithmetician to score perfectly on this one.
On the one day when it was important for me to take note of what Julia said, the battery came loose from my laptop, it shut down, and my notes were lost. Really. This isn't some kind of my-dog-ate-my-homework excuse. Really.
Round 7: S N O E P F D I U
Paul: UNPOISED (8)
Julie: POUNDS (6)
Score: 47–5 (max 55)
UNPOISED means unbalanced or uneven, and so far, Paul's word is a perfect descriptor of this game's outcome. A spot of the game's first darren means he propels himself further forward while Julie has still yet to escape the single digits.
Round 8: V T G E E A T D R
Paul: TREATED (7)
Julie: trader
DC: TARGETED (8)
Score: 54–5 (max 63)
Dragon Ball Z fans – and ex-fans – most likely quickly picked out VEGETA^ after the first six letters came up. Paul's power levels may not be over 9,000 here, but they are over 0, which is all that counts because Julie again throws in a phantom letter. The Corner, however, hit the bullseye with the only 8 in the house.
Round 9: 100, 10, 5, 2, 1, 4. Target: 794.
Paul: 794. (10 − 2) × 100 − 5 − 1. (10)
Julie: 794. 4 × 2 × 100 − (5 + 1). (10)
Score: 64–15 (max 73)
A perfect solution to an admittedly simple one-large game gives Julie the right to tack a coveted second digit onto her score. At the very worst, she can now achieve only the eighth lowest total in the format's history. Fair play.
Teatime Teaser 2: NICEIDOL
“You'll have your work cut out trying to teach someone like this.”
Answer: INDOCILE
Round 10: N K R E I A Y H R
Paul: NARKIER (7)
Julie: yanker
Score: 71–15 (max 80)
Oh dear, this time all the letters are there for Julie, but her plausible-sounding agent noun is simply completely absent from the dictionary. I suppose one whose job is to sharply pull random objects would prefer such a distinguished title as Yankster, Yanking Professional or His/Her Royal Yankness. In any event, Paul's rather obscure darren would have extended his lead anyway, so no additional harm there.
NARKY means bad-tempered or irritable.
Round 11: M L O I G T A E O
Paul: ALIGOTE (7)
Julie: mileage
OT: MIGALOO (7)
Score: 78–15 (max 87)
Paul clearly unsuccessfully angled for a specific 8 or 9 with his final vowel pick – GLIOMATA perhaps? – but the slightly shorter word he does achieve is, in my opinion, even more impressive. Meanwhile, I pity Julie just a little as, along with T and R, she adds E to the collection of letters that she has mistakenly seen second copies of during this game.
An ALIGOTE is a variety of grape grown in Burgundy, France, or the white wine made from these grapes.
Among Australians of Aboriginal descent, a MIGALOO refers to a white person or settler.
Susie's Origins of Words begins with a callback to the second Teatime Teaser's answer – among the words she elaborates upon today are DOCILE, DOCTOR and DOCTORATE. She also notes that the Middle English or medieval term for a medical professional was LEECH (or some homophone thereof). Sounds very reassuring.
Round 12: M R T L I E A N I
Paul: MILARITE (8)
Julie: (misdeclared 7)
DC: TERMINAL (8)
OT: MATRILINE (18)
Score: 86–15 (max 105)
And yet again, Paul outdoes himself, as well as Susie, Julia and Julie, by digging out a brand-new ODO addition. Moreover, it is one beginning with an “M”, one of the last initial letters to have been added to Apterous – only a few weeks before his run was taped. Oddly, this round shares eight letters with Round 5 from earlier, but these common letters do not anagram into any valid 8-letter word. You'll just have to be content with that 9 instead, I guess.
MILARITE is a hexagonal silicate mineral that occurs especially as green prismatic crystals.
A MATRILINE is a line of genealogical descent based on kinship with the mother.
Round 13: P Q A O N C I E L
Paul: PELICAN (7)
Julie: POLICE (6)
DC: PANICLE (7)
OT: APNOEIC (7) CAPELIN (7) OPALINE (7) PAEONIC (7) PINACOL (7) PLIANCE (7)
Score: 93–15 (max 112)
It's of course academic at this point, but with his avian max word, Paul's letters skills take flight for one final time in this episode and he is now within clear reach of a century score. No 100+ winning margin, but 98 isn't that bad either.
A CAPELIN is a small fish of the North Atlantic, resembling a smelt and inhabiting coastal waters.
A PANICLE is a loose branching cluster of flowers, as is found in oats.
Round 14: 100, 10, 1, 8, 3, 6. Target: 451.
Paul: 451. (6 + 3) × 100 ÷ (10 − 8) + 1. (10)
Julie: —
Score: 103–15 (max 122)
In every numbers game of the day, the large number has been the 100, and that's also the percentage of the round's available points that Paul scoops on this one. With neither a 4 or a 5 at his disposal, he is forced to go between... and does so successfully via division, giving him his fourth century in as many shows.
Round 15: K E N S T O U R S
Paul buzzes on 3.5 seconds to say SUNSTROKE which is correct.
Final Score: 113–15 (max 132)
Thus far, Paul's conundrums have not been easy, but even so, he has defied any standards of difficulty. Today, he continues this pattern in full force, spotting a solution with a 9/10 Apterous difficulty rating within the first five seconds. Nick chides Paul on the “lower-than-average” magnitude of his score, and for good reason – I mean, gee whiz, his projected total is now only ten higher than Dylan Taylor's. Conversely, Julie becomes the first person to have ever outscored Paul in any round; they might as well give her the dictionaries right now.
And with that victory, Paul carries his bat into the second half of what we can only assume will prove to be a magnificent octorun, and I won't be joining you again until he vacates his seat prior to next Tuesday's game. I'll make sure I cheer Transude on. From my igloo. In both English and French.
This has been Acme CanuckRecap #00005. Remember, all rights reserved... and if you try to steal any of my quirks, I'll miniate your face.
Statistics Corner
Paul:
Total score – 113
Raw score – 117
Total % of max – 86%
Raw % of max – 89%
Total average score per round – 7.5
Raw average score per round – 7.8
Number of maxes – 11
Julie:
Total score – 15
Raw score – 39
Total % of max – 11%
Raw % of max – 30%
Total average score per round – 1.0
Raw average score per round – 2.6
Number of maxes – 2
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=74