Two good wins so far for Tom Coward, but how will he fare against Apterite Ann Dibben?
C1: Champion Tom Coward (2 wins, 142 points.) From Finchley. Takes ballroom classes and plays hockey.
C2: Challenger Ann Dibben. A company director from Haslemere, Surrey. Mum to 2 year old Alice.Trying to learn Latin.
DC: Susie Dent and Alistair McGowan.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: S W A R E D I E R
R02: C M O B I E T U P
R03: 75, 50, 100, 25, 1, 3. Target: 907.
TTT: PAIRLADY - "He cuts the lady the stones for a pair of diamond earrings."
R04: Y G O L A I S E G
R05: R O P L A I O Q S
R06: 100, 50, 10, 8, 3, 5. Target: 829.
R07: T J A E N K U I T
R08: D S T I O A R E N
R09: 75, 25, 2, 6, 4, 10. Target: 311.
TTT: HIPPOMAD - "The hippos will go mad for grass, but you won't find them eating this."
R10: L N U G I E S O N
R11: G T A E Z R H A U
R12: T C R O A E B I P
R13: A D R E I T P N U
R14: 50, 25, 1, 8, 7, 4. Target: 736.
R15: M I N C E R B O Y (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: S W A R E D I E R
Tom: READIES (7)
Ann: READERS (7)
DC: DRAWERS (7) REWIRES (7) REARISE (7)
OT: REDWARES (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)
A solid start from both players, picking out two of the many available 7s. There was a unique 8 available:
REDWARES: Any of various kinds of pottery made from red clay or given a red colour in firing; especially (a) boccaro as imported into Europe from China in the 17th cent., or European stoneware made in imitation of this; (b) a kind of coarse pottery made from red clay which fires at a low temperature.
Round 2: C M O B I E T U P
Tom: UPTIME (6)
Ann: COMPUTE (7)
OT: METOPIC (7)
Score: 7–14 (max 15)
Tom's UPTIME can't compete with Ann's COMPUTE and Ann takes the lead.
Round 3: 75, 50, 100, 25, 1, 3. Target: 907.
Tom: -
Ann: 909. (100 + 1) × 75 ÷ 25 × 3 (7)
RR: 907. 907 = (75 × 100 + 50) × 3 ÷ 25 + 1 (10)
Score: 7–21 (max 25)
Tom goes for 4-large but fails to get anywhere. Ann's two away, which is good enough to extend her lead, while Rachel slightly hesitantly offers an exact solution based on the 302-from-the-four-large-numbers trick familiar to 4-large connoisseurs.
Teatime teaser: PAIRLADY -> LAPIDARY
Round 4: Y G O L A I S E G
Tom: GOALIES (7)
Ann: GOALIES (7)
DC: SOGGILY (7)
OT: LOGGIAS (7)
Score: 14–28 (max 32)
GOALIES all round.
LOGGIAS: Galleries or rooms with one or more open sides, especially ones that form part of a house and have one side open to the garden.
Round 5: R O P L A I O Q S
Tom: POOLS (5)
Ann: ARIOSO (6)
DC: PAROLI (6)
OT: PAILOOS (7) PAROLIS (7)
Score: 14–34 (max 39)
Ann extends her lead with a great spot, ARIOSO, while Tom is stuck on 5. Everyone missed the 7s although DC had the singular form of one of them:
PAROLIS: Cumulative bets in which the sum originally staked and the money won are left as a further stake; the gambling of double the sum that was previously staked.
Round 6: 100, 50, 10, 8, 3, 5. Target: 829.
Tom: 829. (100 + 3) × 8 + 5 (10)
Ann: 829. (100 + 3) × 8 + 5 (10)
Score: 24–44 (max 49)
A solid solve by both players to Ann's 2-large selection.
Alistair talks about linguistic habits that he dislikes.
Round 7: T J A E N K U I T
Tom: JUNKIE (6)
Ann: AUNTIE (6)
DC: KITTEN (6)
OT: ATTUNE (6) INTAKE (6) JUNKET (6) KENTIA (6) NUTATE (6) TAJINE (6) TAUTEN (6) TAUTIE (6) TENUTI (6)
Score: 30–50 (max 55)
Tom's JUNKIE, Ann's AUNTIE and DC's KITTEN are as good as it gets.
KENTIA: An Australasian palm tree which is popular as a houseplant while it is young.
NUTATE: To undergo or exhibit nutation, which is a periodic variation in the inclination of the axis of a rotating object or the circular swaying movement of the tip of a growing shoot.
TAUTIE: A variant of TATTY.
TENUTI: Plural of TENUTO, a note or chord held for its full time value or slightly more.
Round 8: D S T I O A R E N
Tom: RATIONED (8)
Ann: NOTARISED (18)
DC: DERATIONS (18) ORDINATES (18)
OT: NADORITES (18)
Score: 30–68 (max 73)
Ann pulls away still further with a 9, NOTARISED. DC have two of the three anagrams.
NADORITES: Plural of NADORITE, an orthorhombic oxychloride of antimony and lead, PbSbO2Cl, usually occurring as brown to yellow tabular or prismatic crystals.
Round 9: 75, 25, 2, 6, 4, 10. Target: 311.
Tom: 310.
Ann: 311. 4 × 75 + 25 − (10 + 6 − 2) (10)
Score: 30–78 (max 83)
Tom is one away but Ann is spot on, solving a very missable numbers game and storming on towards what looks like a comfortable win.
Teatime teaser: HIPPOMAD -> AMPHIPOD
Round 10: L N U G I E S O N
Tom: LOSING (6)
Ann: LEGIONS (7)
DC: LOUNGES (7) ENSOULING (18)
Score: 30–85 (max 101)
Tom ruefully declares LOSING while Ann's LEGIONS accompany her on her victory march. DC reminds me of the glory of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with ENSOULING (endowing with a soul).
Round 11: G T A E Z R H A U
Tom: GREAT (5)
Ann: GATEAU (6)
DC: GATHER (6)
OT: ARGUTE (6) GUTZER (6) RUGATE (6) TRAAGU (6)
Score: 30–91 (max 107)
Another great spot by Ann, extracting GATEAU from a tricky selection, and the game is in the bag.
Susie talks about the origins of the acronym POTUS (President Of The United States).
Round 12: T C R O A E B I P
Tom: BOATER (6)
Ann: OPERATIC (8)
OT: APORETIC (8) PROBATIC (8)
Score: 30–99 (max 115)
Ann's on a roll, maxing yet another round with OPERATIC.
Round 13: A D R E I T P N U
Tom: UNPIRATED (18)
Ann: UNPIRATED (18)
OT: REPUDIANT (18) UNPARTIED (18)
Score: 48–117 (max 133)
Both players go for the risky UNPIRATED and are rewarded with 18 points. Turns out the even-more-risky-sounding UNPARTIED is also allowed, as well as REPUDIANT. Ann is potentially on for a monstrous debut score.
Round 14: 50, 25, 1, 8, 7, 4. Target: 736.
Tom: 735. (50 − 1) × (8 + 7) (7)
Ann: 742.
RR: 736. (50 − 4) × (8 + 7 + 1) (10)
Score: 55–117 (max 143)
However, it's a tricky selection and Ann is 6 away while Tom is one away. Tom claws back some points.
Round 15: M I N C E R B O Y
Ann buzzes on 29 seconds to say COMBINERY which is incorrect.
Tom does not buzz.
The answer was EMBRYONIC.
Final Score: 55–117 (max 153)
Ann knows she hasn't got it but gives it a go anyway with a second left. A bloke in the audience gets it.
A brilliant debut from Ann, brushing aside a decent player. Tom had several good rounds but couldn't match Ann's consistency. Join Wednesday's recapper (who is full of woe?) to see if Ann can match this performance.
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=74
Tuesday 12th April 2016 (Series 74, Prelim 50)
Moderator: James Robinson