Tuesday 24th May 2016 (Series 74, Prelim 74)

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Tim Down
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Tuesday 24th May 2016 (Series 74, Prelim 74)

Post by Tim Down »

Apterite Robin McKay is midway through a possible octorun and has performed very strongly so far. He plays Struan Charters today.

C1: Champion Robin McKay (4 wins, 449 points.) An Apterite from Basingstoke.
C2: Challenger Struan Charters.
DC: Susie Dent and Michael Buerk.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: L E S A T U P O B
R02: R I V A M R U I S
R03: 25, 7, 10, 2, 3, 1. Target: 688.
TTT: LESDROVE - "Les drove back to his girlfriend's house and put an end to their arguments."
R04: T E R I L A R S G
R05: H O N E Q A S I F
R06: 25, 2, 3, 4, 1, 8. Target: 587.
R07: D O N A S I R E C
R08: G A W U L I S B V
R09: 75, 10, 5, 3, 3, 7. Target: 629.
TTT: ADDNICER - "You need to add nicer people to your circle of friends and lose the bad."
R10: P E R A D E S N T
R11: S I K A H O T E R
R12: S A P E L O T M N
R13: R A T I N E R U D
R14: 25, 7, 2, 4, 5, 1. Target: 858.
R15: A B I G U N E E R (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: L E S A T U P O B

Robin: PULSATE (7)
Struan: SPOUT (5)
DC: POSTABLE (8)
OT: ABSOLUTE (8) OUTLEAPS (8) PETALOUS (8)
Score: 7–0 (max 8)

Solid start from Robin with PULSATE. Struan can only manage a 5. DC has one of the available 8s.

Round 2: R I V A M R U I S

Robin: RAMS (4)
Struan: RAM (3)
DC: VIRUS (5) MURRAS (6)
OT: MARRIS (6) MURRIS (6) MURVAS (6) SURIMI (6)
Score: 11–0 (max 14)

Slim pickings as both contestants miss VIRUS plus the wad of obscure 6s. DC has one of them. Struan hasn’t settled yet.

Round 3: 25, 7, 10, 2, 3, 1. Target: 688.

Robin: 686. (7 + 2) × 3 × 25 + 10 + 1 (7)
Struan: -
RR: 688. ((7 + 2) × 25 + 1) × 3 + 10 (10)
Score: 18–0 (max 24)

Robin surprises no-one by going for 1 large. It’s quite a tricky one and Robin is 2 away while Struan blanks. Rachel has the exact solution.

Teatime teaser: LESDROVE -> RESOLVED

Round 4: T E R I L A R S G

Robin: TRAILERS (8)
Struan: TRAILERS (8)
DC: REGALIST (8)
OT: REGISTRAL (18)
Score: 26–8 (max 42)

Struan gets off the mark in style with an 8, much to his and I imagine everyone else’s relief. Robin and DC match him but no-one gets the 9.

Round 5: H O N E Q A S I F

Robin: FASHION (7)
Struan: FINES (5)
Score: 33–8 (max 49)

Robin spots the unique max and moves further ahead.

Round 6: 25, 2, 3, 4, 1, 8. Target: 587.

Robin: 591. 3 × 8 × 25 − (2 × 4 + 1) (7)
Struan: -
RR: 587. (25 × 8 − 4) × 3 − 1 (10)
Score: 40–8 (max 59)

Struan goes 1 large as well and it’s another tricky one. Similar results to last time: Robin is 4 away, Struan blanks and Rachel is spot on.

Michael Buerk talks about an incident in which he lost his rag at Heathrow customs.

Round 7: D O N A S I R E C

Robin: ANODISER (8)
Struan: NADIRS (6)
DC: ANEROIDS (8) SCENARIO (8) SARDONIC (8)
OT: ACRIDONES (18) SARCODINE (18)
Score: 48–8 (max 77)

Good spot again by Robin as he picks out one of the available 8s while Struan is lagging behind with 6. There were also two 9s available, missed by all.

Round 8: G A W U L I S B V

Robin: BAILS (5)
Struan: SWAG (4)
DC: VISUAL (6)
OT: ISABGUL (7)
Score: 53–8 (max 84)

An unpromising set of letters yields a 5 from Robin but only a 4 from Struan, who’s surely too far behind now. DC have a 6 but there was a 7: ISABGUL, which is the dried seeds of a southern Asian plantain, chiefly used medicinally in the treatment of dysentery.

Round 9: 75, 10, 5, 3, 3, 7. Target: 629.

Robin: 630. (5 + 3) × 75 + 3 × 10 (7)
Struan: -
RR: 629. (75 + 5 + 10) × 7 − 3 ÷ 3 (10)
Score: 60–8 (max 94)

1 large once again, same outcome once again. Robin is 1 away this time.

Teatime teaser: ADDNICER -> RIDDANCE

Round 10: P E R A D E S N T

Robin: PARENTED (8)
Struan: PRESENT (7)
DC: PEDERAST (8)
OT: PASTERNED (18)
Score: 68–8 (max 112)

Struan’s 7 would be enough to collect some points against most but Robin outdoes him with a good 8. Once again there is a 9 missed by everyone.

Round 11: S I K A H O T E R

Robin: HOARIEST (8)
Struan: SHIRT (5)
OT: THEORIKAS (18)
Score: 76–8 (max 130)

8 again from Robin while Struan is back on 5. Yet again there was a 9 that eluded everyone: THEORIKAS. A THEORIKA is a fund established in Athens for the purpose of subsidizing attendance at the theatre and other public festivals or distributions made from this fund.

Susie talks about the origins of the phrases “mealy-mouthed” and “lily-livered”.

Round 12: S A P E L O T M N

Robin: POLENTAS (8)
Struan: PLANETS (7)
DC: LAPSTONE (8)
OT: NEOPLASM (8) PETALONS (8) PLASTOME (8) PLEONASM (8) PLEONAST (8)
Score: 84–8 (max 138)

Decent 7 again by Struan, who could be forgiven for giving up at this point, and once again he gets nothing for it thanks to another great spot by Robin, whose 8 this time is the max.

Round 13: R A T I N E R U D

Robin: URINATED (8)
Struan: TINDER (6)
OT: DATURINE (8) INDURATE (8) INTRUDER (8) RUINATED (8)
Score: 92–8 (max 146)

Robin has URINATED, once again leaving Struan to eat his dust.

Round 14: 25, 7, 2, 4, 5, 1. Target: 858.

Robin: 858. (5 × 7 − 1) × 25 + 2 × 4 (10)
Struan: -
Score: 102–8 (max 156)

Yet another non-trivial 1-large although this one’s slightly easier. Robin gets it exactly while Struan makes it four non-declarations out of four.

Round 15: A B I G U N E E R

Robin buzzes on 4 seconds to say AUBERGINE which is correct.
Final Score: 112–8 (max 166)

Robin completes the rout with a nice solve.

There is some bonus chat with Michael at the end about The Moral Maze and Nick teases Robin for supposedly slipping up at numbers.

A one-sided contest and Robin marches on. A solid game from him, particularly on the letters, while Struan didn’t really get going. Join James to see if Robin can continue his run.

Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=74
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