Countdown recap for Friday 14 August 2020.
C1: Champion Brendan Russell-Cooper (4 wins, 307 points.) A retired business improvement manager from Bradford.
C2: Challenger Olivia Askam. A commercial analyst from Preston, Lancashire. She plays football for Sir Tom Finney F.C., and as you would expect, she supports Preston North End F.C..
DC: Susie Dent and Dr. Phil Hammond.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: A E I E N G S P R
R02: Q A I W G R E O W
R03: 25, 75, 1, 2, 7, 8. Target: 191.
TTT: HOLYPAINT - "This may not be an expensive hobby, but you're going to need some money."
R04: T H I E A R P U S
R05: E A E I R T S L O
R06: 50, 8, 3, 5, 6, 1. Target: 710.
R07: U E A E T S M P G
R08: M T I E A D B O D
R09: 5, 3, 1, 8, 6, 9. Target: 405.
TTT: TECHNICAL - "Technically, it's the advertising industry's best friend."
R10: F C I E U N L M T
R11: E A I V N R L J O
R12: F R A I E T Y U Z
R13: I O A T M R V D U
R14: 75, 5, 2, 8, 10, 2. Target: 858.
R15: F O C U S I N O N (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: A E I E N G S P R
Brendan: SPEARING (8)
Olivia: SEEPING (7)
OT: NAGEIRES (8) NAGIERES (8) PERIGEAN (8) PIERAGES (8) SPREEING (8)
Score: 8–0 (max 8)
Brendan SPEARING his way into an early lead thanks to his 8.
NAGEIRE (or NAGIERE) is a Japanese style of floral arrangement in which flowers are displayed in a simple, apparently casual way, usually in tall vases.
PERIGEAN is an adjective relating to PERIGEE, the point in the orbit of the moon or a satellite at which it is nearest to the earth.
PIERAGE is the use of, or right to use, a pier or wharf.
Round 2: Q A I W G R E O W
Brendan: WAGER (5)
Olivia: WAGER (5)
DC: EARWIG (6)
Score: 13–5 (max 14)
I've got a couple of WAGERs here that say DC will MAX out with an EARWIG...
Round 3: 25, 75, 1, 2, 7, 8. Target: 191.
Brendan: 191. ((75 + 25) x 2) - (8 + 1) (10)
Olivia: 191. ((75 + 25) x 2) - (8 + 1) (10)
Score: 23–15 (max 24)
Simples...
Teatime teaser: HOLYPAINT -> NOTAPHILY
Round 4: T H I E A R P U S
Brendan: HARPIES (7)
Olivia: PARTIES (7)
DC: therapus SUPERHIT (8)
OT: PATERISH (8) THESAURI (8)
Score: 30–22 (max 32)
DC have got a SUPERHIT on their hands, whilst our players have to settle with some HARPIES at some PARTIES...
PATERISH is an adjective relating to sheep showing symptoms of giddiness or ataxia.
Round 5: E A E I R T S L O
Brendan: realties
Olivia: RELATES (7)
DC: AEROLITES (18)
Score: 30–29 (max 50)
You can't pluralise a realty, so Olivia gets to within 1 point of Brendan, while DC hit the heights with their 9
Round 6: 50, 8, 3, 5, 6, 1. Target: 710.
Brendan: 710. ((8 + 6) x 50) + ((3 - 1) x 5) (10)
Olivia: 710. ((8 + 6) x 50) + ((3 - 1) x 5) (10)
Score: 40–39 (max 60)
Another simple numbers...
Dr. Phil talks about the wonders of vaccines.
Round 7: U E A E T S M P G
Brendan: GAMEST (6)
Olivia: GAMEST (6)
DC: AMPUTEES (8) STUMPAGE (8)
Score: 46–45 (max 68)
DC get double 8, whilst our players are happy with identical 6's.
Round 8: M T I E A D B O D
Brendan: beaded
Olivia: BOATED (6)
OT: TOADIED (7)
Score: 46–51 (max 75)
Oh dear, Brendan seeing double sends Olivia into the lead.
Round 9: 5, 3, 1, 8, 6, 9. Target: 405.
Brendan: 405. (8 + 1) x 5 x 9 (10)
Olivia: 405. (8 + 1) x 5 x 9 (10)
Score: 56–61 (max 85)
6 small is always a nice idea, but even this one doesn't need much skill to work out.
Teatime teaser: TECHNICAL -> CATCHLINE
Round 10: F C I E U N L M T
Brendan: MINCE (5)
Olivia: MINCE (5)
DC: INFECTUM (8) FUNICLE (7)
Score: 61–66 (max 93)
A super impressive 8 from DC, whilst the contestants enjoy a little MINCE...
Round 11: E A I V N R L J O
Brendan: JOINER (6)
Olivia: JOINER (6)
DC: OVERLAIN (8) JAVELIN (7)
Score: 67–72 (max 101)
DC are on top form again with an 8, while the contestants are happy with some JOINERs.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of "spitting image".
Round 12: F R A I E T Y U Z
Brendan: FRUITY (6)
Olivia: FAIRY (5)
DC: RATIFY (6)
OT: AZURITE (7)
Score: 73–72 (max 108)
And Brendan retakes the lead thanks to his FRUITY 6.
AZURITE is a blue mineral consisting of basic copper carbonate. It occurs as blue prisms or crystal masses, typically with malachite.
Round 13: I O A T M R V D U
Brendan: outroam
Olivia: RATIO (5)
DC: AUDITOR (7) MAROUDI (7)
OT: MATROID (7) MORDITA (7) OVARIUM (7)
Score: 73–77 (max 115)
Oh dear, oh dear, more double vision sees Brendan surrender his lead immediately, as we head into the final phase...
MATROID is a mathematical entity consisting of a finite set E together with a collection ℐ of subsets of E such that (i) the empty set is a member of ℐ, (ii) any subset of a member of ℐ is also a member of ℐ, and (iii) if two subsets I₁ and I₂ are in ℐ, where the cardinality of I₁ is less than that of I₂, then there exists an element e that is in I₂ but not I₁ such that the union of I₁ with { e } is also an element of ℐ.
In Mexico and elsewhere in Spanish America, a MORDITA (or MORDIDA) is a bribe, an illegal exaction.
An OVARIUM is another name for the ovary.
Round 14: 75, 5, 2, 8, 10, 2. Target: 858.
Brendan: 858. ((10 + 2) x 75) - ((8 x 5) + 2) (10)
Olivia: 858. (((5 x 2) + 75) x 10) + 8 (10)
Score: 83–87 (max 125)
4 pretty simple numbers games today, and so we head into a crucial conundrum...., will it save Brendan once again....
Round 15: F O C U S I N O N
Brendan buzzes on 8.75 seconds to say CONFUSION which is correct.
Final Score: 93–87 (max 135)
Wouldn't you know it, it does!!! Olivia had a very good showing all show, but Brendan pulls the rabbit out of the hat once again to steal the win, and complete a week of wins.
Can he complete octochampdom next week...
Who knows, but with this sort of luck, you can't rule him out... Statistics Corner
Brendan:
Total score - 93
Raw score - 93
Total % of max - 69
Raw % of max - 69
Total average score per round - 6.2
Raw average score per round - 6.2
Number of maxes - 6
Olivia:
Total score - 87
Raw score - 99
Total % of max - 64
Raw % of max - 73
Total average score per round - 5.8
Raw average score per round - 6.6
Number of maxes - 4
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=82