Before we start in earnest, in the unlikely event anyone from the show reads this, Susie's Twitter feed was given a plug by Mark Butcher at The Oval today on Sky Sports.
Countdown recap for Thursday 20 May 2021.
Nick talks about World Bee Day. And no, I'm not making that up.
C1: Champion Cindy Burfoot (3 wins, 282 points.)
C2: Challenger Anthony Massingham. Energy analyst from Middlesbrough. Just one touch and he'll ignite?
DC: Susie Dent and John Inverdale.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: H U Y O L D E S R
R02: P E U D H S A T E
R03: 75, 25, 2, 9, 4, 5. Target: 645.
TTT: PROUDCAB - "It can't be naked, but it's sometimes bare."
R04: T N E G O B N I R
R05: T O W A R S O M D
R06: 100, 50, 3, 8, 2, 1. Target: 576.
R07: N Q O L K U M G A
R08: D W I O C O R M U
R09: 50, 100, 1, 7, 2, 4. Target: 909.
TTT: MINTNOTE - "When there's a hitch the fly always goes here."
R10: S T A L E N B T E
R11: C S I N A S D E J
R12: T S O U L T E S P
R13: F N I M A L I N R
R14: 75, 50, 9, 7, 4, 5. Target: 133.
R15: C R E W N F O O D (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: H U Y O L D E S R
Cindy: SHOULDER (8)
Anthony: HOLDERS (7)
OT: DELUSORY (8)
Score: 8–0 (max 8, jos 8)
Darren-o-meter: 0/1 (0%)
Great start for Cindy as she takes an early lead, she's burning up with affliction.
Round 2: P E U D H S A T E
Cindy: PUSHED (6)
Anthony: SHAPED (6)
DC: UPDATES (7)
OT: DUSTHEAP (8)
Score: 14–6 (max 16, jos 15)
Darren-o-meter: 1/2 (50%)
Both contestants get six, but Dictionary Corner don't give it their full attention as Susie drops points.
Round 3: 75, 25, 2, 9, 4, 5. Target: 645.
Cindy: 645. (25 + 75) × (4 + 2) + 9 × 5 (10)
Anthony: 645. 9 × 75 − (25 + 5) (10)
Score: 24–16 (max 26, jos 25)
Ariana.
Teatime teaser: PROUDCAB -> CUPBOARD
Round 4: T N E G O B N I R
Cindy: BORING (6) ("BORING, very BORING")
Anthony: RENTING (7)
DC: RINGBONE (8)
OT: ENROBING (8) NITROGEN (8) RINGTONE (8)
Score: 24–23 (max 34, jos 33)
Darren-o-meter: 1/3 (33%)
Anthony reduces the deficit to just one point whilst Dictionary Corner spot perhaps the rarest of the four eights, including NITROGEN which would have tamed their fire now, woah oh oh oh oh...
Round 5: T O W A R S O M D
Cindy: STARDOM (7)
Anthony: TOWARDS (7)
DC: DOORMATS (8) WOODRATS (8)
OT: MADWORTS (8) MASTWOOD (8) WOODSTAR (8)
Score: 31–30 (max 42, jos 41)
Darren-o-meter: 1/4 (25%)
Two sevens from the contestants, whilst Dictionary Corner nabs a couple of cheeky eights.
Round 6: 100, 50, 3, 8, 2, 1. Target: 576.
Cindy: 576. Mistake in working.
Anthony: -
RR: 576. (100 − 50 ÷ 2 − 3) × 8 (10)
Score: 31–30 (max 52, jos 51)
Cindy does 146 × 4, which is actually 584. So high on adrenaline? Rachel's 72 × 8 is unorthodox but it works.
Unsurprisingly, John talks about the 4th-longest place name in the world.
Round 7: N Q O L K U M G A
Cindy: QUANGO (6)
Anthony: GAUL (4)
OT: KAGOUL (6) KALONG (6) KULANG (6) LANUGO (6) NOGAKU (6)
Score: 37–30 (max 58, jos 57)
Darren-o-meter: 1/5 (20%)
A load of sixes here, and Cindy spots one of them.
Round 8: D W I O C O R M U
Cindy: CROWD (5)
Anthony: MOOD (4)
DC: CORIUM (6)
OT: DROMOI (6) MUCOID (6)
Score: 42–30 (max 64, jos 63)
Darren-o-meter: 1/6 (17%)
Cindy extends her lead further with a five, whilst Susie spots one of three obscure sixes.
Round 9: 50, 100, 1, 7, 2, 4. Target: 909.
Cindy: 909. (100 + 1) × (7 + 2) (10)
Anthony: 909. (100 + 1) × (7 + 2) (10)
Score: 52–40 (max 74, jos 73)
Ariana. Nick inadvertently says the lead is 8 points. It's actually 12.
Teatime teaser: MINTNOTE -> OINTMENT
Round 10: S T A L E N B T E
Cindy: TESTABLE (8)
Anthony: TABLETS (7)
DC: NESTABLE (8)
OT: ABLETTES (8) NETTABLE (8)
Score: 60–40 (max 82, jos 81)
Darren-o-meter: 1/7 (14%)
Three -ABLE words there, one of which is spotted by Cindy, to extend her lead to 20 points. She's close enough but she needs to close, woah oh oh oh oh...
Round 11: C S I N A S D E J
Cindy: CANDIES (7)
Anthony: CASES (5)
DC: ACIDNESS (8)
Score: 67–40 (max 90, jos 89)
Darren-o-meter: 2/8 (25%)
Cindy extends the lead out to 27, whilst John spots the darren ACIDNESS, which is a bit of a superfluous term for acidity.
Susie answers a viewer's question on the phrase "money for old rope".
Round 12: T S O U L T E S P
Cindy: TOPLESS (7)
Anthony: poutless (trying)
DC: OUTSLEPT (8)
OT: OUTSTEPS (8) SPOTTLES (8)
Score: 74–40 (max 98, jos 97)
Darren-o-meter: 2/9 (22%)
Stop, drop, roll! A bit of a desperation tactic from Anthony, trying an invalid 8. The lead goes out to 34 points, and now Anthony needs a nine to win it, but Dictionary Corner nabs one of the three available eights.
Round 13: F N I M A L I N R
Cindy: FINIAL (6)
Anthony: FINAL (5)
DC: INFIRM (6)
OT: LAMININ (7)
Score: 80–40 (max 105, jos 103)
Darren-o-meter: 3/10 (30%)
A cheeky darren from the computer to finish, but Anthony only declaring 5 puts Cindy over the line into the semi-promised land of half-octochampdom. Extending the lead to 40, sticking an I in Anthony's word, seems almost immaterial. She's got the place so inferno!
Round 14: 75, 50, 9, 7, 4, 5. Target: 133.
Cindy: 133. 50 + 75 + 7 + 1 (10)
Anthony: 133. 50 + 75 + 9 − (5 − 4) (10)
Score: 90–50 (max 115, jos 113)
And an Ariana to finish.
For new readers, an Ariana is a term I have for an easy numbers game, referring to Ariana Grande's track "thank u, next".
Round 15: C R E W N F O O D
Cindy buzzes on 23.5 seconds to say DOWNFORCE which is correct.
Final Score: 100–50 (max 125, jos 123)
Cindy presses somewhat without conviction to say DOWNFORCE, which pushes her through to tomorrow; she's like fire and gasoline, or, as Rachel says, she is the bee's knees on World Bee Day...
Join us tomorrow for more Countdown.
Oh, and the Adrenalina references? 9.
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=83