Tuesday 25th May 2021 (Series 83, Preliminary 102)

[Rhys Benjamin]

Countdown recap for Tuesday 25 May 2021.

Nick tells us it's Geek Pride day. Apparently started in 2006. Remember when Geek Chic was a thing? Unfortunately, Nick is too old to appreciate geek pride and being proud of being a geek.

C1: Champion Jenny Badger (1 win, 79 points.)
C2: Challenger Jonathan Williams. Accounting and Finance Student from Hudds Uni.
DC: Susie Dent and John Inverdale.
RR: Rachel Riley. Wearing a dress with puffy sleeves. Not sure it works, personally.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: S N E O A P C O E
R02: N T U O S O I R K
R03: 50, 2, 4, 9, 10, 7. Target: 797.
TTT: MOBSLIME - "You might to have think like a clot for this one."
R04: A E N P W O D L A
R05: S T V O I E S N S
R06: 25, 50, 100, 6, 1, 1. Target: 358.
R07: B R D I A T E P E
R08: R S B U I R E A Y
R09: 75, 2, 6, 7, 9, 3. Target: 348.
TTT: SLOGFINS - "Adopting good dental hygiene with a dance move."
R10: T D R E A S L A T
R11: L R M O E E L N H
R12: L T R A I G O N G
R13: M C G N A I I U F
R14: 25, 50, 9, 1, 5, 2. Target: 116.
R15: C A W S C H O O L (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: S N E O A P C O E

Jenny: CAPONS (6)
Jonathan: ESCAPE (6)
DC: CANOES (6) OCEANS (6) PECANS (6)
OT: POONACS (7)
Score: 6–6 (max 7, jos 6)
Darren-o-meter: 1/1 (100%)

Good start for both contestants, and only the computer can spot the darren.

Round 2: N T U O S O I R K

Jenny: ROOTS (5)
Jonathan: TOURS (5)
DC: TORSION (7)
OT: TOURNOIS (8)
Score: 11–11 (max 15, jos 13)
Darren-o-meter: 2/2 (100%)

Only five for the contestants, Susie can take you to seven, but the computer can take you to eight.

Round 3: 50, 2, 4, 9, 10, 7. Target: 797.

Jenny: 796. (10 + 7) × 50 − 9 × (4 + 2) (7)
Jonathan: 800.
RR: 797. (9 + 7) × 50 − (10 − 4) ÷ 2 (10)
Score: 18–11 (max 25, jos 23)

Jenny takes a 7-point lead whilst Rachel shows us how to find the missing 3 from 800.

Teatime teaser: MOBSLIME -> EMBOLISM

Round 4: A E N P W O D L A

Jenny: LOANED (6)
Jonathan: PLANE (5)
DC: PLANED (6)
OT: ANODAL (6) APNOEA (6) APODAL (6) AWENDA (6) DEWLAP (6) LAWNED (6) LOWNED (6) PALONE (6) PANADE (6) PANDAL (6) PANELA (6) PAWNED (6) PEDALO (6) WEAPON (6)
Score: 24–11 (max 31, jos 29)
Darren-o-meter: 2/3 (67%)

Jonathan does not add the D onto his word and thus misses one of approximately a million 6s, allowing Jenny to extend her lead to 13 points.

Round 5: S T V O I E S N S

Jenny: STOVES (6)
Jonathan: NOSIEST (7)
DC: STOVIES (7) INVESTS (7)
OT: SONSIEST (8) STENOSIS (8)
Score: 24–18 (max 39, jos 36)
Darren-o-meter: 2/4 (50%)

Jonathan manages to take a 7 and reduce the deficit to six, but once again Susie and John cannot get the max.

Round 6: 25, 50, 100, 6, 1, 1. Target: 358.

Jenny: 350. 6 ÷ (1 + 1) × 100 + 50 (5)
Jonathan: 356. Mistake in working.
RR: 357. "51 × 7" (7)
Score: 29–18 (max 46, jos 43)

This one is impossible, and Rachel's "51 times 7" is very lazy, but it's obvious as to how to do that.

John gives us the 85 letter-long longest place name in the world, in New Zealand.

Round 7: B R D I A T E P E

Jenny: PARTED (6)
Jonathan: PIRATED (7)
DC: PARTIED (7)
OT: PREBAITED (18)
Score: 29–25 (max 64, jos 50)
Darren-o-meter: 3/5 (60%)

Another failure by Susie and John to get the max, but another easy stem miss, for Jenny this time, takes the lead down to four points with Jonathan's 7.

Round 8: R S B U I R E A Y

Jenny: braiser
Jonathan: BRAISE (6)
DC: BRUISER (7) BUYERS (6) BURSARY (7)
OT: BRUISEY (7) SABREUR (7)
Score: 29–31 (max 71, jos 57)
Darren-o-meter: 3/6 (50%)

Jonathan has a six, Jenny tries to agent noun it unsuccessfully, which allows Jonathan to take the lead.

Round 9: 75, 2, 6, 7, 9, 3. Target: 348.

Jenny: 342.
Jonathan: 348. (7 − 3) × (75 + 9) + 6 × 2​ (10)
Score: 29–41 (max 81, jos 67)

Jonathan spots this on the nose, although surely 87 times 4 is a better option here? The lead goes out to 12 points.

Teatime teaser: SLOGFINS -> FLOSSING

Round 10: T D R E A S L A T

Jenny: SLATTED (7)
Jonathan: latters ("not sure")
DC: STARTLED (8) STARLET (7) RATTLES (7)
OT: ADSTRATE (8) DATALERS (8)
Score: 36–41 (max 89, jos 75)
Darren-o-meter: 3/7 (43%)

Jenny's 7 reduces the lead to five points. LATTER is, obviously, in, but not as a verb or noun, so +S is not valid.

Round 11: L R M O E E L N H

Jenny: HOLLER (6)
Jonathan: REHOME (6)
OT: RELLENO (7)
Score: 42–47 (max 96, jos 81)
Darren-o-meter: 4/8 (50%)

Another missed max from Susie, whilst Jonathan asks whether one can REHOME, and of course you can. A five-point lead, then, remains the order of the day.

Andrew Harrison writes in to ask how butterflies get their name.

Round 12: L T R A I G O N G

Jenny: RATING (6)
Jonathan: GRATING (7)
DC: GLOATING (8) TRIGONAL (8)
OT: GOATLING (8)
Score: 42–54 (max 104, jos 89)
Darren-o-meter: 4/9 (44%)

And another easy stem miss from Jenny which gives Jonathan a 12-point lead, whilst Susie can take you to eight.

Round 13: M C G N A I I U F

Jenny: FACING (6)
Jonathan: MANIC (5)
OT: UNMAGIC (7)
Score: 48–54 (max 111, jos 95)
Darren-o-meter: 5/10 (50%)

Susie wasn't even asked, but it would have been a wonderful spot from her had she seen UNMAGIC.

Round 14: 25, 50, 9, 1, 5, 2. Target: 116.

Jenny: 116. 25 × 5 − 9 (10)
Jonathan: 116. 50 × 2 + 25 − 9 (10)
Score: 58–64 (max 121, jos 105)

Easy peasy lemon squeezy, which means we're going down to a crucial conundrum.

Round 15: C A W S C H O O L

Jonathan buzzes on 4 seconds to say LAWSCHOOL which is incorrect.
Jenny does not buzz.
The answer was SLOWCOACH.
Final Score: 58–64 (max 131, jos 115)

A huge blunder from Jonathan as he reads out the scramble but changes one letter, basically. Jenny has 26 seconds to find the solution but fails, and it's a quite difficult answer, beating Susie and Rachel as well for good measure.

So another teapot leaves the Countdown studio, and we have another one-time winner.

Join us again tomorrow.


Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=83