Preliminary 111 in this series. Nelson.Countdown recap for Monday 7 June 2021.
Nick talks about dodgy and ambiguous quiz answers, almost as though he is attempting to annoy this forum. Examples include not getting points for "Mahatma Gandhi" (as Mahatma is a title) and "Kilimanjaro" rather than "Mount Kilimanjaro".
C1: Champion Louis Ross (6 wins, 560 points.)
C2: Challenger Patrick Robertson. Playwright from Newcastle, originally from London. Now writing a romantic novel. Judging by his shirt, it'll be titled Fifty Shades of Red. Moved there for Uni in 2006 and never left. Not sure if he never left Uni, or just never left Newcastle.
DC: Susie Dent and Dr Phil Hammond.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: U O A T N R T S O
R02: G N S E O E R M I
R03: 50, 8, 3, 10, 7, 4. Target: 874.
TTT: OPALSTAR - "Took care of Beethoven's 6th out in the country."
R04: H G P A U A V N E
R05: A I O R P S H L A
R06: 50, 2, 4, 8, 9, 3. Target: 626.
R07: E A O Y N L T O W
R08: S L G T I E I U C
R09: 50, 5, 1, 7, 8, 3. Target: 510.
TTT: BESTIDEA - "It's not the best idea to ignore the symptoms of this."
R10: D E F D O A S K E
R11: E I A S R C B P I
R12: N T L D E A I L M
R13: O E O R N C F I R
R14: 100, 8, 7, 5, 2, 7. Target: 110.
R15: N I C K S Q U A D (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: U O A T N R T S O
Louis: RATOONS (7)
Patrick: TROUTS (6)
DC: TRUANTS (7) OUTRANTS (8)
OT: NOTATORS (8)
Score: 7–0 (max 8, jos 8)
Darren-o-meter: 0/1 (0%)
Louis leads straight away with an excellent 7, whilst Dictionary Corner get us to 8.
Round 2: G N S E O E R M I
Louis: mongers (stick with) (not a word on its own)
Patrick: SEEMING (7)
DC: IGNORES (7) REGIONS (7)
OT: MONERGIES (18)
Score: 7–7 (max 26, jos 15)
Darren-o-meter: 1/2 (50%)
Louis sticks with a 7, but MONGERS^ turns out to be invalid, as it's only listed in the dictionary as a suffix and not a word in its own right. He is not asked for his 8 or 9, which is a shame because that may well have scored. Dictionary Corner miss the niner.
Round 3: 50, 8, 3, 10, 7, 4. Target: 874.
Louis: 875.
Patrick: 874. (10 + 7) × 50 + 8 × 3 (10)
Score: 7–17 (max 36, jos 25)
A bad miss from Louis and now he's playing catch-up.
Teatime teaser: OPALSTAR
Clue: "Took care of Beethoven's 6th out in the country."
Answer: PASTORAL
Round 4: H G P A U A V N E
Louis: HAVEN (5) (stick with)
Patrick: VAGUE (5)
DC: GUAVA (5) PAVANE (6)
OT: HAVAGE (6) PAVAGE (6) UNPAVE (6)
Score: 12–22 (max 42, jos 31)
Darren-o-meter: 1/3 (33%)
Once again Louis "sticks with" a five and is not asked for anything longer. Nothing beyond six, so maybe it was UNPAVE? Which seems of appropriate unsurenesses. We'll never know.
Round 5: A I O R P S H L A
Louis: POLISH (6)
Patrick: PAIRS (5)
DC: PHRASAL (7)
OT: PHALARIS (8)
Score: 18–22 (max 50, jos 38)
Darren-o-meter: 2/4 (50%)
Louis more than halves the lead with Patrick stuck on five. Dictionary Corner drop another point.
Round 6: 50, 2, 4, 8, 9, 3. Target: 626.
Louis: 626. (50 + 2) × (9 + 3) + 8 ÷ 4 (10)
Patrick: -
Score: 28–22 (max 60, jos 48)
Patrick's turn to miss a numbers round as Louis gets a slightly difficult 626.
Dr Phil talks about COVID-19 - of course he does - and talks about "hoping for a massive upsurge in hugging" and spends far too long talking about hugging. Apparently we hug dogs more than we hug wives. Given I don't have (nor want) either of them, I'm not particularly relating well to this one here.
Round 7: E A O Y N L T O W
Louis: TALON (5)
Patrick: TOWEL (5)
DC: ETALON (6) NEATLY (6)
OT: OWELTY (6) TOWNLY (6) WANTEY (6) WANTLE (6)
Score: 33–27 (max 66, jos 54)
Darren-o-meter: 2/5 (40%)
Both contestants miss six available sixes.
Round 8: S L G T I E I U C
Louis: GLUIEST (7) (risk)
Patrick: GLUTES (6)
DC: UGLIEST (7) UTILISE (7)
OT: CLUIEST (7) ELICITS (7)
Score: 40–27 (max 73, jos 61)
Darren-o-meter: 2/6 (33%)
Louis's risk of 7 pays off, egged on by Patrick's six (so maybe a 7 vs 5 situation?) and GLUIEST is in the Dictionary, to everybody's amazement.
Round 9: 50, 5, 1, 7, 8, 3. Target: 510.
Louis: 510. (50 + 1) × (7 + 3) (10)
Patrick: 510. (50 + 1) × (7 + 3) (10)
Score: 50–37 (max 83, jos 71)
Ariana.
Teatime teaser: BESTIDEA
Clue: "It's not the best idea to ignore the symptoms of this."
Answer: DIABETES
Not everything is a metaphor for the pandemic... not everything is a metaphor for the pandemic... not everything is a metaphor for the pandemic...
Round 10: D E F D O A S K E
Louis: SOAKED (6)
Patrick: FAKES (5)
OT: DEAKED (6) EDDOES (6)
Score: 56–37 (max 89, jos 77)
Darren-o-meter: 2/7 (29%)
Louis's six is not matched by DC, although there were two other, fairly obscure, sixes there.
Round 11: E I A S R C B P I
Louis: SPACIER (7) (try)
Patrick: SPACER (6)
DC: ASCRIBE (7) PIRACIES (8)
Score: 63–37 (max 97, jos 85)
Darren-o-meter: 3/8 (38%)
Risk and reward as SPACIER is indeed valid and Patrick is presumably incredulous or angry with himself. We don't get a shot of him so we don't know. Nice darren from Susie.
Susie receives an email from the wonderfully-named Charity Hall asking for clarification for a crossword clue, referring to "toasting" someone (i.e. drinking to their health).
Round 12: N T L D E A I L M
Louis: MINTED (6)
Patrick: TALLIED (7)
DC: AILMENT (7) ALIMENT (7) MEDIANT (7)
OT: LANDTIE (7) MALLEIN (7) MANILLE (7) MANTLED (7) MITELLA (7) TELLINA (7)
Score: 63–44 (max 104, jos 92)
Darren-o-meter: 4/9 (44%)
Louis is the only person in the studio to miss approximately a million 7s. Dr Phil sees TALLIED but doesn't spot the two medical terms Susie reads out.
Round 13: O E O R N C F I R
Louis: CONIFER (7)
Patrick: CROONER (7)
DC: CORNIER (7)
OT: CORONER (7)
Score: 70–51 (max 111, jos 99)
Darren-o-meter: 4/10 (40%)
CONIFER prompts Dr Phil to talk about CORNEA, which in turn prompts Susie to spot CORNIER.
With the gap at 19 points, Patrick is offered the Rachel gamble, and once again declines.
Round 14: 100, 8, 7, 5, 2, 7. Target: 110.
Louis: 110. 100 + 8 + 2 (10)
Patrick: 110. 100 + 8 + 2 (10)
Score: 80–61 (max 121, jos 109)
Rachel wails that if only Patrick had gambled...! Well, to be honest, Rachel, 110 would have been seen any which way, surely... It puts Louis across the line and onto his 7th win.
Round 15: N I C K S Q U A D
Louis buzzes on 3.25 seconds to say QUICKSAND which is correct.
Final Score: 90–61 (max 131, jos 119)
And with another conundrum solve, Louis gets his total into the 90s and with 7 wins he will certainly be back for the finals now. Will he be in the top half of the board? Join us tomorrow to find out.
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=83