Countdown recap for Monday 16 August 2021.
"It's Tell a Joke Day. Please don't." Anne says her favourite modern comedian is Lee Mack.
C1: Champion Matt Gould (6 wins, 511 points.)
C2: Challenger Roy Gerrish. A chimney sweep. Probably formerly appeared on Countdown in 2007.
DC: Susie Dent and Jeremy Thompson. Susie once had a cameo appearance in a hot tub with Lee Mack on Not Going Out.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: P T G S U E E U D
R02: R D C N E O E B I
R03: 75, 5, 9, 4, 4, 5. Target: 784.
TTT: TEARAZIP - "These sort of shapes are often seen at the circus."
R04: S T M D E O A N E
R05: J K C T I I E O A
R06: 25, 5, 4, 5, 8, 6. Target: 264.
R07: G L R E I E T W Y
R08: N V T L E A W U S
R09: 5, 4, 8, 2, 1, 9. Target: 896.
TTT: IDLESLAP - "If you know who Lemmy is, you'll know this is his favourite card."
R10: C N R I S A M R O
R11: S T L P A I A I H
R12: B S L S U O E H O
R13: A O O E D R P F T
R14: 25, 10, 2, 5, 5, 10. Target: 727.
R15: D E A R N E L L Y (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: P T G S U E E U D
Matt: GUSTED (6) (try)
Roy: GUESTED (7)
DC: DEPUTES (7)
Score: 0–7 (max 7, jos 7)
Darren-o-meter: 0/1 (0%)
Roy with an early lead here. He says he practises by watching Countdown every day. He's 58 years old.
Round 2: R D C N E O E B I
Matt: BINDER (6)
Roy: COINED (6) - rejected RECOINED
DC: CORNED (6) RECOINED (8)
Score: 6–13 (max 15, jos 15)
Darren-o-meter: 1/2 (50%)
Roy rejecting RECOINED gives up a net 8 points here. He could have been leading 15-0.
Round 3: 75, 5, 9, 4, 4, 5. Target: 784.
Matt: 785. (5 + 5) × (75 + 4) + 9 − 4 (7)
Roy: 785. (not written down) (5 − 4 + 9) × (4 + 75) − 5 (7)
RR: 785. (7)
OT: 784. (5 × 4 × 4 + 75) × 5 + 9 (10)
Score: 13–20 (max 25, jos 22)
Both contestants are one away, and this is so difficult that it even defeats Rachel.
Teatime teaser: TEARAZIP -> TRAPEZIA
Round 4: S T M D E O A N E
Matt: DONATES (7)
Roy: DEMOTES (7)
DC: STEAMED (7) esteemed (touch 9 from JT) NEMATODES (18)
Score: 20–27 (max 43, jos 40)
Darren-o-meter: 2/3 (67%)
Sevens from both contestants, a touch nine and a proper nine from DC.
Round 5: J K C T I I E O A
Matt: JACKET (6)
Roy: JACKET (6)
OT: COTIJA (6) KEITAI (6) TACKIE (6)
Score: 26–33 (max 49, jos 46)
Darren-o-meter: 2/4 (50%)
Even Jeremy realises that Matt was fishing for an A! It's the only one of the four available that is seen.
Round 6: 25, 5, 4, 5, 8, 6. Target: 264.
Matt: 264. (5 + 5) × 25 + 8 + 6 (10)
Roy: 264. (5 + 5) × 25 + 8 + 6 (10)
Score: 36–43 (max 59, jos 56)
Easy enough for both contestants and the gap remains at 7 points.
Jeremy provides some of his highlights from his 50 years in journalism, including the end of the Troubles, the end of apartheid, and the end of the Cold War.
Round 7: G L R E I E T W Y
Matt: RETILE (6) (I think)
Roy: RELIT (5)
DC: lieger LIEGE (5) LEERY (5)
OT: LEGERITY (8)
Score: 42–43 (max 67, jos 62)
Darren-o-meter: 3/5 (60%)
Matt sees a six and DC cannot even match him. The gap comes down to one point.
Round 8: N V T L E A W U S
Matt: VALETS (6)
Roy: WALNUTS (7)
DC: LEVANTS (7)
OT: ELUANTS (7) LUNATES (7)
Score: 42–50 (max 74, jos 69)
Darren-o-meter: 3/6 (50%)
Roy hits back with another round win, which gets him to an eight-point lead.
Round 9: 5, 4, 8, 2, 1, 9. Target: 896.
Matt: 900. (not written down) (8 + 2) × (5 + 4 + 1) × 9 (7)
Roy: 900. (8 + 2) × (5 + 4 + 1) × 9 (7)
RR: 896. (5 + 9) × 2 × 4 × 8 (10)
Score: 49–57 (max 84, jos 79)
Four away on both fronts here, and it's left up to Rachel to just have fun with a calculator and times all the numbers together.
Teatime teaser: IDLESLAP -> SPADILLE
Round 10: C N R I S A M R O
Matt: acronism (try) (misspelling of ACHRONISM)
Roy: MINORS (6)
DC: MICRONS (7) MANOIRS (7)
OT: RAMICORNS (18)
Score: 49–63 (max 102, jos 86)
Darren-o-meter: 4/7 (57%)
A six from Roy which extends his lead up to 14 after Matt misspells ACHRONISM. A nine goes begging.
Round 11: S T L P A I A I H
Matt: HALTS (5)
Roy: TILAPIA (7) - rejected TILAPIAS
DC: TILAPIAS (8)
Score: 49–70 (max 110, jos 94)
Darren-o-meter: 5/8 (63%)
"Gia always claims to be fresh tilapia - the cheapest fish at the grocery store." -- Bianca Del Rio, 2014
Susie wants to resurrect the word absquatulate, which means to do a runner. She also makes arguments for goshbusted, dumfungled, and flustrated.
Round 12: B S L S U O E H O
Matt: BLOUSES (7)
Roy: BLOUSE (6)
DC: BUSHELS (7)
OT: OBOLUSES (8)
Score: 56–70 (max 118, jos 101)
Darren-o-meter: 6/9 (67%)
Matt fights back with a blunder from Roy, not putting an S on BLOUSE.
Round 13: A O O E D R P F T
Matt: POOFTER (7)
Roy: PROOFED (7)
DC: FOOTPAD (7)
OT: ADOPTER (7) ADOPTOR (7) FORETOP (7) PADFOOT (7) PROTEAD (7) READOPT (7) TORPEDO (7) TROOPED (7)
Score: 63–77 (max 125, jos 108)
Darren-o-meter: 6/10 (60%)
A bit of controversy here, as many on Twitter are cross at the lack of a bleep here for POOFTER, including Scott Bryan, Guardian journalist and BBC podcaster. I have to say I agree with him - not sure that other, less offensive, words wouldn't have been bleeped.
Round 14: 25, 10, 2, 5, 5, 10. Target: 727.
Matt: 725. (not written down) (2 × 10 + 10 − 5 ÷ 5) × 25 (7)
Roy: -
RR: 727. 25 × 5 × 5 + 10 × 10 + 2 (10)
Score: 70–77 (max 135, jos 118)
725 not written down from Matt gets him a crucial conundrum, then...
Round 15: D E A R N E L L Y
Matt buzzes on 1.75 seconds to say LEARNEDLY which is correct.
Final Score: 80–77 (max 145, jos 125)
Rachel: "in the end, it was swept away from the chimney sweep". Matt makes it 7 wins then, and tomorrow he could become the second octochamp of the series. Join us then. Goodbye.
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=84