Countdown recap for Thursday 26 August 2021.
Anne tells us it's Kiss and Make Up day. Being my birthday, I'm not going to take that advice. My exes will not be contacted today...
C1: Champion Jeremy Slaney (6 wins, 573 points.) Returnee from 2002. Gardener from Kent.
C2: Challenger David King. Also from Kent. Anne describes him as good-looking. Househusband - or whatever the term is since he is not married. Plays online poker. Claims he doesn't lose.
DC: Susie Dent and Myleene Klass.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: G N S Y E I I E P
R02: C A R V N W E O R
R03: 75, 9, 3, 9, 8, 7. Target: 215.
TTT: TORNAHAM - "She's torn a hamstring; no long-distance running today."
R04: P I T G N L T I E
R05: D R M U A A I S T
R06: 100, 10, 5, 5, 2, 7. Target: 358.
R07: B S K E A A S W T
R08: C U F N L M I E R
R09: 9, 1, 4, 2, 1, 8. Target: 982.
TTT: LACELUSH - "She gave them a whack and was left hopping mad."
R10: S O D P B N O A L
R11: S D G E U E A H M
R12: T O Z D R G A E D
R13: L S R A A E O T F
R14: 25, 100, 50, 75, 6, 1. Target: 814.
R15: V A U L T C I T E (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: G N S Y E I I E P
Jeremy: SEEPING (7)
David: SPYING (6)
DC: ESPYING (7)
OT: EPIGYNIES (18)
Score: 7–0 (max 18, jos 7)
Darren-o-meter: 1/1 (100%)
We start the day with an overlooked nine as Jeremy takes an early lead.
Round 2: C A R V N W E O R
Jeremy: WARREN (6)
David: CROWNER (7) - rejected RECROWN, also fine
DC: RECROWN (7) OVERRAN (7)
OT: CAREWORN (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 26, jos 14)
Darren-o-meter: 2/2 (100%)
David is left with that eternal conundrum of RE- or -ER, and it turns out both were fine here. It levels the tie.
Round 3: 75, 9, 3, 9, 8, 7. Target: 215.
Jeremy: 215. 75 × 3 − 9 − (9 − 8) (10)
David: 215. 75 × 3 − (9 − 7) − 8 (10)
Score: 17–17 (max 36, jos 24)
thank u, next
Teatime teaser: TORNAHAM -> MARATHON
Round 4: P I T G N L T I E
Jeremy: PETTING (7)
David: PELTING (7)
DC: PITTLING (8)
OT: PLETTING (8)
Score: 24–24 (max 44, jos 32)
Darren-o-meter: 2/3 (67%)
And once more, sevens are the order of the day, although perhaps both contestants will be slightly downhearted to miss the eights.
Round 5: D R M U A A I S T
Jeremy: STADIUM (7) (stick with) - rejected dramaist
David: TRAUMAS (7)
DC: MUSTARD (7) SAMURAI (7) ATRIUMS (7)
OT: DATURIAS (8)
Score: 31–31 (max 52, jos 39)
Darren-o-meter: 3/4 (75%)
Jeremy is right not to risk DRAMAIST^ - realising a day late and a dollar short that it's dramaTist. Everyone misses the darrenic eight, although SAMURAI is a great 4-vowels-out-of-7 word.
Round 6: 100, 10, 5, 5, 2, 7. Target: 358.
Jeremy: 359. (not written down) 100 ÷ 2 × 7 + 10 − 5 ÷ 5 (7)
David: 356.
OT: 358. (100 ÷ 5 + 10) × (7 + 5) − 2 (10)
Score: 38–31 (max 62, jos 46)
Difficult one here, but Jeremy sees a good solution for one away. 358 only had one method, which is missed by Rachel.
Myleene talks about her fashion designing offshoot career. She says she has worn some of her outfits this week. Yeah - we can tell. She talks about the difficulties of selling in different countries to different specifications, both regulatory and practical. She than talks of sustainable fabrics, leading into a discussion over environmentalism. Proper environmentalism, not "glue ourselves to pink plastic whilst performing something worse than a D in GCSE Drama in Trafalgar Square as we "arrest" a broccoli"... just in case XR are reading this. That Myleene section was also a whopping 5 minutes long...
Round 7: B S K E A A S W T
Jeremy: STEAKS (6) "as in the food"
David: BASKETS (7)
Score: 38–38 (max 69, jos 53)
Darren-o-meter: 4/5 (80%)
A shame that Jeremy specified -EAK, because David has just driven a STAKE through Jeremy's chances of becoming a septochamp. Heptochamp. 7-time winner.
Round 8: C U F N L M I E R
Jeremy: refilm
David: FILMER (6)
DC: MERCIFUL (8)
OT: CRIMEFUL (8)
Score: 38–44 (max 77, jos 61)
Darren-o-meter: 4/6 (67%)
I'm extremely surprised, as is Susie, that REFILM^ is not in. In fact, both are a little surprising. Is REFILM^ hyphenated, then? Valid in CSW according to Apto.
Round 9: 9, 1, 4, 2, 1, 8. Target: 982.
Jeremy: -
David: -
RR: 972. (5)
OT: 972. (8 + 1) × 9 × 4 × (2 + 1) (5)
Score: 38–44 (max 82, jos 66)
Six small, Two 1s and a target starting with 9? Yeah, that was always going to happen.
Teatime teaser: LACELUSH -> HALLUCES
Round 10: S O D P B N O A L
Jeremy: SPOON (5)
David: POOLS (5)
DC: BALOONS (7)
OT: POBLANOS (8)
Score: 43–49 (max 90, jos 73)
Darren-o-meter: 5/7 (71%)
Susie not having her best day as another point slips through the Jos score. Both contestants are stuck on five.
Round 11: S D G E U E A H M
Jeremy: HEDGES (6)
David: HEDGES (6)
DC: MESHUGA (7)
OT: SMEGHEAD (8)
Score: 49–55 (max 98, jos 80)
Darren-o-meter: 6/8 (75%)
SMEGHEAD, according to Lexico, is "a fool or contemptible person", but I prefer my alternative definition - someone who's got their head stuck in a fridge. Geddit?
Susie talks about the origin of "scally" (short for "scallywag"), a Liverpudlian term which Anne will no doubt be familiar with.
Round 12: T O Z D R G A E D
Jeremy: GRAZED (6)
David: GRATED (6)
DC: TOERAG (6)
OT: ADORED (6) DARTED (6) DEODAR (6) DODGER (6) DOGATE (6) DOTAGE (6) DOTARD (6) GADDER (6) GOADED (6) GRADED (6) ORATED (6) ORGEAT (6) ROADED (6) TADGER (6) TODGER (6) TOGAED (6) TRADED (6)
Score: 55–61 (max 104, jos 86)
Darren-o-meter: 6/9 (67%)
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Round 13: L S R A A E O T F
Jeremy: REFLOATS (8)
David: FASTER (6)
DC: FLOATERS (8) (from AR)
Score: 63–61 (max 112, jos 94)
Darren-o-meter: 6/10 (60%)
There's a FLOATER on Round 13. That's disgusting. Anyway, Jeremy, like David earlier, can do RE- and -ER with no problem at all here, and his eight crucially gets his nose in front.
David goes for a 4 large pick. Psychologically, it suggests he doesn't back himself on the conundrum, as it will still be crucial even if David gets 10 and Jeremy 0 here.
Round 14: 25, 100, 50, 75, 6, 1. Target: 814.
Jeremy: -
David: -
OT: 814. (75 − 1) × (50 − 6) × 25 ÷ 100 (10)
Score: 63–61 (max 122, jos 94)
Not even Rachel declares anything. Gamble backfired? Possibly. It was going to be a crucial anyway (unless Jeremy won that round), and here comes today's... crucial... Countdown conundrum.
Round 15: V A U L T C I T E
Jeremy buzzes on 1.25 second to say CULTIVATE which is correct.
Final Score: 73–61 (max 132, jos 104)
Possibly a little easy for a gardener to spot CULTIVATE, but then again I'm assuming Clarkson's Farm hadn't come out when the filming on this episode was done (which probably increased the ubiquity of CULTIVATE tenfold). Anyway, 1.25 seconds is more than enough for Jeremy to take a seventh win.
Rachel says she's still looking for 74 times 11, and she's got the right idea but there's only way of doing it, which is above. She even stares at her clipboard through the credits, before possibly indicating just as the credits finish that she thinks she may have it.
Anyway, we'll be back tomorrow to see if Jeremy can make it back-to-back octochamps. No idea what time we're on tomorrow due to Paralympics, but join us again for Countdown. Goodbye.
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=84