Monday 16 June 2008 (Series 58, Quarter-final 3)

[JimBentley]

Monday 16 June 2008 (Series 58, Quarter-final 3)

C1: Tim Reypert, no. 3 seed (8 wins, 773 points)
C2: Richard Priest, no. 6 seed (6 wins, 697 points)
DC: Susie Dent and Dr Phil Hammond


ROUND 1 N T C R E A E E V
ROUND 2 P I U Z P E D O S
ROUND 3 Y R C A I E M S I
ROUND 4 E A O D Q L A O P
ROUND 5 25 10 5 7 8 9 Target 434

TTT 1 SITSPAIN Head up or head down, they see it all in black & white

ROUND 6 N E E G F A T I R
ROUND 7 B L G E O I S M L
ROUND 8 O A N S R U T R A
ROUND 9 R N H E I O E S F
ROUND 10 50 8 10 3 8 5 Target 711

TTT 2 TAILFINS We're on the lookout for one of these this week

ROUND 11 A I N S D X O U T
ROUND 12 J K S I A B I T R
ROUND 13 S N T C E O A D T
ROUND 14 100 4 10 6 6 5 Target 861

ROUND 15 F I N E S T H A M


As we enter the final week of what has been a memorable series, it's time for the third quarter-final. Nominally in the champion's chair is Tim Reypert, who first appeared back in February, reeling off eight successive wins (including three centuries and a high score of 113, average score 96.63).

Facing him today is Richard Priest (an esteemed member of this very forum), who made his debut in March, defeating Tony Durrant 110-87 in a cracking game (up until this point, Tony had looked pretty likely to make it to the finals himself, so this was no mean feat). Richard followed this up with another five wins before succumbing to Nigel Davies by the narrowest of margins in his seventh game. Richard scored very well in all his games (110, 91, 109, 105, 101, 98 and a losing 83), giving him a very high average of 99.57.

Looking back at the games in more detail, it's almost impossible to separate Tim and Richard on either the letters or the numbers games, they seem astonishingly evenly-matched. Should be a close one, then:


ROUND 1 N T C R E A E E V

C1: CREATE (6)
C2: VETERAN (7)
DC: EVENTER (7)
OT: ENERVATE, VENERATE (8)
Max: 8 (8)
Score: 0 - 7

ROUND 2 P I U Z P E D O S

C1: ZIPPED (6)
C2: ZIPPED (6)
DC: UPSIZED (7)
OT: DOPPIES, DUPPIES (7)
>>> DOPPIE (noun) South African term for a tot of liquor; DUPPY (noun, plural DUPPIES) West Indian term for a malevolent spirit or ghost
Max: 7 (15)
Score: 6 - 13

ROUND 3 Y R C A I E M S I

C1: CREAMY (6)
C2: CREAMS (6)
DC: SMEARY, RACISM, MISERY (6)
OT: AMICES, ARMIES, CARIES, CRIMES, ERICAS, MACERS, SAMIER, SARMIE, SCREAM (6)
>>> AMICE (noun) a white linen cloth worn on the neck and shoulders by a priest celebrating the Eucharist; ERICA (noun) a plant of the genus Erica, especially heather; MACER (noun) in Scotland, an official who keeps order in a law court; SARMIE (noun) South African term for a sandwich
Max: 6 (21)
Score: 12 - 19

ROUND 4 E A O D Q L A O P

C1: POODLE (6)
C2: POOLED (6)
DC: PEDALO (6)
OT: LOOPED (6)
Max: 6 (27)
Score: 18 - 25

ROUND 5 25 10 5 7 8 9 Target 434

C1: 434 = ((10 + 7) x 25) + 9
C2: 434 = ((10 + 7) x 25) + 9
CV:
Max: 10 (37)
Score: 28 - 35

Tea Time Teaser 1 SITSPAIN = PIANISTS

ROUND 6 N E E G F A T I R

C1: FEARING (7)
C2: FEARING (7)
DC: GRATINEE (8)
OT: ENARGITE (8)
>>> ENARGITE (mass noun) a dark grey mineral consisting of a sulphide of copper and arsenic
Max: 8 (45)
Score: 35 - 42

ROUND 7 B L G E O I S M L

C1: limboes (x) - it's LIMBOS only
C2: MOLLIES (7)
DC:
OT: GOLLIES, MOBILES, OBLIGES (7)
>>> GOLLY (noun, plural GOLLIES) informal term for a GOLLIWOG
Max: 7 (52)
Score: 35 - 49

ROUND 8 O A N S R U T R A

C1: OUTRAN (6)
C2: OUTRAN (6)
DC: SONATA (6), SUTRA (5)
OT: AURORAS (7)
Max: 7 (59)
Score: 41 - 55

ROUND 9 R N H E I O E S F

C1: FRESHEN (7)
C2: HEROINES (8)
DC: HEROINES (8), HEIFERS (7)
OT: HEROINES is a quality spot, it's the only eight
Max: 8 (67)
Score: 41 - 63

ROUND 10 50 8 10 3 8 5 Target 711

C1: 710 = (8 + 8 + 5 + 50) x 10
C2: 703
CV: 712
OT: No closer than 710 or 712 is possible on this one
Max: 7 (74)
Score: 48 - 63

Tea Time Teaser 2 TAILFINS = FINALIST

ROUND 11 A I N S D X O U T

C1: ANXIOUS (7)
C2: OXIDANTS (8)
DC: OXIDANTS (8)
OT: Richard is bang on form today, OXIDANTS is the only eight
Max: 8 (82)
Score: 48 - 71

ROUND 12 J K S I A B I T R

C1: BRISK (5)
C2: BAITS (5)
DC: TIBIAS (6)
OT: KITABS, KRAITS, TIKIAS (6), SIRTAKI (7)
>>> KITAB (noun) among Muslims, a sacred book, usually the Koran, but also of other religions (such as the Bible); KRAIT (noun) a highly venomous snake of the cobra family; TIKIA (noun) an Indian fried cake of spiced meat or mashed potato; SIRTAKI (noun, also SYRTAKI) a Greek folk dance in which dancers form a line or chain
Max: 7 (89)
Score: 53 - 76

ROUND 13 S N T C E O A D T

C1: decatons (x)
C2: COASTED (7)
DC:
OT: ATTENDS, CONTEST, COSTATE, DEACONS, DECANTS, DESCANT, DOCENTS, DONATES, NOTATED, NOTATES, OCTANTS, SCANTED, SCATTED, TOASTED (7)
>>> COSTATE (adjective) possessing ribs; DESCANT (noun) an independent treble melody sung or played above a basic melody; DOCENT (noun) in certain US and European universities, a member of the teaching staff immediately below professorial level; OCTANT (noun) an arc of a circle equal to one eighth of its circumference
Max: 7 (96)
Score: 53 - 83

ROUND 14 100 4 10 6 6 5 Target 861

C1: 0
C2: 859 = ((10 - (6 / 6)) x (100 - 4)) - 5
CV: 860
OT: 861 = (100 x 10) - (6 x 6 x 4) + 5
Max: 10 (106)
Score: 53 - 90

ROUND 15 - Conundrum

F I N E S T H A M



Neither player gets the answer, but from the audience ... MINESHAFT
Max: 10 (116)
Score: 53 - 90


A fine performance from Richard today (HEROINES and OXIDANTS were especially impressive) sees him into the semi-finals with a larger winning margin than might have been expected before the game began. Tim played fairly solidly, but possibly not as well as he has in the past (the disallowed words, in the end, didn't really make much of a difference).

So, it's the underdogs who will be contesting the second semi-final; Richard (no. 6 seed) will return on Thursday to face Peter Davies (no. 7 seed) in what should be another excellent, tightly-fought game.


Further summaries are at:
http://www.sooreams.com/cd/series.asp?series=58


Written by Veronica Purdey & Jim Bentley

[Jon Corby]

ROUND 7 B L G E O I S M L

C1: limboes (x) - it's LIMBOS only

Are we definitely sure on this one? LIMBO is in as a verb, I can't think of another verb that ends in an -O that doesn't take the +E when you conjugate it in the present tense?

[JimBentley]

ROUND 7 B L G E O I S M L

C1: limboes (x) - it's LIMBOS only

Are we definitely sure on this one? LIMBO is in as a verb, I can't think of another verb that ends in an -O that doesn't take the +E when you conjugate it in the present tense?

Nor can I, but to be honest I was just going on what the lovely Susie said. The dictionary doesn't specify any verb endings, so I figured it was just LIMBO-LIMBOS-LIMBOING-LIMBOED...I know, it seems odd.

[Jon Corby]

The dictionary doesn't specify any verb endings, so I figured it was just LIMBO-LIMBOS-LIMBOING-LIMBOED...I know, it seems odd.

Yeah, you're right, it specifies the -OES for radioes, discoes, etc (I write etc even though I haven't checked any others).

Does seem weird, but I guess the dictionary is the law.

(It's also in my dictionary, so I'm taking it out!)

[Julian Fell]

Yeah I noticed that anomaly as well Corby (you can add VIDEOES, TANGOES, ZEROES to your list, and I can't think of another -OS verb either...); bit unlucky there was our Tim. I wonder if it's because there simply aren't any examples of the verb LIMBO in the third-person present tense in the British Reading Corpus...