Tuesday 29th November 2011 (Series 65, Prelim 107)

[Liam Tiernan]

Countdown recap for Tuesday 29 November 2011.

C1: Champion Kirsten Thompson (2 wins, 174 points) from Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Her ambition growing up was to be Susie Dent.
C2: Challenger Phyllis Styles from Sevenoaks in Kent. In addition to her own two children , she has been foster mother to over 100 others over a period of 20 years. She now teaches children who are unable to attend school for health reasons. Not the type to be easily flustered then, I'd imagine.

DC: Susie Dent and Robin Cousins.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: R K D A O E T S N
R02: D F I A C N E I S
R03: G O U W T L Z E T
R04: V M L I O E T U S
R05: 100, 50, 10, 4, 9, 5. Target: 314.
TTT: RAYCOMES - "Ray comes along to chop down a big tree."
R06: R P A E B O M A G
R07: R X T P E I U M N
R08: R J I E S D A E W
R09: S M N I I O S C E
R10: 75, 8, 3, 9, 2, 4. Target: 812.
TTT: RINGGILL - "Ring Gill to quiz her abot her cooking methods."
R11: P P R A A E R C O
R12: N V E A H N E I R
R13: L B H U E I T Q A
R14: 50, 5, 7, 9, 9, 1. Target: 259.
R15: A S U R L Y M O O (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: R K D A O E T S N

C1: STROKED (7)
C2: STROKED (7)
DC: DARKENS (7) DONATES (7) RODENTS (7)
OT: DARKNETS (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)

A smooth start from both here.

Round 2: D F I A C N E I S

C1: FANCIED (7)
C2: FIANCES (7)
DC: CANDIES (7)
OT: SCIAENID (8)
Score: 14–14 (max 16)

A SCIAENID is a member of widely distributed family of carnivorous percoid fishes having a large air bladder used to produce sound.

Round 3: G O U W T L Z E T

C1: OUTLET (6)
C2: OUTLET (6)
Score: 20–20 (max 22)

Round 4: V M L I O E T U S

C1: OUTLIVES (8)
C2: MOTIVES (7)
DC: VOLUMISE (8)
Score: 28–20 (max 30)

Kirsten takes the lead, spotting one of the 2 maxes.

Round 5: 100, 50, 10, 4, 9, 5. Target: 314.

C1: 315. (4*100)-(10*9)+5 (7)
C2: -
JS: 314. ((100-10)*4)-50+(9-5) (10)
RR:314. (4*50)+100+9+5
Score: 35–20 (max 40)
Phyllis lets this one get away from her as she fails to get near the target.
Jeff is chomping at the bit to solve this one . Rachel says her way is easier. I did ((50-4)*9)-100. Easier still.

Teatime teaser: RAYCOMES -> SYCAMORE

Round 6: R P A E B O M A G

C1: AMOEBA (6)
C2: PROBE (5)
DC: RAMPAGE (7)
OT: EMBARGO (7)
Score: 41–20 (max 47)

Phyllis fails to score for the third round in a row, while Susie makes sure that Kirsten gets the spelling right.

Round 7: R X T P E I U M N

C1: UMPIRE (6)
C2: PERMIT (6)
DC: PUNTER (6) PINETUM (7)
OT: MIXTURE (7) RUNTIME (7)
Score: 47–26 (max 54)

Phyllis doesn't allow Kirsten to go further ahead here, while Susie finds a 7 with PINETUM, which is a plantation of pine trees.

Round 8: R J I E S D A E W

C1: RAISED (6)
C2: reward
DC: WEARIED (7) WEARIES (7)
OT: DEARIES (7) DRAWEES (7) READIES (7)
Score: 53–26 (max 61)

Phyllis spots her mistake almost immediately after declaring REWARD allowing Kirsten to climb even further in front.
A DRAWEE is the person (or institution) who accepts a check or draft and becomes responsible for payment (coming up with the READIES, you might say).

Round 9: S M N I I O S C E

C1: MISSION (7)
C2: EMISSION (8)
OT: ICONISES (8) SIMONISE (8)
Score: 53–34 (max 69)

This time it's Kirsten who lets one get away as Phyllis spots one of the maxes. To SIMONISE means to polish with wax.

Origin of Words: After yesterdays discussion about cats, it was probably inevitable that todays would be all about dogs, including DOGFACE, dog-in-a-manger and dog in the night-time. I'm betting on horses tomorrow.

Round 10: 75, 8, 3, 9, 2, 4. Target: 812.

C1: 813.
C2: 812. ((75*(8+3)-9-4 (10)
Score: 53–44 (max 79)

And again Kirsten slips up, and the gap is back to 9. Could a comeback be on the cards?

Teatime teaser: RINGGILL -> GRILLING

Round 11: P P R A A E R C O

C1: CROPPER (7)
C2: COPPER (6)
DC: CRAPPER (7)
Score: 60–44 (max 86)

Oops, Phyllis comes a CROPPER here again. Looks like her chance of a comeback just went down the CRAPPER.

Round 12: N V E A H N E I R

C1: HEAVEN (6)
C2: HEAVIER (7)
OT: HERNIAE (7) NERVINE (7)
Score: 60–51 (max 93)

HEAVEN will have to wait a little longer for Kirsten, as Phyllis's contribution carries more weight.

Round 13: L B H U E I T Q A

C1: BATHE (5)
C2: QUILT (5)
DC: HALIBUT (7) TEQUILA (7)
OT: HABITUE (7) LIQUATE (7)
Score: 65–56 (max 100)

Only 5's from both here despite having four 7's available.

Round 14: 50, 5, 7, 9, 9, 1. Target: 259.

C1: 259. (5*50)+9 (10)
C2: 259. (5*50)+9 (10)
Score: 75–66 (max 110)

A simple numbers round brings us to a crucial conundrum.

Round 15: A S U R L Y M O O

C2 buzzes on 24 seconds to say AMOROUSLY which is correct.

A lovely answer from Phyllis with just seconds left, to snatch the game by a single point, having been 27 points behind at halfway.
Final Score: 75–76 (max 120)


Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=65

[Mike Brown]

Great to see this arrive on the day with some nice little comments to boot, Liam.