Monday 6 February 2012 (Series 66, Prelim 21)

[Graeme Cole]

Countdown recap for Monday 6 February 2012.

C1: Champion Jocelyn Menyhart (2 wins, 178 points.) A maths tutor who has had a pair of strong games, even though her strength seems to lie in the letters rounds rather than the numbers as you might expect.
C2: Challenger Victoria James, from Hitchin, Hertfordshire. She works at Arsenal FC as a payroll manager.
DC: Susie Dent and Kate Humble.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: F N M T S A E A I
R02: Q W R E O E Y P W
R03: R V U E H A T U D
R04: D F T P O A U D I
R05: 25, 3, 5, 4, 1, 3. Target: 458.
TTT: CLAPNINE - "Clap the nine-letter word, it can't get any higher."
R06: G V R A O I O N T
R07: S N C S L U I E O
R08: N P D S E E U R O
R09: N L T S N A A E I
R10: 50, 1, 8, 6, 4, 5. Target: 743.
TTT: PALACTED - "His pal acted swiftly and calmed him down."
R11: B R T R S A E I O
R12: N T G P A E O T I
R13: R K O E R X A I L
R14: 100, 9, 7, 8, 3, 2. Target: 174.
R15: G I F T H O R S E (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: F N M T S A E A I

C1: FAMINES (7)
C2: FASTEN (6)
DC: MANIFEST (8) ANIMATES (8)
Score: 7–0 (max 8)

First blood to Jocelyn.


Round 2: Q W R E O E Y P W

C1: POWER (5)
C2: POWER (5)
DC: WEEPY (5) ROPEY (5)
OT: PEERY (5) WOWEE (5)
Score: 12–5 (max 13)

Victoria picks nine letters from the top row of the keyboard. Unfortunately this doesn't give very long words. Susie and Kate can't beat the contestants, so Nick kindly withholds his withering grimace. There are at least four ten-letter words that can be typed using only the letters QWERTYUIOP. Name them. You're allowed to use letters more than once.


Round 3: R V U E H A T U D

C1: DEARTH (6)
C2: THREAD (6)
DC: RAVED (5) HATED (5) ADVERT (6)
OT: HAUTEUR (7)
Score: 18–11 (max 20)

Six looked like the best here, but HAUTEUR was lying around for seven while Kate and Susie raved about an advert they hated.


Round 4: D F T P O A U D I

C1: AUDIT (5)
C2: OUTDID (6)
Score: 18–17 (max 26)

Victoria isn't sure about OUTDID, but it's fine, and it's the only six there. She closes the gap to one point.


Round 5: 25, 3, 5, 4, 1, 3. Target: 458.

C1: 456. Mistake in working.
C2: 455. (5*3+3)*25+4+1 (7)
RR: 457/459. (7)
OT: 457. 3*(5+1)*25+4+3 (7)
Score: 18–24 (max 33)

Whoops. Jocelyn uses the 5 twice, and leaves 7 points for Victoria to take in what turns out to be a numbers round it's impossible to solve perfectly.


Teatime teaser: CLAPNINE -> PINNACLE


Round 6: G V R A O I O N T

C1: ROVING (6)
C2: RATIO (5)
DC: ROGATION (8)
OT: GRAVITON (8)
Score: 24–24 (max 41)

I'd have thought ROOTING stuck out here, but Victoria's stuck on RATIO, apparently not realising there's an N that can go on the end, and Jocelyn takes the points with ROVING. Susie finds ROGATION. A GRAVITON is a hypothetical particle representing gravitational energy.


Round 7: S N C S L U I E O

C1: ELUSIONS (8)
C2: SECLUSION (18)
Score: 24–42 (max 59)

Great stuff. Jocelyn finds an eight which she isn't sure of, but it's fine (the noun from ELUDE), and Victoria makes up for the slip on the last round by spotting SECLUSION for 18 points.


Round 8: N P D S E E U R O

C1: POUNDERS (8)
C2: SPURNED (7)
Score: 32–42 (max 67)

I got SPEND EURO.


Round 9: N L T S N A A E I

C1: stanine
C2: SALIENT (7)
DC: ENTAILS (7) salinate
OT: ANNALIST (8)
Score: 32–49 (max 75)

The contestants are still strictly taking it in turns to score points, as they have done since round 5. Jocelyn's attempt isn't in, but there's one unspotted eight hidden in amongst a load of sevens.


Origins of Words: "Heckling" originally meant removing the knots from a sheep's coat. The people who did it were known as hecklers, and their vocal and outspoken nature gives us the modern meaning of the word.


Round 10: 50, 1, 8, 6, 4, 5. Target: 743.

C1: 742. 5*(4-1)*50-8 (7)
C2: 746.
RR: 743. (6+4+5)*50-(8-1) (10)
Score: 39–49 (max 85)

It's a low scoring game, but still very back-and-forth. There have only been two tied rounds so far today.


Teatime teaser: PALACTED -> PLACATED

Round 11: B R T R S A E I O

C1: BORATES (7)
C2: RAREBITS (8)
DC: ORBITERS (8) ARBITERS (8) ROTARIES (8)
OT: ARBORIST (8)
Score: 39–57 (max 93)

Victoria invokes the mass noun food pluralisation rule to go 18 clear of Jocelyn.


Round 12: N T G P A E O T I

C1: POTTING (7)
C2: tintage
DC: PATTING (7) PETTING (7)
OT: PINOTAGE (8)
Score: 46–57 (max 101)

Susie notes that TINT isn't one of the many words to which you can add -AGE, and in any case it's Jocelyn's turn to win a round. She closes the gap to 11.


Round 13: R K O E R X A I L

C1: RELAX (5)
C2: LAKE (4)
DC: REAL (4) RAILER (6)
OT: KERRIA (6) OAKIER (6)
Score: 51–57 (max 107)

And now she closes the gap even further. It's not the best selection, but Victoria still gets the stern schoolmaster treatment from Nick, presumably because it was her turn to score points. This means Jocelyn can force a crucial conundrum if she can apply her mathematical skills to solve the last numbers game...


Round 14: 100, 9, 7, 8, 3, 2. Target: 174.

C1: 172.
C2: 174. 100+9*8+2 (10)
Score: 51–67 (max 117)

No. I didn't expect Jocelyn to miss this one, but she does, and that means her run comes to an end.


Round 15: G I F T H O R S E

C1 buzzes on 28.5 seconds to say FORESIGHT which is correct.
Final Score: 61–67 (max 127)

Jocelyn gives us one last demonstration of her abilities with the word rounds, but it's not enough - Victoria James will be in the champion's chair tomorrow. It's not an unfair result; Jocelyn has played well over the last few days but Victoria was the better player today. SECLUSION won it.


Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=66

[James Robinson]

Round 11: B R T R S A E I O

C1: BORATES (7)
C2: RAREBITS (8)
DC: ORBITERS (8) ARBITERS (8) ROTARIES (8)
Score: 39–57 (max 93)

You must have missed the button, Graeme, cos it says that ARBORIST is also good in this one........

[Graeme Cole]

Round 11: B R T R S A E I O

C1: BORATES (7)
C2: RAREBITS (8)
DC: ORBITERS (8) ARBITERS (8) ROTARIES (8)
Score: 39–57 (max 93)

You must have missed the button, Graeme, cos it says that ARBORIST is also good in this one........

Ah yes, so I did.

[Eoin Monaghan]

PROPRIETOR and TYPEWRITER are two.

[Thomas Carey]

I found PEPPERWORT, PERPETUITY, PROPRIETOR, REPERTOIRE, and TYPEWRITER. Makes five. There may even be more.

[Innis Carson]

Not bad, but can you get the only (as far as I'm aware) apterous-valid eleven-letter word?

[Peter Mabey]

RUPTUREWORT

I can't find more than a 7-letter word in the next row - e.g. ALFALFA, where the plural isn't allowed

[Thomas Carey]

RUPTUREWORT

I can't find more than a 7-letter word in the next row - e.g. ALFALFA, where the plural isn't allowed

SHAHADAHS for 9. May be more.
Don't think there's more than a 1 (all single letters are allowed) on the bottom row due to its vowellessness.