Tuesday 7 February 2012.(Series 66, Prelim 22)

[Liam Tiernan]

Countdown recap for Tuesday 7th February 2012.

C1: Champion Victoria James (1 win, 67 points.)
C2: Challenger Diana Reeves.
DC: Susie Dent and Kate Humble
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: B J S W A E I D M
R02: L M T A E E M A C
R03: L N C S E O A N G
R04: S D G R I O Z H E
R05: 50, 7, 4, 3, 9, 8. Target: 579.
TTT: UPONWORD - "Upon word of this, you might reach for your brolly."
R06: I O G P N U T E W
R07: T D T S I E A R P
R08: N T U T D R E I O
R09: S R K Q E A O B T
R10: 25, 75, 4, 1, 6, 7. Target: 770.
TTT: STEELMEN - "Men of steel can brave the foulest of weather."
R11: S N S D E U A N V
R12: D F S R E E O R L
R13: T N T L I A E R F
R14: 50, 75, 100, 25, 6, 7. Target: 232.
R15: F L Y U P H O L E (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Champion Victoria James who comes from Hitchin in Hertfordshire is a payroll manager at Arsenal F.C. She probably has a good grasp of figures, having to calculate that wage bill every week.

Challenger Diana Reeves is a retired G.P. from North Hykeham in Lincoln.

Guest Kate Humble is looking forward to lambing season on her smallholding.


Enjoy the show.

Round 1: B J S W A E I D M

C1: BIASED (6)
C2: BIASED (6)
OT: ABIDES (6) AMIDES (6) BEDIMS (6) IMBEDS (6) MASJID (6) WADIES (6)
Score: 6–6 (max 6)

MASJID is an Arabic word for MOSQUE.

Round 2: L M T A E E M A C

C1: ELECT (5)
C2: METAL (5)
DC: MALATE (6) MALEATE (7)
OT: LEMMATA (7)
Score: 11–11 (max 13)

A MALATE is a salt or ester of malic acid. It is an important chemical compound in biochemistry.A MALEATE is a salt or ester of maleic acid. It is pretty much useless.LEMMATA is an alternative plural of LEMMA (LEMMAS) which is a subsidiary proposition assumed to be valid and used to demonstrate a principal proposition.

Round 3: L N C S E O A N G

C1: GLANCES (7)
C2: NONAGES (7)
DC: CONGEALS (8)
Score: 18–18 (max 21)

NONAGE is an archaic term meaning lacking maturity.

Round 4: S D G R I O Z H E

C1: RIDGES (6)
C2: RIDGES (6)
DC: SHORED (6) SIGHED (6)
OT: OGREISH (7)
Score: 24–24 (max 28)

Round 5: 50, 7, 4, 3, 9, 8. Target: 579.

C1: 576.
C2: 577. ((50*(7+4))+(9*3) (7)
RR: 579. ((50*4)-7)*3 (10)
Score: 24–31 (max 38)

Diana gets a little closer to the target to break the deadlock, while Rachel shows them how it's done.

In the guest spot Kate talks about filming in one of the coldest cities on Earth, Yellowknife, capital of the Northwest Territories in Canada. So cold in winter that a cup of hot coffee thrown in the air will freeze before it hits the ground. Interesting bit of trivia; the coldest day of the year is not the shortest. It's January 19th.

Teatime teaser: UPONWORD -> DOWNPOUR

Round 6: I O G P N U T E W

C1: POUTING (7)
C2: POUTING (7)
DC: WIPEOUT (7)
OT: POUTINE (7)
Score: 31–38 (max 45)

POUTINE is a Canadian dish of French fries and fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy or sauce

Round 7: T D T S I E A R P

C1: PRAISED (7)
C2: distrait
DC: TARDIEST (8) TRAIPSED (8)
OT: SPRATTED (8) STRIATED (8)
Score: 38–38 (max 53)

Diana falls victim to the curse of the phantom to let Victoria level the scores.

Round 8: N T U T D R E I O

C1: -
C2: TUTORED (7)
DC: ROUTINED (8)
OT: RITENUTO (8)
Score: 38–45 (max 61)

Victoria is the victim of the curse this time, but spots it before offering her word.

In music RITENUTO, often abbreviated riten., is an indication to suddenly (and temporarily) decrease the tempo; to hold back for dramatic effect.

Round 9: S R K Q E A O B T

C1: BOASTER (7)
C2: BOATERS (7)
DC: BORATES (7)
Score: 45–52 (max 68)

As flat as a BOATER.

In Origin of words, Susie explains the myth of Psyche, Greek goddess of the soul, who marries Cupid and becomes immortal.

Round 10: 25, 75, 4, 1, 6, 7. Target: 770.

C1: 769. ((4+6)*75)+25-7+1 (7)
C2: 772.
RR: 770. (75+25+4+6)*7 (10)
Score: 52–52 (max 78)

This time it's Victoria who gets one closer, to level the scores again.

Teatime teaser: STEELMEN -> ELEMENTS

Round 11: S N S D E U A N V

C1: UNSAVED (7)
C2: SEDANS (6)
DC: SUNDAES (7)
OT: DUENNAS (7)
Score: 59–52 (max 85)

Victoria seems a little doubtful about Unsaved, but it's fine, giving her the lead for the first time.
A DUENNA in Spain or Portugal is an elderly woman retained by a family to act as governess and chaperon to young girls.

Round 12: D F S R E E O R L

C1: FOLDERS (7)
C2: floored
DC: RESOLED (7)
OT: SOLDERER (8)
Score: 66–52 (max 93)

Diana is literally floored as the phantom strikes again.

Round 13: T N T L I A E R F

C1: FLATTER (7)
C2: RELIANT (7)
DC: entrail INFLATER (8)
OT: FILTRATE (8)
Score: 73–59 (max 101)

Kate tries the invalid entrail, which Susie explains can only be used in plural form. Nick excuses this by saying "we're always trying to make things bigger", while missing the connection with INFLATER.

Round 14: 50, 75, 100, 25, 6, 7. Target: 232.

C1: 237. 100+75+50+25-6-7 (7)
C2: -
RR: 232. 100+75+50+7 (10)
Score: 80–59 (max 111)

Victoria puts the game beyond Dianas reach with a 5 away solution

Round 15: F L Y U P H O L E

C1 buzzes on 5 seconds to say HOPEFULLY which is correct.

A clever but not to difficult scramble is quickly solved to cement Victorias second victory.

Final Score: 90–59 (max 121)


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

[James Robinson]

Round 7: T D T S I E A R P

C1: PRAISED (7)
C2: distrait
DC: TARDIEST (8) TRAIPSED (8)
OT: STRIATED (8)
Score: 38–38 (max 53)

My solver has SPRATTED as OK too...................

[Jon Corby]

Guest Kate Horton is looking forward to lambing season on her smallholding.

[David Barnard]

Great, we've got Kate Humble as guest, she seems to have a propensity to go on and on and on and on and on when they have the talk with the celebrities after round 5

[Liam Tiernan]

Round 7: T D T S I E A R P

C1: PRAISED (7)
C2: distrait
DC: TARDIEST (8) TRAIPSED (8)
OT: STRIATED (8)
Score: 38–38 (max 53)

My solver has SPRATTED as OK too...................

Not valid, according to Lexplorer.

Edit: Memo to self. DO NOT copy/paste into Lexplorer again. Blank spaces are treated as letters too, it seems.

[Liam Tiernan]

Guest Kate Horton is looking forward to lambing season on her smallholding.

Don't really know how I made this mistake, except to say that Nick never actually used Kates surname during his introduction. For some reason that name stuck in my head. Isn't Kate Horton on the production team? On the plus side though, I did spot the mistake and correct it pretty quickly.( I thought I'd got rid of it before anyone noticed, but forgot that I'd used her name twice).

[Jon Corby]

Isn't Kate Horton on the production team?

Yes.