Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Wednesday 2 May 2012.
C1: Champion Nick Hall (4 wins, 350 points.) A therapist from Stratford-Upon-Avon, Staffordshire. He loves night snorkelling, as discussed yesterday. His favourite author is Terry Pratchett.
C2: Challenger Mike Alsford. From Hampstead, London. He was the schoolmaster at the University College School, but has now retired, after teaching maths for 38 years. He is a father to young twins, and weirdly, one of the supports Manchester United and the other supports Tottenham Hotspur, which is Mike's team. He also enjoys playing bridge and bowls.
DC: Susie Dent and Chris Packham.
RR: Rachel Riley, back on the list of FHM's 100 Sexiest Women In The World
, although she's only at #84. 
(How did Tulisa get to #1 
)OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: W S B P A E A I M
R02: L F N G E O A E R
R03: S R H I U I E M P
R04: T P X R A O U N A
R05: 75, 7, 5, 8, 1, 7. Target: 767.
TTT: BEASTRAN - "The beast ran riot in the house until I put this down"
R06: S D J V I A O L E
R07: C S L G A E A O R
R08: N P T D A E U T I
R09: R U E H C Q O A R
R10: 100, 2, 7, 5, 5, 4. Target: 809.
TTT: CACTISET - "Over the moon about an old caravan, perhaps?"
R11: N I E N T S O U R
R12: S T D B A E A E T
R13: D K N R I E L N O
R14: 25, 3, 6, 2, 2, 7. Target: 914.
R15: H A L L F R O S T (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: W S B P A E A I M
C1: SWAMI (5)
C2: MAPS (4)
DC: WASABI (6)
OT: BAASIE (6) WASPIE (6)
Score: 5–0 (max 6)
Nick clearly shows that he has been taking in new words from his experience on the show, by getting a word that was on the show earlier in the week.
Round 2: L F N G E O A E R
C1: misdeclared 7
C2: LONGER (6)
DC: GENERAL (7) FLANGER (7)
OT: AEROGEL (7) ENLARGE (7) FORELEG (7) GLEANER (7)
Score: 5–6 (max 13)
Oh dear, Mike takes the lead, as Nick misdeclares.........
AEROGEL is a gel formed by the dispersion of air in a solidified matrix, such as STYROFOAM.
GLEANER is a noun derived from GLEAN, which means to gather slowly and laboriously, bit by bit.
Round 3: S R H I U I E M P
C1: PUSHIER (7)
C2: HUMPIER (7)
DC: MUSHIER (7) UMPIRES (7)
OT: MURPHIES (8)
Score: 12–13 (max 21)
Plenty of laughs from HUMPIER, but the darrenic 8 is left alone here.
A MURPHY (as well as being the name of my black labrador
) is an Irish or white potato.Round 4: T P X R A O U N A
C1: TARPON (6)
C2: OUTRAN (6)
DC: TAXON (5)
OT: TANPURA (7)
Score: 18–19 (max 28)
Another darren is missed by DC, but the tightness of this game remains as we head into the first numbers game.
Round 5: 75, 7, 5, 8, 1, 7. Target: 767.
C1: -
C2: -
RR: After originally saying "3 away", just before the break, 767. ((75 + 1) x (8 + 7 - 5)) + 7 (10)
Score: 18–19 (max 38)
A tricky little numbers has everyone foxed, even Rachel, for a while, but you can't keep the 84th (although it should be higher) sexiest woman alive down for that long.
Chris talks about his us of his photographic skills while watching animals during his day job.
Teatime teaser: BEASTRAN -> RATSBANE
Round 6: S D J V I A O L E
C1: JAILED (6)
C2: JAILED (6)
DC: OLDIES (6) JOVIAL (6)
OT: ADVISE (6) AISLED (6) AVOIDS (6) DEASIL (6) DEISAL (6) DEVILS (6) EIDOLA (6) EJIDOS (6) IDEALS (6) JALEOS (6) LADIES (6) LOAVES (6) OLIVES (6) SAILED (6) SALVED (6) SLAVED (6) SOILED (6) SOLVED (6) VADOSE (6) VAILED (6) VALISE (6) VIDEOS (6) VIOLAS (6)
Score: 24–25 (max 44)
SUPER FLATNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!
DEASIL is a chiefly Scottish term meaning clockwise or in a direction following the apparent course of the sun: considered as lucky or auspicious.
An EJIDO is a Mexican farm communally owned and operated by the inhabitants of a village on an individual or cooperative basis.
Round 7: C S L G A E A O R
C1: GLARES (6)
C2: CLEAR (5)
DC: ESCOLAR (7)
OT: AGAROSE (7) CARGOES (7) COALERS (7) CORSAGE (7) GAOLERS (7) LAAGERS (7) LAGARES (7) ORACLES (7) ROSACEA (7)
Score: 30–25 (max 51)
More flatness, but Mike will kick himself for not sticking the S on the end of CLEAR...........
AGAROSE is a substance obtained from agar and used for chromatographic separations.
A COALER is a railroad, ship, etc., used mainly to haul or supply coal.
Round 8: N P T D A E U T I
C1: INPUTTED (8)
C2: PAINTED (7)
DC: TUNA (4) APTITUDE (8)
Score: 38–25 (max 59)
A very good 8 spot by Nick, as well as by DC, and he now has a lead into double figures.
And following on from the fishy ESCOLAR in the last round, DC find some TUNA in this one. Round 9: R U E H C Q O A R
C1: REACH (5)
C2: REACH (5)
DC: ROACH (5) ROE (3) ARCHER (6)
OT: CHARRO (6) CHOREA (6) CHURRO (6) CURARE (6) OCHREA (6) ORACHE (6)
Score: 43–30 (max 65)
Plenty of 6's, as well as another fish being hooked on by DC, but they're just on target with their ARCHER.
A CHARRO is a Mexican horseman or cowboy, typically one wearing an elaborate outfit, often with silver decorations, of tight trousers, ruffled shirt, short jacket, and sombrero.
CHOREA is any of several diseases of the nervous system characterized by jerky, involuntary movements, chiefly of the face and extremities.
A CHURRO is a long, slender, deep-fried pastry resembling a cruller.
An OCHREA (or OCREA) is a sheathing part, as a pair of stipules united about a stem.
An ORACH (or ORACHE) is any plant of the genus Atriplex, especially Atriplex hortensis, of the goosefoot family, cultivated for use like spinach.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of "rum".
Round 10: 100, 2, 7, 5, 5, 4. Target: 809.
C1: 808. (2 x 4 x 100) + 7 + (5 / 5) (7)
C2: 808. (2 x 4 x 100) + 7 + (5 / 5) (7)
RR: 809. (((2 x 5) + 5 + 100) x 7) + 4 (10)
Score: 50–37 (max 75)
A little minx of a numbers game, as you can't seem to get the target using the normal 800 + 9 method, but we have Rachel showing us how it's done.
(How was she only as low as #84 )Teatime teaser: CACTISET -> ECSTATIC
Round 11: N I E N T S O U R
C1: TENSION (7)
C2: SUNNIER (7)
DC: ROUTINES (8) NEUTRINOS (18) seniornut
Score: 57–44 (max 93)
Ah, NEUTRINOS takes me back to this game.
(Yes, I know it's only the singular, but it's still nice. )Round 12: S T D B A E A E T
C1: beasted
C2: beasted
DC: DEBATES (7)
OT: ABETTED (7)
Score: 57–44 (max 100)
Oh dear, both of the contestants were on the wrong end of the stick here with beasted, which will lead up to some heated DEBATES methinks.
Round 13: D K N R I E L N O
C1: LINKED (6)
C2: LINKED (6)
DC: KINDLER (7)
OT: EINKORN (7)
Score: 63–50 (max 107)
Both contestants are LINKED again, but with a correct offering, and this game is still undecided with 2 rounds to go.............
An EINKORN is a wheat, Triticum monococcum, having a one-grained spikelet, grown as a forage crop in Europe and Asia.
Round 14: 25, 3, 6, 2, 2, 7. Target: 914.
C1: 914. (25 x 3 x 2 x 6) + (2 x 7) (10)
C2: 914. (25 x 3 x 2 x 6) + (2 x 7) (10)
Score: 73–60 (max 117)
On first glance, it seems tricky, but all the multiplications are in place, and Nick has his 5th win wrapped up.
Round 15: H A L L F R O S T
No one buzzes. The answer was SHORTFALL.
Final Score: 73–60 (max 127)
But that's the 3rd unsolved conundrum of the week, but at least it wasn't a crucial.............
Nick now has 5 wins, and that takes him up to #5 on the leaderboard at the moment. A score above 31 will take him upto #4, and if he wants to break into the top 3, he'll definitely need to win both shows to guarantee that.
Join me tomorrow to see if he can get to at least his 6th win.
And speaking of the finals, they're being recorded in the studios tomorrow, so good luck to all involved with those.
So, till then, bye by.
Statistics Corner
Nick:
Total score - 73
Raw score - 73
Total % of max - 57
Raw % of max - 57
Total average score per round - 4.9
Raw average score per round - 4.9
Number of maxes - 3
Mike:
Total score - 60
Raw score - 76
Total % of max - 47
Raw % of max - 60
Total average score per round - 4.0
Raw average score per round - 5.1
Number of maxes - 2
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=66