Monday 18th June 2012 (Series 66, Prelim 110)

[Graeme Cole]

Countdown recap for Monday 18 June 2012.

C1: Champion Jonathan Rawlinson (5 wins, 560 points) is getting accustomed to the champion's chair and looks like he'll still be there on Wednesday, and who knows, maybe even in Thursday's quarter-final as well if he becomes #1 seed.
C2: Challenger Gavin Dare is a quiz writer from Broxbourne. Nick notes that Gavin is exceptionally well turned out in a suit and tie. Jonathan, meanwhile, has gone for the far more common "I found an actual shirt, look, with buttons and everything, what more do you want?" approach to game show attire, of which Nick doesn't seem to approve.
DC: Susie Dent and Penny Smith.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: I G E N A S U N E
R02: R P R O A N T X E
R03: U N O D E V I S D
R04: M K C S E I Q C U
R05: 100, 50, 75, 25, 7, 9. Target: 938.
TTT: DRABLAWS - "Simply put, these are boring tools."
R06: T P H N E A O T W
R07: A R I L O P E S T
R08: C Z B L A O A B U
R09: E D O V I N U F O
R10: 25, 10, 5, 7, 9, 6. Target: 974.
TTT: AIRSCENT - "There's a scent in the air sprayed from this."
R11: E R I L O T A M P
R12: F G L T E O I R E
R13: A G E M A D E S N
R14: 75, 5, 6, 2, 1, 7. Target: 330.
R15: P E N C I L R I P (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: I G E N A S U N E

C1: SANGUINE (8)
C2: ENGINES (7)
OT: INGENUES (8) UNSEEING (8)
Score: 8–0 (max 8)

Jonathan immediately takes the lead with SANGUINE. Meaning upbeat or positive, it comes from the Latin term for blood, because in medieval times the bodily fluids, or humours, were associated with various emotions and feelings. This concept stays with us today in words like "sanguine", "bile", "phlegmatic" and indeed "humour" itself.


Round 2: R P R O A N T X E

C1: PRONATE (7)
C2: EXPORT (6)
DC: PARROT (6)
OT: OPERANT (7) PARTNER (7) PRAETOR (7) PRORATE (7) PROTEAN (7)
Score: 15–0 (max 15)

Gavin finds a six using the X, but Susie notes that PRONATE is one of the most common sevens to appear on Countdown, and Jonathan's form shows no sign of slipping so far on his second day of filming. He spots it to go fifteen ahead.


Round 3: U N O D E V I S D

C1: DEVIOUS (7)
C2: DINED (5)
DC: SOUNDED (7)
OT: ENVIOUS (7) NIVEOUS (7) NODDIES (7) VEINOUS (7)
Score: 22–0 (max 22)

Gavin's still yet to get off the mark as Jonathan spots one of a few sevens.


Round 4: M K C S E I Q C U

C1: quick (not written down)
C2: QUICK (5)
DC: QUICKS (6)
OT: CUMECS (6) MISCUE (6)
Score: 22–5 (max 28)

There are four reasons a word can be disallowed on Countdown - word not acceptable (very common), word not in the selection (reasonably common), word doesn't match the number of letters declared (reasonably rare), and forgetting to declare you didn't write your word down then being unable to prove you had the same as your opponent (almost unheard of). A quick search on our wiki suggests Jonathan is only the sixth player in Countdown history to have a word disallowed in this way, and it costs him five points. Gavin, meanwhile, gets off the mark.

I think I remember an instance of a player doing the same thing in Richard Whiteley's time. As I recall, the player was perfectly sporting about it and accepted that he'd have his offering disallowed, but Richard let him off because he had an honest face. Or something like that. It was quite a while ago.


Round 5: 100, 50, 75, 25, 7, 9. Target: 938.

C1: 939. Mistake in working.
C2: 939. Mistake in working.
RR: 938. (50*75+9-7)/(100/25) (10)
Score: 22–5 (max 38)

How many of you were looking for a 937.5 solution here? I was, but I only got to 939 because I obviously haven't learned the trick very well. Jonathan declares 939 but realises he's actually got 929, and Gavin also makes a mistake. It's left to Rachel to do the 937.5 trick properly for a 10 point solution.

If you're wondering, the 937.5 trick for four large games is based on (25*50*75)/100 = 937.5. Of course, you're only allowed to use integers, so you have to modify the numerator before dividing by 100. Every 50 you can add to (or subtract from) the numerator of that division adds (or takes away) 0.5 to the result. So if you have a 9, you can get to, for example, 942 by adding nine 50s to the numerator: ((75*25+9)*50)/100 = 942.

Incidentally, learning the 937.5 trick and practising it a lot is one of the most reliable ways to ensure that a four large game with a target in the 900s never comes up in your time on the show.


Teatime teaser: DRABLAWS -> BRADAWLS

Round 6: T P H N E A O T W

C1: PHAETON (7)
C2: TOWN (4)
DC: TOWPATH (7) PHONE (5)
OT: PHONATE (7) WHATNOT (7)
Score: 29–5 (max 45)

Jonathan goes even further ahead with PHAETON, which is a light, open, four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage. PHONATE means to produce or utter speech sounds.


Round 7: A R I L O P E S T

C1: POLARISE (8)
C2: PAROLES (7)
DC: EPILATORS (18)
Score: 37–5 (max 63)

All together now...

When taking my notes for today's recap, this is how confident I was that Jonathan would spot EPILATORS. That said, I do find it is one of the more tricky high-probability nines to spot, a bit like PLANETOID or SEALPOINT. And he still beats Gavin's PAROLES, so he goes eight further in front.


Round 8: C Z B L A O A B U

C1: BLAB (4)
C2: CLUB (4)
DC: BLOB CABAL (5)
OT: BABACU (6) BACULA (6) BALBOA (6)
Score: 41–9 (max 69)

Jonathan and Gavin dig out fours from this lot, and Susie and Penny come up with CABAL. Surprisingly, there are three sixes available: the BALBOA is the currency of Panama, a BACULUM (plural BACULA) is a bone found in the penis of some mammals, and a BABAÇU (pronounced, and also spelt, BABASSU) is a Brazilian palm tree.


Round 9: E D O V I N U F O

C1: FONDUE (6)
C2: FOUND (5)
DC: FOODIE (6)
OT: FUNDIE (6)
Score: 47–9 (max 75)

Gavin's still struggling to get off 9 as his FOUND is beaten by Jonathan's FONDUE.


Origins of Words: Susie tells us about the Yiddish dictionary Rachel's mother gave her, and its disproportionately large section of words beginning with SCH-.


Round 10: 25, 10, 5, 7, 9, 6. Target: 974.

C1: 975. (6*5+9)*25 (7)
C2: -
RR: 974. (5+9)*7*10-6 (10)
Score: 54–9 (max 85)

Jonathan goes for 39*25 for one away, and Gavin declares nothing. Turns out the trick here is to ignore the 25.


Teatime teaser: AIRSCENT -> CANISTER

Round 11: E R I L O T A M P

C1: EPILATOR (8)
C2: IMPLORE (7)
OT: PETIOLAR (8) TEMPORAL (8)
Score: 62–9 (max 93)

Well, Jonathan wasn't going to miss it a second time. EPILATOR puts him even further in front and Gavin's still stuck on 9.


Round 12: F G L T E O I R E

C1: LOFTIER (7)
C2: TRIFLE (6)
DC: FROGLET (7) TREFOIL (7)
OT: FERTILE (7) FORELEG (7)
Score: 69–9 (max 100)

Again, Gavin fails to score. He's not actually playing badly, and would score much higher against less prodigious opposition, but the luck of the draw strikes again.


Round 13: A G E M A D E S N

C1: ENDGAME (7)
C2: MANAGES (7)
DC: ENDGAMES (8)
Score: 76–16 (max 108)

Jonathan decides not to risk putting the S onto the end of ENDGAME, which would have been allowed. This means Gavin MANAGES to get into double figures, and avoid finishing with what would have been the second lowest 15-round score ever.


Round 14: 75, 5, 6, 2, 1, 7. Target: 330.

C1: 330. (75-(7+2))*5 (10)
C2: 330. (6-2)*75+5*(7-1) (10)
Score: 86–26 (max 118)

And a fairly easy numbers game gives our contestants ten points each. No century available for Jonathan today, but how long will it take him to solve the conundrum?


Round 15: P E N C I L R I P

C1 buzzes on 7 seconds to say PRINCIPLE which is correct.
Final Score: 96–26 (max 128)

And the answer is 7 seconds. If I was feeling particularly critical I might point out this was rather slow by his standards, and he failed to get a century (even if it was only by not writing a word down), and he's not as well dressed as the other player. However, Nick manages to fit all those criticisms into his closing chit-chat, so I wouldn't need to bother even if I wanted to. Jonathan's now on 6 wins and 656 points - an average of over 109. He only needs two more wins with an average of at least 81 to take Jack Worsley's place as number 1 seed, but if he continues playing like he has been he can expect a score in the high 800s, no matter how many acerbic comments Nick can come up with - be sure of it.


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

[Ryan Taylor]

Nice recap! Enjoyed it

[Graeme Cole]

Nice recap! Enjoyed it

Cheers Ryan. Much appreciated.

[Michael Wallace]

Yep, haven't read a recap in ages, but this was good, so thanks and all that.