Any more excitement and I might need to have a pacemaker inserted
And everyone is saying that this game is a classic in the making.............. Well, I'll be the judge of that
Well, time to get into the groove and enjoy.
Countdown recap for Thursday 17 January 2013.
C1: Series 64 Champion Ed McCullagh (12 games, 12 wins, 1,337 points.) An Apteforumite and software tester originally from Newry, but now living in Belfast.
C2: Series 66 Runner-Up Jonathan Rawlinson (11 games, 10 wins, 1,129 points.) An Apteforumite and maths student at Cambridge University, but is from Sheffield.
DC: Susie Dent and Martin Lewis.
RR: Rachel Riley, with a slightly less croaky voice.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: E I A N L R U H S
R02: E V A R E M I H L
R03: W N R O E O V S R
R04: A P I G E D U S P
R05: 9, 7, 7, 2, 4, 3. Target: 793.
TTT: EMUSLIPS - "Overwhelming urges to eat lentils and chickpeas, perhaps?"
R06: A S O G A N I R U
R07: O E I M C T S E A
R08: O N E T O B E N Y
R09: A M D O E P D M N
R10: 100, 50, 75, 25, 9, 2. Target: 770.
TTT: ABLESOIL - "The soil makes it possible for these plants to grow"
R11: R T L U O E W T I
R12: A P I R E T O G S
R13: A I E Z S T L D O
R14: 25, 100, 75, 50, 6, 5. Target: 588.
R15: H A T E S S N O W (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: E I A N L R U H S
C1: HAULIERS (8)
C2: HAULIERS (8)
Me: INHALERS (8)
Score: 8–8 (max 8)
A nice perfect start to the game. Interestingly, Martin makes a bet that DC will only beat the players ONCE in the whole game today. Let's see if that rings true............
I might need those INHALERS for later on.
Round 2: E V A R E M I H L
C1: HEAVIER (7)
C2: MEALIER (7)
OT: EMAILER (7) VERMEIL (7)
Score: 15–15 (max 15)
7's all round. Where's that inhaler gone..........
Round 3: W N R O E O V S R
C1: overworn
C2: oversow
DC: ROVERS (6)
OT: OWNERS (6) ROOVES (6) ROWENS (6) ROWERS (6) SNORER (6) SOONER (6) SORROW (6) WOOERS (6) WORSEN (6)
Score: 15–15 (max 21)
WOAH! WOAH!!WOAH!!! Well, it seems that both players were trying to force the other into a mistake, and in fairness, they both succeeded, leaving Martin Lewis as the sole victor in this round.
(I must admit I had overworn as a back-up to what I thought was the safe (but clearly isn't) swooner. 
)Round 4: A P I G E D U S P
C1: GUPPIES (7)
C2: GAUDIES (7)
OT: DUPPIES (7)
Score: 22–22 (max 28)
Well, normality is resumed for now with a 7 apiece. Wonder what the numbers are going to bring..................
Round 5: 9, 7, 7, 2, 4, 3. Target: 793.
C1: 792. (7 + 7 - 3) x 9 x 4 x 2 (7)
C2: -
RR: 792. "A different way." (7)
Score: 29–22 (max 35)
Well, the 6 small is sent out by Edward, and it works "perfectly" for him, as Jonathan is completely flummoxed, and his 1 away is as good as it gets.
Martin talks about the scandal of misselling PPI.
Teatime teaser: EMUSLIPS -> IMPULSES
Round 6: A S O G A N I R U
C1: AROUSING (8)
C2: AROUSING (8)
DC: ROUSING (7) SOURING (7) IGUANAS (7)
OT: GUARANIS (8)
Score: 37–30 (max 43)
There's definitely plenty of AROUSING today. I wonder if that'll be distracting for our competitors.
A GUARANI is a paper money and monetary unit of Paraguay, equal to 100 centimos.
Round 7: O E I M C T S E A
C1: EMOTES (6)
C2: AMOSITE (7)
DC: ATOMISE (7) SOMATIC (7)
OT: ATOMIES (7) COATEES (7) EMETICS (7) STEAMIE (7)
Score: 37–37 (max 50)
Well, well, well, I wonder what Ed was thinking here, or what wasn't he thinking more to the point
There was me thinking, here comes a try for an N for CENTESIMO, but no, and it seems that all his thoughts left him, as he can only manage a not written down 6, letting Jonathan take full advantage to level the game. A COATEE is a close-fitting short coat, especially one with tails or skirts.
In Scotland, a STEAMIE is a public wash house.
Round 8: O N E T O B E N Y
C1: NEOTENY (7)
C2: NEOTENY (7)
Score: 44–44 (max 57)
Mind games still at the forefront, but both show superb class yet again with a quite magnificent 7.
Round 9: A M D O E P D M N
C1: POMADED (7)
C2: POMADED (7)
Score: 51–51 (max 64)
Double double darren time now. This inhaler will be going into overdrive soon, I'm sure.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of "lynching" and "Sweet Fanny Adams".
Round 10: 100, 50, 75, 25, 9, 2. Target: 770.
C1: 770. (50 / (9 - (100 / 25))) x (75 + 2) (10)
C2: 770. Mistake in working.
Score: 61–51 (max 74)
So, we had Ed's speciality in the 1st numbers, now it's Jonathan's turn for his speciality, but unfortunately, he messes up and Ed takes full advantage and have that oh-so precarious lead of 10 points...............
Teatime teaser: ABLESOIL -> LOBELIAS
Round 11: R T L U O E W T I
C1: OUTLIER (7)
C2: TRIOLET (7)
Score: 68–58 (max 81)
No stopping them on the letters games. Bar the riskiness of round 3, they've both been pretty much perfect in the letters games today.
Round 12: A P I R E T O G S
C1: PASTORIE (8)
C2: SEPTORIA (8)
DC: GRAPIEST (8)
OT: PORTAGES (8) POTAGERS (8)
Score: 76–66 (max 89)
And yet again, you can just tell how confident they are, with Jonathan's "just an 8" declaration.
Round 13: A I E Z S T L D O
C1: ISOLATED (8)
C2: DIASTOLE (8)
DC: SLEAZOID (8)
OT: SODALITE (8)
Score: 84–74 (max 97)
Honestly, did anyone they get 8's in this round
That inhaler has given me some good desperate bursts, and as we head to the final stages, I think I'll need another big burst or two to make sure I don't collapse Round 14: 25, 100, 75, 50, 6, 5. Target: 588.
C1: 588. (100 - (50 / 25)) x 6 (10)
C2: 588. (100 - (50 / 25)) x 6 (10)
Score: 94–84 (max 107)
Well, after those nasty 2 numbers games, nice to have a simple one to finish off.
So, the gap of 10 points has stuck in these 4 rounds since the break. Is it within possibility that we could have a 2nd conundrum game
It's been nearly a year since it last happened. You would say the pressure is on Jonathan, as he needs to get this conundrum, or he's done for, but I'm sure both will be feeling an insurmountable amount of pressure, especially as there are some many legends in the audience watching it too. (I certainly wouldn't want to be in either of their shoes (mainly cos they're too small for my size 12 feet. ))Well, here we go.......................
Round 15: H A T E S S N O W
C2 buzzes on 1 second to say STONEWASH which is correct.
Score: 94–94 (max 117)
OH MY WORD!! Well, what do you know, the inevitable has happened. A super lightning fast solve by Jonathan has arrived, leaving the scores at 94 all.
Pffft, I think I'll need another mighty burst. This game has already exceeded my expectations, and we have a second conundrum to sort it makes it even more incredible
So, it really is DO OR DIE TIME!!!!
Tie-break conundrum: S C A N T F A R M
Here goes the clock.............:
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0
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C2 buzzes on 0.75 seconds to say CRAFTSMAN which is correct.
Final Score: 94–104 (max 117)
OH MY GOOD LORD!!!! If that first conundrum was the appetiser, then this was the main course
What a way to finish the preliminaries 
GOING INTO OVERLOAD GOING INTO OVERLOAD GOING INTO OVERLOAD GOING INTO OVERLOAD GOING INTO OVERLOAD GOING INTO OVERLOAD GOING INTO OVERLOAD
Crikey blimey!!! That was one of, if not THE BEST episodes of Countdown ever
Jonathan and Ed, you are a credit to the game. The atmosphere was tense, but friendly and made it an enjoyable spectacle, and neither of you buckled when under extreme pressure. And to finish the way it did is just testament to how brilliant this match was.
And like, Mark, Ben and Nick last week, it is a unjust shame that one of you had to be knocked out so early, but rules are rules, but I'm sure Ed won't mind, as he has the Series 64 title back home to look on.
And Jonathan's reward, if you can call it a reward, is a match with yesterday's victor, Andrew Hulme, in 3 weeks time.
So, because of scheduling conflicts, I'll be switching recaps next week with Graeme and Jack, so I'll be here on Monday and Tuesday with the first round matches between Kai Laddiman v Jon O'Neill and Chris Hawkins v Jill Bright.
Right, I think I need a lie down now. This is just so unbelievable that ALL this happened in one single game
That's the magic of Countdown for you. It's been doing it proudly for 30 years. Let's hope for another 30 based on this match alone.
So, till Monday, if you've not been frozen over the weekend, bye bye, and take care of yourselves.
Statistics Corner
Ed:
Total score - 94 (94)
Raw score - 100 (100)
Total % of max - 80 (80)
Raw % of max - 85 (85)
Total average score per round - 6.3 (5.9)
Raw average score per round - 6.7 (6.3)
Number of maxes - 12 (12)
Jonathan:
Total score - 94 (104)
Raw score - 94 (104)
Total % of max - 80 (89)
Raw % of max - 80 (89)
Total average score per round - 6.3 (6.5)
Raw average score per round - 6.3 (6.5)
Number of maxes - 12 (13)
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=-16
