Unfortunately, we have to wait another 5 and a half weeks to find out who the heck it is
So, until then, we'll have to just slowly trudge our way to the final
Countdown recap for Tuesday 22 January 2013.
C1: Series 28 Quarter-Finalist Chris Hawkins (6 games, 4 wins, 348 points.) A maths teacher from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. He is an expert Scrabbler, and during the summer, he completed a 24,000 piece jigsaw puzzle in just over a month.
C2: Series 38 Quarter-Finalist Jill Bright (8 games, 6 wins, 458 points.) A retired secretary from Warrington, Cheshire. She is also an expert Scrabbler, and the most daring thing she has ever done is appear on this show.
She also mentions the fact that she might not have been an octochamp, but she is an octogenarian, making her probably the oldest of our bunch of 41 contestants in this series. 
DC: Susie Dent and Margaret Mountford.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: S N T U A E F N L
R02: P T O E I B G R A
R03: W R T E U O E L D
R04: S N I A W Y E T I
R05: 75, 8, 3, 10, 5, 2. Target: 356.
TTT: CLUETOLD - "It's up there with the rest of them, but it's not quite as big"
R06: S K R U E N I S O
R07: V H L A I U E C S
R08: A E F N E D M O G
R09: B R D I A O E M S
R10: 50, 75, 4, 6, 8, 5. Target: 868.
TTT: BOILCURD - "Not the sort of guest you want to turn up at your picnic"
R11: T P T A I E N S G
R12: D A C R O M A R E
R13: L P D O U E T R S
R14: 100, 8, 2, 1, 5, 6. Target: 517.
R15: O B E R D R A F T (conundrum)
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Round 1: S N T U A E F N L
C1: FUNNELS (7)
C2: FUNNELS (7)
DC: TUNNELS (7) NESTFUL (7) FLAUNTS (7)
OT: ANNULETS (8) UNFASTEN (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)
7's all round to start with, although there are two gettable eights that are missed in this one.........
Round 2: P T O E I B G R A
C1: BORGATE (7)
C2: PROBATE (7)
DC: POTAGER (7) PORTAGE (7)
Score: 14–14 (max 15)
That's a bit better, a few good 7's spotted by all.
Round 3: W R T E U O E L D
C1: LOWERED (7)
C2: LOUDER (6)
DC: outwelder WELDER (6) TOWERED (7)
OT: OUTDREW (7) URODELE (7)
Score: 21–14 (max 22)
So, Chris takes the first advantage in this game, I should hope that won't have LOWERED his expectations.
A URODELE is any amphibian of the order Urodela, having a long body and tail and four short limbs: includes the salamanders and newts.
Round 4: S N I A W Y E T I
C1: yawniest
C2: SANITY (6)
DC: SWEATY (6)
OT: ANYWISE (7) WINIEST (7)
Score: 21–20 (max 29)
Hmmm, a bit of a dubious 8 there from Chris, and it turns out that that's what it is.
Round 5: 75, 8, 3, 10, 5, 2. Target: 356.
C1: 356. (75 x 5) - (10 + 8) - (3 - 2) (10)
C2: 355.
Score: 31–20 (max 39)
But, he makes up for it immediately with his numbers solve, while Jill is only 1 away.
Margaret talks about travelling and the differences between her idea of travelling to Nick's idea of travelling.
Teatime teaser: CLUETOLD -> CLOUDLET
Round 6: S K R U E N I S O
C1: NEUROSIS (8)
C2: SINKERS (7)
DC: INSURES (7) SENIORS (7)
OT: RESINOUS (8)
Score: 39–20 (max 47)
Now that's an impressive 8 from Chris. Very good.
Round 7: V H L A I U E C S
C1: VIHUELAS (8)
C2: CHIVES (6)
Score: 47–20 (max 55)
WOAH!!!! Scrap what I said last round
THIS is an impressive 8 from Chris. SUPER AWESOME!!! Round 8: A E F N E D M O G
C1: MOANED (6)
C2: FANGED (6)
DC: ENDGAME (7) DAEMON (6)
Score: 53–26 (max 62)
Not quite the ENDGAME yet, but it's a great darren for DC, while it's 6 apiece for the contestants.
Round 9: B R D I A O E M S
C1: BRAISED (7)
C2: BROADS (6)
DC: BROMIDE (7) BROMIDES (8) RADOMES (7)
Score: 60–26 (max 70)
Another 7 point extension to Chris' lead, while DC go darren again with an impressive 8.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of the "black hole of Calcutta".
Round 10: 50, 75, 4, 6, 8, 5. Target: 868.
C1: -
C2: 870. Mistake in working.
RR: 868. (((75 x 4) + 6) x (8 - 5)) - 50 (10)
Score: 60–26 (max 80)
Oh dear, not a 2 large numbers game we'll remember in a hurry, but at least Rachel has given a good solve.
Teatime teaser: BOILCURD -> COLUBRID
Round 11: T P T A I E N S G
C1: pettings
C2: PATIENTS (8)
DC: PETTING (7)
OT: SPATTING (8) TANGIEST (8)
Score: 60–34 (max 88)
Oh dear, Chris has clearly been PETTING too much and Jill has got a sudden glimmer of hope in this game........
Round 12: D A C R O M A R E
C1: CAROMED (7)
C2: COMRADE (7)
DC: MERCADO (7)
Score: 67–41 (max 95)
All 3 anagrammatical 7's spotted in the studio. Nice work.
Round 13: L P D O U E T R S
C1: PROUDEST (8)
C2: POUTERS (7)
DC: DROPLETS (8)
OT: POSTLUDE (8) POSTURED (8) SPLURTED (8) SPROUTED (8)
Score: 75–41 (max 103)
But, it's now game over as the PROUDEST 8 that Chris will ever get seals his place in round 2.
In musical terms, a POSTLUDE is a concluding piece or movement.
Round 14: 100, 8, 2, 1, 5, 6. Target: 517.
C1: 517. (100 x 5) + (2 x 8) + 1 (10)
C2: 517. (100 x 5) + (2 x 8) + 1 (10)
Score: 85–51 (max 113)
Nice and straightforward numbers game to end the day.
Round 15: O B E R D R A F T
C1 buzzes on 6.25 seconds to say FRETBOARD which is correct.
Final Score: 95–51 (max 123)
And a decent solve by Chris makes it a more resounding win, although in fairness, Chris was in control for the majority of the game, and his brilliant back-to-back spot of NEUROSIS and VIHUELAS makes him a formidable opponent.
Although, the fact that his next opponent will either be Mark Tournoff or Conor Travers means that he'll probably be in for a rough ride
So, I'll be back next week, not on Wednesday, cos I'll be busy supporting my mighty Terriers against Crystal Palace. So, I'll be swapping with Graeme or Jack again, but which one I'll be doing is anyone's guess at the moment.
So, I hope you all have a great week everybody. And I look forward to seeing all of you guys who will be attending COLIN this weekend.
So, till next week, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Chris:
Total score - 95
Raw score - 95
Total % of max - 77
Raw % of max - 77
Total average score per round - 6.3
Raw average score per round - 6.3
Number of maxes - 9
Jill:
Total score - 51
Raw score - 90
Total % of max - 41
Raw % of max - 73
Total average score per round - 3.4
Raw average score per round - 6.0
Number of maxes - 4
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=-16