Monday 18th March 2013 (Series 68, Prelim 7)

[Graeme Cole]

Countdown recap for Monday 18 March 2013.

C1: Champion Sam McElhinney (3 wins, 233 points) was the champion when we left off last Monday. He works in the T-shirt industry in Leeds.
C2: Challenger Ricky Roberts is a full-time carer from Eastham, Merseyside. He was previously a probation service officer.
DC: Susie Dent and Jon Culshaw.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: T E S D A B A R G
R02: L R G U E T M O S
R03: P I K W R E U E S
R04: X H S O A M G E D
R05: 25, 50, 100, 3, 7, 2. Target: 612.
TTT: ROBLLAMA - "Its home is the head and it's also the head's home."
R06: S N L A E T M I R
R07: J O N P E D E N U
R08: T Y C O I S H A N
R09: E C R I O A D F S
R10: 50, 6, 10, 6, 7, 9. Target: 487.
TTT: CABBREAK - "It sounds like Rupert's returned without a saddle."
R11: M F L E U A R N I
R12: G V P E A R S I P
R13: N O D B E U R L S
R14: 10, 4, 10, 7, 6, 2. Target: 677.
R15: A U N T V I O L A (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.


Round 1: T E S D A B A R G

C1: BASTARD (7)
C2: STAGED (6)
DC: TEABAGS (7) ABREAST (7) BADGERS (7)
OT: GRADATES (8)
Score: 7–0 (max 8)

Sam's opening word doesn't get bleeped. And why should it? It's a perfectly acceptable genealogical term for an illegitimate child. If you're going to censor any word that could possibly have any offensive meaning you might as well bleep TEABAGS as well.


Round 2: L R G U E T M O S

C1: MOGULS (6)
C2: TOUSLE (6)
DC: GOURMETS (8)
Score: 13–6 (max 16)

Plenty of sixes and sevens in this one, but Jon and Susie find the darrenic GOURMETS.


Round 3: P I K W R E U E S

C1: spiker
C2: WIPERS (6)
DC: PESKIER (7)
OT: KEWPIES (7) PERUKES (7)
Score: 13–12 (max 23)

Sam slips up over a dodgy agent noun, which allows Ricky to draw within one point. A KEWPIE is a children's doll of that that typical design, with exaggerated cheeks and eyes and that little curl of hair. A PERUKE is an archaic term for a wig.


Round 4: X H S O A M G E D

C1: HOMAGES (7)
C2: HOMAGES (7)
DC: OGHAMS (6)
Score: 20–19 (max 30)

I thought it was unusual that both players pronounced their offerings "HOMAGE", like it would be in French. Still, seven darrenical points each. OGHAMS are letters in the ancient British and Irish alphabet OGHAM.


Round 5: 25, 50, 100, 3, 7, 2. Target: 612.

C1: 622. 7*100-50-25-3 (5)
C2: -
RR: 612. (100+50/25)*3*2 (10)
Score: 25–19 (max 40)

Sam picks three large again, but this time he can only get ten away. Ricky's nowhere though, so Sam takes the five points. It's actually not that often a player scores five points on a numbers round. Usually the players are within five of the target, and in the case where one player declares more than five away, most of the time their opponent beats them. It turns out less than 3% of numbers rounds result in a player being awarded five points.


Teatime teaser: ROBLLAMA -> BALMORAL


Round 6: S N L A E T M I R

C1: MANLIEST (8)
C2: SALIENT (7)
DC: MINSTREL (8) AILMENTS (8) TRAMLINES (18) TERMINALS (18)
Score: 33–19 (max 58)

After Ricky declares seven, Sam says he'll "stick with an eight". One wonders whether he chickened one of the two nines available in this round.


Round 7: J O N P E D E N U

C1: UNOPENED (8)
C2: UNOPENED (8)
DC: OPENED (6) UNOPENED (8)
Score: 41–27 (max 66)

UNOPENED all round. Sadly it doesn't stem with J. Or anything else.


Round 8: T Y C O I S H A N

C1: ACTIONS (7)
C2: ACTIONS (7)
DC: CATIONS (7)
OT: TACHYONS (8)
Score: 48–34 (max 74)

ACTIONS for our two contestants, and its more exotic alternative CATIONS (positively charged ions) for Susie and Jon. Another physics term lurks unnoticed - a TACHYON is a hypothetical particle which is supposed to travel faster than light.


Round 9: E C R I O A D F S

C1: FORCED (6)
C2: coarsed
DC: CARDIES (7) SCARFED (7) FEDORAS (7) IDOCRASE (8)
Score: 54–34 (max 82)

COARSE is only in the dictionary as an adjective, so Ricky slips further behind with his attempt to smuggle a D on to the end of it. Still, we get to hear Jon's Tom Baker impression as he announces the appropriate words SCARFED and FEDORAS, then IDOCRASE which sounds like a mineral found on Gallifrey (FRAGILELY).


Round 10: 50, 6, 10, 6, 7, 9. Target: 487.

C1: 487. 50*10-7-6 (10)
C2: 487. 50*10-7-6 (10)
Score: 64–44 (max 92)

Next please.


Teatime teaser: CABBREAK -> BAREBACK


Round 11: M F L E U A R N I

C1: MANLIER (7)
C2: FUNERAL (7)
DC: NUMERAL (7)
OT: RIFLEMAN (8)
Score: 71–51 (max 100)

Having already gone with MANLIEST today, Sam sticks with the theme and offers MANLIER.


Round 12: G V P E A R S I P

C1: SAPPIER (7)
C2: PRAISE (6)
DC: GAPPIER (7)
OT: APPRISE (7) GAPPERS (7) GRAVIES (7) PARVISE (7)
Score: 78–51 (max 107)

Sam goes even further ahead with SAPPIER, and it'll take a record-breaking comeback from Ricky to save the game now.


Round 13: N O D B E U R L S

C1: BLUNDERS (8)
C2: BOULDERS (8)
DC: BLONDS (6) BOUNDERS (8)
OT: BUNDLERS (8) DOUBLERS (8) REBOUNDS (8) ROUNDELS (8) SUBORNED (8) UNSOLDER (8)
Score: 86–59 (max 115)

Eighttown for everyone, and it gives Sam a fourth victory.


Round 14: 10, 4, 10, 7, 6, 2. Target: 677.

C1: 676. (7*10-2)*10-4 (7)
C2: 678. (10*10-4)*7+6 (7)
RR: 676/678. (7)
OT: 677. 10*4*(10+7)-6/2 (10)
Score: 93–66 (max 125)

Ricky picks six small for his last numbers game, and it's a tricky one. Even Rachel can't spot it, so well done to any of you who got 677 - the OT solution above is the only possible way it can be done.


Round 15: A U N T V I O L A

No one buzzes. The answer was VALUATION.
Final Score: 93–66 (max 135)


Another unsolved conundrum means that Sam moves on to four wins and 326 points, half way to automatic entry to Moss's 8+ club. Another win, or a loss with an unlikely score of 113 or more, will put him above Rachael Moran as top seed so far. But that's not going to be easy against the person making his long-awaited debut in the challenger's chair tomorrow. I couldn't possibly divulge any information about future shows, of course, so I won't give any hints about who it is, except to say that his name sounds like "Randy Prat".

Join Whack Dursley for that tomorrow.


Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=68

[Phyl Styles]

"unusual that both players pronounced their offerings "HOMAGE", like it would be in French"
This seems to be the trendy way to say it these days. The French would of course spell it 'hommage'.
"a record-breaking comeback"
What is the record comeback on the show?

[Graeme Cole]

"unusual that both players pronounced their offerings "HOMAGE", like it would be in French"
This seems to be the trendy way to say it these days. The French would of course spell it 'hommage'.
"a record-breaking comeback"
What is the record comeback on the show?

The biggest ever overturned deficit is 40, but what's relevant in this case is that the biggest deficit overturned in the last three rounds is 21. More information in this post.