Monday 1st April 2013 (Series 68, Prelim 17)

[Graeme Cole]

Countdown recap for Monday 1 April 2013.

C1: Champion Peter Fenton (1 win, 89 points) is from Leeds, studying for an MA, and teaching English as a foreign language.
C2: Challenger Eric Uphoff is a retired customer liaison manager from Bradford.
DC: Susie Dent and Julia Bradbury.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: B H E I N V O T A
R02: U J G P E E L P U
R03: 75, 25, 100, 50, 7, 4. Target: 637.
TTT: MESSCOOP - "Gets himself together to write some music."
R04: N S M T A I E R G
R05: D S O A T M I S A
R06: 25, 100, 8, 4, 5, 7. Target: 461.
R07: W R E A N T O E N
R08: R T R I E N L R A
R09: 100, 75, 50, 25, 4, 5. Target: 324.
TTT: AIRCROSS - "You'll find these at sea, or maybe in a man's beard."
R10: S D T Q I A E S O
R11: D C T E O E Z S A
R12: D S E A M B E G F
R13: N K G O A E N R U
R14: 25, 6, 3, 8, 4, 2. Target: 245.
R15: R A G G E D T O M (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

Enjoy the show.

Round 1: B H E I N V O T A

C1: BOVINE (6)
C2: inovate
DC: OBVIATE (7)
Score: 6–0 (max 7)

Susie doesn't have any beef with Peter's offering, but Eric's misspelling of INNOVATE means Peter gets off to an early lead.


Round 2: U J G P E E L P U

C1: GULP (4)
C2: GLUE (4)
DC: PULP
OT: PEEPUL (6)
Score: 10–4 (max 13)

Four is the best anyone can find in the studio, but PEEPUL was there, which is a south-east Asian fig tree. Susie and Julia find PULP, which was the subject of a tweet by Iain Duncan Smith earlier today. What? Of course it's the real Iain Duncan Smith. Are you telling me there's something on the internet that's not true?


Round 3: 75, 25, 100, 50, 7, 4. Target: 637.

C1: 633. 100*7-75+4*(50/25) (7)
C2: 625.
RR: 637. (100-(75+50)/25-4)*7 (10)
Score: 17–4 (max 23)

Peter goes for four large, as he did with his first pick on Friday, and it gives him seven points.


Teatime teaser: MESSCOOP -> COMPOSES


Round 4: N S M T A I E R G

C1: MASTERING (18)
C2: smearing (misdeclared as 9)
DC: SMART (5)
OT: EMIGRANTS (18) STREAMING (18)
Score: 35–4 (max 41)

Eric confidently sits back and puts his pen down after 15 seconds. Peter can be seen sipping the glass of water near the end of the round. Both players declare nine.

All seems to be going to plan, then Eric says SMEARING.
Nick immediately spots the problem. "I think SMEARING might be eight..."
"It should be SMARTING."
"That's still eight, though, Eric," says Susie.

While in this case the misdeclaration didn't cost Eric any points as Peter had MASTERING, it's still a cautionary tale about finishing early. It doesn't hurt to use the rest of the time to sanity-check your word, even if it does mean you end up looking like this.


Round 5: D S O A T M I S A

C1: MASTOIDS (8)
C2: MASTOIDS (8)
Score: 43–12 (max 49)

Good eight for both players. MASTOIDS is another name for MASTOIDITIS, inflammation of the mastoid process, which is a prominence of a bone behind the ear.


Round 6: 25, 100, 8, 4, 5, 7. Target: 461.

C1: 461. 100*4+7*8+5 (10)
C2: 461. 100*4+7*8+5 (10)
Score: 53–22 (max 59)

Reasonably straightforward numbers round, ten points apiece. The best part of this round was Eric asking for "two large and five small".


Round 7: W R E A N T O E N

C1: WANTON (6)
C2: TANNER (6)
DC: NEONATE (7)
OT: NORTENA (7) TENONER (7)
Score: 59–28 (max 66)

A NEONATE is medical term for a baby less than four weeks old, or a more general term for any newborn mammal.


Round 8: R T R I E N L R A

C1: LATRINE (7)
C2: anterial
DC: RETINAL (7) TRAILER (7) TRENAIL (7)
OT: RELIANT (7) RETIRAL (7) RETRAIN (7) RETRIAL (7) TARRIER (7) TERRAIN (7) TRAINER (7)
Score: 66–28 (max 73)

To be fair to Eric, it looks like there should be an eight there, but his offering isn't in the dictionary. Or the selection. It's possible he was thinking of ANTERIOR and ARTERIAL.


Round 9: 100, 75, 50, 25, 4, 5. Target: 324.

C1: 325. 100*4-75 (7)
C2: 325. 75*4+25 (7)
RR: 324. (75+(100+50)/25)*4 (10)
Score: 73–35 (max 83)

Peter goes four large again. Both players make it to one away easily enough, but it's left to Rachel to spot 81*4.


Teatime teaser: AIRCROSS -> CORSAIRS


Round 10: S D T Q I A E S O

C1: STAID (5)
C2: SATED (5)
DC: TOADIES (7)
OT: ADIOSES (7) IODATES (7) SOSATIE (7)
Score: 78–40 (max 90)

Fives each. DC find TOADIES, who are people who behave obsequiously to someone important. Susie mentions that TOADIES are named after the charlatan's assistants who ate toads which were thought to be poisonous, to appear to demonstrate the effectiveness of whatever snake-oil remedy the charlatan happened to be peddling at the time.


Round 11: D C T E O E Z S A

C1: COSTED (6)
C2: COASTED (7)
OT: CESTODE (7) COATEES (7)
Score: 78–47 (max 97)

Peter neglects to put the A in his word, which means Eric closes the gap. He's still 31 behind but it's not over yet.

Origins of Words: Today it's the changing meaning of the word "enthralled", which used to mean enslaved, or in debt. A letter from series 67 contestant Nick Turner encloses an newspaper article from 1770 which uses the word when describing a widow whose husband died "enthralled". Under the law at the time, in order to remarry without transferring the debts to her new husband, she had to enter the marriage with no possessions, not even a dress, so she went "across the street to his apartment, with no one thing on but her shift".

Round 12: D S E A M B E G F

C1: BEADS (5)
C2: DEFAMES (7)
DC: DEBASE (6) BEAMS (5)
Score: 78–54 (max 104)

Eric spots the only seven to close the gap even further. Nobody's won from this far behind, this late in the game - can Eric be the first?


Round 13: N K G O A E N R U

C1: RANGE (5)
C2: angora
DC: GUNNERA (7)
Score: 83–54 (max 111)

When Eric declared six I thought he might have had GUNNER or ORANGE, which would have won him his third round in a row and kept the game alive. Sadly for Eric, while ANGORA would have been a worthy spot (it's a long-haired cat, goat or rabbit), there's only one A, so that sews up the game for Peter.


Round 14: 25, 6, 3, 8, 4, 2. Target: 245.

C1: 245. (6+4)*10-(8-3) (10)
C2: 236.
Score: 93–54 (max 121)

Peter spots 245 to give him a chance at his first century.


Round 15: R A G G E D T O M

No one buzzes. The answer was MORTGAGED.
Final Score: 93–54 (max 131)

The conundrum goes unsolved so a lady in the audience wins a Countdown mug. Eric struck me as a player with strong word knowledge who had some good spots, but his score was let down on the day by a few mistakes of the kind that are easier to make in the studio than in your armchair. So Peter will be back tomorrow looking for his third win.


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

[Mark Ivey]

Thanks for the recap Graeme.

I thought Eric did well on this show, but it was his tendency to see phantom letters and misspell that let him down. Although I understand nerves in the studio can be a massive factor, I really did frown at Eric seemingly trying to change his declaration when he was told it was wrong...