It's me again!
C1: Champion Joe McGonigle (3 wins, 267 points.) A croupier from Stockport, he is proving to be a pretty decent player. His scores are steadily improving, having scored 83, 91 and 93.
C2: Challenger Jonny Walker. A primary school from South Yorkshire but he now lives in East London. He's also a coordinator for a children's charity which does holidays with them every year with social services.
DC: Susie Dent and Janet Street-Porter.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: S A H I R E D O S
R02: M U N B A G T E I
R03: 25, 100, 10, 4, 3, 7. Target: 815.
TTT: EARCONCH - "Will the insect make its way onto your territory?"
R04: N O V P A R E O N
R05: G E R I S A V E R
R06: 100, 5, 7, 4, 9, 5. Target: 736.
R07: P O D U N I L E D
R08: C A T N I Z M E O
R09: 25, 100, 4, 8, 4, 5. Target: 557.
TTT: GIFTLOAN - "It's in the water but it hasn't quite sunk in"
R10: K I R E M A G N S
R11: D O G E L A R I S
R12: N E R U T C S E L
R13: D R X I O E T J A
R14: 75, 10, 10, 2, 6, 3. Target: 399.
R15: D I N I N G H E R (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: S A H I R E D O S
C1: SHADIER (7)
C2: DASHERS (7)
DC: RADISHES (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)
Seven all but DC start well by spotting the darrenic RADISHES.
Round 2: M U N B A G T E I
C1: BEATING (7)
C2: BEGAN (5)
DC: NUTMEG (6) BEAMING (7)
OT: AMBIENT (7) AUGMENT (7) BITUMEN (7) MEGABIT (7) MINTAGE (7) MUTAGEN (7) TEAMING (7) TEGMINA (7)
Score: 14–7 (max 15)
Joe takes the first lead of the day as Jonny misses numerous sevens.
Round 3: 25, 100, 10, 4, 3, 7. Target: 815.
C1: 813. 100 x 7 + 25 x 4 + 10 + 3 (7)
C2: 810.
RR: 815. (7 - 3 + 4) x 100 + 25 - 10 (10)
Score: 21–7 (max 25)
Joe immediately doubles his lead by getting two away and Rachel, as ever, achieves perfection.
Teatime teaser: EARCONCH -> ENCROACH
Round 4: N O V P A R E O N
C1: PROVEN (6)
C2: PROVEN (6)
DC: NOONER (6)
OT: NOVENA (6) OPERON (6)
Score: 27–13 (max 31)
Quite a dull round, other than DC's mentioning of NOONER which gets a few laughs. Jonathan Rawlinson offered the pluralised version against me in the final but sadly no one picked up on its definition at the time, or at least I don't remember it. If you don't know what it means and you're interested, well look it up yourself as this is supposed to be a family-friendly forum.
Round 5: G E R I S A V E R
C1: GREASIER (8)
C2: VISAGE (6)
DC: GRAVIES (7)
OT: GRIEVERS (8)
Score: 35–13 (max 39)
Another good spot by the champ, who extends his lead.
Round 6: 100, 5, 7, 4, 9, 5. Target: 736.
C1: 736. 7 x 100 + 9 x 4 (10)
C2: 736. 7 x 100 + 9 x 4 (10)
Score: 45–23 (max 49)
Let's move on quickly.
JSP has a mini rant about how she loathes the word "luxury", due to its overuse in the English language in the modern era.
Round 7: P O D U N I L E D
C1: PUDDLE (6)
C2: POUNDED (7)
DC: UNOILED (7)
OT: EUPLOID (7) POINDED (7)
Score: 45–30 (max 56)
Jonny gets back in the game by spotting one of the sevens.
Round 8: C A T N I Z M E O
C1: ATOMIC (6)
C2: ACTION (6)
DC: MIZEN (5) ACONITE (7)
OT: MONAZITE (8)
Score: 51–36 (max 64)
There are a few sevens here but the contestants can only get sixes. DC get the old favourite ACONITE but everyone misses MONAZITE.
Round 9: 25, 100, 4, 8, 4, 5. Target: 557.
C1: 556. (100 + 4 + 8) x 5 - 4 (7)
C2: -
RR: 557. (100 + 4) x 5 + 4 + 8 + 25 (10)
Score: 58–36 (max 74)
Joe restores his 22-point advantage. Rachel saves the day again.
Teatime teaser: GIFTLOAN -> FLOATING
Round 10: K I R E M A G N S
C1: REMAKINGS X
C2: REIGNS (6)
DC: RAMEKINS (8)
OT: MARKINGS (8) REMAKING (8) SMEARING (8)
Score: 58–42 (max 82)
Whoah! That was a bit of an unnecessary risk from Joe considering that he had a good lead and Jonny declared a six first. It's let his opponent back in with a chance.
Round 11: D O G E L A R I S
C1: GLIDERS (7)
C2: LODGERS (7)
DC: SERAGLIO (8)
OT: DARIOLES (8) GIRASOLE (8)
Score: 65–49 (max 90)
Some classic apterous and Countdown words appear but the contestants go with more common sevens.
OoW: Susie expains the origins of "dope" and reveals that it is related to doping in the drugs sense. She also reveals the origins of the term "flutter" as in to have a flutter on the horses. The word "precarious" also comes from Latin.
Round 12: N E R U T C S E L
C1: CLUSTER (7)
C2: RULES (5)
DC: NEUTERS (7) LECTURES (8)
OT: ESCULENT (8) LECTERNS (8) UNSELECT (8)
Score: 72–49 (max 98)
Joe moves to within touching distance of victory with his seven but DC give LECTURES on how to find the longer words.
Round 13: D R X I O E T J A
C1: EDITOR (6)
C2: OXIDE (5)
DC: TIRADE (6) EXORDIA (7)
Score: 78–49 (max 105)
Joe's victory is confirmed with another winner but once again DC get the tricky darren, one of the plurals of EXORDIUM.
Round 14: 75, 10, 10, 2, 6, 3. Target: 399.
``
C1: 400. (6 - 2) x 75 + 10 x 10 (7)
C2: 400. (6 - 2) x 10 x 10 (7)
RR: 399. (75 - 10) x 6 + 10 - (3 - 2) (10)
Score: 85–56 (max 115)
Rachel never disappoints, does she?
Round 15: D I N I N G H E R
C1 buzzes on 7 seconds to say HINDERING which is correct.
Final Score: 95–56 (max 125)
Nothing seems to be HINDERING Joe at the moment. That's his half-octochampdom safely secured and the trend of his scores improving each game continues. Tomorrow will certainly be a test though as he is up against apterite Mark Ivey. Robbo is away for a while so join the current number two seed Andy Platt who will be commenting on potential opposition in the finals. If Joe becomes an octochamp on Monday, my next recap will feature two new contestants. See you all next week, same time, same place, you be sure of it!
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=68