Thursday 31st October 2002 (Series 48, Prelim 74)

[Chris Philpot]

Countdown Recap - Thursday 31st October 2002 (Series 48, Prelim 74)

Champion (C1): Sheila Furse (3 wins, 287 points) from Bridport in Dorset. The niner RELATIONS helped her to accrue a century in her opener, and in her follow-up games she's consistently scored reached the 90s. Will a third win today mean she can party like it's 1999?
Challenger (C2): Lucy Guile, a 14-year-old local girl from Leeds [now a student at Christ's College, Cambridge, IIRC] who solved the conundrum yesterday when she was sitting in the audience. Is this a good omen?
DC: Damian Eadie and Rick 'tinkling on the ivories' Wakeman
CV: Carol Vorderman
OT: Other words, solutions and/or piffle

Test yourself with the mini-recap:

R01: T F L C U O E N S
R02: G P A E L T D I O
R03: R S M N E A E R M
R04: T L Q I O A N T I
R05: 75, 2, 4, 1, 9, 4 --> Target: 871
TTT: SEERUMP
R06: S G R U A H T O C
R07: X M S J E I A R L
R08: P V S O A G D U I
R09: P T R Y E A O S D
R10: 75, 6, 7, 7, 10, 4 --> Target: 946
TTT: ZIPCASE
R11: F M S I E A K L P
R12: G H T V O I E G L
R13: C R N B A O I W A
R14: 25, 6, 2, 8, 3, 8 --> Target: 739
R15: S E A P I G E O N (conundrum)

Scroll down to see how Sheila and Lucy got on under the studio lights...

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Enjoy the show!

Round 1: T F L C U O E N S

C1: FLOUNCES (8)
C2: CLOUTS (6)
DC: CONFUTES (8)
OT: NOCTULES (8) was available as an equaller.
Score: 8–0 (max 8)

Round 2: G P A E L T D I O

C1: PILOTED (7)
C2: GLOATED (7)
DC: Sheila was tempted by PILOTAGE (8), and it would have given her a 16 point lead.
OT: PETALOID (8) was there to equal DC.
Score: 15–7 (max 16)

Round 3: R S M N E A E R M

C1: RENAMES (7)
C2: RENAMES (7)
DC: EARNERS (7) and RAMMERS (7)
OT: Are Charlie's groupies known as the REAMERS (7)? Plus SMEARER (7) was on offer, but seven's your max.
Score: 22–14 (max 23)

Round 4: T L Q I O A N T I

C1: TILT (4)
C2: TAIL (4)
DC: TAINT (5) and TALON (5)
OT: NOTITIA (7) beats DC and is the Darrenic seven-pointer.
Score: 26–18 (max 30)

Round 5: 75, 2, 4, 1, 9, 4 --> Target: 871

C1: Nada.
C2: 884, 13 away.
CV: 871 = (75 - 4 × 2) × (9 + 4) (10)
Score: 26–18 (max 40)

Teatime teaser: SEERUMP --> SUPREME [and also PRESUME, as Mike Brown rightly spotted in his paper recap]

Round 6: S G R U A H T O C

C1: ROUGHS (6)
C2: CHARTS (6)
DC: You might think I talk a lot of balderdash, but DC are talking pebbledash - ROUGHCAST (18) is there for nine!
Score: 32–24 (max 58)

Round 7: X M S J E I A R L

C1: JAILERS (7)
C2: JAILERS (7)
DC: REALISM (7)
OT: MAILERS (7) is an anagram of DC's offering, but there's nothing worth more than seven.
Score: 39–31 (max 65)

Round 8: P V S O A G D U I

C1: AVOIDS (6)
C2: AVOIDS (6)
OT: Both Sheila and Lucy found the six-letter Darren in a tricky selection.
Score: 45–37 (max 71)

Round 9: P T R Y E A O S D

C1: STRAYED (7)
C2: SPORTED (7)
DC: ADOPTERS (8) and READOPTS (8)
OT: Just another anagram of the above - PASTORED (8).
Score: 52–44 (max 79)

Round 10: 75, 6, 7, 7, 10, 4 --> Target: 946

C1: Nowt.
C2: 949 = (10 + 6 - 4) × 75 + 7 × 7 (7)
CV: 946 = (75 + 4 - 7) × (7 + 6) + 10 (10)
Score: 52–51 (max 89)

Teatime teaser: ZIPCASE --> CAPSIZE

Round 11: F M S I E A K L P

C1: SIMPLE (6)
C2: FLAKES (6)
DC: IMPALES (7) is a Darrenic seven.
Score: 58–57 (max 96)

Round 12: G H T V O I E G L

C1: EIGHT (5)
C2: TOGGLE (6)
DC: An EOLITH (6) is a chipped flint nodule, once thought to be a primitive stone tool but now believed to be the natural product of glaciation.
OT: HIGGLE (6), synonymous with 'haggle', HOGGET (6), a sheep up to the age of one year that has yet to be sheared, and VIOLET (6).
Score: 58–63 (max 102)

Round 13: C R N B A O I W A

C1: BACON (5)
C2: BACON (5)
DC: We've just had 'violet' in round 12 - you'll find it at the end of the RAINBOW (7).
OT: OCARINA (7), an an egg-shaped wind instrument that crops up in the fifth game of the Legend of Zelda series, 'The Ocarina of Time'. To progress, players had to learn to play several songs on an ocarina.
Score: 63–68 (max 109)

Round 14: 25, 6, 2, 8, 3, 8 --> Target: 739

C1: 740 = (8 × 3 + 6) × 25 - 8 - 2 (7)
C2: Nothing.
CV: 740, three different ways. (7)
OT: 739 = (25 × (6 - 2) - 8) × 8 + 3 (10)
Score: 70–68 (max 119)

Round 15: S E A P I G E O N

Time goes by and no one buzzes. The answer was ESPIONAGE.
Score: 70–68 (max 129)

Tomorrow's challenger: George Greenhough from Selby.

This recap was written by 'lazy student' type Chris Philpot. Further summaries for this series are available at any good retailer, or at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=48