Thursday 2 July 1998 (Series 39, Prelim 4)

[Joseph Krol]

Countdown recap for Thursday 2 July 1998.

C1: Champion Robert Muir (2 wins, 107 points.) From Meadowbank, Edinburgh. Beat Richard Frost yesterday with nice words such as private and both numbers exact, albeit by only one point.
C2: Challenger Arthur Barrow. From Ackworth, near Pontefract. Can he fell Robert today?
DC: Mark Nyman and Toyah Wilcox.
CV: Carol Vorderman.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: D L T O E A D M I
R02: S E Q A R E F O X
R03: N G R I V I A R D
R04: 75, 7, 6, 1, 2, 7. Target: 811.
R05: T I L E Y H O S I
R06: E I O A M S N D R
R07: U E E L G P H R I
R08: 25, 8, 4, 4, 6, 5. Target: 797.
R09: C O D G E R N E V (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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(Thou shalt) Enjoy the show.
Round 1: D L T O E A D M I

C1: admited
C2: MIDDLE (6)
DC: DILATED (7)
OT: DELTOID (7), TOADIED (7)
Score: 0–6 (max 7)

Robert falls at the first hurdle after forgetting that admitted takes a double t in the past tense.

A DELTOID is a muscle in the shoulder.

Round 2: S E Q A R E F O X

C1: faxers
C2: FARES (5)
DC: FOXES, (5) ERASE, (5) FAXES (5)
OT: FEROXES (7)
Score: 0–11 (max 14)

Things are already looking rather iffy for Robert after he declares a dodgy agent noun which allows Arthur to gain some more ground. However, everyone misses the darrenical seven.

Feroxes are one of many varieties of tree.

Round 3: N G R I V I A R D

C1: ARRIVING (8)
C2: ARRIVING (8)
DC: ARRIVING (8)
Score: 8–19 (max 22)

Robert is off the scoreboard as everyone gets the darrenic 8.

Round 4: 75, 7, 6, 1, 2, 7. Target: 811.

C1: 810. (75 + 6)*(7+2+1) (7)
C2: -
CV: 811. (((6*2)-1)*75)-7-7 (10)
Score: 15–19 (max 32)

Robert’s numbers skills help him again as he is right back in the game, though the relatively simple solution evades everyone.

Round 5: T I L E Y H O S I

C1: HOSTILE (7)
C2: TILES (5)
DC: HOLIEST, (7) HOSTILE, (7) ISOHYET (7)
OT: EOLITHS (7) HOLIEST (7) LITHOES (7) OILIEST (7)
Score: 22–19 (max 39)

Sevens galore, but Arthur can only muster a five.

Round 6: E I O A M S N D R

C1: MAIDENS (7)
C2: REMAINS (7)
DC: RANDOMISE, (18) ROMANISED (18)
Score: 29–26 (max 57)

The two not-so-hard nines elude the contestants, but DC get both.

Round 7: U E E L G P H R I

C1: HELPER (6)
C2: UGLIER (6)
DC: PUERILE (7)
OT: HEURIGE (7)
Score: 35–32 (max 64)

Two tricky sevens available but the contestants settle for sixes.

Round 8: 25, 8, 4, 4, 6, 5. Target: 797.

C1: 797. (8*4*25)-5+6-4 (10)
C2: 795.
Score: 45–32 (max 74)

And Robert’s numbers prowess gets him safely onto tomorrow’s show.

Round 9: C O D G E R N E V

C1 buzzes on 21.5 seconds to say CONVERGED which is correct.
Score: 55–32 (max 84)

But is doesn’t matter, as Robert solves the conundrum (although rather slowly).


Arthur was a good contestant who seemed to have had the game easily after the first two rounds, but his lack of skill on the numbers lost him the game. Robert will be here tomorrow after a few dicey spells in the hotseat.

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=39

[Eoin Monaghan]

I know you want people to comment on how to improve your recaps, but I think this was really good. I enjoyed reading it so keep it up.

[James Robinson]

I know you want people to comment on how to improve your recaps, but I think this was really good. I enjoyed reading it so keep it up.

It was very good for a first go.

Just remember not to put in the commas, until after you've done the inputs, otherwise some words will repeat themselves.

Keep it up, Joseph.

[James Robinson]

Round 1: D L T O E A D M I

C1: admited
C2: MIDDLE (6)
DC: DELTOID, (7) TOADIED (7)
OT: DILATED (7)
Score: 0–6 (max 7)

After checking this with the original, the only major error I could find was that DC offered DILATED, rather than the other 2 words.

Remember, the words that are in boxes, are NOT words found by DC.

The only minor error was about missing the half second, at the conundrum, but most people don't care, so don't worry about it.

[Joseph Krol]

Edited accordingly.