C1: Champion Nicky Miller (2 wins, 184 points.)
C2: Challenger Rebekah Larner.
DC: Susie Dent and Dave Spikey.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: N C M P E A O H K
R02: B D A R I U S M W
R03: R G L N E A E S Y
R04: V S L I O D R E S
R05: 25, 5, 5, 8, 7, 7. Target: 331.
TTT: DOWNSIDE - "It's the downside to be ignored by everyone"
R06: G S N I E R S T A
R07: W F N T O E O L S
R08: X D T A O I S D V
R09: N S L T E A E B Z
R10: 75, 50, 100, 9, 10, 5. Target: 593.
TTT: FINEDISH - "Ate the fine dish all up"
R11: T J T C O U O R A
R12: T P R I O T R E L
R13: R M H E A O N T A
R14: 75, 50, 100, 3, 10, 5. Target: 831.
R15: T A N G Y P E A R (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Nicky Miller is going all right at the moment having won 2 games. He's from Oxford and is currently doing his A-levels. After having tennis fan Marcus Hares in the chair most of last week we have another one as Nicky also loves the sport. His favourite player is Ana Ivanovic basically 'cos she is bang tidy.
Rebekah Larner is also a student but from Norwich and supports Norwich football team. She's multi-talented as she plays viola and violin in Norfolk County Youth Orchestra plus she does ballet and tap dancing. It doesn't end there! She can also speak Japanese apaprently. And when she grows up she wants to be a doctor or a mathmetician, so her numbers should be shit hot.
Dave Spikey is back in DC this week and it doesn't seem long since he was last here. I remember he annoyed me by acting like he spotted the words himself. He was good in Phoenix Nights though so all is forgiven. And 8 Out of 10 Cats. (But not the revival of Bullseye, was that dogwank or what?)
Enjoy the show.
Round 1: N C M P E A O H K
C1: POMACE (6)
C2: PHONE (5)
OT: CHAPMEN (7) PACKMEN (7)
Score: 6–0 (max 7)
Tough 7's here but Nicky finds a nice 6 to take an early lead.
Round 2: B D A R I U S M W
C1: RADIUS (6)
C2: BRAIDS (6)
DC: BARIUM (6) BARIUMS (7)
OT: ABSURD (6) DISBAR (6) DIRAMS (6) DISARM (6) IAMBUS (6) MBIRAS (6) MUDRAS (6) MURIDS (6) RADIUM (6) RUMBAS (6) UMBRAS (6)
Score: 12–6 (max 14)
Very flat round. Or is it? Susie says she would have allowed BARIUMS even though apterous says no. More fuel for this thread.
Round 3: R G L N E A E S Y
C1: ENLARGES (8)
C2: leaners
DC: GENERALS (8)
OT: GLEANERS (8) LARYNGES (8)
Score: 20–6 (max 22)
Well done Nicky in finding the max whilst Rebekah can only see an invalid 7.
Round 4: V S L I O D R E S
C1: SOLDIERS (8)
C2: resoils
DC: RISSOLE (7)
OT: DEVISORS (8) DISSOLVE (8)
Score: 28–6 (max 30)
A mirror image of the last round because Nicky has an 8 as again Rebekah makes up a 7 letter word. Nicky is really in control of this game now but Rebekah can change it with her number skillz.
Round 5: 25, 5, 5, 8, 7, 7. Target: 331.
C1: 332.
C2: 331. (8+5)*25+7/7+5 (10)
Score: 28–16 (max 40)
A not too difficult numbers game sees Nicky failing to score and Rebekah earns herself a huge 10 points.
DC Guest Time: Dave talks about daft sayings like "a watched kettle never boils" and "you can't make an omelette without an egg". I'm pretty sure he did something similar when he was on last and possibly even used the same sayings so bit crap. Then again, Tim Vine's been using the same material for decades and I still love him.
Teatime teaser: DOWNSIDE -> DISOWNED
Round 6: G S N I E R S T A
C1: strangers
C2: SINGERS (7)
DC: STINGERS (8) ASSERTING (18)
Score: 28–23 (max 58)
Disappointing to see an -ING 9 missed. Nicky declares 8 although Susie interprets this as STRANGERS and says that you would need two R's but I reckon he said STRANGES^ since that is 8 letters and all are present. Nicky is probably too polite to say anything and it was invalid anyway so no harm done.
Round 7: W F N T O E O L S
C1: TOWELS (6)
C2: SOFTEN (6)
DC: FOOTLES (7)
OT: FLOWSTONE (18)
Score: 34–29 (max 76)
Wow, back-to-back 9's. Although this one can be forgiven as it is a beaut. FLOWSTONE is...erm...a stone.
Round 8: X D T A O I S D V
C1: TOADS (5)
C2: VAST (4)
DC: AVOIDS (6) DAVITS (6)
OT: DIVOTS (6)
Score: 39–29 (max 82)
Pretty crap letters but still 6's could have been got yet Rebekah musters a 4 and is beaten by a slimy 5. Shit round.
Round 9: N S L T E A E B Z
C1: tables
C2: BEATEN (6)
DC: ENABLES (7) BALEEN (6)
OT: BEZANTS (7) LATEENS (7) LEANEST (7) TEAZELS (7) TEAZLES (7) TENABLE (7)
Score: 39–35 (max 89)
Misdeclaration of 7 which is unusual, unless of course he meant TABELES^ (lol jokes). BEZANTS is probably the pick of the many, many, many 7's kicking around. A BEZANT is a gold coin from the Byzantine Empire.
Susie's Origins of Words: Susie goes on about the term hector meaning to be bossy etc. It goes back quite a few hundred years.
Round 10: 75, 50, 100, 9, 10, 5. Target: 593.
C1: 590. 5*100+9*10 (7)
C2: 590. 5*100+9*10 (7)
OT: 593. (75+(10/5))*9-100 (10)
Score: 46–42 (max 99)
Rebekah goes for probably the most unasked for selection of 3 large and it doesn't really work as the points are shared. Rachel did get this solution but after the time and she did it the same way as OT.
Teatime teaser: FINEDISH -> FINISHED
Round 11: T J T C O U O R A
C1: COURT (5)
C2: TAROT (5)
DC: OUTACT (6)
OT: TOURACO (7)
Score: 51–47 (max 106)
First darren of the day that isn't a 9 shows up and it (TOURACO) is a brightly coloured bird found in Africa. As it is Dave "lexonerd" Spikey spots OUTACT for 6.
Round 12: T P R I O T R E L
C1: POTTIER (7)
C2: PLOTTER (7)
DC: TRIOLET (7) PORTLIER (8)
Score: 58–54 (max 114)
Another darren turns up but this one is a little tougher to spot amongst a collection with so many 7's which Nicky and Rebekah had no trouble in finding one. The 4 point gap is indication that this one might just go to a crucial conundrum.
Round 13: R M H E A O N T A
C1: MOANER (6)
C2: MOANER (6)
DC: ANOTHER (7)
OT: ATHEROMA (8) MARATHON (8)
Score: 64–60 (max 122)
Ugh. A big chance missed by one of thep layers at least I feel. A couple of 7's to go like ANOTHER "spotted" by Spikey and ATHANOR is a nice 7 in there which is a furnace that can maintain a uniform temperature itself.
Round 14: 75, 50, 100, 3, 10, 5. Target: 831.
C1: 830. Mistake in working.
C2: 830. (75+5+3)*10 (7)
OT: 831. ((100-10)*(50-3)-75)/5 (10)
Score: 64–67 (max 132)
A rotter of a numbers game and it sees Nicky lose out to Rebekah for the second time on the numbers. Her 1 away solution gives her a potentially vital 3 point lead as we reveal today's Countdown conundrum.
Round 15: T A N G Y P E A R
C1 buzzes on 22 seconds to say PAGEANTRY which is correct.
Final Score: 74–67 (max 142)
Wow that was a long 22 seconds and I bet Rebekah's heart sank as she heard the buzzer from Nicky.
A well fought battle between two young peeps but not spectacular by any means. Close contest but Nicky rightfully won this game as he definitely seemed the stronger player.
Right, goodnight ho bags.
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=63
