Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Wednesday 10 November 2010.
C1: Champion Marcus Hares (7 wins, 730 points.) An Apteforumite from Street, Somerset. His ambition was to win a Countdown teapot, but now he's on the brink of octochampdom.
C2: Challenger Jamie Ashington. Originally from Birmingham, but now lives in Guernsey in the Channel Islands, with his wife and 4 children. His claim to fame is being a drummer in the band The Kuomingtang Party, who had a record played on Radio 1 by John Peel. He raised over £3,000 for charity running the London Marathon earlier in the year, but his ambition is to run the marathon all the way through one day.
DC: Susie Dent and Colin Jackson.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: C I E O P B S A R
R02: G V S U O M N A I
R03: D E A E F Y P I N
R04: H T O U N S I D E
R05: 25, 4, 9, 2, 10, 8. Target: 447.
TTT: IAMTALCY - "Jane's just had a disaster"
R06: V S O M G E I L E
R07: X U E A G L D U R
R08: N M A E W T A N A
R09: R E A I Q R T E J
R10: 25, 75, 2, 7, 2, 8. Target: 294.
TTT: CRINGEAT - "Cringe at the quality of food on offer"
R11: N A E O R L C I S
R12: L T F E E N S I R
R13: P A E A T N S U L
R14: 100, 3, 4, 7, 9, 8. Target: 314.
R15: D A W N S G I L D (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: C I E O P B S A R
C1: COPIERS (7)
C2: COPIERS (7)
DC: AEROBICS (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)
Both contestants copy each others COPIERS, whereas DC had clearly done their AEROBICS exercises before the start, as they immediately get off to a darrenic start.
Round 2: G V S U O M N A I
C1: AMUSING (7)
C2: AMUSING (7)
DC: MOUSING (7)
OT: AGONISM (7)
Score: 14–14 (max 15)
AGONISM is the survivalist animal behaviour that includes aggression, defense, and avoidance.
Round 3: D E A E F Y P I N
C1: PAINED (6)
C2: DEFINE (6)
OT: FIDAYEEN (8)
Score: 20–20 (max 23)
There seemed like there were just millions of 6's around, but a darrenic 8 is hidden very well in there.
FIDAYEEN (or FEDAYEEN) are members of an Arab commando group operating especially against Israel.
Round 4: H T O U N S I D E
C1: outshined
C2: SHOUTED (7)
DC: OUTSHINE (8) SHUNTED (7)
OT: HEDONIST (8) HIDEOUTS (8)
Score: 20–27 (max 31)
The stalemate is broken as Marcus' dodgy 9 is just that. Maybe he should have just chopped off the D for a nice 8.
Round 5: 25, 4, 9, 2, 10, 8. Target: 447.
C1: 446. (9 x 2 x 25) - 4 (7)
C2: 447. Mistake in working.
RR: 447. ((10 + 8) x 25) - (9 - 4 - 2) (10)
Score: 27–27 (max 41)
But the game returns to stalemate almost immediately as Jamie's working out goes quite wrong.
Colin talks about the number 7 and how it affects our everyday lives, although Colin mentions that 7 holds bad luck for him, as he finished in 7th place in the Olympics for which he was the favourite.
Teatime teaser: IAMTALCY -> CALAMITY
Round 6: V S O M G E I L E
C1: OLIVES (6)
C2: SMILE (5)
DC: MOVIES (6) GLOVES (6)
OT: EGOISM (6) GOLEMS (6) LEVIES (6) LIEGES (6) MOLIES (6) MOLVIS (6) OGIVES (6) VEGIES (6)
Score: 33–27 (max 47)
And now Marcus takes the lead for the first time today, as Jamie misses one of the many available 6's.
In Jewish folklore, a GOLEM is a figure artificially constructed in the form of a human being and endowed with life, or it can mean a clumsy and stupid person.
A MOLY (plural MOLIES) is a herb given to Odysseus by Hermes to counteract the spells of Circe.
In India, a MOLVI (or MAULVI) is an expert in Islamic law, used especially as a term of respectful address among Muslims.
Round 7: X U E A G L D U R
C1: lauder
C2: GLARED (6)
DC: AUGURED (7)
Score: 33–33 (max 54)
But again, the stalemate returns as Marcus' risky 6 is again, just that. Good darrenic 7 from DC too.
Round 8: N M A E W T A N A
C1: MEANT (5)
C2: MEANT (5)
DC: MANTA (5) MANANA (6)
OT: ATAMAN (6)
Score: 38–38 (max 60)
A horrific set of letters, but Colin manages to find one of the 2 available 6's here.
An ATAMAN is the elected chief of a Cossack village or military force.
Round 9: R E A I Q R T E J
C1: TEARIER (7)
C2: retear
Score: 45–38 (max 67)
Marcus pulls out a brilliant darren to take the lead again. How long will this one last for
Susie's Origins Of Words talks of the origin of the phrase "having kittens".
Round 10: 25, 75, 2, 7, 2, 8. Target: 294.
C1: 293. ((2 + 2) x 75) - 7 (7)
C2: 292.
RR: 294. (75 - 25 - 8) x 7 (10)
Score: 52–38 (max 77)
Maybe a bit longer, as Jamie is one further away from Marcus in the numbers, while Rachel shows us all the relatively simple method to reach the target.
Teatime teaser: CRINGEAT -> CATERING
Round 11: N A E O R L C I S
C1: LONICERAS (18)
C2: cloners (declared as 8)
DC: CENSORIAL (18)
Score: 70–38 (max 95)
Now that's Apto-magic.
A brilliant 9 is pulled out by Marcus and surely the game is his now. Round 12: L T F E E N S I R
C1: FERTILE (7)
C2: ferniest
DC: REFINES (7) STERILE (7)
OT: ENLISTER (8) LISTENER (8)
Score: 77–38 (max 103)
And that dodgy 8 from Jamie means that Marcus has now become an octochamp.
Round 13: P A E A T N S U L
C1: SPATULA (7)
C2: PLANTS (6)
DC: PLEASANT (8)
OT: PANTSULA (8) PLATEAUS (8)
Score: 84–38 (max 111)
Marcus decides to go safe with his 7, although we have no idea what else he was thinking of. Can he get his 6th century of his run
PANTSULA is an energetic dance originating in the black townships of South Africa in the 1980s.
Round 14: 100, 3, 4, 7, 9, 8. Target: 314.
C1: 314. (100 x 3) + ((8 / 4) x 7) (10)
C2: 314. (100 x 3) + ((8 / 4) x 7) (10)
Score: 94–48 (max 121)
He's now put himself into the perfect position thanks to that easy 1 large.
Round 15: D A W N S G I L D
C1 buzzes on 2.5 seconds to say SWADDLING which is correct.
Final Score: 104–48 (max 131)
And there you go, a 6th century for Marcus and done impressively too. A brilliant player over the last 8 shows and well deserving of his octochampdom. With 834 points, he is currently the #4 seed, and we'll be seeing him in the finals in a few weeks time.
Join me tomorrow as the search for the "lucky" 7th octochamp begins with 2 new challengers.
So till then, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Marcus:
Total score - 104
Raw score - 104
Total % of max - 79
Raw % of max - 79
Total average score per round - 6.9
Raw average score per round - 6.9
Number of maxes - 6
Jamie:
Total score - 48
Raw score - 66
Total % of max - 37
Raw % of max - 50
Total average score per round - 3.2
Raw average score per round - 4.4
Number of maxes - 2
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=63
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