Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Wednesday 2 February 2011.
C1: Champion Dave Dyer (2 wins, 197 points.) An Apterite from Oxford. He works as a mathematics teacher in a secondary school.
C2: Challenger Edward McCullagh. An Apteforumite from Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland. He works as a customer service rep for an airline company. When he was in France last year, he was ran over by a paramedic on a motorbike, and describes himself as completely accident prone.
DC: Susie Dent and Gregg Wallace.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: S D I E S P I K E
R02: O N D I U W F R O
R03: T T R E I E B G N
R04: I E T S N O M O T
R05: 9, 4, 3, 8, 6, 1. Target: 192.
TTT: RENTDEAL - "You have to come like this to the stag party"
R06: A S H N I A R S M
R07: R U D A S C U V E
R08: A I G R Z E C T R
R09: T P Q O A U S N E
R10: 75, 9, 3, 10, 7, 8. Target: 833.
TTT: CLAMREEK - "It doesn't reek of clams, but it does smell fishy"
R11: T U R L E D O M A
R12: E R T N I E V P L
R13: L I S P L E A Y W
R14: 75, 100, 6, 2, 4, 1. Target: 259.
R15: K E V I N T H O R (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: S D I E S P I K E
C1: peskies
C2: DESPISE (7)
OT: PISKIES (7)
Score: 0–7 (max 7)
A good start by the Ulsterman, as Dave's risky 7 doesn't pay off for him.
Round 2: O N D I U W F R O
C1: FOUND (5)
C2: INDOOR (6)
DC: FONDU (5)
OT: UNROOF (6)
Score: 0–13 (max 13)
A horrible selection, but Edward still gets a 6 and his day is getting better already.
Round 3: T T R E I E B G N
C1: BETTERING (18)
C2: BETTERING (18)
Score: 18–31 (max 31)
And now even more BETTER
Round 4: I E T S N O M O T
C1: MOISTEN (7)
C2: EMOTIONS (8)
DC: MOONIEST (8)
Score: 18–39 (max 39)
Dave is being swept aside in this one, despite getting the 9 in the previous round. Just lots of good EMOTIONS on Edward's face, methinks.
Round 5: 9, 4, 3, 8, 6, 1. Target: 192.
C1: 192. (9 - 1) x 8 x 3 (10)
C2: 192. 6 x 4 x 8 (10)
Score: 28–49 (max 49)
Dave tries a different tack with 6 small, but a fairly simple target appears.
Gregg talks about his former Radio 4 show Veg Talk, which he co-hosted with Charlie Hicks, and a conversation about outside toilets. He then talks about being served a guinea-fowl on TOP of a chocolate pudding for dessert. EURRRRGGHHH
Teatime teaser: RENTDEAL -> ANTLERED
Round 6: A S H N I A R S M
C1: SHAMANS (7)
C2: SHARIA (6)
OT: ASHRAMS (7) HARISSA (7) MARINAS (7)
Score: 35–49 (max 56)
Oh dear, Edward's max game is off, after Dave's brilliant 7 spot.
An ASHRAM is a secluded building, often the residence of a guru, used for religious retreat or instruction in Hinduism.
HARISSA is a pungent paste or sauce made with chillies, garlic, cumin, caraway, coriander, paprika, and olive oil, used as a condiment and flavouring in North African and Middle Eastern cookery.
Round 7: R U D A S C U V E
C1: CAUSED (6)
C2: verucas
DC: CRUSADE (7)
OT: SCARVED (7)
Score: 41–49 (max 63)
Oh dear, Edward seems to be starting to crumble, as he is an R short of some VERRUCAS.
Round 8: A I G R Z E C T R
C1: CRAZIER (7)
C2: CRAZIER (7)
DC: ERRATIC (7)
OT: GRAZIER (7)
Score: 48–56 (max 70)
This game is of a very high quality. It's a shame that it'll be very unlikely that both of these contestants will make the finals.
Round 9: T P Q O A U S N E
C1: unquotes
C2: SOUTANE (7)
DC: OPAQUES (7)
OT: OPAQUEST (8)
Score: 48–63 (max 78)
Oh dear, now Dave has found himself a phantom U, while Susie didn't bother to check her pages while giving the definition of OPAQUES.
Susie's Origin Of Words talks about the legend surrounding "sirloin" and it's supposed "knighting" by Henry VIII.
Round 10: 75, 9, 3, 10, 7, 8. Target: 833.
C1: 833. ((8 + 3) x 75) + 10 - 9 + 7 (10)
C2: 833. (((7 x 3) - 10) x 75) + 8 (10)
Score: 58–73 (max 88)
Plenty of ways to get 833 here, and Dave and Edward find 2 of them.
Teatime teaser: CLAMREEK -> MACKEREL
Round 11: T U R L E D O M A
C1: EMULATOR (8)
C2: MODULATE (8)
Score: 66–81 (max 96)
Both 8's found by the contestants here.
Round 12: E R T N I E V P L
C1: PREVENT (7)
C2: REPTILE (7)
DC: REPLEVIN (8)
Score: 73–88 (max 104)
An impressive darren from DC here, but the gap is still managable for Dave at the moment.
Round 13: L I S P L E A Y W
C1: PLAYS (5)
C2: WALLIES (7)
DC: SLIPWAY (7)
OT: SPILLWAY (8)
Score: 73–95 (max 112)
But not now, as that 7 gives Edward the game.
A SPILLWAY is a passageway through which surplus water escapes from a reservoir, lake, or the like.
Round 14: 75, 100, 6, 2, 4, 1. Target: 259.
C1: 259. ((100 - 6) x 2) + 75 - 4 (10)
C2: 259. ((100 - 6) x 2) + 75 - 4 (10)
Score: 83–105 (max 122)
I thought there'd be a simpler way to get to 259. As it is, both contestants solve it the way I solved it.
Round 15: K E V I N T H O R
C2 buzzes on 3 seconds to say OVERTHINK which is correct.
Final Score: 83–115 (max 132)
Edward doesn't need to OVERTHINK this conundrum, and that wraps up Edward's win. A very impressive start to his Countdown career, although we should spare a thought for Dave, who did brilliantly in his previous 2 games and didn't drop off in this game either. So, it's a real shame that he probably won't make the finals.
Join me tomorrow for Edward's 2nd game, unless I crash into an ambulance on the way to work in the morning.
Till then, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Dave:
Total score - 83
Raw score - 100
Total % of max - 63
Raw % of max - 76
Total average score per round - 5.5
Raw average score per round - 6.7
Number of maxes - 7
Edward:
Total score - 115
Raw score - 121
Total % of max - 87
Raw % of max - 92
Total average score per round - 7.7
Raw average score per round - 8.1
Number of maxes - 10
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=64
