Tuesday 15th February 2011 (Series 64, Prelim 27)

[James Hall]

Countdown recap for Tuesday 15 February 2011.

Hello and welcome to a late recap. You've got me today because Oliver's got more important things to be doing. It's February 15th, Youtube's 6th birthday in the USA. And with that piece of utterly useless trivia, on with the game!

C1: Champion Andy Campbell (1 win, 81 points.)
C2: Challenger Matthew Barrett.
DC: Susie Dent and Debra Stephenson.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: D W T E R A P E M
R02: D A V U S I R U E
R03: C I O E D L S I Y
R04: P O T E N I L O R
R05: 75, 1, 2, 6, 4, 10. Target: 216.
TTT: IRONSMOG - "Roger calls up - he's left his boat somewhere"
R06: T U J E D A B V R
R07: F N L M E O A G E
R08: A R C E K I T S R
R09: Q O A U T B N D A
R10: 50, 7, 3, 8, 7, 4. Target: 199.
TTT: ABLUERAG - "The answer to this is open to debate really"
R11: G R G R E I E L S
R12: T A R E N A S O A
R13: H S P E A U L T I
R14: 100, 7, 5, 10, 2, 5. Target: 500.
R15: A C T P O O R E R (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Andy Campbell is our returning champion with one win in the bank. A customer service advisor from Scotland, he started his first match with a nine-letter word - will he be able to repeat that feat in his second fixture? A big fan of Raith Rovers he's used to dealing with nerves after getting to the final of a penalty-taking competition at his beloved club's home ground, before sending his strike over the crossbar and into the crowd.

Matthew Barrett is a doctor who's flown over to Manchester from Dublin, who also fences. He's also been a bit of a local hero, after taking on three muggers and winning. A bit of an unfair fight, seeing as he's a black belt in karate.

And in Dictionary corner we welcome Debra Stephenson once more, who got instructed by Cilla Black not to impersonate her.

Enjoy the show.

Round 1: D W T E R A P E M

C1: WATERED (7)
C2: TAMPERED (8)
DC: PAT (3)
Score: 0–8 (max 8)

Matthew jumps straight in there with a first-round Darren. Dictionary Corner's declarations merely mirror those of the contestants, with Debra talking about Pat from Eastenders.

Round 2: D A V U S I R U E

C1: DIVERS (6)
C2: DRIVES (6)
DC: ADVISER (7)
OT: RESIDUA (7)
Score: 6–14 (max 15)

DC keep on their max game while the contestants seem happy with 6 each. RESIDUA is the plural of RESIDUUM, meaning a residue. It also seems to be another name for bedrock.

Round 3: C I O E D L S I Y

C1: CLOSED (6)
C2: DOCILE (6)
DC: IDOLISE (7) DOILIES (7)
OT: COLDIES (7)
Score: 12–20 (max 22)

The contestants seem to be stuck with sixes. Dictionary Corner, however, find two of the three available 7-letter words in the selection.

Round 4: P O T E N I L O R

C1: PORTION (7)
C2: PROTEIN (7)
DC: PELOTON (7) POINTER (7)
OT: LOONIER (7) LOOPIER (7) REPOINT (7) POLITER (7) PROLINE (7) RETINOL (7) TROOPIE (7)
Score: 19–27 (max 29)

Many many sevens, nothing better.
PROLINE is an amino acid coded in human DNA, RETINOL is an animal form of vitamin A and TROOPIE is an Australian word referring to a troop carrier - generally a 4x4 vehicle used for transporting infantrymen.



Round 5: 75, 1, 2, 6, 4, 10. Target: 216.

C1: 216. (6/2)*75-(10-1) (10)
C2: 215.
Score: 29–27 (max 39)

Plenty of ways to reach 216 as Matthew misses out slightly surprisingly, giving the lead to Andy for the first time in the match.

Debra talks about singing, and I zone out.

Teatime teaser: IRONSMOG -> MOORINGS

Round 6: T U J E D A B V R

C1: BRAVED (6)
C2: BRAVED (6)
DC: ABJURED (7)
Score: 35–33 (max 46)

DC find the Darren, and are still on for their max game...

Round 7: F N L M E O A G E

C1: ENAMEL (6)
C2: MELANGE (7)
DC: FLAGMEN (7)
OT: GLEEMAN (7)
Score: 35–40 (max 53)

Matthew's risky 7 pays off as he pulls out a lovely word, meaning "a mixture" and the lead changes hands again.

Round 8: A R C E K I T S R

C1: TRACKIES (8)
C2: ERRATICS (8)
DC: TRICKERS (8) TRACKERS (8)
Score: 43–48 (max 61)

Two dodgy 8s both turn out to be valid. TRACKIES is merely slang for tracksuits or tracksuit bottoms, and an ERRATIC is a geological term for a rock which is different from its surroundings.

Round 9: Q O A U T B N D A

C1: ABOUND (6)
C2: QUOTA (5)
OT: OBTUND (6) QUANTA (6)
Score: 49–48 (max 67)

Matthew sticks with a 5 which isn't enough to contain Andy's 6 and the lead goes back to Andy. Susie was "trying to find something a bit special, but failed". Nice to know she's human.
OBTUND means to make duller or to deaden. QUANTA is the plural of quantum, which, as well as meaning the smallest possible amount, means quantity in some South Asian dialects.

Round 10: 50, 7, 3, 8, 7, 4. Target: 199.

C1: 199. 50*4-(8-7) (10)
C2: 199. 50*4-(7/7) (10)
Score: 59–58 (max 77)

Easy.

Teatime teaser: ABLUERAG -> ARGUABLE

Round 11: G R G R E I E L S

C1: LIGERS (6)
C2: LIGERS (6)
DC: RIGGERS (7) LEGGIER (7)
OT: LEGGERS (7) LIGGERS (7)
Score: 65–64 (max 84)

Both contestants miss a couple of obvious 7s here, instead opting for the rather nice word LIGERS (offspring of a male lion and a female tiger). A LIGGER is a hanger-on or freeloader, particularly in the music industry. GRIEGER has been removed from the OT list seeing is it seems to be wrong anyway (see the lovely informative post by Mike below).

Round 12: T A R E N A S O A

C1: STONER (6)
C2: ORATES (6)
DC: TREASON (7) SENATOR (7)
OT: SANTERO (7)
Score: 71–70 (max 91)

Another couple of 7s go begging for the contestants, but not for Susie!

Round 13: H S P E A U L T I

C1: STAPLE (6)
C2: SALUTE (6)
DC: PULSATE (7) SULPHATE (8)
OT: SULPHITE (8)
Score: 77–76 (max 99)

DC complete their max letters game with a nice 8. The contestants are once again content with sixes.

Round 14: 100, 7, 5, 10, 2, 5. Target: 500.

C1: 500. 5*100 (10)
C2: 500. 100*5 (10)
Score: 87–86 (max 109)

A groan from the audience as the world's easiest numbers game turns up. Matthew's method is "more or less" the same as Andy's, but I can only guess what he did. He may have had 100*((((10-2)*5)-5)/7) for all I know.

So, the lights are dimmed for a crucial conundrum...

Round 15: A C T P O O R E R

C2 buzzes on 3 seconds to say COOPERATE which is incorrect.
C1 buzzes on 26 seconds to say PROTRACTOR which is incorrect.
The answer was CORPORATE.
Final Score: 87–86 (max 119)

It's painful to watch as Matthew sees what he's missed on about 19 seconds and winces - he correctly reveals the final answer after time, but still loses by a single point.

So, Andy records his second win with a new high score to bring his tally to 2 and his total score to 168, and he'll be back tomorrow.

Statland

Andy:
Total score - 87
Raw score - 100
Total % of max - 73
Raw % of max - 84
Total average score per round - 5.8
Raw average score per round - 6.7
Number of maxes - 6

Matthew:
Total score - 86
Raw score - 98
Total % of max - 72
Raw % of max - 82
Total average score per round - 5.7
Raw average score per round - 6.5
Number of maxes - 6

The stats show you don't get much closer than that!

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=64

[James Robinson]

We also wish happy birthday to the ever-delightful Rachel.

Unfortunately, Rachel's birthday was 5 weeks earlier, so not sure where you got that idea from

Apart from that, nice going, James

[James Hall]

Thanks James! I enjoyed doing it

Fixed the Rachel thing. It's up on cdb now too.

[Tony Atkins]

ODE says greige is a cross between grey and beige, so greiger is even more so!

[Mike Brown]

ODE says greige is a cross between grey and beige, so greiger is even more so!

GRIEGE, GRIEGER and GRIEGEST shouldn't be in JimDic/CountMax, as they would appear to be a misspelling of GREIGE, GREIGER and GREIGEST. Also, in ODE3, GREIGE is now listed as a (mass) noun, rather than an adjective, so GREIGER and GREIGEST would now appear to be disallowed. Not sure about the plural, but I would plump for a no. In addition to this, it would appear that in ODE2r, it should have been a noun anyway, as it is given as 'adjective (mass noun)'! Personally, I'm not convinced that something can be greiger than something else, as although it is a cross between two other colours, it's generally used in the clothing industry to describe the shade of uncoloured cloth.