Tuesday 12th April 2011 (Series 64, Prelim 62)

[James Hall]

Hello and welcome to the Countdown recap for Tuesday 12 April 2011. As the week continues and we approach hump-day, the episode count approaches the series number and will have overtaken it before the end of the week.

Let's get on with it shall we?

There's some Rachel-Jeff banterific discussion about pilates, yoga and all other exercises of the ilk. Which apparently now includes cycling, it seems. Hmm.

Our returning champion is Graham Hill, who's back for his fourth appearance today. A retired police officer, he's a bit of a traveller, but doesn't have such great memories of visiting China's Great Wall. He visited in February and, being an asthmatic, he got about 100 yards before his body gave out on him. Fortunately he's visited since in the summer months and this has served him better.

Hoping to unseat him today is Thyba Ali, from Middlesbrough (or, as Jeff claims they refer to it in order to sound like a higher class of being, "South Hartlepool". Hmmm...). She's got three boys aged 7,5 and 4. Yikes that sounds like a lot of trouble-making going on in one house. Fortunately they all watch the show so there should be some calm at least from 3:10 every weekday. She has a fear of driving on the motorway, which it seem is shared by Jeff - at least it is when Rachel's driving on it too!

Ken Bruce is here for his second day and talks briefly about the occasional thought of "I really should get a proper job some day" which crosses his mind sometimes.

C1: Champion Graham Hill (3 wins, 246 points.)
C2: Challenger Thyba Ali.
DC: Susie Dent and Ken Bruce.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: T R F E O U T C I
R02: E A O H W S E D L
R03: N K N Z U E A S L
R04: E O U M R G A E T
R05: 25, 100, 75, 50, 9, 7. Target: 388.
TTT: GAPEINTO - "Gape into the empty bottle of red"
R06: A U I D Y N A P D
R07: P L J D E A E V T
R08: Q R D O I O I T H
R09: W T S E I E V B P
R10: 50, 25, 4, 3, 6, 6, . Target: 108.
TTT: RUNGRADE - "The answer might be some kind of delusion"
R11: L S G A E O M T A
R12: E O I X G E C N R
R13: D N S F I U O S S
R14: 25, 3, 1, 2, 4, 8. Target: 179.
R15: G A S L E F T O N (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: T R F E O U T C I

C1: CUTTER (6)
C2: FITTER (6)
DC: TUFTIER (7)
OT: TOREUTIC (8)
Score: 6–6 (max 8)

DC find a nice 7 but both the contestants are happy with 6s to kick off the show. Nobody touches the Darrenic 8, which is the adjective from the same root as TOREUTICS, or the art of working metals through the process of embossing.

Round 2: E A O H W S E D L

C1: SHADOW (6)
C2: LEASHED (7)
DC: SHOALED (7)
OT: SHAWLED (7) WELSHED (7) WHEALED (7)
Score: 6–13 (max 15)

And our challenger takes an early lead by picking out a 7 from one of the five available. Graham's 6, despite being a lovely word, isn't enough.

Round 3: N K N Z U E A S L

C1: SLUNK (5)
C2: LEAKS (5)
DC: ANKLES (6)
JS: SUNKEN (6)
OT: ANNULS (6) KANZUS (6) KULANS (6) UNSEAL (6)
Score: 11–18 (max 21)

A nasty-looking selection leads to 5s from both contestants, whilst DC find one of a few available 6s. Jeff gives a helping hand by finding SUNKEN.
A KULAN is a wild horse-like creature originating from the Gobi region.
A KANZU is a cream or white East-African robe for men.

Round 4: E O U M R G A E T

C1: GRATE (5)
C2: GREAT (5)
DC: OUTRAGE (7) GOURMET (7)
OT: REMUAGE (7)
Score: 16–23 (max 28)

Another not particularly easy selection leads to another pair of 5s from our contestants. It seems they both declared the same word, but I'm not sure which spelling, so I've given them one each. The ever-excellent DC manage to pluck two of the three available 7s from the letter set.
For those who don't know, REMUAGE is a process in wine-making to get all the sediment to the top of the bottle so that it can be removed.

Round 5: 25, 100, 75, 50, 9, 7. Target: 388.

C1: 391. Mistake in working.
C2: -
RR: 388. (50-7)*9+(100-75)/25 (10)
Score: 16–23 (max 38)

Graham's tactics of four large from yesterday don't do him any good as a slip from him (using the 50 twice) scuppers his chances of getting the scores back to level pegging. I was sitting there feeling pretty pleased with 387 but Rachel showed why she's the master by hitting 388 on the nose with apparent ease.

With us in DC all of this week is the wonderful voice of radio Ken Bruce, who today talks about reviews, including one cracking book review which contained the phrase "not to be tossed aside lightly, but thrown with great force" and other such gems.

Teatime teaser: GAPEINTO -> PINOTAGE

Round 6: A U I D Y N A P D

C1: PANDA (5)
C2: PANDA (5)
DC: UNPAID (6)
OT: DANAID (6)
Score: 21–28 (max 44)

Yet another pair of fives from our contestants with another awkward letter set and we're heading for a pretty low-looking score at this stage.

Round 7: P L J D E A E V T

C1: PLEATED (7)
C2: PLEATED (7)
DC: VALETED (7)
Score: 28–35 (max 51)

7 points all round. Nothing better. Simples.
Round 8: Q R D O I O I T H

C1: THIRD (5)
C2: ROOT (4)
OT: TOROID (6)
Score: 33–35 (max 57)

Nobody (except me - nothing like a bit of a boast for the ego!) sees the Darren. Graham's 5 is sufficient to take the point as Thyba gets stuck on just a 4.

Round 9: W T S E I E V B P

C1: SWEET (5)
C2: SPITE (5)
DC: WEBSITE (7) PEEWITS (7)
Score: 38–40 (max 64)

Yet another pair of 5s from an inaccessible collection. DC show their class by finding both 7s.

Round 10: 50, 25, 4, 3, 6, 6. Target: 108.

C1: 108. (6/3+25)*4 (10)
C2: 109.
Score: 48–40 (max 74)

Thyba misses a relatively easy numbers game to lose her lead and for the first time in the match she's got to come from behind.

Teatime teaser: RUNGRADE -> GRANDEUR

Round 11: L S G A E O M T A

C1: GLEAMS (6)
C2: METALS (6)
DC: LEGATOS (7) TAMALES (7)
OT: MALATES (7) MALTASE (7) MALTOSE (7) OATMEAL (7)
Score: 54–46 (max 81)

A couple of CD favourites go begging here as the players seem happy with 6s.

Round 12: E O I X G E C N R

C1: REGION (6)
C2: CRINGE (6)
DC: EXOGENIC (8)
OT: EXERGONIC (18)
Score: 60–52 (max 99)

A great spot by DC, meaning 'formed on the surface of the earth' (as opposed to in/under it), is eclipsed by the amazing 9 available. And they were so close!
EXERGONIC is a chemical term which means literally "releasing energy in the form of work".

Round 13: D N S F I U O S S

C1: FUSIONS (7)
C2: FUSIONS (7)
Score: 67–59 (max 106)

A good Darren from both contestants keeps the scoreline tight and everyone's just starting to edge towards the edge of their seats.

Round 14: 25, 3, 1, 2, 4, 8. Target: 179.

C1: 179. (8-1)*25+4 (10)
C2: 179. (4+3)*25+8/2 (10)
Score: 77–69 (max 116)

A bog-standard numbers takes us to a crucial conundrum...

Round 15: G A S L E F T O N

C1 buzzes on 21 seconds to say FLAGSTONE which is correct.
Final Score: 87–69 (max 126)

Sheesh! That was a long 21 seconds, but Graham pulls it out of the bag in the end and adds another scalp to his belt. He's half way to octochampdom now, but says he hasn't even thought about it.

Statistics Corner
Graham:
Total score - 87
Raw score - 93
Total % of max - 69
Raw % of max - 74
Total average score per round - 5.8
Raw average score per round - 6.2
Number of maxes - 4

Thyba:
Total score - 69
Raw score - 73
Total % of max - 55
Raw % of max - 58
Total average score per round - 4.6
Raw average score per round - 4.9
Number of maxes - 3

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

[James Robinson]

Round 5: 25, 100, 75, 50, 9, 7. Target: 388.

C1: 391. Mistake in working.
C2: -
RR: 388. (50-4)*9+(100-75)/25 (10)
Score: 16–23 (max 38)

Shouldn't that be a 7, James

Apart from that, nice work.

[Adam Gillard]

one cracking book review which contained the phrase "bot to be tossed aside lightly, but thrown with great force"

Is this referring to Apterous Nude?

[James Hall]

Cheers guys, I fixed the couple of typos

[Peter Mabey]

R5:Graham's second 50 could have been 75-25
R10: really easy alternative 3x6x6=108