Friday 8 July 2011 (Series 65, Prelim 25)

[Mike Brown]

Countdown recap for Friday 8 July 2011 (Series 65, Prelim 25).

C1: Champion Jon Elmer (1 win, 85 points.)
C2: Challenger Greg Scott.
DC: Susie Dent and Robin Cousins.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

A bit of a landmark edition of Countdown today, as former warm-up man (and Scarborough resident) Greg Scott becomes a contestant. I wonder if we’ll ever see the current audience entertainer Dudley Doolittle appearing on the show, and if so, will he use his real name?? Let’s skip the banter, and get down to business...

R01: M A L R B I O U A
R02: G E O W E R T G A
R03: Y L O H C S U E E
R04: T N A E T D M A D
R05: 6, 10, 4, 9, 5, 5. Target: 978.
TTT: MAYBEGET - "This might be quite a mouthful of information."
R06: C M F U Q N I A D
R07: S O V H S O E A T
R08: W L O A R P I E M
R09: N A G T K O I U V
R10: 50, 100, 25, 6, 7, 8. Target: 812.
TTT: RINSETAP - "They'll often rinse brushes under the tap."
R11: L E D S S O A E D
R12: T G I E F T U S R
R13: T D A E P N O J R
R14: 25, 75, 2, 3, 7, 6. Target: 509.
R15: P A I R H E E L S (conundrum)

Countdown is sponsored by Wellwoman, which you probably care even less about than Ryan Taylor does about Origin of Words.

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Jeff skips the usual stuff along the lines of “It’s Take Your Pet Squirrel To Work Day” and instead reads out a poem entitled “Regicide”, which has been sent in by Hong Kong viewer Roger Berry. It’s not bad, either.

Round 1: M A L R B I O U A

C1: LABOUR (6)
C2: LABOUR (6)
DC: LABOUR (6)
OT: ABOULIA (7) LABARUM (7) MARABOU (7)
Score: 6–6 (max 7)

Time to get the dictionary out to tell you that ABOULIA (also ABULIA) is an absence of willpower or decisiveness, a LABARUM (despite sounding like a tree) was the imperial standard of Constantine the Great and a MARABOU is a large African stork.

Round 2: G E O W E R T G A

C1: GOATEE (6)
C2: TOWAGE (6)
DC: REGGAE (6)
OT: GARGET (6) GEEGAW (6) GORGET (6) ORGEAT (6) TAGGER (6) TOERAG (6)
Score: 12–12 (max 13)

With the contestants still stuck on sixes, let’s do some more definitions: GARGET (mass noun) is inflammation of a cow’s or ewe’s udder; a GEEGAW (also GEWGAW) is a showy thing; a GORGET is an article of clothing (or patch of colour if you’re a bird) that covers the throat; and ODE3 newcomer TAGGER is either a person who identifies their graffiti using their nickname or a piece of software.

Round 3: Y L O H C S U E E

C1: LOUCHE (6)
C2: LOUSY (5)
DC: SLOUCHY (7) LYCHEES (7)
OT: CHYLOUS (7) COULEES (7)
Score: 18–12 (max 20)

‘Robin Susie’ offer the horrible-sounding SLOUCHY and the horrible-tasting (according to me and Robin Cousins, at any rate) LYCHEES. CHYLOUS relates to CHYLE, which is a milky fluid produced as part of the digestion process, while a COULEE (as opposed to a COOLIE or a COULIS) is a deep ravine.

Round 4: T N A E T D M A D

C1: MANDATE (7)
C2: MATTED (6)
DC: MANDATED (8)
Score: 25–12 (max 28)

Susie asks whether Jon considered putting the D on the end of MANDATE. The answer – yes, he did. No matter, he’s pulling nicely ahead of Greg regardless.

Round 5: 6, 10, 4, 9, 5, 5. Target: 978.

C1: 960.
C2: 109.
RR: 979. (7)
OT: 979. ((10x9)+4-5)x(6+5) (7)
Score: 25–12 (max 35)

Jon’s a bit out, but Greg’s obviously just abandoned all hope with a jokey offering of 109. Does this mean he’s useless at the numbers, or is this just a one-off? We’ll see.

Teatime teaser: MAYBEGET -> MEGABYTE

Before the break, Jeff asks Robin about the differences between amateur and professional sport. He tells us and it’s quite interesting.

Round 6: C M F U Q N I A D

C1: CUMIN (5)
C2: QUID (4)
OT: ADMIN (5) CANID (5) DUNAM (5) FINCA (5) FUNDA (5) FUNDI (5) MAFIC (5) MANIC (5) MAUND (5) MUCIN (5) UNICA (5)
Score: 30–12 (max 40)

Jon tries to spice things up with a bit of CUMIN (essential for a great chilli con carne), but with this level of flatness, nothing will help. And I can’t be bothered to define that many unusual words!

Round 7: S O V H S O E A T

C1: SOOTHES (7)
C2: SOOTHES (7)
DC: SOOTHES (7)
Score: 37–19 (max 47)

Hmm, it seems SOOTHES is the best word available there...

Round 8: W L O A R P I E M

C1: LOAMIER (7)
C2: wimper
DC: WIMPLE (6) EMPORIA (7)
OT: IMPALER (7) IMPLORE (7) LEMPIRA (7) PALMIER (7) PLEROMA (7)
Score: 44–19 (max 54)

As soon as he offers it, Greg is offering his apologies for ‘wimper’, realising he’s spelt it incorrectly. Jon’s offering of LOAMIER is checked by Susie and found to be fine, but take note, Apterous fans - PROEMIAL^ is no longer in the dictionary, although PROEM and its plural are still O.K.

Round 9: N A G T K O I U V

C1: VOTING (6)
C2: VOTING (6)
DC: NOUGAT (6)
OT: AGOUTI (6) OUTING (6) TAKING (6) TOKING (6)
Score: 50–25 (max 60)

It’s probably not a good idea to feed NOUGAT to your AGOUTI and you might get reported to the RSPCA if you do. Come to think of it, I don’t even know if you’d be allowed to keep one.

Origin of Words (aka Susie’s Slot or Ryan’s Rest-Break): Ms Dent discusses the origins of a few musical genres, including heavy metal, which is ‘beloved of our producer’, apparently.

Round 10: 50, 100, 25, 6, 7, 8. Target: 812.

C1: 812. (8x100)+((50/25)x6) (10)
C2: 812. (8x100)+25-6-7 (10)
Score: 60–35 (max 70)

Obviously, Greg can do the numbers, but he’s going to have to do something spectacular in Part Three if he’s going to turn this game round.

Teatime teaser: RINSETAP -> PAINTERS

Lots of possible anagrams there, but only one is correct, of course.

Round 11: L E D S S O A E D

C1: SADDLES (7)
C2: SADDLES (7)
DC: LASSOED (7)
Score: 67–42 (max 77)

A rather cowboy-themed round, there. Yee-ha!

Round 12: T G I E F T U S R

C1: GUTTERS (7)
C2: GUTTERS (7)
DC: FUSTIER (7) TUFTIER (7) FITTERS (7) FIGURES (7)
OT: TURFIEST (8)
Score: 74–49 (max 85)

Loads of sevens, but only one eight – the slightly surprising TURFIEST.

Round 13: T D A E P N O J R

C1: PRONATED (8)
C2: PRONATED (8)
DC: PRONATED (8)
Score: 82–57 (max 93)

The appearance of an old Countdown favourite seals Greg’s fate, but at least he can say he got an eight.

Round 14: 25, 75, 2, 3, 7, 6. Target: 509.

C1: 507. (75x7)-((6+3)x2) (7)
C2: 507. Mistake in working.
RR: 509. ((7-2)x(75+25))+6+3 (10)
Score: 89–57 (max 103)

“Oh, knickers,” says Greg, as he realises he’s tried to make 525 by multiplying 75 by 5. He then shouts “Taxi!” Perhaps surprisingly, Jon is two away from the target and Rachel shows us what I thought wasn’t the most obvious method of getting it spot-on – not that it’s of any consequence!

Round 15: P A I R H E E L S

No one buzzes. The answer was SHAPELIER.
Final Score: 89–57 (max 113)

A nice scramble and what I thought wasn’t one of the harder conundrums to have graced the show, but it stumps the entire studio. Well, I never. Can I have the mug, please?

So, Jon gets to carry his bat into another week to be joined by the similarly-named John Stapleton in Dictionary Corner on Monday. But before the show ends, Jeff reads out another poem sent in by Roger Berry, this time entitled “What’s In A Job Title?”, which is all about making the tea. See you next week!

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=65

[Jason Larsen]

I have nothing against Jeff Stelling as a host, but he really shouldn't have given a long, drawn out introduction to Greg Scott. Any other host, British or not, would not do that.

With that hair, I would have thought Dudley was at least 70.

About Greg's "kiss comment," I feel compelled to call him "Over-the-Hill Romeo."

Well, our "over-the-hill Romeo did not win.