Monday 9th April 2012 (Series 66, Prelim 60)

[Graeme Cole]

Countdown recap for Monday 9 April 2012.

C1: Champion Rob Gibney (2 wins, 198 points) is back for a third appearance after seeing off Jason Atkinson on Friday.
C2: Challenger Kevin Banyard, from Torquay. After a cycling accident put him in a coma for months, watching Countdown helped him keep his mind active during recovery from his brain injury. An inspirational story that can only be good for the show.
DC: Susie Dent and Jenny Eclair.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: T A E A N G M E N
R02: S O G S I N R O E
R03: T O E A F H N V T
R04: L U R M O I O D E
R05: 25, 1, 9, 10, 6, 8. Target: 441.
TTT: ACEDCOLA - "This award sounds a bit like a fizzy drink."
R06: F I R B L A S M U
R07: L A E T I N D R S
R08: V O K U E T I H R
R09: S W S A E O L S I
R10: 100, 10, 3, 7, 9, 2. Target: 517.
TTT: FIRMCLUE - "The firm clue is showing forgiveness."
R11: A E D G S T N I M
R12: D E R T O D J U L
R13: S T Q C I E O Z P
R14: 25, 9, 2, 1, 3, 10. Target: 577.
R15: H A S S L E S M E (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: T A E A N G M E N

C1: MAGNATE (7)
C2: MAGNATE (7)
DC: MAGENTA (7)
OT: EMANATE (7) ENEMATA (7) GATEMAN (7) GATEMEN (7) MANATEE (7)
Score: 7–7 (max 7)

Strong start by our contestants. Jenni Susie explains the origin of MAGENTA, the pinkish-purple shade of red which is named after the site of an Italian battle which took place just before the dye was discovered and refers to the colour of the blood. ENEMATA is the plural of ENEMA, and the MANATEE is also known as the dugong.


Round 2: S O G S I N R O E

C1: GORINESS (8)
C2: SINGERS (7)
DC: signores
OT: EROSIONS (8)
Score: 15–7 (max 15)

The champ spots a dodgy-sounding -NESS word to go eight in front. Susie and Jenny tried for "signores", but it turns out that's capitalised.


Round 3: T O E A F H N V T

C1: FATTEN (6)
C2: THAT (4)
DC: NOTATE (6)
OT: NOVATE (6)
Score: 21–7 (max 21)

Champion Rob pushes further into the lead with FATTEN, as Kevin can only find a four.


Round 4: L U R M O I O D E

C1: MOULDIER (8)
C2: MOULDIER (8)
DC: MOOLI (5)
Score: 29–15 (max 29)

Both spot MOULDIER, and Jenny finds MOOLI, which is a kind of radish.


Round 5: 25, 1, 9, 10, 6, 8. Target: 441.

C1: 441. ((8-6)*25-1)*9 (10)
C2: 441. (10+8)*25-9 (10)
Score: 39–25 (max 39)

And ten apiece at the numbers before Jenny reads us some poetry.


Teatime teaser: ACEDCOLA -> ACCOLADE


Round 6: F I R B L A S M U

C1: FAILS (5)
C2: FLAIRS (6)
DC: FIBULAS (7)
OT: ARMFULS (7) BRIMFUL (7) BURIALS (7) FIBULAR (7) FULMARS (7) RAILBUS (7)
Score: 39–31 (max 46)

Rob FAILS to find any of the sevens or equal Kevin's six in this round, which moves Kevin back into the game.


Round 7: L A E T I N D R S

C1: STRAINED (8)
C2: SLANDER (7)
DC: ENTRAILS (8) LATRINES (8) RANDIEST (8) TENDRILS (8)
OT: DEINSTAL (8) DETRAINS (8) ISLANDER (8) LANDTIES (8) LARDIEST (8) RATLINES (8) REINSTAL (8) TRENAILS (8)
Score: 47–31 (max 54)

This must be one of the most nineworthy-looking selections there is without actually having a nine in it. Thirteen eights available - Rob finds one and Susie and Jenny find four.


Round 8: V O K U E T I H R

C1: THRIVE (6)
C2: VOTER (5)
DC: OVERHIT (7)
Score: 53–31 (max 61)

Perhaps Rob ought to have spotted OVERHIT after spotting OVERHITS on Friday, but never mind, he's still won the round.


Round 9: S W S A E O L S I

C1: SWALES (6)
C2: LASSOES (7)
OT: LASSIES (7)
Score: 53–38 (max 68)

Neither player is particularly confident here, but both SWALES and LASSOES are fine. Kevin takes the points.

Origins of words: the phrase "tickety-boo" today, and its Hindi origins.


Round 10: 100, 10, 3, 7, 9, 2. Target: 517.

C1: 519. (7-2)*100+10+9 (7)
C2: -
RR: 517. (3+2)*100+10+7 (10)
Score: 60–38 (max 78)

This would have been Kevin's chance to get back into the game as Rob gets two away on what isn't a particularly difficult numbers game, but he blanks it. Still the third half to go...


Teatime teaser: FIRMCLUE -> MERCIFUL


Round 11: A E D G S T N I M

C1: MEDIANTS (8)
C2: STEAMING (8)
OT: MANGIEST (8) SEDATING (8) STEADING (8)
Score: 68–46 (max 86)

Here's another nineworthy but not actually nine-containing selection. For some reason I thought DEMASTING^ was a word. It isn't. Well, it's allowed in Scrabble, but pretty much anything vaguely plausible is allowed in Scrabble so that's not saying much.


Round 12: D E R T O D J U L

C1: JUDDER (6)
C2: -
DC: TODDLER (7)
Score: 74–46 (max 93)

Kevin judders to a halt on this round as he declares five and then says he's made a mistake. He needs to beat Rob with at least an eight on the next round to stay in the game.


Round 13: S T Q C I E O Z P

C1: coziest
C2: COPIES (6)
DC: POETICS (7)
Score: 74–52 (max 100)

Seven is the best here, and even though Rob blobs it with the US spelling of COSIEST, he's won on this round.


Round 14: 25, 9, 2, 1, 3, 10. Target: 577.

C1: 577. (10+9+1+3)*25+2 (10)
C2: 580.
Score: 84–52 (max 110)

Ten more points for Rob, and only the conundrum to go...


Round 15: H A S S L E S M E

C1 buzzes on 8 seconds to say SHAMELESS which is correct.
Final Score: 94–52 (max 120)

Rob records his third 90+ score to earn a fourth appearance tomorrow. Kevin could perhaps have put together a few wins on another week, but there's no stopping Rob at the moment. This week we'll see how far up the seeding table he can go - on his current form he could easily be the series' third octochamp.


Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=66