Welcome to part two of the Worsley Recap trilogy for this week.
Nick starts off by warning A-Level students that watching Countdown is not an excuse for failing your exams.
C1: Champion Suzi Purcell (4 wins, 364 points.)
C2: Challenger Elaine Rhodes. She once drove alone around the entire British coast, a full 5,625 miles, raising £1,800 for her charity in the process. She has also sailed on an Italian cargo ship as the only passenger.
DC: Susie Dent and John Culshaw.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: B U S E R C T I O
R02: A E O G S W T E F
R03: M U R N E D T A X
R04: S G O M L E I P E
R05: 25, 100, 2, 6, 9, 3. Target: 484.
TTT: SAGEROLL - "These cars went at brisk speed to the music"
R06: S V N T P O E O D
R07: S E R M I N G E T
R08: F U L I S A P E N
R09: Q A Z H I U N D O
R10: 100, 50, 3, 9, 4, 10. Target: 684.
TTT: RUEVOTER - "It's not quite quarter past six but it's time for some music"
R11: T A R L I C R A E
R12: D U S D E P O S I
R13: L A H V E R T A S
R14: 50, 75, 3, 2, 5, 5. Target: 374.
R15: R O O N I S C O R (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: B U S E R C T I O
C1: BUSTIER (7)
C2: CRUISE (6)
DC: BISECTOR (8) OUTCRIES (8)
Score: 7–0 (max 8)
Suzi takes the lead while DC discover both of the eights.
Round 2: A E O G S W T E F
C1: STOWAGE (7)
C2: misdeclared 5
OT: GOATEES (7) TOWAGES (7)
Score: 14–0 (max 15)
Suzi doubles her lead as Elaine can't even remember the five she found.
Round 3: M U R N E D T A X
C1: DREAMT (6)
C2: DREAM (5)
DC: UNTAXED (7) MATURED (7) MAUNDER (7)
OT: UNDREAMT (8)
Score: 20–0 (max 23)
Now Elaine will be kicking herself for not putting the T on DREAM, which leaves her stuck on zero. Suzi could also have extended her word by two letters to get the darren, but no one in the studio picks up on it. She did say a "safe six" when declaring though, which makes you wonder if she was toying with UNDREAMT.
Round 4: S G O M L E I P E
C1: SIMPLE (6)
C2: SLOPE (5)
DC: GLIMPSE (7) lemsip
OT: EPISOME (7)
Score: 26–0 (max 30)
This is far too SIMPLE for Suzi as Elaine is on a downward SLOPE. Once again, we get a GLIMPSE of DC's qualities as they find one of the two sevens.
An EPISOME is a genetic element inside certain bacterial cells.
Round 5: 25, 100, 2, 6, 9, 3. Target: 484.
C1: 488. (100 + 25) x (6 - 2) - (9 + 3) (7)
C2: 485. Mistake in working.
RR: 484. (2 + 3) x 100 - 25 + 9 (10)
Score: 33–0 (max 40)
You get the feeling it's not Elaine's day, even at this early stage.
She actually got to 484 but declared it a 485, allowing Suzi to cash in, despite being only four away. Rachel therefore doesn't need to show us how it's done.John's interlude today includes an impersonation of John Humphrys.
Teatime teaser: SAGEROLL -> ALLEGROS
Round 6: S V N T P O E O D
C1: SPOONED (7)
C2: SPEND (5)
DC: POOVES (6)
OT: SNOOPED (7) STOOPED (7)
Score: 40–0 (max 47)
Three fairly routine sevens but Elaine's stuck on five.
Round 7: S E R M I N G E T
C1: MINGERS (7)
C2: emersing
DC: MEETINGS (8) INTEGERS (8)
Me: REGIMENTS (18)
Score: 47–0 (max 65)
Elaine looks set to break her duck but her plausible eight isn't in. She was probably thinking of EMERSION but there's no verb EMERSE. DC can come up with a couple of eights but I'm slightly surprised that they missed the nine.
Round 8: F U L I S A P E N
C1: PLAINS (6)
C2: PAINFUL (7)
DC: LIFESPAN (8)
Score: 47–7 (max 73)
Happily, she does get off the mark this time, and gets a beater too. The experience is now much less PAINFUL for Elaine. DC do well to get the eight, which goes some way towards making up for missing the nine in the previous round.
Round 9: Q A Z H I U N D O
C1: HOUND (5)
C2: QUOIN (5)
OT: QUINOA (6)
Score: 52–12 (max 79)
Fives all round in this awkward selection, with no one spotting the six.
QUINOA is a plant (surprisingly) of the goosefoot family found in the Andes, which is often cultivated for its edible starchy leaves.
Susie enlightens us all by informing us of the origin of the name "Gotham".
Round 10: 100, 50, 3, 9, 4, 10. Target: 684.
C1: 688. Mistake in working.
C2: 690. (3 + 4) x 100 - 10 (5)
RR: 684. (3 x 10 + 50 - 4) x 9 (10)
Score: 52–17 (max 89)
Suzi goes miles out with her method, allowing Elaine to score for the third round in succession. She's left it a bit late to discover her scoring form though.
Teatime teaser: RUEVOTER -> OVERTURE
Round 11: T A R L I C R A E
C1: racier (declared as 7)
C2: TRAILER (7)
DC: ARTICLE (7) ARTERIAL (8)
Score: 52–24 (max 97)
Suzi misdeclares again, while DC again impress with a darren.
Round 12: D U S D E P O S I
C1: DISPOSED (8)
C2: suposed
DC: PSEUDO (6) DUDES (5)
Score: 60–24 (max 105)
Suzi responds well with a darren of her own.
Round 13: L A H V E R T A S
C1: HEARTS (6)
C2: STARVE (6)
DC: leathers TRAVELS (7) lahvertas
OT: HALTERS (7) HALVERS (7) HARTALS (7) HARVEST (7) LATHERS (7) SLATHER (7) THALERS (7) VALETAS (7) VARLETS (7)
Score: 66–30 (max 112)
A few sevens but neither contestant can find one. Game officially over now. John again tries for a tnettenba but his word's not in.
A HARTAL is a closure of shops in South Africa as a mark of protest or sorrow.
A THALER is an historical German coin.
A VALETA is an alternative of VELETA, which is a ballroom dance in triple time, with partners side by side.
A VARLET is also an historical term for a man or boy acting as a servant.
Round 14: 50, 75, 3, 2, 5, 5. Target: 374.
C1: 374. Mistake in working.
C2: 374. 5 x 75 - (3 - 2) (10)
Score: 66–40 (max 122)
An easy numbers game but Suzi says that she's gone wrong when asked for her method. The conspiracy theories about her going easy on Elaine arise from one or two people in the spoilers thread but these ten points could make a difference to Suzi's seeding so I'd say it would be pretty stupid to do it.
Round 15: R O O N I S C O R
C1 buzzes to say CORROSION which is correct.
Final Score: 76–40 (max 132)
Suzi maintains her 100 per cent record on conundrums but in all honesty, she hasn't hit the heights we've seen that she is capable of today. Fortunately for her, Elaine took a long time to get going so the game was over very quickly. It's understandable that she may have taken her foot off the gas in the latter stages of the show. Elaine did at least get a respectable score in the end though and will certainly be rueing her start.
Now we can safely say that Suzi will be returning for the finals next month, it's just a question of what seed she'll be. A win tomorrow or a defeat with 14 points or more will take her above Mark Murphy by my calculations. Can she return to her best form tomorrow? Join me then for the final Worsley Recap of the week, same time, same place, you be sure of it.
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=66
