Apologies for the lateness of recaps at the moment.
We have two new challengers today after Suzi Purcell secured octochampdom yesterday.
C1: Challenger Ben Nicholson - a residential support worker from Bolton. He has been scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef.
C2: Challenger Alex Rayment - a youth pastor from Cheltenham. He is a singer and a musician in his spare time.
DC: Susie Dent and Alistair Stewart.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: T S U E D G R A E
R02: L O P L I S H X E
R03: A I U S P N P E T
R04: I A C R N E A G T
R05: 50, 25, 1, 3, 7, 3. Target: 895.
TTT: ACEFINED - "The ace was fined for his disobedience"
R06: R N M E O O Q F I
R07: R N G U E O L T E
R08: N B I R C O E L Y
R09: G O A D T R O I F
R10: 100, 8, 4, 7, 9, 3. Target: 922.
TTT: THEPLANE - "The plane was a jumbo and so was this"
R11: M A E V N K I D E
R12: T S A I T D O L I
R13: E A I W T J S H R
R14: 25, 75, 7, 8, 9, 9. Target: 760.
R15: A C T S P H O N Y (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Nick and Rachel discuss what they would do if they were king and queen for a day
Enjoy the show.
Round 1: T S U E D G R A E
C1: GREASED (7)
C2: GRATED (6)
DC: TRUDGES (7) GESTURED (8)
OT: GUARDEES (8) RESTAGED (8)
Score: 7–0 (max 8)
Ben's first off the mark but the Corner find one of the three avaialble 8's.
Round 2: L O P L I S H X E
C1: HOLLIES (7)
C2: POLISH (6)
DC: POLLIES (7)
OT: PHLOXES (7)
Score: 14–0 (max 15)
HOLLY can, surprisingly to me, be pluralised so Ben jumps into a 14-point lead.
PHLOXES are North American plants that typically have dense clusters of colourful scented flowers.
Round 3: A I U S P N P E T
C1: NAPPIES (7)
C2: punnets
DC: SUPINATE (8) PETUNIAS (8)
OT: NAPPIEST (8)
Score: 21–0 (max 23)
Alex seems to think there's two N's rather than two P's and slips further behind.
Round 4: I A C R N E A G T
C1: CREATING (8)
C2: TRACING (7)
DC: CRANIATE (8)
OT: AERATING (8) CARINATE (8) CATERING (8) REACTING (8)
Score: 29–0 (max 31)
Plenty of 8's around but again Alex can't find one. This looks a tall order for him already.
Round 5: 50, 25, 1, 3, 7, 3. Target: 895.
C1: 895. Mistake in working.
C2: -
RR: 895. (25-7)*50-(3+3-1) (10)
Score: 29–0 (max 41)
Quite an easy numbers evades the two contestants.
I didn't listen to Alistair because his voice sounds so patronising.
Teatime teaser: ACEFINED -> DEFIANCE
Round 6: R N M E O O Q F I
C1: mooner
C2: moonie
DC: FERMION (7)
OT: IONOMER (7) MOONIER (7)
Score: 29–0 (max 48)
I'm rather surprised that you can't be a mooner, and Moonie is capitalised, so again we draw a blank.
FERMION and IONOMER are both sciencey terms
Round 7: R N G U E O L T E
C1: tonguer
C2: LONGER (6)
DC: LOUNGER (7)
OT: EUGENOL (7) GENTLER (7) TELOGEN (7) TOLUENE (7)
Score: 29–6 (max 55)
Yet more disallowed words as you can't be a tonguer either. Alex is finally off the mark, though a bit of tinkering with his word could have gained an extra point.
EUGENOL is a colourless or pale yellow liquid compund present in oil of cloves and other oils used in perfumery.
Round 8: N B I R C O E L Y
C1: cornily (declared as 8)
C2: CORNY (5)
OT: CORBEIL (7) CORNILY (7)
Score: 29–11 (max 62)
!! Ben proves that he can't count, either, as his perfectly fine word only has 7 letters.A CORBEIL is a representation in stone of a basket of flowers.
Round 9: G O A D T R O I F
C1: fraid
C2: fraid
DC: ADROIT (6)
OT: ADRIFT (6) AGOROT (6) FORGOT (6) TOROID (6)
Score: 29–11 (max 68)
(Bangs head against wall...)
Fraid is actually written as 'fraid, so Susie can't allow it. Or maybe they meant FRAYED? Who knows? Idiots.
AGOROT is a monetary unit in Israel.
Round 10: 100, 8, 4, 7, 9, 3. Target: 922.
C1: 922. 9*100+8+7+4+3 (10)
C2: 922. 9*100+8+7+4+3 (10)
Score: 39–21 (max 78)
Hoo-bloody-ray!
Teatime teaser: THEPLANE -> ELEPHANT
Round 11: M A E V N K I D E
C1: vained
C2: vained
DC: VEINED (6) KNAVE (5) INVADE (6) MAIDEN (6)
OT: DEMEAN (6) DEMINE (6) DEVEIN (6) ENDIVE (6) ENVIED (6) MEANIE (6) MEDIAE (6) MEDIAN (6) MEDINA (6)
Score: 39–21 (max 84)
Absolutely loads of sixes around to choose from, but naturally these two manage to score zero between them. Again.
Round 12: T S A I T D O L I
C1: TOTALS (6)
C2: IDIOTS (6)
DC: DISTIL (6)
OT: SALOTTI (7)
Score: 45–27 (max 91)
A very appropriate offering from Alex.
SALOTTI are reception rooms, esp. in Italy.
Round 13: E A I W T J S H R
C1: WAITERS (7)
C2: rashes
DC: HASTIER (7)
OT: SWATHER (7) SWITHER (7) TRISHAW (7) WARIEST (7) WASHIER (7) WITHERS (7) WRAITHS (7) WREATHS (7) WRITHES (7)
Score: 52–27 (max 98)
Ben seals the contest here, and at least spares himself from gaining the lowest winning score for a 15-rounder in history.
Round 14: 25, 75, 7, 8, 9, 9. Target: 760.
C1: 759. (8-7)+9*75+9 (7)
C2: -
RR: 760. 9/9+75*(25-7-8) (10)
Score: 59–27 (max 108)
Round 15: A C T S P H O N Y
No one buzzes. The answer was SYCOPHANT.
Final Score: 59–27 (max 118)
A tough conundrum at the end of a rather drab contest. I can't see Ben lasting too long in the champions chair.
Raw score: 59-46
Maxes: 4-1
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=66