Tuesday July 17th 2012 (Series 67 Prelim 12)

[Jordan F]

Today's recap is sponsored by America: Omitting U's from the English Language Since 1776.

Seriously though, hi folks. Figured I'd give recapping a try. Let me know if I made any mistakes and I'll edit accordingly, but hopefully you all enjoy.

Countdown recap for Tuesday 17 July 2012.

We begin by discussing the birthday of Camila Parker-Bowles, and how she is related to people such as Hilary Clinton and Celine Dion. Find a family connection to Ryan Taylor and I'll be impressed.

C1: Champion Paul James (7 wins, 701 points.) An apterite, who almost 15 years after his first appearance, can make his second go around worth while with the title of octochamp. Can he do it?
C2: Challenger John McGinness. An account manager who is a fan of hip-hop music even though he doesn't have the conventional look, and regrets wearing baggy pants a long time ago. This leads into Nick discussing an afro he once had. Whether this is true or dry wit, I think somebody needs to do a photoshop picture of the possibility.
DC: Susie Dent and Dave Spikey.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: J L S T A I U E G
R02: P A F C E O N D A
R03: S D M Z E A O E R
R04: M A B O E S D O M
R05: 50, 7, 5, 10, 3, 7. Target: 136.
TTT: NINELOST - "Very rude while bathing in the river"
R06: N U T W A F I B A
R07: S D G S I E I P E
R08: L A P E N A R C O
R09: K R H W E I A E R
R10: 100, 10, 3, 5, 9, 2. Target: 543.
TTT: DIARYPAL - "Forget The Bangles, this is all about the stones"
R11: M C N Q I U O E T
R12: N S O R A H I I T
R13: N G S T E I O A R
R14: 25, 1, 7, 3, 8, 7. Target: 249.
R15: S O M E T R O U T (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

Enjoy the show.

Round 1: J L S T A I U E G

C1: UGLIEST (7)
C2: SALUTE (6)
DC: GATES (5) LIGATES (7)
Score: 7–0 (max 7)

Just two sevens available here, and Paul found one of them. Susie found the other by putting the LI in front of Dave's word.

Round 2: P A F C E O N D A

C1: CANAPE (6)
C2: DEACON (6)
DC: FACED (5) CANOED (6)
OT: APNOEA (6) FACADE (6) PONCED (6)
Score: 13–6 (max 13)

Both contestants with 6s here, and just a few more to be found, ranging from bite-sized snacks to sleep disorders to illusions.


Round 3: S D M Z E A O E R

C1: - (0)
C2: DREAMS (6)
DC: SMEARED (7) RADOMES (7)
Score: 13–12 (max 20)

Paul hits his first roadblock of the day, as he declares a 7 but backs off after he used a letter twice (he didn't say what word he thought he had). There were two sevens available however, both found by the corner.

Round 4: M A B O E S D O M

C1: BOSOMED (7)
C2: ABODES (6)
DC: MAMBOED (7)
OT: EMBOSOM (7) MAMBOES (7) MOOMBAS (7)
Score: 20–12 (max 27)

But he comes back quickly with a 7 which I'm surprised didn't get more laughs from the countdown audience, although there are some laughs when the definition is a little different than Susie predicted. A few other 7s available, interestingly enough all involving the double M.

To EMBOSOM means to either press someone onto one's bosom or to surround something protectively.
MOOMBAS is one of the strangest dictionary look-up sessions I've ever had. Moomba itself refers to either a festival in Australia or a natural gas field in Australia, but unless the festival name was meant to be pluralized, it looks like both names are proper, so I find it odd that it's valid. Or maybe I'm just missing something. This also is apparently the first time this word has ever been possible on the show according to a lack of a presence on the wiki page, so maybe it's never been addressed before.


Round 5: 50, 7, 5, 10, 3, 7. Target: 136.

C1: 136. (50x3) - 7 - 7 (10)
C2: 137.
Me: 136. (50-5) x 3 + (7/7)
Score: 30–12 (max 37)

Paul decides to step away from 4 large again, but a quick 10 points for him as John can't quite get there. I had an alternate method which probably had a little more work than needed, but it's what I saw.

Dave Spikey talks about more oddities in the English language such as the time he got told "I'll tell you something for nothing" in a club once.

Teatime teaser: NINELOST -> INSOLENT

Round 6: N U T W A F I B A

C1: AWAIT (5)
C2: FAINT (5)
DC: nutwafiba FAINT (5) UNFIT (5) NAWAB (5)
OT: ABAFT (5) BAFTA (5) BANIA (5) BWANA (5) FATWA (5) FAUNA (5) FITNA (5) TABUN (5) TAFIA (5) TANIA (5) TWAIN (5) WITAN (5)
Score: 35–17 (max 42)

Possibly the smallest pancake of a round I've ever seen. As a note I had a hard time hearing the word that Dave said, it might have been NAWAB or FATWA

ABAFT is a nautical term meaning towards the stern of a boat.
BAFTA is a coarse, cotton-like fabric from India.
BANIA is a form of the word BANYAN, which in this definition appears to refer to either a Hindu trader in a caste that prohibits eating fish, or a loose shirt, jacket or gown.
BWANA is a term meaning "big boss" in Africa, which is meant to be respectful, but isn't always.
FATWA is a legal pronouncement in Islam.
FITNA is an Arabic word relating to chaos.
TABUN is an organic compound used in chemical warfare. I also saw something about this word relating to an oven used to make a certain kind of bread, but only found it once.
TAFIA is a Guyanan or Caribbean rum.
TANIA is a genus of fungus.
WITAN refers to the members of an 11th century Anglo-Saxon political institution.

Round 7: S D G S I E I P E

C1: DESPISE (7)
C2: DESPISE (7)
DC: GIPSIES (7)
OT: DIEGESIS (8)
Score: 42–24 (max 50)

Some good 7s all around, but nobody finds the darrenic 8, which refers to the narrative in fiction writing.

Round 8: L A P E N A R C O

C1: careplan x
C2: PARLANCE (8)
DC: ORACLE (6)
OT: COPLANAR (8)
Score: 42–32 (max 58)

A great 8 here by John that I've never heard of before, however Paul's gamble does not work here.

Round 9: K R H W E I A E R

C1: HIKER (5)
C2: WEAKER (6)
DC: WEARER (6) WREAKER (7)
OT: WEARIER (7)
Score: 42–38 (max 65)

The gap is only 4 now as Paul doesn't see either the 6 that John got or either of the two 7s available.

Origins Of Words A.K.A. Ryan Taylor's Tea Time: Susie talks about the word hunk, and how it evolved from an early derogatory term for some women to a dumb muscular guy to today's modern, positive definition via the Elvis song Burning Love. This is now two Americans involved in one recap. Get worried United Kingdom.

Round 10: 100, 10, 3, 5, 9, 2. Target: 543.

C1: 543. (100+10) x 5 - (9-2) (10)
C2: 543. (100+9) x 5 - 2 (10)
Score: 52–48 (max 75)

A fairly straightforward numbers game gets both players 10 points.

Teatime teaser: DIARYPAL -> LAPIDARY

Lapidary refers to engraving stones.

Round 11: M C N Q I U O E T

C1: QUINCE (6)
C2: MINUTE (6)
DC: MINUET (6)
OT: CENTIMO (7) TONEMIC (7)
Score: 58–54 (max 82)

Solid sixes all around as Dave comes with the anagram of MINUTE, however both 7s were missed by all.

CENTIMO refers to former units of currency equal to 1/100th of a peseta in Spain or 1/100th of a real or escudo in Portugal.
TONEMIC refers to a type of phoneme that occurs in languages that use tone to convey differences in lexical meaning.

Round 12: N S O R A H I I T

C1: RATIONS (7)
C2: TRAINS (6)
DC: HISTORIAN (18)
Score: 65–54 (max 100)

Paul increases his lead once again however the 9 is missed by both contestants, and the gap is still only 11 points with three rounds remaining.

Round 13: N G S T E I O A R

C1: ROASTING (8)
C2: TEARING (7)
DC: STRANGE (7) ORGANIST (8) ORGANISE (8) ANGRIEST (8) INGRATES (8) senorita x
OT: GANISTER (8) GANTRIES (8) GENITORS (8) GRANITES (8) NEGATORS (8) NOTARIES (8) NOTARISE (8) RAGSTONE (8) RANGIEST (8) TASERING (8) TRIGONES (8)
Score: 73–54 (max 108)

And the 8 in this round means all Paul has to do is score in the numbers game or make sure John doesn't score 10 by himself and he wins. We also go from a small pancake to a large pancake.

GANISTER is a type of quartzite used to line furnaces.
GANTRIES are frame structures.
TRIGONES refer to regions in different parts of the body including the bladder, brain, heart, and teeth.

Round 14: 25, 1, 7, 3, 8, 7. Target: 249.

C1: 249. 25 x (7+3) - 1 (10)
C2: 249. 25 x (7+3) - 1 (10)
Score: 83–64 (max 118)

Despite some encouragement from Rachel to take a gamble to try to win, John sticks with one large, and it costs him as both players get arguably the easiest numbers game of the day. So Paul takes the title of octochamp, but can he get the conundrum?

Round 15: S O M E T R O U T

C1 buzzes on 3 seconds to say OUTERMOST which is correct.
Final Score: 93–64 (max 128)

Yes he can, as he finishes his run on 93; one of his lower scores, but the score that gives him the 8th win and the octochamp title. 794 points for Paul gives him an average of just over 99 points per game, and with all the time he has to practice until the finals, I think he could be a force to be reckoned with. We end the day with more discussions of words including something that might have been taken as an insult to Rachel as he throws compliments about her dress and hair. And that also ends the first ever foreigner recap, you might be able to see me again next Tuesday, but until then, good afternoons.


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

[James Robinson]

C2: Challenger John McGinness

Just the 1 S in his name.

[Ryan Taylor]

I don't get the Ryan Taylor references. Someone explain please?

[Mike Brown]

TONEMIC (Round 11) is no longer valid, i'm afraid.