Spoilers For Wednesday December 19th 2012

[James Robinson]

So, after that amazing comeback by Rose yesterday, she's back in action again today. Sort out of out of the frying pan and into the fire, as she will now pit her wits against the No.1 Seed, Paul James.

Amazingly, in the 30 year history of the show, there has never been an all-female final, can Rose make that possibility one step nearer fruition

Here are the stats:

Firstly, No.1 Seed Paul "The Brampton Behemoth" James - 9 Wins, 897 Points (Average: 99.67)
Highest Score: 110 vs. Phil Hopgood (7th Game)
Lowest Score: 83 vs. Chris Barnett (6th Game)
9's Achieved: 1/6
Total Points/Max/%: 897/1139 (79%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 635/779 (82%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 212/270 (79%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 60/90 (67%)

Secondly, No.5 Seed Rose "The Dublin Dervish" Boyle - 9 Wins, 791 Points (Average: 87.89)
Highest Score: 100 vs. Barry Mould (1st Game)
Lowest Score: 73 vs. Sam Leek (7th Game)
9's Achieved: 1/6
Total Points/Max/%: 791/1122 (70%)
Letters Points/Max/%: 542/771 (70%)
Numbers Points/Max/%: 209/261 (80%)
Conundrum Points/Max/%: 40/90 (44%)

Join me for the recap later.

[szodiac]

Amazingly, in the 30 year history of the show, there has never been an all-female final, can Rose make that possibility one step nearer fruition

True, then there was an all female final between Hilary Hopper and Kate Ogilvie in 2003.
But that was *only* a three game mini series/all ladies special

Mauro

[Andy Wilson]

R2 - eggosity. As in, the eggosity of one's farts.

[Andy Wilson]

Cracking start. C'mon the Rose of Aranmore.

[szodiac]

R2 - eggosity. As in, the eggosity of one's farts.

Is it me again - I wrote down a 'V' not a 'Y'

Mauro

[James Hurrell]

FLORICAN - R9

[szodiac]

Round 6: Just as Alistair was telling us his Arsenal joke Jessica shouts at me from upstairs that the Boxing Day match with West Ham has been cancelled because of the Tube strike in London that day ! Pooh ! Still, the Scrabble players basic learning words ORLEANS* and ANOESTRA* are not allowed.

Mauro

[Tony Atkins]

R2 - eggosity. As in, the eggosity of one's farts.

Is it me again - I wrote down a 'V' not a 'Y'

Mauro

It was a V as I had SOVIET as an alt.

[Andy Wilson]

Um, can't remember. Maybe the V and Y both there? Paul definitely didn't sound sure of himself there. Great excitement after Rose falling behind to a pretty gettable 8 (that i didn't see til well after time) disguised by the k. Unlucky.

[Andy Wilson]

Paul muscles his way back into the lead!

[Andy Wilson]

Gutted! Well done both!

[Jordan F]

Another thriller to say the least. Well done Paul for beating another tough competitor on her top form. And very unlucky Rose, this in my mind was probably your strongest in a bunch of strong appearances, Paul just happened to do you a tad better.

[Tony Atkins]

What a game! Though was pleased to beat them on the conundrum. Well done to both.

Alt third numbers (6+4)x50+(9x9)-3

[Jack Worsley]

Fantastic play from both of you in a very close match! Well played Paul for keeping your nerve and unlucky Rose, who would have won against almost anyone else. 12 maxes from Paul and 11 from Rose, the highest we've had for a long time, surely.

ELASTANE (R3) and POSTBAG (R12) for a couple of equallers.

[Adam Gillard]

Fantastic play from both of you in a very close match! Well played Paul for keeping your nerve and unlucky Rose, who would have won against almost anyone else. 12 maxes from Paul and 11 from Rose, the highest we've had for a long time, surely.

This. Cracking game, well played both! BICEPS had me beaten Paul, nice spot there.

[szodiac]

R2 - eggosity. As in, the eggosity of one's farts.

Is it me again - I wrote down a 'V' not a 'Y'

Mauro

It was a V as I had SOVIET as an alt.

I saw the non allowable OUTGIVES*

Mauro

[Eoin Monaghan]

Excellent game! Very enjoyable and unlucky Rose, I was secretly rooting for you, sorry Paul

[John Garcia]

Fantastic game. Can't believe it was so close. Was rooting for Rose, but well played to both!

[James Robinson]

Blimey, what a cracker of a semi We might have lost the possibility of an all-female final, but this was spectacular.

A very many congratulations to Paul and complete commiserations to Rose.

I messed up the first numbers, but maxed everything else, so am well happy , but with everyone saying that tomorrow's game is something to behold, it's going to have to be mega phenomenal to top this one.

HUMIFY in round 1, OGIVES in round 2 and TALESMAN/TALESMEN in round 3.

3rd Numbers Alt.: ((6 + 4) x 50) + (9 x 9) - 3 = 578

[Graeme Cole]

Great game. One of those games that neither player deserved to lose. Well done to both of you.

[paul james]

cheers everybody,it was a very tense game and rose was a superb player,i was very relieved to beat her. proved to be very resilient in her comeback yesterday and was a pleasure to meet. thanks for all the positive comments.

[Matt Morrison]

Blimey, what a cracker of a semi :!

For Liam or for Rose?

[Joyce Phillips]

Quality game. Shame there had to be a loser.

[Keith Bennett]

Just watched last two shows back to back - great stuff, particularly Rose's comeback against Liam. Well played to all three, look forward to seeing Paul in the final.

But just think, if only Rose had biceps to match Paul's....


Out of nerdy interest after the early rounds in the semi was wondering how many shows, if any, have been level pegging in every round all the way through until the conundrum. More likely in the 9 round days obviously. Did it happen then and has it happened since we went up to 15?

[Johnny Canuck]

Out of nerdy interest after the early rounds in the semi was wondering how many shows, if any, have been level pegging in every round all the way through until the conundrum. More likely in the 9 round days obviously. Did it happen then and has it happened since we went up to 15?

Try this one.

Dead heat including the conundrum, and EXACT matches in all but one round.

[Andy Platt]

When was the last time the contestants got 23 out of 29 maxes? Probably Jack H vs Eoin, I imagine. Would be interesting to know.

They both had me beaten from the audience, and from the quality of play it kind of deserved to be the final.

Enjoy the other semi, it's probably an even better watch than this one.

[Rose Boyle]

Thanks again for all the nice comments. And the picture of the loaf of bread!! Must say I really enjoyed that game, i was still on a high from the game before! So after winning with lippies (sorry for the controversy!) I lost to Paul's biceps in the end! But I was happy just to be in contention to the end. Looking forward to the rest of the matches now..