Thursday 10th January 2013 (30th Birthday Championship, P4)

Round-by-round summaries of every game in recent series; for every series in the last 5 years, try cdb, the Countdown database. Obviously this forum contains spoilers!

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James Robinson
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Thursday 10th January 2013 (30th Birthday Championship, P4)

Post by James Robinson »

The gods seem to have been kind me this week with 2 super awesome games with Deeks v Hurst yesterday, and now Wilson v Travers today :!: :!: :!:

Crikey blimey, it's getting good to be me, isn't it :?: :P

Enjoy. ;) :) :D

Countdown recap for Thursday 10 January 2013.

C1: Series 46 Champion Ben Wilson (11 games, 10 wins, 1,030 points.) An Apteforumite from North Hykeham, Lincolnshire. He is a former editor of the ABSP newsletter. He studies aikido, is in MENSA, and likes to draw mazes. (How puzzling. :lol: :P )
C2: Series 54 Champion Conor Travers (15 games, 14 wins, 1,615 points.) An Apteforumite from Luton, Bedfordshire, currently studying maths at Cambridge University.
DC: Susie Dent and Dave Myers.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: L K A E I T D H R
R02: T G Y E O E T S T
R03: D N A U I W T M E
R04: F V R O I E S G A
R05: 2, 6, 10, 4, 6, 4. Target: 899.
TTT: SILKBIAS - "It sounds like the reptile who ran Fawlty Towers"
R06: T F D E U O L I R
R07: G S H E O I A W D
R08: L P S U E A B S C
R09: X P N U E O B T V
R10: 75, 3, 5, 7, 9, 4. Target: 359.
TTT: NICETALC - "You might find this biblical chant rather amusing"
R11: R L M G E U O P E
R12: L R J I O E N N P
R13: T S N R U O I O A
R14: 50, 8, 10, 2, 5, 9. Target: 426.
R15: U R E S O O B I G (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: L K A E I T D H R

C1: TRAILED (7)
C2: TRAILED (7)
Score: 7–7 (max 7)

Everyone TRAILED here, but no-one has literally TRAILED yet, since it happened to be the darren here. :P

Round 2: T G Y E O E T S T

C1: STOTTY (6)
C2: EGEST (5)
Score: 13–7 (max 13)

A very well-timed and profitable gamble pays off for Ben with his foody offering. Plenty of them going around it seems. :D

Round 3: D N A U I W T M E

C1: MINUTED (7)
C2: MEDIANT (7)
DC: UNTAMED (7)
Score: 20–14 (max 20)

All 7's present and accounted for. :)

Round 4: F V R O I E S G A

C1: FORGIVES (8)
C2: FORGIVES (8)
DC: FORAGES (7) OVARIES (7)
OT: VIRAGOES (8)
Score: 28–22 (max 28)

No-one FORGIVES anyone here and Ben is still maxed up. 8-)

Round 5: 2, 6, 10, 4, 6, 4. Target: 899.

C1: 900. ((6 x 4 x 4) - 6) x 10 (7)
C2: 900. ((6 x 4 x 4) - 6) x 10 (7)
Score: 35–29 (max 35)

After managing to deceive Rachel into thinking that he might've been picking 1 large, we have a 6 small selection from Ben, but unfortunately with 6 even numbers, the odd target was gonna be a tricky little bastard. :P :twisted:

Dave talks about the fact that it's nearly 8 years since the very first show of The Hairy Bikers, which was done in Portugal, where they filmed at a surgery of lobotomy, where they saw some web-footed poodles.

Teatime teaser: SILKBIAS -> BASILISK

Round 6: T F D E U O L I R

C1: FLUORIDE (8)
C2: FLORUITED (18)
DC: OUTFIELD (8) FLIRTED (7) FLOUTED (7)
Score: 35–47 (max 53)

WOW! WOW!! WOW!!! A mighty impressive 9 from Conor turns a 6 point deficit into a 12 point lead just like that. ;) :) :D

Round 7: G S H E O I A W D

C1: HOAGIES (7)
C2: HOAGIES (7)
DC: WASHED (6)
Score: 42–54 (max 60)

Oh dear, there I was thinking I'd got a brilliant 7 on HOWDIES, but clearly not. :oops: :roll: Thankfully, we have 2 excellent contestants who can cover my mistake at a canter. :geek: :ugeek:

Round 8: L P S U E A B S C

C1: CAPSULES (8)
C2: SUBSPACE (8)
DC: SCALPS (6)
Me: BASCULES (8) :geek:
Score: 50–62 (max 68)

More and more brilliance. We should bring these guys back more often. I wonder if they are aware of our COLIN tournament in 16 days time........... :?: :? :roll: :oops:

A BASCULE is a device operating like a balance or seesaw, especially an arrangement of a movable bridge (bascule bridge) by which the rising floor or section is counterbalanced by a weight.

Round 9: X P N U E O B T V

C1: upvote
C2: POUT (4)
DC: PUNT (4) BONE (4)
Me: BUTEO (5) :mrgreen:
OT: BENTO (5)
Score: 50–66 (max 73)

Ben clutching at straws trying to get a way back in, but even though he's wrong, Conor can only find a 4, so his lead is only upped to 16. I must admit that I was well pleased to get the brilliant 5 of BUTEO, the taxonomical name for a buzzard. :D

A BENTO is a meal, usually served in a lacquered or elaborately decorated box that is divided into sections for holding individual portions of food.

Susie's Origins of Words talks about the origins of food names with mistaken beliefs, "Scottish petticoat tails", "spare ribs", "rosemary" and "salt cellar".

Round 10: 75, 3, 5, 7, 9, 4. Target: 359.

C1: 359. (75 x 5) - 7 - 9 (10)
C2: 359. (75 x 5) - 7 - 9 (10)
Score: 60–76 (max 83)

Nice and simple. NEXT :arrow: :arrow: :arrow:

Teatime teaser: NICETALC -> CANTICLE

Round 11: R L M G E U O P E

C1: MORGUE (6)
C2: MORGUE (6)
DC: PROMULGE (8)
Score: 66–82 (max 91)

Probably would've been better spent in a MORGUE, that is until Susie plucks out the super awesome PROMULGE :!: :!: :!: :shock: :o 8-) RESPECT. ;) :) :D

Round 12: L R J I O E N N P

C1: PROLINE (7)
C2: PROLINE (7)
Score: 73–89 (max 98)

All aboard the PROLINE. :lol:

Round 13: T S N R U O I O A

C1: ORATIONS (8)
C2: TOURNOIS (8)
OT: RAINOUTS (8)
Score: 81–97 (max 106)

Oui, oui, Conor goes all parlez vous francais with an super brill 8, but Ben is still keeping touch, but overturning a 16 point deficit against a maths student is a tall order, especially when you don't have the pick either............... :roll:

Round 14: 50, 8, 10, 2, 5, 9. Target: 426.

C1: 426. (50 x 8) + 10 + 2 + 5 + 9 (10)
C2: 426. ((50 + 2) x 8) + 10 (10)
Score: 91–107 (max 116)

And indeed, the pick of numbers was pivotal, as an easy 1 large appears, but Ben has some fun by using all the numbers for a brilliant method. :lol:

Round 15: U R E S O O B I G

C2 buzzes on 1.5 seconds to say BOURGEOIS which is correct.
Final Score: 91–117 (max 126)

Lol, after TOURNOIS in the last letters, no surprise that Conor gets the French conundrum and finishes on a series-equalling high score of 117. (Not bad after just 4 episodes of the 40. 8-) )

Another fantastic match and yet again, another match where the loser doesn't deserve to be knocked out at this stage, but at least can now get back worrying about COLIN on January 26 now. ;) :) :D :mrgreen: 8-)

I never got to see Conor when he played back in Series 54 or in CoC XII, so my only previous experience of him was in the 25th Birthday Special and at CoLei 2010, when I somehow managed to beat him in the 3rd place play-off at only my 2nd CO-event. :mrgreen: :geek: :ugeek:

But, it seems that the gap of over 5 years has done nothing to dampen his impressive skills, which were there for all to see again today, and will be seen again in a month's time when he'll play the winner of tomorrow's game between Series 52 champion Mark Tournoff and Series 28 non-finalist, but pretty good Apterite, Nick Deller.

I'll be back next week with the final 2 preliminary matches which are: On Wednesday, we have the runner-up of Series 61, Andrew Hulme playing the current Champion of Champions, Steve Briers, followed by a real good tussle on Thursday between the Series 64 champion, Edward McCullagh and the Series 66 runner-up, Jonathan Rawlinson.

Join me for those blockbusters next week. ;) :) :D

Well, after what we've seen already this week, we can only expect this to be a better and better series.

Hopefully it won't disappoint. Till next week, bye bye. ;) :) :D :mrgreen: 8-) :geek: :ugeek:

Statistics Corner

Ben:
Total score - 91
Raw score - 99
Total % of max - 72
Raw % of max - 79
Total average score per round - 6.1
Raw average score per round - 6.6
Number of maxes - 11 8-)

Conor:
Total score - 117
Raw score - 122
Total % of max - 93
Raw % of max - 97
Total average score per round - 7.8
Raw average score per round - 8.1
Number of maxes - 12 8-) 8-)

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=-16
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Mark Deeks
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Re: Thursday 10th January 2013 (30th Birthday Championship,

Post by Mark Deeks »

I know you don't mean any ill, but it's kind of weird when you call your own spots "brilliant." Y'know?
Eoin Monaghan wrote:
He may not be liked on here, but you have to give some credit to Mark
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James Robinson
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Re: Thursday 10th January 2013 (30th Birthday Championship,

Post by James Robinson »

Mark Deeks wrote:I know you don't mean any ill, but it's kind of weird when you call your own spots "brilliant." Y'know?
Oh yeah, I get that, defo. But, the fact that it's a matchup between 2 very impressive contestants, any time you manage to get a better word than them (or even DC) deserves a little celebration. (Yes, granted it does seem like I'm a bit over the top there.)
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Jon Corby
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Re: Thursday 10th January 2013 (30th Birthday Championship,

Post by Jon Corby »

Love it. "Yes I know it seems big-headed. But... it was brilliant!".

Looking forward to seeing you again in two weeks Robbo :D Hope we play again :)
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James Robinson
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Re: Thursday 10th January 2013 (30th Birthday Championship,

Post by James Robinson »

Jon Corby wrote:Love it. "Yes I know it seems big-headed. But... it was brilliant!".

Looking forward to seeing you again in two weeks Robbo :D Hope we play again :)
Yeah, after last year's brilliant match, I would enjoy a rematch, Corby. ;) :) :D
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