Who knows
Maybe one of our 2 new contestants could spring a surprise.........Let's see and enjoy.
Countdown recap for Wednesday 17 April 2013.
C1: Challenger Victoria Woollaston. A technical journalist for a website user magazine from Pimlico, London. She previously worked as a festival co-ordinator.
C2: Challenger Dan Tibbles. An astrophysics graduate from Bracknell, Berkshire. He used to work as a rides operator at Legoland Windsor.
DC: Susie Dent and Paul Zenon.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: L T G I E I Z N D
R02: N R E U P F E M N
R03: 50, 25, 8, 1, 1, 2. Target: 594.
TTT: LIVEALOT - "If you live on the edge a lot, you might have this sort of temperament"
R04: T R T U I M S E L
R05: B N S O E A D Q E
R06: 100, 6, 3, 1, 9, 10. Target: 922.
R07: P D R A E I H R O
R08: L S D A E A S M I
R09: 50, 2, 2, 7, 6, 7. Target: 863.
TTT: ROOFSTEM - "It sounds like no more than five and it usually follows first"
R10: L G A I E M F N K
R11: N S R U O E W S E
R12: C B N A O T D E O
R13: G N T A E A G V O
R14: 100, 50, 25, 10, 1, 9. Target: 126.
R15: U N D O N E T U G (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: L T G I E I Z N D
C1: TINGLED (7)
C2: TINGLED (7)
DC: EDITING (7) DIETING (7)
OT: DILIGENT (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)
We seem to have been been TINGLED to start today. But, no-one is DILIGENT enough to spot the darrenic 8 early doors.
Round 2: N R E U P F E M N
C1: PRUNE (5)
C2: PRUNE (5)
DC: PERFUME (7)
Score: 12–12 (max 15)
Another darren missed by the players, who seem to want to be PRUNEs now. If they ever find Apterous, they might want to reconsider.
Round 3: 50, 25, 8, 1, 1, 2. Target: 594.
C1: 600.
C2: 596. ((50 + 25) x 8) - 2 - 1 - 1 (7)
RR: 594. ((50 + 25 - 1) x 8) + 2 (10)
Score: 12–19 (max 25)
The art of split multiplication seems to be lost to our players, but Dan takes the first lead with his 2 away method.
Teatime teaser: LIVEALOT -> VOLATILE
Round 4: T R T U I M S E L
C1: MUTTERS (7)
C2: MUTTERS (7)
DC: SMUTTIER (8)
OT: SURTITLE (8)
Score: 19–26 (max 33)
Some more MUTTERings coming out of the contestants' mouths, but DC shock us all with a SMUTTIER offering
Round 5: B N S O E A D Q E
C1: seabond
C2: DEBASE (6)
DC: DEBONES (7)
Score: 19–32 (max 40)
Hmmm, when Victoria said she had a risky 7, I so thought she was going to say DEBONES, so it sort of took me aback when seabond was said, and Victoria now finds herself further down the ocean............
Round 6: 100, 6, 3, 1, 9, 10. Target: 922.
C1: 921. (9 x 100) + ((6 / 3) x 10) + 1 (7)
C2: 927.
RR: 922. ((100 + 3) x 9) - (6 - 1) (10)
Score: 26–32 (max 50)
Another case of lack of split multiplication costing there..............., but Vicky gets closer this time, meaning that she's right back in it.
Paul becomes the envy of just about every man alive, as he makes Rachel and Susie put some Brazilian reals down their fronts.
Round 7: P D R A E I H R O
C1: HOARDER (7)
C2: PARRIED (7)
DC: AIRDROP (7)
OT: HARDIER (7) HARRIED (7) HOARIER (7) RAPHIDE (7)
Score: 33–39 (max 57)
AND FINALLY!!! Both players get their first maxes of the day in this flat round of seven 7's.
A RAPHIDE is any of numerous needle-shaped crystals, usually of calcium oxalate, that occur in many plant cells as a metabolic product.
Round 8: L S D A E A S M I
C1: malades
C2: MISLEAD (7)
DC: MALADIES (8) SALAMIS (7) DAMSELS (7) MISLEADS (8)
OT: ASSAILED (8) MISDEALS (8)
Score: 33–46 (max 65)
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. A bit of a round of despair in this one. Victoria's 7 is a but too French for the dictionary, but by sticking an I in it, it would've got her a brilliant 8, and even Dan forgets to stick the additional S onto his 7 for an 8............
Round 9: 50, 2, 2, 7, 6, 7. Target: 863.
C1: -
C2: -
RR: 863. (((50 x 2) + 7) x (2 + 6)) + 7 (10)
Score: 33–46 (max 75)
Well, I think we can forgive them both for blanking out on this one. Even I could only get 858 in the time
And even our Rach needs some extra time to solve this, with her method being the only correct one for this nasty numbers game. Teatime teaser: ROOFSTEM -> FOREMOST
Round 10: L G A I E M F N K
C1: FLAMING (7)
C2: FLAMING (7)
DC: FINAGLE (7)
OT: FEMINAL (7) FLAGMEN (7) FLAKING (7) GEMINAL (7) INFLAME (7) LEAFING (7) LEAKING (7) LINKAGE (7) MANLIKE (7)
Score: 40–53 (max 82)
Loadsa loadsa 7's here.
Round 11: N S R U O E W S E
C1: SNORES (6)
C2: ENSUE (5)
DC: NEUROSES (8)
OT: SNOWSURE (8)
Score: 46–53 (max 90)
Victoria gets back in with her dozy 6, but Dan should be kicking himself for a) not sticking the R in ENSUE for ENSURE and b) not sticking the additional S on the end for ENSUES originally, then ENSURES
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of the phrase "slapbang shop".
Round 12: C B N A O T D E O
C1: batoned
C2: COATED (6)
DC: OCTANE (6) CANOED (6)
OT: ODONATE (7) TABOOED (7)
Score: 46–59 (max 97)
Victoria is very unlucky here as batoned does sound like a more than plausible word, but unfortunately, it's still not in, even at this stage...............
An ODONATE is any of numerous large predatory aquatic insects of the order Odonata, occurring worldwide and characterized by two pairs of membranous wings.
Round 13: G N T A E A G V O
C1: VANTAGE (7)
C2: VANTAGE (7)
Score: 53–66 (max 104)
A very good VANTAGE point taken up by the contestants, as they both spot the darren, but Dan is in pole position with his 13 point lead.
Round 14: 100, 50, 25, 10, 1, 9. Target: 126.
C1: 126. 100 + 25 + 1 (10)
C2: 126. 100 + 25 + 1 (10)
Score: 63–76 (max 114)
Dan makes a shocking decision by going 3 large, but it proves to be an unexpected masterstroke, as it results in the easiest numbers game of the day
Round 15: U N D O N E T U G
No one buzzes. The answer was OUTGUNNED.
Final Score: 63–76 (max 124)
But, a deceptively tricky conundrum appears at the end, left to be solved by some happy looking chaps at the back of the studio.
So, after the excellent exploits of Giles in the past 8 shows, we were almost likely to be brought back down to Earth with a bump.
As it is, Dan has the win, which with him being only the 8th person to win a game this series, makes him the #8 seed at the moment
Join me tomorrow to see if he could mount a series finals place challenege, or just be a one-hit wonder.
So, till then, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Victoria:
Total score - 63
Raw score - 68
Total % of max - 51
Raw % of max - 55
Total average score per round - 4.2
Raw average score per round - 4.5
Number of maxes - 4
Dan:
Total score - 76
Raw score - 88
Total % of max - 61
Raw % of max - 71
Total average score per round - 5.1
Raw average score per round - 5.9
Number of maxes - 4
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=68
(I don't know whether it even took place - I haven't bothered to check. or even Googled to discover the star: I think Nick only mentioned his birth name, which I forget now.)