C1: #2 Seed Edward McCullagh (8 wins, 896 points.)
C2: #7 Seed Andrew McNamara (5 wins, 466 points.)
DC: Susie Dent and Alistair McGowan.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
It’s Friday once more, it’s a bank holiday weekend once more (although not such a nice one weather-wise this time, it seems) and it’s also time for another Friday recap, and on this occasion it’s time for the second quarter-final of the penultimate series to feature Mr Jeff Stelling as its host. On paper, number two seed Edward looks like a shoo-in for the win, with his average score of 112 points easily outranking number seven seed Andrew’s average of 78, but how much bearing will that have today? Let’s discover!
R01: E N H I T P U C T
R02: N W J S R A U A E
R03: T D O E F V O S N
R04: R D D L N I E O S
R05: 5, 6, 1, 7, 4, 9. Target: 431.
TTT: ROWSPEED - "Take the wind out of Stefanie's sails, perhaps."
R06: W S Y M P N E E O
R07: I E O G R T A N D
R08: S L S L C U A I D
R09: S U N A H O V T E
R10: 1, 3, 6, 10, 7, 2. Target: 358.
TTT: ITCLANGS - "It's a peace movement, whether you're black or white."
R11: I S T A O R Q U P
R12: G Z G L R E I E T
R13: F B I A S C E B M
R14: 4, 9, 2, 4, 7, 1. Target: 413.
R15: T R I E D B E S T (conundrum)
Countdown is sponsored by Vitabiotics Wellman.
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Jeff opens this quarter-final with a bit of chat about celebrity ‘riders’, those little demands that the rich and famous make for their dressing-rooms, etc. We learn that Susie likes a quiet hotel room, Alistair McGowan can’t sleep without a feather-filled pillow and that his partner Charlotte Page sings like an angel. Countdown: the place to come for the facts - fact.
Round 1: E N H I T P U C T
C1: puttie
C2: THINE (5)
DC: PECTIN (6) ETHNIC (6)
OT: INCEPT (6) TENUTI (6)
Score: 0–5 (max 6)
Susie suggests that Edward was probably thinking of the valid PUTTEE and it seems she was correct.
Round 2: N W J S R A U A E
C1: UNAWARE (7)
C2: WARNS (5)
DC: UNAWARES (8)
Score: 7–5 (max 14)
Ed was thinking about UNAWARES, but decided to stick with seven, despite declaring first. Not a bad decision, as it turned out.
Round 3: T D O E F V O S N
C1: FESTOON (7)
C2: FOOTED (6)
DC: FESTOON (7)
OT: FONDEST (7)
Score: 14–5 (max 21)
Round 4: R D D L N I E O S
C1: INDORSED (8)
C2: SOILED (6)
DC: INSOLE (6) LINERS (6)
Score: 22–5 (max 29)
Edward gets all legal with his ‘U.S. and Law’ variant of ENDORSED. This is beginning to look like a whitewash – can Andrew do something about it?
Round 5: 5, 6, 1, 7, 4, 9. Target: 431.
C1: 431. Mistake in working.
C2: 430. ((6x7)+5-4)x(9+1) (7)
RR: 431. ((7+1)x6x9)-(5-4) (10) (corrected version of C1’s declaration)
Score: 22–12 (max 39)
Edward asks Rachel to choose and she goes for ‘six small’ to make things exciting. It certainly does that, as Ed blobs leaving Andrew to pick up seven much-needed points.
Pre-Teaser, Alistair presents us with two more poems: “Hair Loss in Lincolnshire” (guess what he rhymes with Spalding?) and “My Ode to Michelle Pfeiffer” (who has a silent ‘P’ in her name, oh yes). Great stuff, I’m sure he’ll be back soon.
Teatime teaser: ROWSPEED -> DEPOWERS
Round 6: W S Y M P N E E O
C1: EPONYMS (7)
C2: WEENY (5)
DC: WEEPY (5) SWEEP (5) PEONY (5)
Score: 29–12 (max 46)
I don’t know why, but EPONYMS is one of those words I like a lot. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I like R.E.M. (the band, not that I mind the other kind.)
Round 7: I E O G R T A N D
C1: ORDINATE (8)
C2: oderating
DC: RATIONED (8) DRAGONET (8)
OT: DERATING (8) DERATION (8) GRADIENT (8) ORGANDIE (8) TREADING (8)
Score: 37–12 (max 54)
Not sure this was the right time to take a gamble, but there you go. Lots of great eights available; seems a shame to call this round flat...
Round 8: S L S L C U A I D
C1: SCULLS (6)
C2: LUCID (5)
DC: DISCUS (6) SCILLAS (7)
Score: 43–12 (max 61)
Susie uses the pen-cam to show us that SCILLAS are plants of the lily family and absolutely nothing to do with the former host of ‘Blind Date’. Interestingly, it derives from the Latin word for ‘sea onion’.
Round 9: S U N A H O V T E
C1: NOVATES (7)
C2: HAVENS (6)
DC: SOUTANE (7)
Score: 50–12 (max 68)
Two Countdown favourites there: Ed gets one; DC get the other.
OoW: At the request of a member of the audience, Susie gives us the origin of the expression ‘going haywire’ before going on to explain the etymology of the word ‘wain’, as in Constable’s ‘The Hay Wain’.
Round 10: 1, 3, 6, 10, 7, 2. Target: 358.
C1: 358. ((7-1)x6x10)-2 (10)
C2: 358. ((7-1)x6x10)-2 (10)
Score: 60–22 (max 78)
Another ‘six small’ selection and this time both contestants score.
Teatime teaser: ITCLANGS -> CASTLING
Round 11: I S T A O R Q U P
C1: UPSTAIR (7)
C2: PURIST (6)
DC: QUARTS (6) QUARTOS (7)
OT: SAUTOIR (7)
Score: 67–22 (max 85)
Susie thinks Edward is playing with fire with UPSTAIR, but frequent users of Apterous will know it’s O.K. Susie plonks the ‘O’ into Alistair’s QUARTS to make the papery seven QUARTOS.
Round 12: G Z G L R E I E T
C1: LEGGIER (7)
C2: LEGGIER (7)
Score: 74–29 (max 92)
Edward is a bit uncertain about LEGGIER, while Andrew isn’t, and he shouldn’t be, cos it’s fine. And sadly, it’s also over for the lad from Newcastle.
Round 13: F B I A S C E B M
C1: CABBIES (7)
C2: CABBIES (7)
DC: CABBIES (7)
OT: BIFACES (7)
Score: 81–36 (max 99)
Presumably Cabbies FM is what taxi drivers listen to on their radios. Has an opinion on everything, apparently...
Round 14: 4, 9, 2, 4, 7, 1. Target: 413.
C1: 413. ((((7+4)x4)+2)x9)-1 (10)
C2: 416.
Score: 91–36 (max 109)
Another ‘six small’; another ‘2 from the second, 3 from the third and 1 from the bottom from Rachel’; another ten points for the boy from Newry.
Round 15: T R I E D B E S T
C1 buzzes on 2.25 seconds to say BEDSITTER which is correct.
Final Score: 101–36 (max 119)
Ed’s a little uncertain of his answer, but he takes the ten points and adds another century to his tally, although his score has dented his average a little. I’m sure he won’t be too worried about that; he’s just happy to have made it to the semis, apparently, where he’ll meet Tom Barnes or Mary Adie on Thursday. And talking of those two, they’ll be playing on Monday in the next quarter-final, when Gregg Wallace returns to Dictionary Corner for his second stint of the series. Tune in to Channel 4 on Monday to watch them in action, or alternatively tune in to the Recap, brought to you by the inimitable Ryan Taylor. And I’ll see you next week for the Final!
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=64
