Greetings all, we have a potentially great game on our hands between two highly-skilled apterites, so let's get down to business.
C1: Champion Abdirizak "Abdi" Hirsi (5 wins, 503 points.) He's averaging just over 100 a game at the moment but this has been somewhat marred by the conundrum controversies. He had a stern test yesterday and I think he may be in for another one today.
C2: Challenger Mark "James" Hartnett. A mature student from Dublin, he is studying creative media. He is a video game fan and is ranked as the second best Tetris player in Ireland. He also holds a season ticket at St. Patrick's Athletic Football Club. He's know as Mark James on apterous but his real name of Hartnett is being used for the show.
DC: Susie Dent and Kate Adie.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: H N R K O E A E D
R02: B P L I O E N I U
R03: 50, 5, 9, 1, 5, 6. Target: 273.
TTT: BOBTURNS - "Bob turns out to be very inflexible"
R04: T H R E A I S U O
R05: M E P I L A N O M
R06: 25, 6, 5, 8, 7, 2. Target: 216.
R07: N X G I E O D Q E
R08: S T R A E O S T E
R09: 75, 50, 100, 25, 6, 6. Target: 832.
TTT: TIMSTREE - "Tim's tree wasn't healthy, it was plagued by these"
R10: G T W O I E C S V
R11: I C N E M O L A P
R12: S T S D E I U O B
R13: R S Z P T E A I R
R14: 100, 50, 10, 4, 5, 3. Target: 817.
R15: C A R O L M O S S (conundrum)
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Round 1: H N R K O E A E D
C1: RANKED (6)
C2: HANKERED (8)
DC: HONKED (6) HARKENED (8)
Score: 0–8 (max 8)
A good gamble by Mark to secure an early lead.
Round 2: B P L I O E N I U
C1: OPINE (5)
C2: NUBILE (6)
OT: BOILIE (6) LUPINE (6) PINOLE (6) PUEBLO (6)
Score: 0–14 (max 14)
Abdi misses the sixes so he suddenly finds himself fourteen down. This could be another tough afternoon for him.
Round 3: 50, 5, 9, 1, 5, 6. Target: 273.
C1: 273. (50 + 5) x 5 - (9 - 6 - 1) (10)
C2: 273. (50 + 5) x 5 - (9 - 6 - 1) (10)
Score: 10–24 (max 24)
Mark just about gets to the target in time to maintain his advantage going into the first break.
Teatime teaser: BOBTURNS -> STUBBORN
Round 4: T H R E A I S U O
C1: AUTHORISE (18)
C2: AUTHORISE (18)
Score: 28–42 (max 42)
Boom, double nine time! Despite having five vowels, AUTHORISE somehow seems to come up a fair bit on apterous and this perhaps helps Mark to see the potential for the word and go for the final vowel.
Round 5: M E P I L A N O M
C1: MANIPLE (7)
C2: MANIPLE (7)
OT: IMPANEL (7) MAILMEN (7) MAMELON (7) OPALINE (7)
Score: 35–49 (max 49)
Both opt for the same seven and after the first two rounds, they are sticking firmly together.
Round 6: 25, 6, 5, 8, 7, 2. Target: 216.
C1: 216. (25 + 2) x 8 (10)
C2: 216. (25 + 2) x 8 (10)
Score: 45–59 (max 59)
Too easy, let's move on.
Kate talks about how the lives of women have changed in recent decades.
Round 7: N X G I E O D Q E
C1: DOING (5)
C2: OXIDE (5)
DC: DOXIE X
OT: DEIGN (5) DIENE (5) DINGO (5) DOGIE (5) DONEE (5) EXINE (5) GENIE (5) GEODE (5) GEOID (5) INDEX (5) NIXED (5) OGEED (5)
Score: 50–64 (max 64)
It can't be very often that a selection with an -ING possibility only yields a maximum of five but that's exactly what happens here.
Round 8: S T R A E O S T E
C1: TREATS (6)
C2: TOASTERS (8)
DC: RESTATES (8) TEASERS (7)
OT: ESTREATS (8) ROSETTES (8) TETROSES (8)
Score: 50–72 (max 72)
Abdi surprisingly struggles to a six and Mark takes full advantage. We've passed the half way point and the challenger has still not dropped a point.
Round 9: 75, 50, 100, 25, 6, 6. Target: 832.
C1: 833 X
C2: 831. (100 + 50) x 6 - 75 + 6 (7)
OT: 832. ((75 - 6) x 50 x 6 + 100)/25 (10)
Score: 50–79 (max 82)
Abdi recognises that he's in a perilous situation so he mixes it up with four large. This only backfires and increases the deficit further. Mark drops his first points of the game but I'm sure he won't care and I don't think anyone can blame him. The method listed above is the only way, so if anyone tells you they got it, they're probably either called Bob de Caux or they're making it up completely. Somehow it only has a difficulty rating of 88% according to the numbers game solver.
Teatime teaser: TIMSTREE -> TERMITES
Round 10: G T W O I E C S V
C1: COSTIVE (7)
C2: COVETS (6)
DC: VOICES (6)
Score: 57–79 (max 89)
Abdi gets his first winner of the day to give himself a glimmer of hope.
Round 11: I C N E M O L A P
C1: POLICEMAN (18)
C2: POLICEMAN (18)
Score: 75–97 (max 107)
Someone call the police! In fact, if the contestants find two more nines in the last two letters round, you may need to call an ambulance. Only seven players have previously spotted two nines in a game and lost but that must rise to eight after today. Mark is standing firm as Abdi may have thought this was his chance to get back into contention but he's come up against a very stern opponent today.
OoW: Susie teaches us that being "jaded" has nothing to do with the mineral jade.
Round 12: S T S D E I U O B
C1: OUTSIDES (8)
C2: OUTSIDES (8)
DC: SUBEDITS (8)
Score: 83–105 (max 115)
There'll be no ambulance today but the high quality continues and Mark reaches his century.
Round 13: R S Z P T E A I R
C1: PARTIES (7)
C2: PIRATES (7)
DC: SPRITZER (8)
OT: PARTIERS (8)
Score: 90–112 (max 123)
I wonder if Mark was toying with PARTIERS when he said he's stick with a seven. You can't blame him for not risking it though as he only needed to equal Abdi to confirm his win and that's exactly what he's done.
Round 14: 100, 50, 10, 4, 5, 3. Target: 817.
C1: 814. (5 + 3) x 100 + 10 + 4 (7)
C2: 814. (5 + 3) x 100 + 10 + 4 (7)
RR: 817. (100 + 50 + 10 + 4) x 5 -3 (10)
Score: 97–119 (max 133)
Mark lets Rachel choose now that he can relax and she opts for the evil two large. Three away is the best that the players can do so Rachel leads the way.
Round 15: C A R O L M O S S
C1 buzzes on 0.75 seconds to say CLASSROOM which is correct.
Final Score: 107–119 (max 143)
Another quick buzz by Abdi but this time he doesn't hesitate and gives his answer immediately. That means we have our first double century in a heat since the game between Ryan Taylor and Lesley Hines in Series 61. Abdi's score of 107 is the joint highest losing score in a heat, to equal Terry Rattle's score in Series 47. Mr Hirsi may have caused a stir or two but he certainly has plenty of quality too and has played pretty well throughout his six games. Mark was superb today though and I don't think many people would have beaten him. Mark will be seated in the champion's chair tomorrow and James will be guiding you through it. Join me next week for another episode for what could be Mark's sixth game but it's far from certain. Apterite Sean D will be debuting on Monday and there's also Bradley Cates on Friday, who was pretty good when he was 11 but will he be any better now? There's plenty to look forward to so don't miss it!
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=69
