Today's game has been eagerly anticipated for a while. Not only do we have the possibility of another octochamp crowning on a Tuesday but he'll be competing against a man who has been on apterous for less than two years but is third on the most time played list.
C1: Champion Bradley Cates (7 wins, 767 points.) is bidding to become the fifth octochamp of the series but he needs 178 points just to equal Glen's total, so fourth is realistically the best he can hope for. Jen Steadman and Alex Fish have recently completed their runs on Tuesdays but three weeks ago, Callum Todd fell at the final hurdle in controversial fashion. How will Bradley do today?
C2: Challenger Tom Conlon is known as "Top Cat" to his friends and "Horace Horlicks" to his fellow apterites. He's a retired footballer as he used to play for the old Wimbledon team before they were well known. I can't find any record of him on the Internet. After his footballing career, he moved into IT. He's from Hemil Hempstead (HH), which I believe is partly where his apterous pseudonym comes from.
DC: Susie Dent and Dr Phil Hammond.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: T O N E H U R K S
R02: M I H E C O S A R
R03: 75, 5, 10, 8, 9, 6. Target: 671.
TTT: RATTYONE - "In American law dramas, he's always the ratty one"
R04: Z E N O D A L I N
R05: L E H A G I P C T
R06: 75, 50, 3, 8, 9, 10. Target: 928.
R07: Y E L U S I T D S
R08: M O D A N O X A R
R09: 100, 8, 6, 6, 2, 9. Target: 482.
TTT: SHETWICE - "She had to masticate the meat several times, how tough"
R10: S E Q O D E T O S
R11: F U D E P I B G R
R12: G O N A L E J I S
R13: F O N I V O D T I
R14: 50, 25, 10, 8, 4, 5. Target: 822.
R15: S I M O N S A I D (conundrum)
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: T O N E H U R K S
C1: SHORTEN (7)
C2: HUNTERS (7)
DC: STONKER (7) HORNETS (7) SOUTHERN (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)
Plenty of sevens but just the one eight which DC spot.
Round 2: M I H E C O S A R
C1: HEROISM (7)
C2: MOHAIRS X
DC: CHIMERAS (8)
OT: MARCHESI (8)
Score: 14–7 (max 16)
I've always thought that MOHAIRS^ is a bit dodgy, despite the word still being valid on apterous. MOHAIR is a mass noun and Susie can't make a case for pluralising it unfortunately for Tom so Bradley takes the lead.
Round 3: 75, 5, 10, 8, 9, 6. Target: 671.
C1: 671. (75 - 8) x 10 + 6 - 5 (10)
C2: 671. 9 x 75 - (10/5 + 8 - 6) (10)
Score: 24–17 (max 26)
Nice and straightforward although Tom decides to go round the houses, which momentarily left me in agony over how to type out his solution. Ten points apiece.
Teatime teaser: RATTYONE -> ATTORNEY
Round 4: Z E N O D A L I N
C1: ANODIZE (7)
C2: ANODIZE (7)
DC: ANNELID (7)
OT: LINDANE (7)
Score: 31–24 (max 33)
The classic Countdown word ANODIZE appears and you can tell that both players are keen fans of the show.
Round 5: L E H A G I P C T
C1: ALIGHT (6)
C2: PLICATE (7)
DC: PELAGIC (7)
OT: LICHGATE (8)
Score: 31–31 (max 41)
Tom strikes back with PLICATE to level the scores but no one spots the darrenic LICHGATE. When I looked it up in the dictionary, it took me ages to find it and I thought it had been taken out but it's listed as a variant spelling under LYCHGATE. Normally in this case, LICHGATE would have its own entry and state that it was a variant spelling of LYCHGATE but this one doesn't for some reason. Luckily the imminent switch to the ODO should make these words easier to find in the future just in case someone offers it and it's wrongly disallowed because Susie can't find it. After all that, I discovered that it was a roofed gateway to a churchyard.
Round 6: 75, 50, 3, 8, 9, 10. Target: 928.
C1: 929. (75 + 50 - 10) x 8 + 9 (7)
C2: 927. (8 + 10) x 50 + 3 x 9 (7)
RR: 928. (75 + 50 - 9) x 8 (10)
Score: 38–38 (max 51)
Rachel points out that Bradley could have adjusted his method slightly for the full ten points so he'll be kicking himself for now, especially considering the closeness of the game.
Dr Phil, wearing his "I love life" T-shirt cheers everyone up by talking about death and how he wants everyone to have a good one.
Round 7: Y E L U S I T D S
C1: STUDIES (7)
C2: DILUTES (7)
DC: DUSTILY (7)
OT: SEDULITY (8) STYLISED (8)
Score: 45–45 (max 59)
Two more eights missed by all but everyone does at least get a solid seven.
Round 8: M O D A N O X A R
C1: DOORMAN (7)
C2: MAROON (6)
DC: ROADMAN (7)
OT: MADRONA (7) MADRONO (7) MANDORA (7)
Score: 52–45 (max 66)
Bradley retakes the lead with a very good spot.
Round 9: 100, 8, 6, 6, 2, 9. Target: 482.
C1: 478. (6 - 2) x 100 + 9 x 8 + 6 (7)
C2: 482 X
RR: 482. (100 x 9 - 8)/2 + 6 x 6 (10)
Score: 59–45 (max 76)
Ouch, Tom looks set to take the lead for the first time but he's actually ten out and the error means that the gap between the players goes above ten for the first time. It's not easy for a one large with a 100 in it and even Rachel needs the break to solve it.
Teatime teaser: SHETWICE -> CHEWIEST
Round 10: S E Q O D E T O S
C1: TOSSED (6)
C2: SOOTED (6)
DC: STEEDS (6)
OT: SETOSE (6)
Score: 65–51 (max 82)
Tom's SOOTED sounds slightly odd but it's OK, with nothing better available.
Round 11: F U D E P I B G R
C1: FUDGIER X
C2: FUDGIER X
DC: FUDGE (5) FIGURED (7) PUDGIER (7)
OT: FIREBUG (7)
Score: 65–51 (max 89)
Both players should have exchanged the F for the P but instead they are told that you can't be FUDGIER^ by Susie, while they could also have had its safe anagram FIGURED.
OoW: Susie reveals the origins of the first names of some of the crew members.
Round 12: G O N A L E J I S
C1: JINGLES (7)
C2: AGONISE (7)
DC: JANGLES (7) GASOLINE (8) GALJOEN (7)
Score: 72–58 (max 97)
A good darren by the corner and no, you can't have GALJOENS^, as although it's a fish, the plural is exactly the same.
Round 13: F O N I V O D T I
C1: VIDIOT (6)
C2: VIDIOT (6)
OT: FINITO (6)
Score: 78–64 (max 103)
Both Bradley and Tom use their word knowledge to good effect by pulling out the Americanism VIDIOT out of a tough selection. The game's not over yet.
Round 14: 50, 25, 10, 8, 4, 5. Target: 822.
C1: 823. (10 + 8) x (50 - 4) - 5 (7)
C2: 825.
OT: 822. (50 + 25) x 10 + (5 + 4) x 8 (10)
Score: 85–64 (max 113)
Despite being encouraged to gamble by Rachel, Tom admits to feeling inferior on numbers to his opponent and sticks with his usual two large. He needs to win the round to have any chance of spoiling the party but it's Bradley who get's closer and his one away is enough to secure him octochampdom at last and end Tom's valiant challenge.
Round 15: S I M O N S A I D
C1 buzzes on 1.75 seconds to say ADMISSION which is correct.
Final Score: 95–64 (max 123)
Bradley completes his run with a quick conundrum solve to take his octototal up to a healthy 862, which I believe is the first over 800 by a non-apterite in the apterous era. Today's score of 95 is the lowest of his run but I'm sure he won't mind too much. He's been impressive throughout his run so you can't say it isn't deserved. He will rightly go down as one of the best, if not the best non-apterite during the apterous era and he'll return for the finals as number four seed as things stand. On his day, he's cerainly good enough to push the top three hard. Tom put up a very good fight and was unlucky to find himself up against Bradley after putting in so much practise. It was still nice to finally put a face (and a real name) to something of an apterous legend, while I'm amazed I managed to get through the recap without calling him Horace once.
So tomorrow it will be the turn of two new contestants to try to start a push for the finals of their own. James will guide you through it as ever and I'll be back next week.
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=69