Monday 22nd September 2014 (series 71, prelim 50)

[Andy McGurn]

Countdown recap for Monday 22 September 2014.

C1: Champion Paul Worsley (4 wins, 394 points) Scored four wins last week to become a half octochamp, following in the footsteps of his son Jack, the series 66 champion.

C2: Challenger Paul Barton. A management consultant from Hackney, formerly a Butlins redcoat and currently a member of the gaymens chorus. He’s gonna be called “Dolly” today to avoid confusion between our two Pauls.


Interesting that they chose to rename the challenger for the purposes of this show and not the champion. I wonder what Paul Worsley’s alternate name would’ve been.



DC: Susie Dent and Deborah Meaden.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: L D H U O I V T A
R02: F N R O E K S A V
R03: 4, 4, 3, 1, 9, 25. Target: 477.
TTT: GASSYONE - "might these help counter the smell of the gassy one"
R04: M T O A W C T I M
R05: S Y D A O E Z C G
R06: 2, 1, 6, 2, 50, 25. Target: 825.
R07: P R I P E A S T E
R08: N J R I E U C G S
R09: 4, 5, 8, 6, 7, 25. Target: 442.
TTT: SIRRACER - "do these people have a bagful of diseases"
R10: L D I E F L X O S
R11: L T S E I E N S A
R12: D G N I A E H N O
R13: Q R B P E O I M E
R14: 1, 3, 5, 3, 50, 25. Target: 955.
R15: J O S E R I G A N (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: L D H U O I V T A

Paul Worsley: AVOID (5)
Paul Barton: VAULT (5)
DC: DIVOT (5)
OT: ADULT (5) ALOUD (5) AUDIO (5) AUDIT (5) DAVIT (5) DHOTI (5) DOULA (5) DULIA (5) HALDI (5) HUTIA (5) LATHI (5) LITHO (5) LOATH (5) LOVAT (5) THALI (5) THIOL (5) TIDAL (5) VALID (5) VIOLA (5) VITAL (5) VOILA (5)
Score: 5–5 (max 5)


24 max words in a round where there’s nothing longer than five, surely must be some kind of record.


DULIA is the veneration accorded to saints in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Churches
HALDI is the Hindi name for the spice turmeric
A HUTIA is a species of carribbean rodent
LATHI is a martial art practised with sticks
LOVAT is a predominantly dusty color mixture (as of green) in fabrics
A THIOL is an organosulfur compound that contains a carbon-bonded sulfhydryl



Round 2: F N R O E K S A V

Paul Worsley: FRANKS (6)
Paul Barton: RAVEN (5)
DC: FORSAKEN (8)
Score: 11–5 (max 13)

The challenger will be feeling like a bit of a Dolly after that round as he fails to pluralise his word and falls six behind. DC spot the excellent FORSAKEN to win the round.


Round 3: 4, 4, 3, 1, 9, 25. Target: 477.

Paul Worsley: -
Paul Barton: 476. (((4*4)+3)*25)+1 (7)
RR: 477 (10)

Score: 11–12 (max 23)


Not the first time during Paul Worsley’s run that he has completely blanked a numbers game. This error means that as of now Paul is trailing to a bloke called Dolly



Teatime teaser: GASSYONE -> NOSEGAYS

Round 4: M T O A W C T I M

Paul Worsley: ATOMIC (6)
Paul Barton: MATT (4)
DC: COMMIT (6)
OT: TOMCAT (6)
Score: 17–12 (max 29)


Paul W regains the lead immediately after losing it by maxing the round.



Round 5: S Y D A O E Z C G

Paul Worsley: DOSAGE (6)
Paul Barton: DOSAGE (6)
DC: ZYDECO (6)
OT: CADGES (6) DAGOES (6) DECAYS (6) DECOYS (6) SOCAGE (6) ZAYDES (6)
Score: 23–18 (max 35)

Straight forward spot for the contestants with DOSAGE. DC go for the much more obscure ZYDECO
ZAYDES is a Jewish term for ones grandfather


Round 6: 2, 1, 6, 2, 50, 25. Target: 825.

Paul Worsley: 825. ((2*6)-1)*(50+25) (10)
Paul Barton: 825. ((2*6)-1)*(50+25) (10)
Score: 33–28 (max 45)

A nice simple numbers game presents no problems to either contestant and the champ maintains his lead.



Round 7: P R I P E A S T E

Paul Worsley: SAPPIER (7)
Paul Barton: prepaste
DC: APPETISER (18)
Score: 40–28 (max 63)

Dolly seemed hopeful that his word might be in, but it sounded completely implausible really. The champ has a nice seven to increase his lead but DC spot the tasty nine.




Round 8: N J R I E U C G S

Paul Worsley: RESCUING (8)
Paul Barton: CURING (6)
DC: SCUNGIER (8)
OT: RECUSING (8) SECURING (8)
Score: 48–28 (max 71)


The champ is clearly a much better player than his opponent as he maxes another round to take a 20 point lead.




Round 9: 4, 5, 8, 6, 7, 25. Target: 442.

Paul Worsley: 442. ((5+6+7)*25)-8 (10)
Paul Barton: 442. ((5+6+7)*25)-8 (10)
Score: 58–38 (max 81)


It looks pretty clear that Paul is going to notch up another win. Dolly's only real chance is for the champ to blank on numbers games, which he doesn't do here.




Teatime teaser: SIRRACER -> CARRIERS



Round 10: L D I E F L X O S

Paul Worsley: DOLLIES (7)
Paul Barton: FILLED (6)
DC: SIXFOLD (7)
OT: FOLLIES (7) SEXFOIL (7)
Score: 65–38 (max 88)

The most embarrassing moment of the show comes when DOLLY misses DOLLIES. He takes it in good humour however.
A SEXFOIL (in architecture) is an ornamental design having six leaves or petals radiating from a common centre



Round 11: L T S E I E N S A

Paul Worsley: LATENESS (8)
Paul Barton: LISTENS (7)
DC: SILENT (6)
OT: ESSENTIAL (18)
Score: 73–38 (max 106)

Another good spot by Paul takes him into a commanding lead at this late stage. No one got the nine here, it could have been ESSENTIAL to the came if Dolly had spotted that.



Round 12: D G N I A E H N O

Paul Worsley: HEADING (7)
Paul Barton: HEADING (7)
DC: HANDING (7)
Score: 80–45 (max 113)

Pretty easy to max this round. Both do so and barring a nine fr Doly in the next round, Paul has secured his fifth win.



Round 13: Q R B P E O I M E

Paul Worsley: EMPIRE (6)
Paul Barton: PRIME (5)
DC: MOPIER (6)
OT: BEMIRE (6) BIREME (6) BOERIE (6) EPIMER (6)
Score: 86–45 (max 119)

Paul confirms win number five with another winning max.

A BIREME is an ancient warship with two files of oarsmen on each side.
An EPIMER Iin chemistry) is each of two isomers with different configurations of atoms about one of several asymmetric carbon atoms present.


Round 14: 1, 3, 5, 3, 50, 25. Target: 955.

Paul Worsley: 960. ((1+3)*12)*(50+25+5) (7)
Paul Barton: -
RR: 955. ((25-3-3)*50)+5 (10)
Score: 93–45 (max 129)

Paul misses the max but his five away increases his points total into the nineties. A conundrum spot now will secure the century.



Round 15: J O S E R I G A N

No one buzzes. The answer was JARGONISE.
Final Score: 93–45 (max 139)


So no century for Paul today but it was a very comfortable win, one of his easiest so far. After a couple of tough ones last week Paul will be happy to have won a game without breaking a sweat.

He’s looking good to become an octochamp, his main weakness seems to be that he sometimes blanks on certain numbers games. As long as he can maintain his concentration, octochamp status looks likely.

With only four shows this week, Paul could secure octochampdom in the final show of the week….



Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=71

[Fred Mumford]

I think you need to add 3 to the max - Rachel proved that the first numbers game was solvable.

[Andy McGurn]

I think you need to add 3 to the max - Rachel proved that the first numbers game was solvable.

Thanks Jon, its EDITED.

I also noted that I'd not added comments to a couple of rounds so I have done that as well.

[Mark Deeks]

PREPASTE is valid in Scrabble, so it wasn't an outlandish shout if Dolly likes her board games.

[Jon Corby]

I think you need to add 3 to the max - Rachel proved that the first numbers game was solvable.

Thanks Jon, its EDITED.

Jon? That post was made using my Fred account.

[Fred Mumford]

I was never worried about identity theft before, as I just thought "who the fuck would want to be me?"

Which Jon was I being mistaken for? How flattered/offended should I be? How flattered/offended should they be?

[Andy McGurn]

I was never worried about identity theft before, as I just thought "who the fuck would want to be me?"

Which Jon was I being mistaken for? How flattered/offended should I be? How flattered/offended should they be?

No offence meant, it was just a little gag based on one of Jon's posts in the ask Graeme thread where he speculated that Fred may be a pseudonym.

[Jon Corby]

I was never worried about identity theft before, as I just thought "who the fuck would want to be me?"

Which Jon was I being mistaken for? How flattered/offended should I be? How flattered/offended should they be?

No offence meant, it was just a little gag based on one of Jon's posts in the ask Graeme thread where he speculated that Fred may be a pseudonym.

Ha, no problem. I don't know if Jon will be offended or not though!

[Gavin Chipper]

People need to see this.