Countdown recap for Monday 9 August 2021.
She tells us that Phillip Larkin was born on 9 Aug 1922. Anne's necklace today almost looks like an electric dog collar.
C1: Champion Matt Gould (1 win, 81 points.) Maths lover. From Whitley Bay, but originally from Essex. Watched Countdown as a baby. As did I, so now I like him.
C2: Challenger Phil Palmer. Also watched Countdown very young, but with his dad, rather than his mum as per Matt. From Dover. Civil service. Opening batsman and captain for his cricket team.
DC: Susie Dent and Nina Wadia.
RR: Rachel Riley. Shiny maternity dress.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: G B H N O O I E K
R02: S C R A E E S H A
R03: 100, 1, 1, 9, 5, 4. Target: 718.
TTT: NESTWRIT - "These birds can't afford to buy their own nest, so they become tenants."
R04: D L Y I A R O L O
R05: T M L I A I I P E
R06: 75, 9, 5, 10, 3, 8. Target: 677.
R07: E A O D N W T E L
R08: S R T D U I I E W
R09: 10, 3, 5, 6, 7, 2. Target: 546.
TTT: REDMEATS - "Watched an online video about a body of water."
R10: T M D O U A N S E
R11: G R C G O A O U M
R12: R N P S E E A C O
R13: B F L A I U I S P
R14: 75, 7, 9, 2, 8, 10. Target: 427.
R15: R U G G E D B E D (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: G B H N O O I E K
Matt: BOOKING (7)
Phil: BOOKING (7)
DC: HOOKING (7) NOOKIE (6)
Score: 7–7 (max 7, jos 7)
Darren-o-meter: 0/1 (0%)
NOOKIE means sexual intercourse, defines Susie with a straight face.
Round 2: S C R A E E S H A
Matt: CRASHES (7)
Phil: SCARES (6)
DC: SEARCHES (8)
OT: EARACHES (8)
Score: 14–7 (max 15, jos 15)
Darren-o-meter: 0/2 (0%)
No Verstappen game today then (geddit?). SEARCHES for eight, but Matt takes the lead for the first time today.
Round 3: 100, 1, 1, 9, 5, 4. Target: 718.
Matt: 720. (9 − 1 − 1) × 100 + 5 × 4 (7)
Phil: -
RR: 718. (100 − 5 × 4) × 9 − 1 − 1 (10)
Score: 21–7 (max 25, jos 25)
Rachel gets a job to do with Matt only seeing 720 and Phil seeing nothing at all.
Teatime teaser: NESTWRIT -> WRENTITS
Round 4: D L Y I A R O L O
Matt: RADIO (5)
Phil: LORDLY (6)
DC: DOLLAR (6)
OT: LAIRDLY (7)
Score: 21–13 (max 32, jos 31)
Darren-o-meter: 1/3 (33%)
Phil wins a round with LORDLY, but the darrenic seven goes unnoticed.
Round 5: T M L I A I I P E
Matt: PLATE (5) (stick with)
Phil: METAL (5) (stick with)
DC: LIMEPIT (7)
OT: MILITIA (7) PALMIET (7) PIMELIA (7)
Score: 26–18 (max 39, jos 38)
Darren-o-meter: 1/4 (25%)
All the Is, all of them. IMPALE was sticking out for 6 but no one saw it. DC do very well to see a 7 out of that lot.
Phil hopes nothing related to 13 comes up here, as he broke his arm when he was 13 at 13:00 on Friday 13th, and needed 13 metal screws in his arm.
Round 6: 75, 9, 5, 10, 3, 8. Target: 677.
Matt: 677. 9 × 75 + 5 − 3 (10)
Phil: 677. 9 × 75 + 10 ÷ 5 (10)
Score: 36–28 (max 49, jos 48)
thank u, next
Zainab from EastEnders plugs her Channel 4 show, "Can I Improve My Memory?", which she claims was one of the best shows she's ever done. Anne was genuinely surprised she learnt her lines beforehand when she was on EastEnders et al.
Round 7: E A O D N W T E L
Matt: LOANED (6)
Phil: DONATE (6)
DC: WETLAND (7)
OT: DOWNLET (7) LATENED (7) LOWENED (7) TALONED (7)
Score: 42–34 (max 56, jos 55)
Darren-o-meter: 1/5 (20%)
Both contestants tied on six. Nina offers WETLAND and Susie is pleasantly surprised to find it in the singular.
Anne points out that Round 13 will be terrible for Phil.
Round 8: S R T D U I I E W
Matt: WRITES (6)
Phil: DUSTIER (7)
OT: RUDITIES (8)
Score: 42–41 (max 64, jos 62)
Darren-o-meter: 2/6 (33%)
Phil reduces the gap to one point with his seven.
Round 9: 10, 3, 5, 6, 7, 2. Target: 546.
Matt: 546. ((5 + 3) × 7 − 2) × 10 + 6 (10)
Phil: 545.
Score: 52–41 (max 74, jos 72)
6 small is not my favourite selection but Matt goes "my" way and extends his lead by 1,000%.
Teatime teaser: REDMEATS -> STREAMED
Round 10: T M D O U A N S E
Matt: MOUNTED (7)
Phil: MOUNTED (7)
DC: MODEST (6) UNMODEST (8) AMOUNTED (8) (from RR)
OT: DEMOUNTS (8) MADSTONE (8) MUDSTONE (8) SEAMOUNT (8) UNMASTED (8)
Score: 59–48 (max 82, jos 80)
Darren-o-meter: 2/7 (29%)
The contestants will surely be kicking themselves here...
Round 11: G R C G O A O U M
Matt: COUGAR (6)
Phil: GROOM (5)
OT: MAGURO (6)
Score: 65–48 (max 88, jos 86)
Darren-o-meter: 2/8 (25%)
Matt's COUGAR offering (whether this was Anne's subconsciousness speaking to him we will never know) takes the lead out to 17.
Susie talks about toffee-nosed, which derives from toff rather than toffee, and then talks about the etymology of toff.
Round 12: R N P S E E A C O
Matt: PRANCES (7)
Phil: PRANCES (7)
DC: parsee PERSONAE (8)
OT: OPERANCES (18)
Score: 72–55 (max 106, jos 94)
Darren-o-meter: 3/9 (33%)
PARSEE^ is capitalised, Nina, sorry. OPERANCES goes begging for nine.
Round 13: B F L A I U I S P
Matt: FIBULAS (7)
Phil: FAILS (5)
OT: SUBPIAL (7)
Score: 79–55 (max 113, jos 101)
Darren-o-meter: 3/10 (30%)
With Phil only on five, Matt gets over the line. Phil's challenge was good for the most part but sadly fell apart in the third half.
Round 14: 75, 7, 9, 2, 8, 10. Target: 427.
Matt: 424. (8 − 2) × 75 − 10 − 9 − 7 (7)
Phil: -
RR: 427. (75 − (9 + 8 − 10) × 2) × 7 (10)
Score: 86–55 (max 123, jos 111)
Rachel's got something to do once more by a complicated way of making 14. Aesthetically, swapping the 7 and the 9/8/10 would look neater.
Round 15: R U G G E D B E D
No one buzzes. Rachel and Susie simultaneously give the answer, which was BEGRUDGED.
Final Score: 86–55 (max 133, jos 121)
BEGRUDGED is the answer. Not BUGGERED, which was my answer...
Matt will be back tomorrow. Join us again (although not punctually) for the recap. Goodbye.
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=84