Thursday 11th November 2021 (Series 84, Preliminary 98)

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Rhys Benjamin
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Thursday 11th November 2021 (Series 84, Preliminary 98)

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Annedown XCVII on the day where Ash Sarker seems to have completely misunderstood the point of Armistice Day. No subtitles yet.

Countdown recap for Thursday 11 November 2021.

It's also Leonardo Di Caprio's birthday. THERE WAS ROOM ON THAT DRIFTWOOD!

C1: Champion Graham Grant (1 win, 85 points.) Used to own a bus company.
C2: Challenger Mily Knoche. Wants to own her own dance studio. Just 20 years old. Daughter of a female contestant from 2008 who won 5 shows. However, according to the wiki, no such person exists... unless she meant Debbi Flack (6 games). She's also never heard of Alastair Campbell, luckily for her.
DC: Susie Dent and Alastair Campbell.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: S L R N M E U A P
R02: T I O G L U T N O
R03: 75, 7, 9, 2, 6, 8. Target: 109.
TTT: ICECLEAR - "Root out the answer to this, it's food for thought."
R04: O U C R E G D S A
R05: R D O U I E S M R
R06: 50, 100, 7, 3, 2, 9. Target: 369.
R07: A A I G L O I D S
R08: D A O R Z T E S D
R09: 100, 8, 1, 2, 9, 3. Target: 135.
TTT: MUSTPAIN - "It must be painful to get hit with a dart from this."
R10: N P U I T V A I T
R11: H S R E I A F N C
R12: R A E L S N A T G
R13: K M L E E I R N W
R14: 50, 25, 7, 10, 2, 3. Target: 618.
R15: P O P M U S T E R (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: S L R N M E U A P

Graham: LAMPERS (7) (not written down)
Mily: PEARLS (6)
DC: SUPERMAN (8)
OT: LAMPERNS (8) MENSURAL (8) NUMERALS (8) PURSLANE (8) SUPERNAL (8)
Score: 7–0 (max 8, jos 8)
Darren-o-meter: 0/1 (0%)

Graham gets things underway with a seven, but could have put an N in his word. Bonkers bit of editing spoils the scores later on, with Graham showing 35-0 during the clock!

Round 2: T I O G L U T N O

Graham: TOOLING (7)
Mily: GOUT (4) (stick with)
DC: TOOTLING (8)
Score: 14–0 (max 16, jos 16)
Darren-o-meter: 1/2 (50%)

Two out of two for "slot a letter in" misses for Graham, with TOOTLING the darren there for eight. Graham points out that's why Alastair is sat in his seat and Graham in his...

Round 3: 75, 7, 9, 2, 6, 8. Target: 109.

Graham: 109. (not written down) Mistake in working.
Mily: -
RR: 109. 75 × 8 ÷ 6 + 9​ (10)
Score: 14–0 (max 26, jos 26)

Graham with one of the most egregious fudges in the show's history, and quite rightly doesn't get away with it.

Teatime teaser: ICECLEAR -> CELERIAC

Round 4: O U C R E G D S A

Graham: COUGARS (7)
Mily: SCARED (6)
DC: GROUSED (7) CAROUSED (8)
OT: SCOURGED (8)
Score: 21–0 (max 34, jos 34)
Darren-o-meter: 1/3 (33%)

Graham extends his lead to 21 points as Mily is only on six.

Graham writes very little down, as noted by Anne (although he doesn't always say so). So Anne, rather pointedly, asks about his accounting processes when running that bus company.

Round 5: R D O U I E S M R

Graham: MURDERS (7) (not written down)
Mily: ORDERS (6)
DC: MISORDER (8)
OT: DIMEROUS (8)
Score: 28–0 (max 42, jos 42)
Darren-o-meter: 1/4 (25%)

Graham's murdering of Mily's chances of winning the game goes further with a 28-point lead after five rounds.

Round 6: 50, 100, 7, 3, 2, 9. Target: 369.

Graham: 368. (not written down) 7 × 50 + 9 × 2 (7)
Mily: 370. Mistake in working.
RR: 369. (50 − 7 − 2) × 9 (10)
Score: 35–0 (max 52, jos 52)

Mily does 9 x 50 for the 350. Oops. Also, surely 53 x 7 - 2 was obvious here?

Alastair talks about why he left the government. Basically, he resigned to spend more time with his family. He opens up about his history of mental health problems, which began as early as 1986. Anne is interested in the exact hallucinations he had - Elvis Presley, ABBA, and arguments. He alludes it down to taking the job as editor of Today when he was too young. He doesn't think there's any particular reasons for it, and, much like cancer, he considers it a lottery.

It is genuinely nice to see a more human side to a man who, of course, was the inspiration behind Malcolm Tucker.

Round 7: A A I G L O I D S

Graham: GOALS (5) (not written down)
Mily: LOADS (5)
DC: saladio ADAGIOS (7)
OT: ALOGIAS (7)
Score: 40–5 (max 59, jos 59)
Darren-o-meter: 1/5 (20%)

A fairly diabolical round is the excuse Mily needs to finally get herself on the board.

Round 8: D A O R Z T E S D

Graham: DREADS (6)
Mily: sedated (phantom E, and misdeclared as 8 but not noted)
DC: ROASTED (7)
OT: DEODARS (7) DOTARDS (7) RADDEST (7) TORSADE (7)
Score: 46–5 (max 66, jos 66)
Darren-o-meter: 1/6 (17%)

Graham extends his lead yet again after this double blunder from Mily.

Round 9: 100, 8, 1, 2, 9, 3. Target: 135.

Graham: 135. (8 − 3) × (9 − 2) + 100 (10)
Mily: 135. 8 × 3 + 9 + 2 + 100 (10)
Score: 56–15 (max 76, jos 76)

thank u, next

Teatime teaser: MUSTPAIN -> SUMPITAN

Anne asks about Mily's dance career.

Round 10: N P U I T V A I T

Graham: TAUNT (5)
Mily: PAINT (5)
DC: INPUT (5)
OT: INTUIT (6) PAVIIN (6) PUTAIN (6)
Score: 61–20 (max 82, jos 81)
Darren-o-meter: 1/7 (14%)

No max for Susie then, whilst Mily gets her score up to 20.

Round 11: H S R E I A F N C

Graham: FRANCHISE (18)
Mily: CANERS (6)
DC: FANCIER (7)
Score: 79–20 (max 100, jos 99)
Darren-o-meter: 2/8 (25%)

Graham's inflationary nine gives him a whopping great lead of 59 - enough to have the game bought and paid for before origins of words.

OOW Susie gives us the history of the word doctor.

Round 12: R A E L S N A T G

Graham: STRANGLE (8) (not written down)
Mily: snarles (phantom S, and misdeclared as 6 but not noted)
OT: AGRESTAL (8) ALATERNS (8) ALNAGERS (8) RANGALES (8) SANGREAL (8) TANAGERS (8)
Score: 87–20 (max 108, jos 107)
Darren-o-meter: 2/9 (22%)

Graham's eight (and Mily's second double blunder of the day) extends the lead to 67.

Round 13: K M L E E I R N W

Graham: WINKER (6) (not written down)
Mily: WIENER (6)
DC: WRINKLE (7) WINKLER (7) KREMLIN (7)
OT: LIKENER (7) WIREMEN (7)
Score: 93–26 (max 115, jos 114)
Darren-o-meter: 2/10 (20%)

I'm not sure that the accurate and wholesome definition of WIENER is quite what Mily had in mind.

Round 14: 50, 25, 7, 10, 2, 3. Target: 618.

Graham: 618. (10 + 2) × 50 + 25 − 7​ (10)
Mily: 621.
Score: 103–26 (max 125, jos 124)

A 25^2 - 7 was staring both contestants in the face here and duly missed.

Round 15: P O P M U S T E R

Graham buzzes on 10.5 seconds to say UPPERMOST which is correct.
Final Score: 113–26 (max 135, jos 134)

And that gives Graham a huge win as Mily finds herself in the rare "list of 15-round scores under 30" wiki category.

Anyway, join us again for more Countdown tomorrow. Goodbye.


Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=84
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