Spoilers for Monday 19th December 2022 (Series 86, QF 3)

[Ronan M Higginson]

2 QFs down, 2 to go. Let's meet the next pair battling out to meet Ed in the 2nd Semi Final on Thursday.

Firstly, No.3 Seed Quinn Bartlett - 8 wins, 846 points (Avg. of 105.75 per game)
Highest Score: 124 vs Sue Telfer (1st Game)
Lowest Score: 86 vs Mike Dobson (8th Game)
9's Achieved: 8/12 (67%)
Total Points/Max/% 846/1,112 (76%)
Letters Points/Max/% 550/715 (77%)
Numbers Points/Max/% 246/317 (78%)
Conundrum Points/Max/% 50/80 (63%)

Secondly, No.6 Seed Daren Barnes - 8 wins, 719 Points (Avg. of 89.875 per game)
Highest Score: 103 vs Martin Colbert (6th Game)
Lowest Score: 82 vs Richard Wagler (7th Game)
9's Achieved: 2/4 (50%)
Total Points/Max/% 719/1,030 (70%)
Letters Points/Max/% 463/633 (73%)
Numbers Points/Max/% 196/317 (62%)
Conundrum Points/Max/% 60/80 (75%)

[Johnny Canuck]

Quinn Bartlett innit

[Ronan M Higginson]

Stop fucking calling me out on what I get wrong

[Tom S]

Quinn Bartlett innit

Copying and pasting is bad innit

REBEL, INIT?!

Didn't see this game being filmed, so was going into it blindly (bar knowing the scoreline). An enjoyable watch, and some strong numbers work on Quinn's part. Would have drawn with him, or lost by 1 point...

[Philip A]

Enjoyed that. Good fightback from Quinn. Wouldn’t have got LIBERTINE, but good conundrum.

[Steve Hyde]

RETINULAR in R10

[Andres Sanchez]

Another game play along...

OUTSEE
DILUTOR (DISALLOWED)
3*(100+6+50/25)
EARTHING
BOOTEES
685 (50+10+9)*10-5
DIOPTASE
NEATEST
760 8*8*2*(6+4)
RETINULAR
ALUMITE
POTAGES/DOTAGES/STOPPED (Chickened STOPPAGE)
MINERALS
(25+75+8)*3
Nowhere near

Very impressive play from Quinn, definitely was a step up in the numbers department. Woulda actually drawn with him; 89 - 89. Think it'll be a good game in the semi-finals.

Also this face is worth memeing:

[Adam Dexter]

760 8*8*2*(6+4)

Looks suspiciously like 1280 to me.

I made my 16 with 8x2 rather than 4x4 and got stuck

[Andres Sanchez]

760 8*8*2*(6+4)

Looks suspiciously like 1280 to me.

I made my 16 with 8x2 rather than 4x4 and got stuck

Ah yeah I see now. Then to keep with 760 I'll do (6*(8+4)+4)*(8+2)

[Toby McDonald]

Well done Quinn, and unlucky Daren. The 758 and LIBERTINE were fantastic spots by Quinn.

[Ronan M Higginson]

Also this face is worth memeing:

I heart this face

[Ryan Lam]

Many rounds of congratulations over the weekend for two things. First of course, the World Cup champions, Argentina after that nail-biting finale against the previous champions, France. Secondly, the first Series 86 contestant, Andrew Western is now officially a MP! Well done and I believe he’s the first ever contestant to do so! He may have lost the game but he’s definitely won another battle elsewhere! Christmas decorations are finally up as well in the studio, better late than never I suppose, plus a returning guest who met one of the Finalists before! How rare is this? Man, this is the show that never stops giving!

Letters: Both our finalists get off to a simple start in R1, then Quinn unfortunately slips with an incorrect spelling of dilutor in R2 After the first Teatime Teaser, that cringeworthy R4 with Colin saying “I heart you”. Daren gains more ground in the round after and with his good spot of TENETS in R8. However, Quinn doesn’t give up and clambers back with RURALITE in R10 and proceeds to widen his lead until Colin declares him a Semi-Finalist after R13 (Seriously though Colin, this will put people off from watching the last two rounds, don’t spoil the fun, please?)

Numbers: Not exactly true when Quinn said he’s never tried 4 Large before in R3, but CECIL throws up a manageable target for a start. Daren picks his usual selection in R6 and Quinn saw the solution by knowing 49 × 14 gets you the answer to pick up the pace! The latter, still behind by R9, gambles with 6 Small and it pays off as he takes the lead on a difficult round! Amazing how things can change so quickly isn’t it? Last but not least, Daren decides to go on 3 Large…the target, 324 again?! I’m getting a sense of déjà vu here, but well done to both (I would have been shocked if either of them did not get the target).

Conundrum: Well, if you think about it, scrambling the conundrum does produce REBEL IN IT! I had no idea on this one, so well done to Quinn who buzzed in just before the time was halfway through to crash over the century barrier!

I thought this was going to be an easy win for Quinn with a margin of 40 points, but the final margin was at 35 points plus at one point, having the margin at 11 points the other way round was something I did not predict. This was a closer game than I thought and Daren, you fought excellently, but it was not enough to get you through. This was one of the games where the Numbers round determines who is stronger and you unfortunately lost out, but you gave Quinn a run for his money no doubt and who knows, a chance to rethink his tactics perhaps (we’ll see on Thursday…). All the best in your grocery duties especially with the cost of living crisis, have fun meeting new people along the way too!

Quinn will face Edward on Thursday, but who will complete the Semi-Finalist list tomorrow? Will it be “Migraine costing his first run but came back a lot healthier with colourful ties” Alan Young or “Guy who could do with a bit more smiles (Sorry, I had to point that out) and gave us a lot of scares with crucial conundrums” Joe Dobinson? Let’s see if this will be a close match!

Progress:
QF1 (15 December): Tom Stevenson (#1) vs Lewis Castling-Morey (#8) (121- 44)
QF2 (16 December): Edward Byrne (#2) vs Steven Etherington (#7) (105 - 34)
QF3 (19 December): Quinn Bartlett (#3) vs Daren Barnes (#6) (108 – 73)
QF4 (20 December): Alan Young (#4) vs Joe Dobinson (#5)
SF1 (21 December): Tom Stevenson (QF1 Winner) vs (QF4 Winner)
SF2 (22 December): Edward Byrne (QF2 Winner) vs Quinn Bartlett (QF3 Winner)
GF (23 December): (SF1 Winner) vs (SF2 Winner)

[Gavin Chipper]

760 8*8*2*(6+4)

Looks suspiciously like 1280 to me.

I made my 16 with 8x2 rather than 4x4 and got stuck

I did the same as you Adam and couldn't work out for ages what I'd done differently to Quinn and how he managed to get a 10 out of the remaining numbers.

Also I thought it was interesting that both Quinn and Andres (posted above) thought STOPPAGE was risky. It didn't even occur to me that it might not be in. Stoppaged was what I was wondering about!