Will it be the No 1 seed Chris Kirby who is aiming to keep the male dominance of series champions going.............Or will it be the No 2 seed Fiona Wood who is aiming to break the stranglehold of male series champions that started in Series 54 when Conor Travers became the youngest series champion at the age of 14 and the first recipient of the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy and the most recent recipient Arthur Page the series 89 champion who was 16 at the time of his win ........will she become the first woman in 26 years to be crowned the champion of series 90. Kate Ogilvie achieved this feat in 1998 when she became the champion of Series 39....................so let's enjoy some mince pies and red wine...........tune into the grand final..............trust me you don't want to miss this !
A big thank you to all of the contestants that have participated in Series 90
C1: Champion Chris"The Widnes Wordsmith " Kirby (10 wins, 1077 points.)
C2: Champion Fiona" The Kinross Kolossus " Wood (10 wins, 1037 points.)
DC: Susie Dent and Christopher Biggins .
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: G E W I R A B P S
R02: G N J T E I A P S
R03: 6, 1, 5, 2, 8, 5, . Target: 292.
TTT: GOTSTORE - "They've got two of these at the toy-store this Christmas"
R04: T M E U I G C X T
R05: L U D A R I S O A
R06: 75, 50, 25, 3, 3, 6. Target: 202.
R07: R E T O M U P O E
R08: R T N G O I E V U
R09: 50, 100, 75, 25, 9, 1. Target: 345.
TTT: URGETOIL - "A three-way discussion about tasting the Christmas chocolate cake."
R10: D C H O E O L R C
R11: S I Q E D A S E I
R12: R L N A E O S R N
R13: P O H I F A T O E
R14: 25, 100, 75, 4, 3, 6. Target: 834.
R15: I T S S A D U E L (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: G E W I R A B P S
Chris: WASPIE (6)
Fiona: waspier
DC: EARWIGS (7)
OT: GAWPERS (7)
Score: 6–0 (max 7)
First blood to our No 1 seed Chris who take an early lead with his 6 Waspie.................Unfortunately for Fiona she has her 7 disallowed by Susie
Over in DC they get shine with their 7 Earwigs
Round 2: G N J T E I A P S
Chris: SAPIENT (7)
Fiona: PASTING (7)
DC: JESTING (7)
OT: EASTING (7) GENISTA (7) INGESTA (7) PANGEST (7) PANTIES (7) SEATING (7) SPAEING (7) TAGINES (7) TAJINES (7) TEASING (7)
Score: 13–7 (max 14)
Sevens all round let's move on shall we ?
Round 3: 6, 1, 5, 2, 8, 5. Target: 292.
C1: 292. (6 × 5 × 5 × 2) – 8 (10)
C2: 292. (6 × 5 × 5 × 2) – 8 (10)
Score: 23–17 (max 24)
A very easy numbers solve from our grand finalists..................Hmmm I think I will count some sheep
Teatime teaser: GOTSTORE -> GROTTOES
Round 4: T M E U I G C X T
Chris: cuttie
Fiona: CUTIE (5)
DC: CUTIE (5)
OT: TECTUM (6)
Score: 23–22 (max 30)
OOOOOOHHHHHHH........Drama !................our top seed Chris has 6 his disallowed by Susie...........but Fiona gets to score with her 5 Cutie........but there was a intesresting 6 ignored by all with Tectum
Round 5: L U D A R I S O A
Chris: SOLARIA (7)
Fiona: AROUSAL (7)
DC: SUDARIA (7)
OT: RADIALS (7)
Score: 30–29 (max 37)
Sevens all round...............nothing to see here !
Round 6: 75, 50, 25, 3, 3, 6. Target: 202.
C1: 202. (3 × 75) – 25 + (6 ÷ 3) (10)
C2: 202. (3 × 75) – 25 + (6 ÷ 3) (10)
Score: 40–39 (max 47)
A piece of piss this numbers game.......let's move on !
Round 7: R E T O M U P O E
Chris: promotee
Fiona: PROMOTE (7)
DC: PROMOTE (7) PERMUTE (7)
OT: PROTEOME (8)
Score: 40–46 (max 55)
OOOHHHH........High drama as Chris has eight disallowed by Susie................on the other hand Fiona takes the lead with her 7 Promote...
There was a rather interesting 8 missed by all with Proteome
Round 8: R T N G O I E V U
Chris: ROUTEING (8)
Fiona: VERTIGO (7)
Score: 48–46 (max 63)
Our top seed Chris quickly regains the lead with his 8 the old Countdown favourite Routeing
Round 9: 50, 100, 75, 25, 9, 1. Target: 345.
C1: 346. (75 – 1) × (100 ÷ 25) + 50 (7)
C2: 346. 9 × 50 – 100 – 1 – (75 ÷ 25) (7)
RR: 345. (75 + 1) × (100 ÷ 25) + 50 – 9 (10)
Score: 55–53 (max 73)
A good 1 away solve from grand finalists.................Ms Riley gets to show off and a produce a perfect 10
Teatime teaser: URGETOIL -> TRILOGUE
Round 10: D C H O E O L R C
Chris: COOLER (6)
Fiona: COOLED (6)
DC: DROOL (5) CHOLER (6)
OT: CLOCHE (6) COLDER (6) HOLDER (6)
Score: 61–59 (max 79)
Sixes all round nothing worth squabbling over.............so let's play nicely now !
Round 11: S I Q E D A S E I
Chris: DISEASE (7)
Fiona: DISEASE (7)
DC: SEASIDE (7) DAISIES (7)*spotted by Colin Murray
Score: 68–66 (max 86)
Next please !
Round 12: R L N A E O S R N
Chris: LOANERS (7)
Fiona: LOANERS (7)
DC: LANNERS (7)
OT: ENSNARL (7) SERRANO (7) SNARLER (7)
Score: 75–73 (max 93)
Enough Said
Round 13: P O H I F A T O E
Chris: OPIATE (6)
Fiona: OPIATE (6)
OT: HOOPTIE (7)
Score: 81–79 (max 100)
Sixes all round from our grand finalists.............one rather interesting 7 missed by all was Hooptie........which happened to be my spot
Round 14: 25, 100, 75, 4, 3, 6. Target: 834.
C1: 832.(100 + 25) × 6 + 75 + 4 + 3 (7)
C2: 836. (6 + 3) × (100 + 4) − 75 − 25(7)
RR: 834. ((100 − 6) × 3 − 4) × (75 ÷ 25) (10)
Score: 88–86 (max 110)
A good two away solve from our grand finalists can only mean one thing a crucial conundrum, the last grand final that was decided on a crucial was Series 80 that was way back in 2019 when Dinos Sfyris became the champion in a nail baiting final against Elliott Mellor who is the Countdown record holder for the highest score ( a record that still stands to this day )
Now the burning question is who will solve this crucial conundrum............will it be Chris or Fiona ?
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18.5 seconds ................Fiona Buzzes and becomes the champion of Series 90 !
Round 15: I T S S A D U E L
C2 buzzes on 18.5 seconds to say LASSITUDE which is correct.
Final Score: 88–96 (max 120)
THE WAIT IS FINALLY OVER !!!!! AT LONG LAST WE HAVE A FEMALE SERIES CHAMPION AFTER A 26 YEAR WAIT ! Firstly congratulations to Fiona Wood who is now the latest recipient of the Richard Whiteley memorial trophy she has been consistent throughout her run in series 90. Secondly commiserations to Chris who gave as good as he got and performed really well he will satisfied with the runners up trophy and a top of the range tablet. You can hold your heads high and be proud of what you have achieved.........who knows we may see you in a future C of C. .............I would like to wish my fellow Countdowners a happy Christmas and a fantastic new year............You can join me for the start of series 91 that will be coming our screens on the 6th January, in the meantime peace and love to you all x
