Monday 2nd February 2009 (Series 60, Prelim 1)

[Kai Laddiman]

Countdown recap for Monday 2 February 2009.

C1: Champion Zoe Bowman (1 win, 79 points.) Reigning champion from Series 59.
C2: Challenger Andrew Hodges. From Devon, he enjoys boules and some incredibly obscure card game.
DC: Susie Dent and John Inverdale.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: G O D X E M A D T
R02: E A I P K T Z S I
R03: L N R A U S M L E
R04: U O E N C J D L E
R05: 25, 5, 9, 4, 10, 8. Target: 834.
TTT: HOGDRAIN - "Gathering up the advertising board."
R06: A E I R T M T S A
R07: B G L D E A E E T
R08: U A O P N W N M E
R09: D S R R A I E S T
R10: 50, 100, 75, 25, 4, 3. Target: 895.
TTT: EVECRIER - "It's officially part of the telephone"
R11: F P T H O I E O Q
R12: I E U N R R S N O
R13: R G S F R I E A I
R14: 50, 4, 4, 2, 8, 8. Target: 664.
R15: K I N G R U B E N (conundrum)

I now present you with the first non-CofC Stellified recap. Enjoy!

And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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(Get ready to) Enjoy the show.

Round 1: G O D ("He's with us") X E M A D T

C1: DOTAGE (6)
C2: MOATED (6)
DC: DODGEM (6)
OT: GOADED (6) GODDAM (Lol!) (6)
Score: 6–6 (max 6)

Round 2: E A I P K T Z S I

C1: PASTIE (6)
C2: sitake (Perhaps another obscure card game?)
OT: PIETAS (6) PITIES (6) TIKIAS (6)
Score: 12–6 (max 12)

Zoe storms into the lead with a mouth-watering, heavenly, succulent...mmm...

Round 3: L N R A U S M L E

C1: MULLERS (7)
C2: SMALLER (7)
DC: NUMERALS (8)
OT: MENSURAL (8)
Score: 19–13 (max 20)

Round 4: U O E N C J D L E

C1: CLONED (6)
C2: CLONED (6)
DC: JOUNCED (7) (?!?!)
Score: 25–19 (max 27)

Round 5: 25, 5, 9, 4, 10, 8. Target: 834.

C1: 835. 25x8x4+(9x5)-10 (7)
C2: 831.
RR (out of time): 834. (25x8+9)x4-(10/5) (10)
Score: 32–19 (max 37)

Not too much blame on Rachel as this one solution is rated 85% difficulty.

John Inverdale talks about the 10 most dangerous animals in Kenya (hence explaining his perfect tan).

Teatime teaser: HOGDRAIN -> HOARDING

Round 6: A E I R T M T S A

C1: ATTIRES (7)
C2: MATTERS (7)
DC: MISTREAT (8)
OT: METATARSI (18) Just about the best word to ever come up on Countdown.
Score: 39–26 (max 55)

Round 7: B G L D E A E E T

C1: BELATED (7)
C2: BLEATED (7)
DC: DELEGATE (8)
Score: 46–33 (max 63)

Round 8: U A O P N W N M E

C1: unopen
C2: WEAPON (6)
OT: NOUMENA (7)
Score: 46–39 (max 70)

Unfortunately for Zoe, UNOPENED is an irreversible adjective.

Round 9: D S R R A I E S T

C1: TARRIED (7)
C2: RAIDERS (7)
DC: DISASTER (8)
OT: DISRATES (8) STRIDERS (8) TARSIERS (8)
Score: 53–46 (max 78)

Round 10: 50, 100, 75, 25, 4, 3. Target: 895.

C1: 896. 75x4x3-(100/25) (7)
C2: 900.
RR (out of time again): 895. (100+75+4)x(3+(50/25)) (10)
Score: 60–46 (max 88)

Yet again, this was the only solution, but this time it had an 86% difficulty rating.

Teatime teaser: EVECRIER -> RECEIVER

Round 11: F P T H O I E O Q

C1: FOOTIE (6)
C2: FOOTIE (6)
Score: 66–52 (max 94)

Well risked by both players.

Round 12: I E U N R R S N O

C1: RUNNERS (7)
C2: SUNNIER (7)
DC: NEURONS (7)
OT: REUNIONS (8)
Score: 73–59 (max 102)

Round 13: R G S F R I E A I

C1: FAIRER (6)
C2: FAIRIES (7)
OT: FRIARIES (8) RARIFIES (8)
Score: 73–66 (max 110)

Round 14: 50, 4, 4, 2, 8, 8. Target: 664.

C1: -
C2: 660. (50+(4x4))x(8+2) (7)
OT: 664. 50x(4x2+4)+(8x8)
Score: 73–73 (max 120)

A shocking miss by everyone there brings it to a dead-level conundrum. Bring it on!

Round 15: K I N G R U B E N

C1 buzzes on 3 seconds to say BUNKERING which is correct.
Score: 83–73 (max 130)

A low-scoring but close game well competed, and Zoe lives to fight another day.

Recap brought to you by, well, look up a bit.

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=59

[Jai Benson]

Dont you like jounced Kai. Love that word.

Oooh dear, Rachael could do with a bit of 'divine assistance' with the numbers rounds!!!

[Phil Reynolds]

Unfortunately for Zoe, UNOPENED is an irreversible noun.

Or possibly an adjective.

[Joseph Bolas]

Nice recap Kai

Round 2: E A I P K T Z S I

C1: PASTIE (6)
C2: sitake (Perhaps another obscure card game?)
OT: PIETAS (6) PITIES (6) TIKIAS (6)
Score: 12–6 (max 12)

I was thinking that he actually meant SHITAKE* as in the Japanese mushroom.

*Also can be spelt SHIITAKE

[Kai Laddiman]

Unfortunately for Zoe, UNOPENED is an irreversible noun.

Or possibly an adjective.

[Chris Corby]

Don't take any notice of them bullies Kai. Good recap in double-quick time........

[Martin Gardner]

What was the card game, then? Maybe manille or belote?

[Jason Larsen]

Things are back to normal, although this time with Jeff and Rachel to pick up!

First off, Andrew likes to play euchre, which I believe is a card game played mostly by senior citizens.

Round 1: Very clever, Kai and Rachel! We are thinking about the man who "graces" us whether we're alive or not. Does the verb "to moat" mean to fill a trench by a castle with water?
Round 2: I didn't catch whether Zoe was from Wales, but it didn't surprise me that she came up with that word. Oh, Andrew! I have a feeling you were thinking of SHITAKE, which is a Japanese mushroom! That's the risk you take when you don't write your words down.
Round 4: JOUNCED is an old-fashioned word for BOUNCED. It's funny, because you would think it is a more modern word.
Round 5: Good lady, Rachel! You remembered that "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again!"
John's Words of Wisdom: I'm sure we would understand that a poisoned dart frog is poisonous hence its name, but I didn't think it would have an "opposite garlic effect" on us. In other words, because it us so toxic to us, you would think we would avoid it at all costs. I guess John wanted to be adventurous and learn about animals at the same time. What could be so bad about a hippopotamus attacking anyone? Could it be because they have horns and look mean?
Teatime Teaser #1: Yes, we knew it after the fact.
Round 8: Good try, Zoe, but CLOSE is not in the letter selection.
Teatime Teaser #2: Yes, we knew it after the fact, again.
Round 11: Is that what a baby would call a foot?
Round 14: Way to come back, Andrew! I was beginning to think you were doing so well at the game by blind luck for a moment!
Conundrum: Way to go, Zoe! I think that was a poredictable finish! The way Andrew just took his time throughout most of the game led me to believe that Zoe would win!

Zoe will be back tomorrow with a brand new challenger. Let's hope tomorrow will be as much fun as today was!

[Dinos Sfyris]

Could it be because they have horns and look mean?

Jason you're a funny guy! http://www.clipartof.com/images/clipart ... s_butt.jpg

[Howard Somerset]

What was the card game, then? Maybe manille or belote?

It was euchre, Martin. I'd heard of it, but never knowingly played it.

Great recap, Kai. Glad you've got the Monday's off to a good start.

[Jason Larsen]

You're kidding, Dinos, but I was not kidding!

[Rosemary Roberts]

What about PENWOMAN in round 8?

[Jason Larsen]

Rosemary, what would Susie say about that?

[David Price]

A slightly more obscure alternative solution to the final numbers game.
((50-8)*4-2)*4=664

[Jason Larsen]

David Price.

Hello, welcome to the forum!

You have the exact same name as the weatherman on one of our network TV morning shows! Interestingly enough, nobody likes him because they think he's too silly!

I'm sure you're a much nicer guy, though!

[Rosemary Roberts]

Rosemary, what would Susie say about that?

The apterous stemmer doesn't like PENWOMAN, although it is happy with PENMAN. I wondered if Susie would accept it as a regular construction.

[Julie T]

A slightly more obscure alternative solution to the final numbers game.
((50-8)*4-2)*4=664

I also got it by doing:

(50 + 4 + 2) * (8 + 4) = 672
672 - 8 = 664

There seem to be so many ways, it is surprising Rachel couldn't do it.
Unusual though, she does seem a good find otherwise. A great brain.

[Jason Larsen]

I thought PENWOMAN would be an inappropriate word!

I read Spreading The Word, written by Damian and he wrote that if any acceptable word is inappropriate, then they edit it out and start the round over.

[Kirk Bevins]

I thought PENWOMAN would be an inappropriate word!

I read Spreading The Word, written by Damian and he wrote that if any acceptable word is inappropriate, then they edit it out and start the round over.

Jason, when Damian says inappropriate he actually means "rude".

[Jon Corby]

I thought PENWOMAN would be an inappropriate word!

I read Spreading The Word, written by Damian and he wrote that if any acceptable word is inappropriate, then they edit it out and start the round over.

Jason, when Damian says inappropriate he actually means "rude".

Yeah, stuff like "shit", "cunt" and "pimhole".

[Kai Laddiman]

I thought PENWOMAN would be an inappropriate word!

I read Spreading The Word, written by Damian and he wrote that if any acceptable word is inappropriate, then they edit it out and start the round over.

Jason, when Damian says inappropriate he actually means "rude".

Yeah, stuff like "shit", "cunt" and "pimhole".

Sorry Kai

[Jason Larsen]

It's both, Kirk!

[Julie T]

Sorry Kai

LOL!

[Jason Larsen]

And he just apologized to himself because...

No offense that I asked!

[Rosemary Roberts]

Sorry Kai

And he just apologized to himself because...

Somebody had to. We can't have forum mebers using words like that in the presence of a vulnerable child!

[Kai Laddiman]

Sorry Kai

And he just apologized to himself because...

Somebody had to. We can't have forum mebers using words like that in the presence of a vulnerable child!

[Jason Larsen]

You're kidding, Rosemary!

[Rosemary Roberts]

You're kidding, Rosemary!

Aw shucks ... I am so transparent!

[Jason Larsen]

Those were Kai's straight up words, Rosemary!

[Rosemary Roberts]

Those were Kai's straight up words, Rosemary!

It's the Quote function that does that. But he very properly (ha !) didn't quote the earlier part of the thread where the apology had been overlooked.

[Jason Larsen]

Did he mean to do that, Rosemary?

[Rosemary Roberts]

Did he mean to do that, Rosemary?

Probably not. He's a nice child.

Sorry Kai

[Jason Larsen]

Good.