Monday 2nd November 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 76)

[Howard Somerset]

Countdown recap for Monday 2 November 2009.

C1: Champion Gordon Vaughan (1 win, 97 points.)
C2: Challenger Robert Brownlie.
DC: Susie Dent and Dr Hilary Jones.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
Gordon returns today for his second game, hoping to become the first contestant since our last octochamp to string together two or more victories. Hoping to stop him, and thus continue the run on teapots, is fellow scot Robert (or Rob, as he seems to prefer). Rob comes from Ayrshire, but spends most of his time nowadays living in France, in Châteauroux, a little south of the Vallée de la Loire. We didn't find what Rob does with his time, other than spend time enjoying a tranquil life. However we did learn that at the age of seven he had a contribution published in the Beano.
Making his first appearance in Dictionary Corner this week is Dr Hilary Jones. I hope I'm not the only one who was expecting a woman, having seen the name in the advance publicity. Hilary writes on medical issues, and appears regularly on both radio and television.

R01: T A Y I T N A S E
R02: A N R E G Z O B S
R03: N I N E S R A G M
R04: I D L O S P E S B
R05: 100, 1, 9, 4, 9, 5. Target: 785.
TTT: LASHDOLL - "A face lift won't help you with these big bags."
R06: A A E L T S R O F
R07: R D X O H U A M E
R08: A R U L T N E D I
R09: C O S E C A J L E
R10: 25, 5, 9, 1, 7, 2. Target: 461.
TTT: LIONLIPS - "It sounds like a large number of back-seat drivers."
R11: M A I R T M O A G
R12: O E F T P S I D E
R13: N O R I N Q E U P
R14: 25, 10, 6, 9, 9, 4. Target: 327.
R15: E J E C T A V I D (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: T A Y I T N A S E

C1: SANITY (6)
C2: YEAST (5)
DC: SATIATE (7)
OT: ASTATINE (8)
Score: 6–0 (max 8)

Nobody. not even DC, managed to get the Darren. And Gordon goes into an immediate lead.

Round 2: A N R E G Z O B S

C1: BRAZEN (6)
C2: BRONZE (6)
DC: BRONZES (7) BEZOARS (7)
OT: BANGERS (7) GRABENS (7) BORAGES (7) BORANES (7) BRAZENS (7) BROGANS (7) GAZEBOS (7) NOSEBAG (7) ONAGERS (7) ORANGES (7)
Score: 12–6 (max 15)

Many sevens here, but all of them escape the two contestants.

Round 3: N I N E S R A G M

C1: RENAMING (8)
C2: GRANNIES (8)
DC: SMEARING (8)
OT: EARNINGS (8) ENGRAINS (8) MEANINGS (8)
Score: 20–14 (max 23)

Round 4: I D L O S P E S B

C1: BOSSED (6)
C2: SLOPED (6)
DC: DESPOILS (8)
OT: BODILESS (8) POSSIBLE (8)
Score: 26–20 (max 31)

Round 5: 100, 1, 9, 4, 9, 5. Target: 785.

C1: 786. (9 - 1) x 100 - 9 - 5 (7)
C2: 786. (9 - 1) x 100 - 9 - 5 (7)
OT: 785. ((100 + 9) x 4 x 9 + 1) / 5 (10)
Score: 33–27 (max 41)

Not surprisingly, this solution, the only one, evaded everyone in the studio.
So, into the first break with only the six points from round one separating Gordon from Rob.

For his first spot of the week, Dr Hilary reminisced about a time when he was a young hospital doctor, and mistakenly allowed a prisoner home for the weekend.

Teatime teaser: LASHDOLL -> HOLDALLS

Round 6: A A E L T S R O F

C1: FALTERS (7)
C2: FLOATERS (8)
OT: REFLOATS (8)
Score: 33–35 (max 49)

Dr Hilary remarked that FLOATERS are those particles within the eyeball that can be seen on occasion, which is much more pleasant than what I'd been thinking about.
A first round to Rob, which now gives him a narrow lead.

Round 7: R D X O H U A M E

C1: ROAMED (6)
C2: ROAMED (6)
DC: HOAXED (6)
OT: HARMED (6) HOAXER (6) OXHERD (6) RADOME (6) REMUDA (6) RODHAM (6)
Score: 39–41 (max 55)

Round 8: A R U L T N E D I

C1: -
C2: TRAINED (7)
DC: UNDERLIT (8) URINATED (8)
OT: UITLANDER (18)
Score: 39–48 (max 73)

Gordon's mind went completely blank, missing two very common sevens, presumably struggling with something longer, perhaps even the niner. And so Rob extends his lead.

Round 9: C O S E C A J L E

C1: LACES (5)
C2: CLOSE (5)
DC: COALESCE (8)
Score: 44–53 (max 81)

Susie has told us that with Dr Hilary in the corner this week, for the OoW spot she's going to give some medical words and phrases, but not until tomorrow. Today is Countdown's birthday, and so she gave us the origin, first of "birthday suit", and then of many phrases containing the word "cake".

Round 10: 25, 5, 9, 1, 7, 2. Target: 461.

C1: 461. 2 x 9 x 25 + 7 + 5 - 1 (10)
C2: 461. 2 x 9 x 25 + 7 + 7 - 1 (10)
Score: 54–63 (max 91)

Still less than ten points between them at the end of part two, so a crucial conundrum getting increasingly likely.

Teatime teaser: LIONLIPS -> PILLIONS

Round 11: M A I R T M O A G

C1: GROAT (5)
C2: GAMMA (5)
DC: MARMOT (6)
OT: GRAMMA (6) TAMARI (6)
Score: 59–68 (max 97)

Round 12: O E F T P S I D E

C1: TOPSIDE (7)
C2: DOPIEST (7)
DC: POETISED (8)
Score: 66–75 (max 105)

Round 13: N O R I N Q E U P

C1: pinner
C2: PUNIER (6)
DC: UNRIPE (6)
OT: QUINONE (7) REUNION (7)
Score: 66–81 (max 112)

An invalid word from Gordon gives Rob a 15 point lead with only two rounds remaining.

Round 14: 25, 10, 6, 9, 9, 4. Target: 327.

C1: 325.
C2: 327. (25 + 9) x 10 - 9 - 4 (10)
Score: 66–91 (max 122)

And even if Gordon had managed this round, it would all be over now. Game to Rob.

Round 15: E J E C T A V I D

C1 buzzes on 2 seconds to say ADJECTIVE which is correct.
Score: 76–91 (max 132)

My apologies for the delay to this recap. I was away for most of yesterday, and for a lot of today.

Stats Corner

Gordon:
Total score - 76
Raw score - 90
Total % of max - 58
Raw % of max - 68
Total average score per round - 5.1
Raw average score per round - 6.0
Number of maxes - 4

Rob:
Total score - 91
Raw score - 96
Total % of max - 69
Raw % of max - 73
Total average score per round - 6.1
Raw average score per round - 6.4
Number of maxes - 5


Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=61

[Jason Larsen]

It was Howard's fault for this thread being delayed! Thank you, kind sir, for your apology.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Countdown, happy birthday to you! Jeff, way to pay respect to Cindy Ritson for being there since the very beginning!

Round 1: A food word to start us off.
Round 2: It seems we'll get a week-long stomach ache with Hilary in Dictionary Corner!
Hilary's Hijinks: You sneaky one! Why would you have Dr. Hilary in your care? Oh, it was an accident!
Round 8: How appropriate! Channel 4 is commercial television! Too bad at that point we had some time before we could go without being interrupted.
Origins of Words: Brilliant!
Teatime Teaser #2: Is that a putdown?
Conundrum: Good job, Gordon, but our expatriate from France is our winner. Very good, Robert! I wonder if you miss france.
Closing: Jeff, where was the cake you mentioned? Did you just say that because you wanted to?

[Derek Hazell]

Making his first appearance in Dictionary Corner this week is Dr Hilary Jones. I hope I'm not the only one who was expecting a woman, having seen the name in the advance publicity.

Hilary was named after Edmund Hillary, who climbed Everest. "It happened just before I was born", Hilary says. "When I was younger I felt like the boy named Sue - I was teased at school."

[Rosemary Roberts]

As I recall, Former US President Bill Clinton said in his autobiography that his wife was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, which is even more remarkable seeing as she was born in 1947 when Edmund was considerably less famous.

[Derek Hazell]

As I recall, Former US President Bill Clinton said in his autobiography that his wife was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, which is even more remarkable seeing as she was born in 1947 when Edmund was considerably less famous.

Maybe she "misspoke" . . . or he didn't inhale the information correctly.

[Rosemary Roberts]

As I recall, Former US President Bill Clinton said in his autobiography that his wife was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, which is even more remarkable seeing as she was born in 1947 when Edmund was considerably less famous.

Maybe she "misspoke" . . . or he didn't inhale the information correctly.

.. or maybe he was thinking of some other Hillary he knew - a younger model.