So, enjoy the recap, but don't u kip
Countdown recap for Thursday 22 April 2010.
C1: Champion Chris Jones (1 win, 60 points.) From Box, Wiltshire. He's a semi-retired educational writer. He enjoys Scrabble, backgammon and bridge, and has written books about them, and is currently in the midst of writing a book about solving cryptic crosswords. (How puzzling
) Chris has taught in Nigeria, Beirut and Sarajevo, describing Nigeria as his most challenging, as it was just after the Biafra conflict during the Nigerian Civil War.C2: Challenger Nicki Sellars. From Swindon, Wiltshire. She's a former teaching assistant, but is currently applying for teacher training. She's married and has 2 daughters. In her spare time, she raises money for her local breast cancer charity by doing charity walks and selling cakes from her stall. She admits to watching Countdown while exercising on her cross-trainer in her garage, and is worried about doing it sitting down for a change.
DC: Susie Dent and Ken Bruce.
RR: Rachel Riley, still clearly suffering from a sore throat.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: T N N E A O F G L
R02: R S R I E A M F D
R03: R L N A U I S R D
R04: V D N A E U H T D
R05: 25, 3, 4, 2, 1, 7. Target: 858.
TTT: PUSHEDIN - "Pushed someone in the box, so paid the penalty"
R06: K M S I E A P M T
R07: R S R I E I P L T
R08: Y L N O E A Q E T
R09: D V D A E I H C S
R10: 75, 3, 4, 5, 7, 6. Target: 501.
TTT: TEASWEAR - "You might just swear, if your tea is made of this"
R11: G W S E U E T R O
R12: M G T E I E N B U
R13: R C R I E I T N S
R14: 50, 10, 3, 9, 9, 5. Target: 537.
R15: B A S I L D Y E R (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: T N N E A O F G L
C1: TONNAGE (7)
C2: TANGELO (7)
Score: 7–7 (max 7)
The old Countdown favourite makes a welcome appearance as the contestants pick out the only 7's available.
Round 2: R S R I E A M F D
C1: MARRIES (7)
C2: MARRIED (7)
DC: friedmars FIREARMS (8)
OT: ADMIRERS (8) DISARMER (8) MARRIEDS (8)
Score: 14–14 (max 15)
That nasty Scottish delicacy of the deep fried Mars bar makes an appearance, but luckily you can't have that on here. Surprised though that the 8 that combines the words declared by the contestants goes unmentioned.
Round 3: R L N A U I S R D
C1: INSULAR (7)
C2: DIURNAL (7)
DC: SUNDIAL (7)
OT: DURIANS (7) URINALS (7) LURDANS (7)
Score: 21–21 (max 22)
A LURDAN is a lazy, stupid, loutish fellow.
Round 4: V D N A E U H T D
C1: HAUNTED (7)
C2: VAUNTED (7)
DC: DAUNTED (7)
OT: UNDATED (7)
Score: 28–28 (max 29)
So, on Monday, both contestants got 6's in each of the first 4 letters rounds. Today, both contestants get 7's in each of the first 4 letters rounds.
Round 5: 25, 3, 4, 2, 1, 7. Target: 858.
C1: -
C2: 851. (((7 x 4) + (3 x 2)) x 25) + 1 (5)
RR: 858. ((((4 + 1) x 25) - 2) x 7) - 3 (10)
Score: 28–33 (max 39)
Well, the numbers game has given the game the first split in points, as Chris falls short, and Nicki gets 5 for being 7 away. But, Rachel shows us that her sore throat is certainly not affecting her mathematicals abilities.
Ken talks about the problems with mispronounciations of prepositions in bulletins.
Teatime teaser: PUSHEDIN -> PUNISHED
Round 6: K M S I E A P M T
C1: PASTIME (7)
C2: STAMP (5)
DC: MISTAKE (7)
OT: MISMATE (7)
Score: 35–33 (max 46)
Chris takes the lead for the first time today.
Round 7: R S R I E I P L T
C1: PRIEST (6)
C2: STRIPIER (8)
DC: TRIPLES (7)
Score: 35–41 (max 54)
Well, that didn't last long, did it
Nicki's darrenic 8 even beats DC 
Round 8: Y L N O E A Q E T
C1: NEATLY (6)
C2: NEATLY (6)
DC: ETALON (6)
OT: LATEEN (6) LOANEE (6) OLEATE (6)
Score: 41–47 (max 60)
LATEEN means pertaining to or having a lateen sail or sails.
Round 9: D V D A E I H C S
C1: CADDIES (7)
C2: CHIVES (6)
DC: haddies
OT: ADVICES (7) ADVISED (7) CADDISH (7)
Score: 48–47 (max 67)
Chris goes back into the lead, as Ken's Scottish slang for HADDOCKS is disallowed.
Susie's Origin Of Words tells of the origin of "apple" and idioms and phrases deriving from the word "apple".
Round 10: 75, 3, 4, 5, 7, 6. Target: 501.
C1: 501. Mistake in working.
C2: 501. (75 x 7) - (6 x 4) (10)
Score: 48–57 (max 77)
Ouch. Nicki goes back into the lead, as Chris forgets the last part of his working out.
Teatime teaser: TEASWEAR -> SEAWATER
Round 11: G W S E U E T R O
C1: GROUSE (6)
C2: OUTGREW (7)
OT: GESTURE (7) ROUGETS (7)
Score: 48–64 (max 84)
Nicki's lead goes into double figures for the first time today, amazingly beating DC for the second time in the process.
Round 12: M G T E I E N B U
C1: MEETING (7)
C2: MEETING (7)
DC: BITUMEN (7) BEGUINE (7)
OT: BEIGNET (7) TEEMING (7)
Score: 55–71 (max 91)
A BEIGNET is a fritter or a doughnut. Yum yum.
Round 13: R C R I E I T N S
C1: INCITERS (8)
C2: inticers
Score: 63–71 (max 99)
Chris gets back in with his dubious darrenic 8, as Nicki's dubious 8 is just that.
Round 14: 50, 10, 3, 9, 9, 5. Target: 537.
C1: 536.
C2: 537. ((9 - 5 + 50) x 10) - 3 (10)
Score: 63–81 (max 109)
But the fightback ends, as Nicki solves the numbers to seal the game.
Round 15: B A S I L D Y E R
No one buzzes. The answer was DESIRABLY.
Score: 63–81 (max 119)
So, no-one gets the conundrum, but the result stays the same and Nicki becomes the new champ, and Chris joins the select few people who have scored more points on the game they've lost compared to the game they've won.
Join Mike Brown tomorrow for the end of week recap. (I was trying to substitute his name for a "brown" political party, but can't think of one at the moment.
) I'll be back on Wednesday for the next installment of the Robinson Recap.
Till then, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Chris:
Total score - 63
Raw score - 82
Total % of max - 53
Raw % of max - 69
Total average score per round - 4.2
Raw average score per round - 5.7
Number of maxes - 8
Nicki:
Total score - 81
Raw score - 92
Total % of max - 68
Raw % of max - 77
Total average score per round - 5.4
Raw average score per round - 6.1
Number of maxes - 9
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=62