Countdown recap for Tuesday 13 April 2010.
C1: Champion Peter Zyss (7 wins, 548 points.) From Sheffield, South Yorkshire. He likes walking in the Peak District and playing Frisbee, as well as camping. He's the 3rd person to try and become an octochamp in this series. We've had one success, Oliver Garner, and one failure, Dave Wilkinson. Which camp will Peter be in at the end of the show
C2: Challenger Claudia Tyson. From Ampthill, Bedfordshire. She works as a civilian nurse in the special forces. In her spare time, she enjoys country walks, canal boating and the music of Bryan Adams.
DC: Susie Dent and Dave Spikey.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: L M J E A U C M C
R02: N R O E T T O C R
R03: B M L E A I R D K
R04: F N S E O A O V N
R05: 100, 25, 9, 1, 8, 5. Target: 967.
TTT: SANDPILL - "All falls into place when this happens"
R06: D L E O R E I T W
R07: E A I S S W T O D
R08: P G E A O L R X E
R09: S M H O I E S D T
R10: 75, 50, 9, 2, 4, 4. Target: 915.
TTT: OATRINGS - "He uses fancy footwork at the beginning of service"
R11: D R G I A E S Z D
R12: N B A I U G S A F
R13: N T R O I A T E L
R14: 10, 2, 9, 5, 9, 7. Target: 724.
R15: S U C K W A T E R (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: L M J E A U C M C
C1: mucae
C2: mucal
DC: MACULE (6)
OT: CAECUM (6)
Score: 0–0 (max 6)
Oh dear! A double blank start by the contestants there, but "Doctor" Dave gets a medical-related 6 from that odd bunch.
CAECUM (or CECUM) is a zoological term for a cul-de-sac, especially one where a large intestine begins.
Round 2: N R O E T T O C R
C1: CORONET (7)
C2: CROONER (7)
DC: CORNETTO (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 14)
Despite the ETTO being clearly visible in the selection, only DC go for "just one CORNETTO". Hmmm, Strawberry Cornetto.
Round 3: B M L E A I R D K
C1: daimler
C2: BALMIER (7)
OT: BALKIER (7) BRAILED (7) RIDABLE (7) MARBLED (7) RAMBLED (7)
Score: 7–14 (max 21)
Peter hopes that an American car company is somehow in the OED under something else. He's wrong, so Claudia takes the first lead in this game.
Round 4: F N S E O A O V N
C1: NOVENAS (7)
C2: NOVENAS (7)
DC: NOOSE (5)
Score: 14–21 (max 28)
Both contestants get the nice darren there.
Round 5: 100, 25, 9, 1, 8, 5. Target: 967.
C1: 967. ((100 + 8) x 9) - 5 (10)
C2: 967. ((100 + 8) x 9) - 5 (10)
Score: 24–31 (max 38)
Dave tells of the time where he helped out in a school lesson where some kids didn't know which 2 cities the Leeds-Liverpool Canal were connected to, despite it being said in the question.
Teatime teaser: SANDPILL -> LANDSLIP
Round 6: D L E O R E I T W
C1: toweled
C2: LOITERED (8)
OT: DOLERITE (8)
Score: 24–39 (max 46)
Peter's gone all American again. Luckily, Claudia had a nice 8 anyway.
A DOLERITE is a coarse-grained variety of basalt.
Round 7: E A I S S W T O D
C1: DESIST (6)
C2: WAISTED (7)
DC: TOADIES (7)
OT: ADIOSES (7) IODATES (7) SOSATIE (7)
Score: 24–46 (max 53)
Is our octochamp-elect starting to crack
Claudia's lead extends to a score and 2.Round 8: P G E A O L R X E
C1: EXPLORE (7)
C2: POLEAXE (7)
DC: PERGOLA (7)
OT: AEROGEL (7) PAROLEE (7)
Score: 31–53 (max 60)
A nice range of 7's all round there.
A PAROLEE, quite simply, is a prisoner released from prison on parole.
Round 9: S M H O I E S D T
C1: METHODS (7)
C2: MODISTES (8)
DC: ETHMOIDS (8)
Score: 31–61 (max 68)
Claudia impresses with another brilliant 8 there.
Susie's Origin Quiz - Rachel's Turn. What is the mathematical instrument, whose name in Hebrew is "dust", and it originally signified a board covered with sand, in which you could draw figures and sums with your finger. - The answer was ABACUS.
ABACUS originally was Arabic, and alchemists (people who turned base metals into gold) created the words ZERO, CIPHER, ZENITH & NADIR, which are all used in mathematics today.
Round 10: 75, 50, 9, 2, 4, 4. Target: 915.
C1: 916. (2 x 9 x 50) + (4 x 4) (7)
C2: 919.
OT: 915. (((50 x 4) - 2) x (9 - 4)) - 75 (10)
Score: 38–61 (max 78)
Peter has recovered some ground with that tricky numbers selection there.
Teatime teaser: OATRINGS -> ORGANIST
Round 11: D R G I A E S Z D
C1: GRAZED (6)
C2: gadders
OT: ADDERS (6) DREADS (6) SADDER (6) AZIDES (6) ZAIDES (6) DIRGES (6) RIDGES (6) GADIDS (6) GAZERS (6) GRAZES (6) GIRDED (6) RIDGED (6) GRADED (6) GRADES (6) IRADES (6) RAISED (6) IZARDS (6) RAIDED (6)
Score: 44–61 (max 84)
Ooooh! This is getting interesting now. Claudia's risky 7 is just that. Just 6's galore here. The lead goes sub-20.
An AZIDE is any chemical compound containing the azido group.
An IRADE is a decree of a Muslim ruler.
An IZARD is a chamois that inhabits the Pyrenees, as well as being a transvestite comedian.
Round 12: N B A I U G S A F
C1: ABUSING (7)
C2: IGUANAS (7)
DC: ABASING (7)
Score: 51–68 (max 91)
Round 13: N T R O I A T E L
C1: RELATION (8)
C2: RELATION (8)
DC: NITRATE (7) LATRINE (7) ORIENTAL (8)
OT: TENTORIA (8) TOLERANT (8) TONALITE (8)
Score: 59–76 (max 99)
2 flattish rounds in a row means that Claudia is almost there, but she decides to go 6 small, even though she's 17 ahead! Works for some people.
Round 14: 10, 2, 9, 5, 9, 7. Target: 724.
C1: -
C2: 725. (((7 x 9) + 9) x 10) + 5 (7)
RR: 724. (((9 x 10) - 7 - 2) x 9) - 5 (10)
Score: 59–83 (max 109)
Luckily for Claudia, Peter has blanked on this one, meaning that her 1 away was irrelevant in the end, and we still remain with just the 1 octochamp in this series, so far.
Round 15: S U C K W A T E R
C2 buzzes on 9 seconds to say WASTETRUCK which is incorrect.
C1 buzzes on 17.5 seconds to say AWESTRUCK which is correct.
Score: 69–83 (max 119)
Even the incorrect guess won't spoil Claudia's day. Peter bows out, but is now the #3 seed, just 1 point behind Dave Wilkinson. He'll be back in June for the finals. Will Claudia join him
I'll be back soon with yet another Robinson Recap.
So for now, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Peter:
Total score - 69
Raw score - 82
Total % of max - 58
Raw % of max - 69
Total average score per round - 4.6
Raw average score per round - 5.5
Number of maxes - 7
Claudia:
Total score - 83
Raw score - 90
Total % of max - 70
Raw % of max - 76
Total average score per round - 5.5
Raw average score per round - 6.0
Number of maxes - 9
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=62
