Countdown recap for Thursday 2 September 2010.
C1: Champion Peter Godwin (7 wins, 658 points.) From Southampton, Hampshire. He has walked across the Great Wall of China, flown over Mount Everest in a light aircraft, been woken by a moose in Canada, seen the Terracotta Army, seen Southampton F.C. win the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at Wembley. Can he make everyone on the forum proud and become an octochamp today
C2: Challenger Lee Palmer. From Norwich, Norfolk. He works as a social event co-ordinator for a language school. He enjoys making home-brew beer and cycling. He also plays bass guitar, keyboard and the harmonica.
DC: Susie Dent and Gloria Hunniford.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: T J R E U I W G L
R02: H S R A U O N D I
R03: N E E Y P N A H R
R04: F S C O E E P V I
R05: 75, 6, 3, 9, 10, 7. Target: 278.
TTT: AVENGEIT - "Very downbeat about the brown piece of film"
R06: D S N A O B W O E
R07: A E S L U D G T R
R08: A D O N E S Q M B
R09: G R A S T I E R G
R10: 75, 50, 5, 7, 5, 9. Target: 953.
TTT: RITASITS - "Rita sits down and plays the Indian instrument"
R11: T L E A U N T S C
R12: F R T I A E N L I
R13: O A E S V T U D P
R14: 75, 100, 8, 5, 7, 2. Target: 173.
R15: P O T W A S H E S (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: T J R E U I W G L
C1: jilter
C2: UGLIER (6)
OT: GLUTEI (6) REGULI (6) RUTILE (6)
Score: 0–6 (max 6)
And an even start here...., oh no. Even I thought jilter sounded good, but it's not to be and our challenger has taken first blood today.
REGULI (plural of REGULUS) are the metallic masses that form beneath the slag at the bottom of the crucible or furnace in smelting ores.
RUTILE is a common mineral, titanium dioxide, TiO2 , usually reddish-brown in colour with a brilliant metallic or adamantine lustre, occurring in crystals.
Round 2: H S R A U O N D I
C1: HOUNDS (6)
C2: ROUNDISH (8)
DC: ORDAINS (7) NOURISH (7) DINOSAUR (8)
Score: 0–14 (max 14)
Lee's ROUNDISH word keeps Peter on a ROUNDISH score.
Round 3: N E E Y P N A H R
C1: harpee
C2: PANEER (6)
OT: EPHYRAE (7)
Score: 0–20 (max 21)
Oh dear. Our champion-elect seems to be having a very bad day in the office today. A misspell there but him a score down after just 3 rounds
Round 4: F S C O E E P V I
C1: PIECES (6)
C2: SCOPE (5)
DC: COPIES (6)
OT: SPECIE (6) VOICES (6)
Score: 6–20 (max 27)
That's better by the champ. It might only be 6, but that's 6 more points than what Lee got in this round.
Round 5: 75, 6, 3, 9, 10, 7. Target: 278.
C1: 278. (75 x 3) + (9 x 7) - 10 (10)
C2: 279.
Score: 16–20 (max 37)
And Peter has put himself right back in it with that solve. His numbers might not be the best, but they've improved a great deal over the last week and a bit.
Gloria talks about the time when she interviewed Richard Harris on her show, Sunday, Sunday, when she kissed his cheeks. The cheeks though were actually grafted from his bottom after he had been involved in a crash earlier in his life.
Teatime teaser: AVENGEIT -> NEGATIVE
Round 6: D S N A O B W O E
C1: SNOWED (6)
C2: SWOONED (7)
DC: SNOOD (5)
Score: 16–27 (max 44)
There's me thinking that Peter had turned a corner. Instead, Lee finds the darren and his lead is back into double figures again.
Round 7: A E S L U D G T R
C1: gradules
C2: TRUDGES (7)
OT: GESTURAL (8)
Score: 16–34 (max 52)
Ah, but an 8 from Peter. Oh no, it's an illegal 8.
This is just agony now Round 8: A D O N E S Q M B
C1: ABDOMEN (7)
C2: MOANED (6)
DC: ABDOMENS (8) BEMOANS (7)
Score: 23–34 (max 60)
He may have got some points back, but will Peter rue not pluralising his 7 for the darrenic 8
Round 9: G R A S T I E R G
C1: GAITERS (7)
C2: TIGERS (6)
DC: RAGGIEST (8)
OT: TRIGGERS (8)
Score: 30–34 (max 68)
Is the tide turning again
This game is so unpredictable that trying to work out the winner is making my head spin Susie's Origins Of Words tells of the origin of the pubs The Bull, The Bull's Head and The Albion.
Round 10: 75, 50, 5, 7, 5, 9. Target: 953.
C1: -
C2: 950. (5 + 5 + 9) x 50 (7)
RR: 954, then after the break - 953. (((50 x 5) + 7) x (9 - 5)) - 75 (10)
Score: 30–41 (max 78)
And the numbers game just proves my point even more
While Peter blanks, Lee gets the slightly straightforward 7 for his 3 away. Rachel needs the extra thinking time for this one.Interestingly, every round of this game has had only one of the contestants scoring so far.
Teatime teaser: RITASITS -> SITARIST
Round 11: T L E A U N T S C
C1: CASTLE (6)
C2: TALENTS (7)
DC: SCUTTLE (7) NUTCASE (7)
OT: ATTUNES (7) TAUTENS (7) TETANUS (7) CANTLES (7) LANCETS (7) CUTLETS (7) CUTTLES (7) ELUANTS (7) LUNATES (7) LAUNCES (7) UNLACES (7) NUTLETS (7) SULCATE (7)
Score: 30–48 (max 85)
That stat holds out as Peter misses one of the many 7's available in this one. Is the trapdoor opening for him now
A CANTLE is the hind part of a saddle, usually curved upward.
SULCATE is an adjective meaning having long, narrow grooves or channels, as plant stems, or being furrowed or cleft, as hoofs.
Round 12: F R T I A E N L I
C1: faintlier
C2: FRAIL (5)
DC: INFLATER (8)
OT: FLINTIER (8) INERTIAL (8)
Score: 30–53 (max 93)
Even though Lee has only got 5, Peter's risky 9 is just a risk too far. Is our 7-timer about to say goodbye
Round 13: O A E S V T U D P
C1: SPOUTED (7)
C2: OVATES (6)
DC: PASTED (6)
OT: UPDATES (7)
Score: 37–53 (max 100)
Maybe not. Lee didn't seem too confident with his 6, but Peter's 7 gives him a faint chance of victory.
He now needs CECIL to show some emotion and not make the target too difficult for him, but just difficult enough for Lee to mess up.
Round 14: 75, 100, 8, 5, 7, 2. Target: 173.
C1: 173. 100 + 75 - 2 (10)
C2: 173. 100 + 75 - 2 (10)
Score: 47–63 (max 110)
Unfortunately, CECIL is a machine and has no emotion, meaning that a simple numbers game was almost inevitable. Peter will bow out today, but not as an octochamp.
Round 15: P O T W A S H E S
No one buzzes. The answer was SWEATSHOP.
Final Score: 47–63 (max 120)
Luckily, the conundrum was too tough for both contestants, meaning that the numbers was irrelevant.
Tough louck on Peter, who was a brilliant champion and barring an onslaught of octochamps, we should see Peter back in the finals at Christmas time. He is currently the #3 seed and many would certainly welcome him back in the finals later on.
Join Mike tomorrow to see if Lee can continue on the way to becoming an octochamp.
Till next week, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Peter:
Total score - 47
Raw score - 65
Total % of max - 39
Raw % of max - 54
Total average score per round - 3.1
Raw average score per round - 4.3
Number of maxes - 4
Lee:
Total score - 63
Raw score - 93
Total % of max - 53
Raw % of max - 78
Total average score per round - 4.2
Raw average score per round - 6.2
Number of maxes - 5
Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=63