So, enjoy.
Countdown recap for Thursday 19 December 2013.
C1: #7 Seed Callum "The Tingley Tearaway" Todd (8 wins, 855 points.) A student from Tingley, West Yorkshire. He defeated the #2 seed Jen Steadman 108-105 in his quarter-final last Friday.
C2: #3 Seed Glen "The Cradley Heath Cleaver" Webb (9 wins, 1,052 points.) A financial adviser from Cradley Heath, West Midlands. He defeated the #6 seed Jonathan Liew 107-45 in his quarter-final on Monday.
DC: Susie Dent and Richard Madeley.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: N G S F O E A T I
R02: D C T K O E I N A
R03: 2, 3, 8, 2, 10, 4. Target: 763.
TTT: ALADGIRL - "A lad and a girl may well perform this together"
R04: S T L F E U O S M
R05: R S T N A I E O L
R06: 100, 50, 25, 75, 2, 10. Target: 779.
R07: R T R S E I E O V
R08: H G N T A I O R E
R09: 4, 2, 10, 3, 2, 8. Target: 534.
TTT: KIDSVERY - "The kid's very brave, he wants to become this"
R10: M S D B U A I P E
R11: W D R N O I E R X
R12: P D S N U A E Z R
R13: L P C B I E O T E
R14: 75, 100, 50, 25, 2, 6. Target: 160.
R15: H E N P I T I E D (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: N G S F O E A T I
C1: FEASTING (8)
C2: FEASTING (8)
DC: TANGOES (7)
Score: 8–8 (max 8)
A good amount of FEASTING to start with today. It's definitely Christmas time now
Round 2: D C T K O E I N A
C1: CATENOID (8)
C2: ACTIONED (8)
Score: 16–16 (max 16)
And it's more and more 8's here.
Round 3: 2, 3, 8, 2, 10, 4. Target: 763.
C1: 766. Mistake in working.
C2: 770. ((((4 x 2) + 2) x 8) - 3) x 10 (5)
RR: 762. (((10 + 2) x 4 x 8) - 3) x 2 (7)
Score: 16–21 (max 23)
Unsurprisingly, Callum goes for 6 small, but unfortunately he has realised he's actually one closer than he thought he was
, so Glen capitalises with 5 points for his 7 away, but as Rachel says, 1 away is as good as it gets here............Teatime teaser: ALADGIRL -> GALLIARD
Round 4: S T L F E U O S M
C1: SOLUTES (7)
C2: FLOUTS (6)
DC: FOULEST (7) FULSOME (7)
OT: LOTUSES (7) MOLESTS (7) TOUSLES (7)
Score: 23–21 (max 30)
Callum makes up for his numbers error with a nice scientific 7, and has a lead of 2 after 4 rounds.
Round 5: R S T N A I E O L
C1: RELATIONS (18)
C2: ORIENTALS (18)
OT: TENSORIAL (18)
Score: 41–39 (max 48)
Anyone who didn't get a 9 here should leave right now
NEXT!!!Round 6: 100, 50, 25, 75, 2, 10. Target: 779.
C1: 779. (75 x 10) + 25 + (100 / 50) + 2 (10)
C2: 776.
Score: 51–39 (max 58)
Glen decides to use opposite tactics and goes 4 large to try and counter Callum's 6 small (although, after the last round, maybe he should've stuck with 6 small.....), but it backfires badly, and gives Callum a 12 point lead. Not insurmountable, but a good lead to have for Mr. Todd.
Richard talks about his unusual parenting skills on his son, Jack, which involved taking him to the car when he was bad in restaurants for 3 times in a row.
Round 7: R T R S E I E O V
C1: OVERTIRES (18)
C2: OVERTIRES (18)
Score: 69–57 (max 76)
WOW! WOW!! WOW!!! Back-to-back 9's are rare in any game, especially in a semi-final, although there is one very famous semi-final, where it happened twice in the same game................
Round 8: H G N T A I O R E
C1: EARTHING (8)
C2: HEARTING (8)
OT: INGATHER (8)
Score: 77–65 (max 84)
Glen goes into desperation mode, but it works for him this time, and he's still in the hunt thanks to his HEARTING offering.
Round 9: 4, 2, 10, 3, 2, 8. Target: 534.
C1: 532. Mistake in working.
C2: 536. Mistake in working.
RR: 532/536. (7)
OT: 536. (((8 x 2) + 2) x 3 x 10) - 4 (7)
Score: 77–65 (max 91)
Hmmm, interestingly, the exact same 6 small from round 3 appear again, and like in round 3, Callum messes up again, but Glen can't capitalise, as he messes up as well
And amazingly, like the previous 6 small, 10 points is impossible again..............Teatime teaser: KIDSVERY -> SKYDIVER
Round 10: M S D B U A I P E
C1: IAMBUS (6)
C2: impudes
DC: ABUSED (6)
OT: ABIDES (6) ADIEUS (6) AMIDES (6) AMUSED (6) BEDIMS (6) BIASED (6) BIPEDS (6) BUMPED (6) BUSIED (6) DAUBES (6) IMBEDS (6) IMBUED (6) IMBUES (6) MEDUSA (6) PAUSED (6) SPUMED (6) UPSIDE (6)
Score: 83–65 (max 97)
Glen thinks he has his way back in with a 7, but you can't impude anything. Well you can, but no-one has come up for a definition for it yet
Either which way, 6 is as good as it gets in this super flat round, with Callum clearly the beneficiary of this round. An AMIDE is a metallic derivative of ammonia in which the −NH2 group is retained, as potassium amide, KNH2.
To BEDIM is to make dim or darken.
A DAUBE is a stew of braised meat, vegetables, herbs, and seasonings.
Round 11: W D R N O I E R X
C1: WORDIER (7)
C2: WORRIED (7)
DC: dornier
OT: DOWNIER (7) ROWDIER (7)
Score: 90–72 (max 104)
If only that X was cut to make a V, then the brilliant DOWNRIVER would've been available (which has still never been seen on the show before
), but it's 7 apiece, and Callum still has that lead of 18 points.Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of some places around the world, including "Khartoum", "Panama" and "Singapore".
Round 12: P D S N U A E Z R
C1: unspared
C2: unspared
DC: PANZERS (7) SPURNED (7) ASUNDER (7)
OT: DANSEUR (7) PANDERS (7)
Score: 90–72 (max 111)
He's tried once before, and it worked, but this time it doesn't pay off for Glen, but luckily for him, Callum took the plunge too, so not as much harm done as it could've been.
Round 13: L P C B I E O T E
C1: PETIOLE (7)
C2: POLITE (6)
DC: POLICE (6)
OT: PICOTEE (7)
Score: 97–72 (max 118)
Well, all of a sudden the game is up for Glen, as another scientific 7 from Callum has wrapped up his place in tomorrow's grand final
A PICOTEE is a variety of carnation, tulip, etc., having an outer margin of another colour.
Round 14: 75, 100, 50, 25, 2, 6. Target: 160.
C1: 160. (((50 x 75) + 100) / 25) + 6 (10)
C2: 160. ((75 + 6) x 2) - (50 / 25) (10)
Score: 107–82 (max 128)
Glen decides to go out with a bang, and good for him, so 4 large yet again. Glen gets it nice and straightforward, while in a surprise to all of us watching in the audience, Callum gives us a Christmas treat with a skyhigh method
PRAISE TO YOU, SIR Round 15: H E N P I T I E D
No one buzzes. The answer was PETHIDINE.
Final Score: 107–82 (max 138)
Well, definitely not an itchy semi today, instead a stiff, hard un
(And before anyone asks, the audience was asked, but none of us had a Scooby. )So, when you think of Callum's performances, you normally think about his brilliant 6 small solves, but he cracked under pressure with those today, and instead he relied on his rapidly improving vocabulary, with 9/10 maxes in the letters games.
Glen did well, but took a couple of gambles too many to try and stay in touch with Callum, but he still performed well and should be congratulated for his fantastic run to get to this stage.
So, tomorrow is the grand final, as Callum tries to become the first #7 seed since Verity Joubert in Series 30, to win a series of Countdown, but taking on the top seed, Dylan Taylor, is certainly no easy feat either. But even more interestingly, if Callum wins, he'll be the first champion since Andy Bodle in Series 26 to beat the number 3, 2 and 1 seeds in the finals, and only the 4th altogether
Join Anthony for what I can say without spoiling, is a masterpiece in the making.
So, as I'm now done recapping for the year, I won't follow suit and say I'm retiring.
But, I will wish each and everyone of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I'll be back recapping on January 8, when Rod Chatfield could be playing for his octochamp title.SO, TILL THEN, BYE BYE
Statistics Corner
Callum:
Total score - 107
Raw score - 107
Total % of max - 78
Raw % of max - 78
Total average score per round - 7.1
Raw average score per round - 7.1
Number of maxes - 11
Glen:
Total score - 82
Raw score - 101
Total % of max - 59
Raw % of max - 73
Total average score per round - 5.5
Raw average score per round - 6.7
Number of maxes - 7
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=69