Monday 20th January 2014 (S70 prelim 11)

[Andy McGurn]

Countdown recap for Monday 20 January 2014.

C1: Champion Jamie Halliwell (1 win, 94 points.) Jamie is a postgraduate research student. Nick states that Jamie has been studying the eurovision song contest for the last five years. An impressive performance on Friday saw him defeat apterite Ciaran Crawley

C2: Challenger Claire McIver. An accounts manager from Birmingham with an interest in food and cooking. Claire is getting married on the 8th of February having got engaged in Milan the previous year.

DC: Susie Dent and Matt Alwright.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: N I H W T A E I R
R02: N D T E A O V U L
R03: 4, 2, 75, 50, 25, 100. Target: 247.
TTT: SAMSLIED - "sam's lied, he does this all the time to people"
R04: C N F O I N O E S
R05: A M G J O A N S I
R06: 5, 10, 3, 4, 100, 75. Target: 342.
R07: B R N E U O D H A
R08: N S R I E I V A L
R09: 8, 7, 100, 25, 75, 50. Target: 991.
TTT: CHAPSENT - "The chap sent all his stock for delivery in these"
R10: D R P U I O Q E C
R11: T L G U K A I O R
R12: S T F E O Z E S D
R13: R I G S L A O E B
R14: 3, 2, 6, 9, 25, 75. Target: 162.
R15: B A N G R O M E O (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: N I H W T A E I R

C1: INHERIT (7)
C2: WITHIN (6)
DC: INERTIA (7)
OT: TARWHINE (8)
Score: 7–0 (max 8)

Good start for Jamie with INHERIT while Claire may be nervous and playing WITHIN herself. All (including DC) miss the darren here.
A TARWHINE is a yellowish fish related to the sea bream.


Round 2: N D T E A O V U L

C1: VAULTED (7)
C2: OVULATED (8)
DC: VAUNTED (7)
Score: 7–8 (max 16)

Claire bounces straight back with the darrenic 8.


Round 3: 4, 2, 75, 50, 25, 100. Target: 247.

C1: 247. (100*2)+50-(75/25) (10)
C2: 248.
Score: 17–8 (max 26)
Jamie’s use of four large pays good dividends as he takes back the lead with his spot on solve.

Teatime teaser: SAMSLIED -> MISLEADS

Round 4: C N F O I N O E S

C1: CONFINES (8)
C2: COINS (5)
DC: COSINE (6)
Score: 25–8 (max 34)

Theres been a darrenic 8 in every letters round so far. Jamie spots it here to take a 17 point lead

Round 5: A M G J O A N S I

C1: IMAGOS (6)
C2: MOANS (5)
DC: ANGIOMA (7) ANGIOMAS (8)
OT: ISANGOMA (8)
Score: 31–8 (max 42)

More points for Jamie. Matt Alwright seems to be listing the singular ANGIOMA as the 8 until Susie steps in to state that its an 8 in plural form. An ISANGOMA in Africa is a traditional healer or diviner


Round 6: 5, 10, 3, 4, 100, 75. Target: 342.

C1: 350.
C2: 346. (3*100)+(5*10)-4 (7)
RR: 342. (100+10+4)*3 (10)
Score: 31–15 (max 52)

Claire pulls some points back as Jamie is all at sea in this numbers game.


Round 7: B R N E U O D H A

C1: UNHEARD (7)
C2: BONED (5)
DC: BOUNDER (7) REBOUND (7)
OT: BODHRAN (7)
Score: 38–15 (max 59)

Another impressive max by Jamie, though Claire will rue herself as missing a couple of very obvious 7’s. A BODHRAN is a type of Irish drum.


Round 8: N S R I E I V A L

C1: renails
C2: VAINER (6)
DC: RAVELINS (8)
OT: AIRLINES (8)
Score: 38–21 (max 67)

Jamie’s risk fails and Claire takes the points. DC spot the impressive RAVELINS.


Round 9: 8, 7, 100, 25, 75, 50. Target: 991.

C1: 992. Mistake in working.
C2: 992. ((75/25)+7)*100-8 (7)
RR: 991. ((100+50)-8)*7-(75/25) (10)
Score: 38–28 (max 77)

Its the end of round 9 and there still hasn’t been a round in which both contestants have scored points. That must be quite rare in a game which is genuinely competitive. Claire takes the points here as Jamie makes a mistake.

Teatime teaser: CHAPSENT -> PANTECHS

Round 10: D R P U I O Q E C

C1: PRICED (6)
C2: RECOUP (6)
DC: PRODUCE (7)
OT: PERCOID (7)
Score: 44–34 (max 84)

Both contestants score points in a round for the first time in the game. With the gap at ten the game is still in the balance.

Round 11: T L G U K A I O R

C1: GLOAT (5)
C2: GRAIL (5)
DC: RAGOUT (6) GUITAR (6) TROIKA (6)
OT: AGOUTI (6) GALIOT (6) GIAOUR (6) KAGOUL (6) RITUAL (6) RUGOLA (6) TAILOR (6) TORULA (6) TUGRIK (6)
Score: 49–39 (max 90)

Five points each for the contestants, but with twelve sixes available you’d expect them to have scored the max here.



OoW: Susie talks about words that are related to alcohol in some way, including ABSINTHE


Round 12: S T F E O Z E S D

C1: STEEDS (6)
C2: STEEDS (6)
DC: TOSSED (6)
OT: DEFEST (6) FESSED (6) SETOSE (6)
Score: 55–45 (max 96)

Jamie seems to think that STEEDS is risky. Wonder why he thought that?

Round 13: R I G S L A O E B

C1: GERBILS (7)
C2: GLORIES (7)
DC: GIRASOLE (8)
OT: OBLIGERS (8) SERAGLIO (8)
Score: 62–52 (max 104)

Nice sevens for the contestants here.The gap is still ten points and could go either way.


Round 14: 3, 2, 6, 9, 25, 75. Target: 162.

C1: 162. (75*2)+9+3 (10)
C2: 162. (25*6)+9+3 (10)
Score: 72–62 (max 114)

An easy numbers game means a crucial conundrum. Interstingly with none of the first nine rounds seeing both players score the next five have seen them match each other all the way.


Round 15: B A N G R O M E O

C1 buzzes on 2 seconds to say BOOMERANG which is correct.
Final Score: 82–62 (max 124)

An excellent quick spot by Jamie gives him the game. He’s looking pretty impressive and I would think he is octochamp material. Still depends on him continuing to maintain his standards and of course the quality of contestants in his way. Join Callum tomorrow to see if Jamie can make it three.

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