Well, let's find out. Everybody, enjoy.
Countdown recap for Wednesday 5 March 2014.
C1: Champion Sean Connors (2 wins, 158 points.) An account manager at Barnardo's from Sale, Greater Manchester.
C2: Challenger Jay Preller. A builder and decorator from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. He went round every pier in the UK for 2 years, and finished up on Brighton Pier, where he married his wife, Hazel, who then wrote a book called From Pier To Eternity.
DC: Susie Dent and Gloria Hunniford.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: G N S U E O T M I
R02: R D A E O L B W C
R03: 25, 75, 50, 100, 5, 7. Target: 157.
TTT: HEOLDMAN - "He's an old man now, so wants to see out his days in the country of his birth"
R04: S R D S E A U I L
R05: D V P A E O M R S
R06: 25, 50, 100, 5, 8, 2. Target: 806.
R07: C J R E I E H M N
R08: S M P A E O B R F
R09: 75, 50, 25, 100, 8, 2. Target: 737.
TTT: FARMLION - "It's not a bird, but it's a sort of small chat"
R10: S D T Y I E O R N
R11: T L G A E O R D N
R12: H P S V I E R I A
R13: N F L O I E N S Q
R14: 10, 8, 1, 3, 5, 9. Target: 737.
R15: F R E T I R E N E (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: G N S U E O T M I
C1: MUSING (6)
C2: mountings
DC: TONGUES (7)
OT: MITOGENS (8)
Score: 6–0 (max 8)
Oh dear, Jay seems to have started where Sue Babb finished yesterday, by declaring a 9 as an 8 with 2 N's, when there was only 1
(And rightly deserved too, I think you'll agree. )A MITOGEN is any substance or agent that stimulates mitotic cell division.
Round 2: R D A E O L B W C
C1: BLOWED (6)
C2: BOWLER (6)
DC: WARBLED (7) BROCADE (7)
OT: BARCODE (7) BRAWLED (7) CRAWLED (7)
Score: 12–6 (max 15)
A pair of 6's from the contestants are trumped by a pair of 7's found by DC in this one.
Round 3: 25, 75, 50, 100, 5, 7. Target: 157.
C1: 157. 100 + 50 + 7 (10)
C2: 157. 100 + 50 + 7 (10)
Score: 22–16 (max 25)
Interesting that Sean is persevering with his 4 large picks, despite not getting any of them spot on yet..........., until now that is.
A super easy numbers means we can move on............. 
Teatime teaser: HEOLDMAN -> HOMELAND
Round 4: S R D S E A U I L
C1: SAILED (6)
C2: -
DC: RESIDUALS (18)
Score: 28–16 (max 43)
Oh dear, Jay blanks out completely, letting Sean double his lead, while DC annihilate everyone with their magnificent NINE
Round 5: D V P A E O M R S
C1: PROVES (6)
C2: POMADES (7)
DC: OVERDAMPS (18)
Score: 28–23 (max 61)
Jay recovers some lost ground with his 7, but DC go for broke again with yet ANOTHER NINE!!!
Round 6: 25, 50, 100, 5, 8, 2. Target: 806.
C1: 806. (8 x 100) + ((5 - (50 / 25)) x 2) (10)
C2: 805.
Score: 38–23 (max 71)
The multiple large numbers games seem to be more in vogue in the moment, but going 3 large has backfired on Jay, as Sean spots the 6 to add to his 800, and now goes 15 points clear.
Gloria talks about a famous jeweller and a long legged Swedish blonde and her tiny husband.
Round 7: C J R E I E H M N
C1: CHIMER (6)
C2: MINCER (6)
DC: ENRICH (6)
OT: ERMINE (6) HEREIN (6) ICEMEN (6) INHERE (6) MENHIR (6) RICHEN (6)
Score: 44–29 (max 77)
Plenty of 6's here in this one, and no more.
MENHIR is an archaeological term for an upright monumental stone standing either alone or with others, as in an alignment, found chiefly in Cornwall and Brittany.
Round 8: S M P A E O B R F
C1: POEMS (5)
C2: soaper
DC: foamer
OT: PREFABS (7)
Score: 49–29 (max 84)
A round of misses I think it's fair to say here..........., with just Sean's 5 coming out with any credit here...............
Round 9: 75, 50, 25, 100, 8, 2. Target: 737.
C1: 729. (8 x 100) - 75 + ((50 / 25) x 2) (5)
C2: 723.
RR: 737. ((100 - 2) x 8) - 50 + (75 / 25) (10)
Score: 54–29 (max 94)
Still sticking with the 4 large is our Sean, but while it might not be getting him maximum points, it's at least getting him points, with Jay too far away to bother the points scorers. A lead of 25 is by far the biggest margin that Sean has had in his run so far. Now, can he extend it even further
Teatime teaser: FARMLION -> INFORMAL
Round 10: S D T Y I E O R N
C1: TRENDY (6)
C2: SORTIED (7)
DC: DEITY (5) TYROSINE (8)
OT: DRYSTONE (8)
Score: 54–36 (max 102)
Well, maybe Jay has something to say about it after all
A nice 7 gives him a fighting chance though, while DC go big with a great 8.Round 11: T L G A E O R D N
C1: GARDEN (6)
C2: GLOATED (7)
DC: DRAGONET (8)
Score: 54–43 (max 110)
Another 8 from DC, but Jay's 7 has now really made these last few rounds potentially interesting...........
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of some gangster terms, including "Chicago overcoats", "Chicago typewriters", "goon", "hatchetman", "torpedo", "triggerman" and "G-man".
Round 12: H P S V I E R I A
C1: PARISH (6)
C2: SHAVER (6)
DC: SHIVER (6) AIRSHIP (7) spivier
OT: VIPERISH (8)
Score: 60–49 (max 118)
Lots of 6's here, but DC fly high with their 7, with a snaky 8 left in the shadows thankfully.
Round 13: N F L O I E N S Q
C1: FILES (5)
C2: LESION (6)
DC: FELONS (6)
OT: OLEFINS (7)
Score: 60–55 (max 125)
Well, well, well, Jay's LESION has now got him to within striking range of Sean now, but while there is a darrenic 7 left on the side, this last numbers game is now very critical indeed...................
An OLEFIN is any member of the alkene series, the homologous series of unsaturated, aliphatic hydrocarbons containing one double bond and having the general formula CnH2n, as ethylene, H2C=CH2.
Round 14: 10, 8, 1, 3, 5, 9. Target: 737.
C1: 737. Mistake in working.
C2: 738. (((9 x 8) + 1) x 10) + 5 + 3 (7)
RR: 737. (((8 x 10) + 1) x 9) + 3 + 5 (10)
Score: 60–62 (max 135)
Well, it's 6 small time for Jay, but like his 3 large selection earlier, it looks like it's backfired on him, and Sean has his 3rd win in the bag.................
BUT WAIT, WHAT'S THIS
Sean thinks that 9 x 8 x 10 = 730, and now Jay is shocked to discover, that he's now in the game, but he snaps himself back into the fold, and his 7 points amazingly give him the lead for the first time today So, we now, out of pretty much nothing, have a crucial conundrum.
Round 15: F R E T I R E N E
No one buzzes. The answer was INTERFERE.
Final Score: 60–62 (max 145)
Which was a damp squib................
But, it does mean that against all the odds, we have a new champion in Jay Preller. Somehow, Sean has thrown it all away in the 3rd "half", and Jay has become the new champion. But, he'll need more than luck when he returns tomorrow.
Join me for that too, so till then, see you soon.
Statistics Corner
Sean:
Total score - 60
Raw score - 83
Total % of max - 41
Raw % of max - 57
Total average score per round - 4.0
Raw average score per round - 5.5
Number of maxes - 3
Jay:
Total score - 62
Raw score - 69
Total % of max - 43
Raw % of max - 48
Total average score per round - 4.1
Raw average score per round - 4.6
Number of maxes - 2
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70