Monday 17th March (series 70, prelim 47)

Andy McGurn · Post by **Andy McGurn** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 10:35 pm

Countdown recap for Monday 17 March 2014.

C1: Champion Ruth Erwin (1 win, 89 points.) Ruth is studying law and French at Dundee university. She plans to become a solicitor when she finishes and also plans to spend more time in France.
C2: Challenger Matt Styles. A student at the university of Nottingham where he studies computer science. He has also hitchhiked from Nottingham to Morocco. Nick takes the opportunity to emphasis that he is a Morocco-phile.

DC: Susie Dent and Tim Vine.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

R01: R D H E U O N Q I
R02: T R N E O L I B A
R03: 5, 9, 5, 8, 1, 25. Target: 176.
TTT: GOTARUDE - "got a rude response and became this"
R04: T M N E U V S O R
R05: I E A C R N C E D
R06: 3, 5, 8, 1, 7, 75. Target: 212.
R07: T D K O U E P Y G
R08: T N S R A I E S T
R09: 1, 8, 2, 5, 75, 50. Target: 630.
TTT: AVERSETO - "Hes not averse to getting stuck into a large portion of food"
R10: N F Z L A I O J R
R11: E A I P R T G O S
R12: L S M E O E R S U
R13: A E I H G N E L D
R14: 6, 4, 8, 7, 50, 75. Target: 773.
R15: S H E S A N E R D (conundrum)

And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: R D H E U O N Q I

Ruth: HINDER (6)
Matt: HEROIN (6)
DC: QUOINED (7)
Score: 6–6 (max 7)

Nick comments that he has never heard the word QUOINED before. Its quite unusual to hear him say he doesn’t recognise a word offered by DC as he often knows the meanings of a lot of the obscure words that Susie has offered.

Round 2: T R N E O L I B A

Ruth: LOITER (6)
Matt: LOITER (6)
DC: BARITONE (8)
OT: OBTAINER (8) ORIENTAL (8) RELATION (8)
Score: 12–12 (max 15)

Shockingly bad miss by the contestants in not spotting RELATION, perhaps the easiest 8 to spot.

Round 3: 5, 9, 5, 8, 1, 25. Target: 176.

Ruth: 176. ((8-1)*25)-(5/5) (10)
Matt: 176. ((8-1)*25)-(5/5) (10)
Score: 22–22 (max 25)

Simple numbers game, keeps the match deadlocked at the first advert break.

Teatime teaser: GOTARUDE -> OUTRAGED

Round 4: T M N E U V S O R

Ruth: MOUNTERS (8)
Matt: MONSTER (7)
DC: REMOUNTS (8)
Score: 30–22 (max 33)

Ruth breaks away for the first time by maxing the round.

Round 5: I E A C R N C E D

Ruth: DANCER (6)
Matt: DANCER (6)
OT: DERACINE (8)
Score: 36–28 (max 41)

A DERACINE is a person who has been uprooted from their natural environment.

Round 6: 3, 5, 8, 1, 7, 75. Target: 212.

Ruth: 212. (75*3)-8-5 (10)
Matt: -
Score: 46–28 (max 51)

Another very easy numbers game is missed by Matt, he seems to be making it easy for Ruth so far.

DC Guest- Tim makes some “jokes”. He also shows us “finger archery”?

Round 7: T D K O U E P Y G

Ruth: POUTED (6)
Matt: DUET (4)
DC: POGEY (5)
OT: DEPUTY (6)
Score: 52–28 (max 57)

Ruth has POUTED her way to a bigger lead with her max in this round.

Round 8: T N S R A I E S T

Ruth: STRAINS (7)
Matt: STRAINS (7)
DC: TARTINESS (18)
OT: RATTINESS (18) RESISTANT (18) STRAITENS (18)
Score: 59–35 (max 75)

Four nines in this round, but the contestants stick with a straightforward seven

Round 9: 1, 8, 2, 5, 75, 50. Target: 630.

Ruth: 639. ((75*8)+50)-((5*2)-1) (5)
Matt: -
RR: 630. ((50*75)/6)+5 (10)
Score: 64–35 (max 85)

A decent effort by Ruth to get within ten gives her another 10 points. Rachel shows off once again by going stratospheric in a numbers game where it was completely unnecessary to do so.

Teatime teaser: AVERSETO -> OVEREATS

Round 10: N F Z L A I O J R

Ruth: jailor
Matt: FLAIR (5)
DC: FLORIN (6)
OT: FOLIAR (6) FRAZIL (6)
Score: 64–40 (max 91)

With the lead Ruth already has, together with the fact that Matt is clearly not a great player, she decides to risk an alternate spelling of JAILER/ GAOLER/ jailor, but its not allowed giving Matt a 5 point inroad into her lead.
FRAZIL are ice crystals formed in turbulent water.
FOLIAR is a technique of feeding plants.

Round 11: E A I P R T G O S

Ruth: gropiest
Matt: PAGERS (6)
DC: POTAGERS (8)
OT: GRAPIEST (8) PASTORIE (8) PORTAGES (8) SEPTORIA (8)
Score: 64–46 (max 99)

If Ruth had changed the O to an A she’d have had an eight here. Her disallowed word gives Matt the chance to get within 20.
SEPTORIA are a type of fungi that causes numerous leaf spot diseases on field crops, forages and many vegetables

OoW- Susie explains the origins of BACKLOG

Round 12: L S M E O E R S U

Ruth: MOUSER (6)
Matt: smeers
DC: MOUSERS (7) RESUMES (7) MORSELS (7)
OT: LOUSERS (7) RESOLES (7)
Score: 70–46 (max 106)

Just as Ruth’s mistakes were starting to let Matt back into it, the roles are reversed in this round as Ruth strengthens her lead as Matt errors here.

Round 13: A E I H G N E L D

Ruth: GLEANED (7)
Matt: ALIGNED (7)
DC: HEADLINE (8) HEEDING (7) LEADING (7)
Score: 77–53 (max 114)

Nice words here by both contestants but its DC who get the max with HEADLINE. Ruth has now sealed her second win.

Round 14: 6, 4, 8, 7, 50, 75. Target: 773.

Ruth: 765. ((6+4)*75)+7+8 (5)
Matt: 765. ((6+4)*75)+7+8 (5)
RR: 773. (75*7)+(50*4)+(6*8) (10)
Score: 82–58 (max 124)

Five points a piece for the contestants as its down to Rachel to provide the solution.

Round 15: S H E S A N E R D

Ruth buzzes on 29 seconds to say HEADDRESS which is incorrect.
Matt does not buzz.
The answer was HARNESSED.
Final Score: 82–58 (max 134)

Nice attempt by Ruth but the conundrum goes unsolved. Ruth won’t mind though as she notches up her second win. Matt wasn’t a great opponent today, but maybe it was nerves as he would have needed to perform better to get through the audition. But he had his day on TV and seems to have enjoyed it.

So with that we are back to five countdowns a week with no interruptions. I’ll be back next Monday in what would be Ruth’s seventh game if she can keep going, be here tomorrow to see if she can take the next step.

Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70