Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Thursday 27 March 2014.
C1: Champion Jonathan Worrall (1 win, 72 points.) A garden designer from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.
C2: Challenger Peter Cross. A retired groundworker from Lancaster. His favourite book is Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
DC: Susie Dent and Maureen Lipman.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: T R N S E O U D G
R02: T N R A E O M B N
R03: 75, 2, 6, 9, 10, 5. Target: 113.
TTT: RELATEIT - "You can relate it to reading and writing"
R04: T Y R I E A T R I
R05: J C S P O E O S I
R06: 25, 9, 10, 2, 1, 9. Target: 494.
R07: L M E I U P S Q L
R08: G R T L O A E S A
R09: 50, 10, 5, 5, 9, 7. Target: 490.
TTT: AIMMERIT - "It sounds like the wedding takes place at sea"
R10: H P F W E O A N E
R11: V T N D I U O A G
R12: P L M R I E A S M
R13: D H T I E O C D I
R14: 50, 10, 5, 9, 6, 3. Target: 143.
R15: A N T A C I D E D (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: T R N S E O U D G
Jonathan: TRUDGES (7)
Peter: RESOUND (7)
DC: TONSURED (8) ROUNDEST (8) STURGEON (8)
OT: GUERDONS (8) TRUDGENS (8) UNSORTED (8)
Score: 7–7 (max 8)
A pair of 7's from the contestants, followed by a trio of 8's from DC.
A GUERDON is a reward, recompense, or requital.
In swimming, a TRUDGEN is a stroke in which a double overarm motion and a scissors kick are used.
Round 2: T N R A E O M B N
Jonathan: BROMATE (7)
Peter: BOATMEN (7)
DC: BARONET (7) ENTOMB (6)
OT: ORNAMENT (8)
Score: 14–14 (max 16)
Jonathan isn't sure about his 7, but all is well, and the scores stay level, while the darrenic 8 is missed by all..........
Round 3: 75, 2, 6, 9, 10, 5. Target: 113.
Jonathan: -
Peter: 111. (2 x 75) - (6 x 5) - 9 (7)
RR: 113. ((10 + 9) x 2) + 75 (10)
Score: 14–21 (max 26)
Oh dear, oh dear, a small target completely flummoxes Jonathan, and Peter can only get to 2 away, but it's good enough to give him a lead of 7 for now.
Teatime teaser: RELATEIT -> LITERATE
Round 4: T Y R I E A T R I
Jonathan: TREATY (6)
Peter: RATTIER (7)
DC: TERTIARY (8) IRRITATE (8)
Score: 14–28 (max 34)
A RATTIER offering from Peter doubles his lead while DC IRRITATE with their TERTIARY offering.
Round 5: J C S P O E O S I
Jonathan: COPIES (6)
Peter: SCOOPS (6)
DC: JOCOSE (6) POSSIE (6)
OT: COPSES (6) COSIES (6) COSSIE (6) POISES (6) POSIES (6) SCOPES (6) SPICES (6)
Score: 20–34 (max 40)
Just 6's aplenty in this round.
Round 6: 25, 9, 10, 2, 1, 9. Target: 494.
Jonathan: 492. (2 x 10 x 25) - (9 - 1) (7)
Peter: 498.
RR: 494. (10 + 9) x (25 + 1) (10)
Score: 27–34 (max 50)
Jonathan claws back some of the deficit with his 2 away, while Rachel makes this slightly tricky numbers game look easy.
Maureen talks about a letter she received from a man who had returned from the Middle East listen to one of Maureen's audiobooks, and hasn't been able to give him the compliment, since there was no return address.
Round 7: L M E I U P S Q L
Jonathan: QUILLS (6)
Peter: IMPULSE (7)
DC: IMPELS (6) QUIPS (5)
OT: ILLUMES (7) PILULES (7)
Score: 27–41 (max 57)
Peter clearly likes acting on IMPULSE, as he retrieves the 7 points lost in the last round.
A PILULE is quite simply, a small pill or pellet.
Round 8: G R T L O A E S A
Jonathan: STORAGE (7)
Peter: GLOATERS (8)
DC: LEGATORS (8)
Score: 27–49 (max 65)
Another great spot from Peter, and like Jonathan yesterday, he's now starting to take control here.
Round 9: 50, 10, 5, 5, 9, 7. Target: 490.
Jonathan: 490. (50 - (5 / 5)) x 10 (10)
Peter: 490. (10 x 50) - (5 + 5) (10)
Score: 37–59 (max 75)
Well, no worries with this numbers game
Teatime teaser: AIMMERIT -> MARITIME
Round 10: H P F W E O A N E
Jonathan: enhope
Peter: WEAPON (6)
DC: PEAHEN (6) FAWN (4) PAWN (4)
OT: NEPHEW (6)
Score: 37–65 (max 81)
Jonathan hopes for enhope are gone, as Peter inches closer and closer to that prized win.
Round 11: V T N D I U O A G
Jonathan: DATING (6)
Peter: OUTING (6)
DC: DIVOT (5)
OT: DOUTING (7)
Score: 43–71 (max 88)
Just an OUTING with some DATING, but if Peter had stuck the D on the front of OUTING, he'd have had a darrenic 7.............
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of the phrase, "to a T".
Round 12: P L M R I E A S M
Jonathan: lammers
Peter: PALMIER (7)
DC: SLAMMER (7) IMPALERS (8) PALMIERS (8)
OT: LEMPIRAS (8)
Score: 43–78 (max 96)
Super ouch, Jonathan's time is surely running out now, as he mistakenly sticks the S on the end of lammer, rather than at the beginning.............
A LEMPIRA is a paper money and monetary unit of Honduras, equal to 100 centavos.
Round 13: D H T I E O C D I
Jonathan: DITCH (5)
Peter: DITCHED (7)
DC: CHIDED (6)
Score: 43–85 (max 103)
And just to confound Jonathan's misery, forgetting to stick the ED on the end of DITCH, has made Peter's victory super secure.
Round 14: 50, 10, 5, 9, 6, 3. Target: 143.
Jonathan: 143. (50 x 3) - (10 - (9 - 6)) (10)
Peter: 143. (10 x 9) + 50 + 3 (10)
Score: 53–95 (max 113)
Well, at least there were no mistakes here.
Round 15: A N T A C I D E D
Jonathan buzzes on 11.5 seconds to say CANDIDATE which is correct.
Final Score: 63–95 (max 123)
And Jonathan does at least get some comfort in getting the conundrum, but the day belongs to Peter, who put in a very composed performance, almost reminiscent of Cliff Lee's début last Tuesday.
Will he match that, I wonder............ 
Anthony will be back tomorrow for Peter's second show, and I'll be back on Wednesday for the one recap, as Channel 4's coverage of the Grand National meeting at Aintree curtails Countdown to just 3 episodes next week.
Have a nice weekend, everyone. See you later.
Statistics Corner
Jonathan:
Total score - 63
Raw score - 87
Total % of max - 51
Raw % of max - 71
Total average score per round - 4.2
Raw average score per round - 5.8
Number of maxes - 4
Peter:
Total score - 95
Raw score - 102
Total % of max - 77
Raw % of max - 83
Total average score per round - 6.3
Raw average score per round - 6.8
Number of maxes - 7
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70