Yes, it's time for the second part of the double header of Robbo recaps for the week, oh wait. Robbo is unavailable because he's doing a quiz or something so I'll have to do for today, sorry. Cheers James for having faith in me, you're probably the only person who does.
C1: Champion Bobby Johnson (3 wins, 264 points) has had three strong performances so far, even though he needed a crucial conundrum to see off yesterday's challenger Peter Littleton.
C2: Challenger Mark Murray is an apterite. He's originally from Dublin but he now lives in Bristol. He works for Ovo Energy and has four Border Terriers. I know our resident Thursday recapper would approve of the Terriers being mentioned, even though they're crap right now; even Blackpool beat them!
DC: Susie Dent and Michael Whitehall.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: D M N E I U S L O
R02: N G S E I O D A W
R03: 50, 4, 2, 1, 2, 5. Target: 563.
TTT: THROWING - "You won't be throwing your weight around if your toenail has this."
R04: N G C E O I D J N
R05: G Y F E U V O S E
R06: 75, 50, 100, 25, 3, 1. Target: 469.
R07: M L P I O E S T N
R08: B S T A I E O N R
R09: 25, 4, 4, 7, 10, 6. Target: 252.
TTT: OAKSHRUB - "You might be singing off key if you had a hit with this."
R10: P T D R I A U O M
R11: N F T E A R O E S
R12: M S T A O E R V A
R13: D S P T U E O G C
R14: 25, 75, 7, 4, 5, 8. Target: 727.
R15: N I C E G R A P H (conundrum)
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Round 1: D M N E I U S L O
Bobby: EMULSION (8)
Mark: DELUSION (8)
DC: MODULES (7)
OT: UNSOILED (8)
Score: 8–8 (max 8)
A great start by our two contestants as they both spot one of the three eights available. Will that set the tone for the afternoon?
Round 2: N G S E I O D A W
Bobby: AGONISED (8)
Mark: AGONISED (8)
DC: WIDGEONS (8) DIAGNOSE (8)
OT: WENDIGOS (8)
Score: 16–16 (max 16)
Both AGONISED over their declarations but there was no need to.
Round 3: 50, 4, 2, 1, 2, 5. Target: 563.
Bobby: 563. (50 + 1) x (5 + 4 + 2) + 2 (10)
Mark: 563. (50 + 1) x (5 + 4 + 2) + 2 (10)
Score: 26–26 (max 26)
Easy once you see the trick. I don't know why people say that as it applies to pretty much every numbers game.
Mark may have spotted it late but it's good enough for ten points makes it a double max first "half".Teatime teaser: THROWING -> INGROWTH
Round 4: N G C E O I D J N
Bobby: CODING (6)
Mark: JOINED (6)
DC: CONNED (6) codine ENCODING (8)
Score: 32–32 (max 34)
Well the hopes of a double or even single max game swiftly evaporate but surprisingly, it requires Rachel's contribution for anyone in the studio to spot ENCODING. Bobby must be kicking himself for not extending his word, which would have fired him into the lead.
Round 5: G Y F E U V O S E
Bobby: VOGUES (6)
Mark: VOGUES (6)
DC: FOGEYS (6)
Score: 38–38 (max 40)
An awkward selection with just two sixes available. Mark and Bobby spot VOGUES while Michael and Nick have a brief conversation about FOGEYS.
Round 6: 75, 50, 100, 25, 3, 1. Target: 469.
Bobby: 473.
Mark: 467. (3 + 1) x (100 - 50 / 25) + 75 (7)
RR: 469. (100 / 50) x 3 x (75 - 1) + 25 (10)
Score: 38–45 (max 50)
Mark decides to mix things up with four large, good man! He is rewarded for his bravery as his two away solution is two closer than Bobby's, even though he almost slips when reading out his solution, correcting himself in the nick of time. Rachel needs until after the anecdote to achieve perfection.
Michael tells an amusing story about being invited to 10 Downing Street by Carol Thatcher during her mother's tenure as PM. He also meter her and Denis. He later called for a taxi, heavily inebriated and asked for a cab to Downing Street, giving his name as Whitehall, leading the operator to believe it was a prank call. Carol then got onto the phone and gave her name as Thatcher.
Round 7: M L P I O E S T N
Bobby: SIMPLETON (18)
Mark: PIMENTOS (8)
Score: 56–45 (max 68)
Amazing response!
Bobby shows that he is no SIMPLETON with that brilliant nine, turning a seven-point deficit into an eleven-point lead in the blink of an eye.Round 8: B S T A I E O N R
Bobby: OBTAINERS (18)
Mark: BARITONES (18)
DC: BASTION (7) BARNETS (7)
Score: 74–63 (max 86)
Mark may have thought he was set to immediately negate the eighteen points lost in the previous round with a nine of his own but Bobby gets a nine of his own too and earns himself a "flake", or at least he would on apterous. This looks set to be a high scorer.
Round 9: 25, 4, 4, 7, 10, 6. Target: 252.
Bobby: 251.
Mark: 252. 10 x 25 + 6 - 4 (10)
Score: 74–73 (max 96)
My goodness, another completely unexpected twist!
Bobby misses an absolute sitter of a numbers game and lets Mark close the gap to just a single point. All to play for in part three!Teatime teaser: OAKSHRUB -> KOURBASH
Round 10: P T D R I A U O M
Bobby: IMPART (6)
Mark: PAROTID (7)
DC: AUDITOR (7) PODIUM (6)
OT: PROTIUM (7)
Score: 74–80 (max 103)
Mark uses his apterous knowledge to his advantage with the classic Countdown word PAROTID to retake the lead.
Round 11: N F T E A R O E S
Bobby: FASTENER (8)
Mark: RESONATE (8)
DC: SOFTENER (8) SEAFRONT (8)
OT: FENESTRA (8) REFASTEN (8)
Score: 82–88 (max 111)
Plenty of eights to choose from so no surprise to see both players max this round.
OoW: Susie talks about punishments.
Round 12: M S T A O E R V A
Bobby: MAESTRO (7)
Mark: overmast
OT: SAMOVAR (7)
Score: 89–88 (max 118)
Ouch, unlucky for Mark. His attempt at OVERMAST^ sounds plausible but not plausible enough for the dictionary. His bid to move into a double-figure lead is unsuccessful and in fact he finds himself behind, as Bobby's proved that he is a bit of a MAESTRO on the letters. Just one point in this great contest.
Round 13: D S P T U E O G C
Bobby: SPOUTED (7)
Mark: SPOUTED (7)
DC: SCOUTED (7)
Score: 96–95 (max 125)
Still one point in it as we head to the crucial final two rounds. Will Mark try four large again or will he just gamble on the conundrum?
Round 14: 25, 75, 7, 4, 5, 8. Target: 727.
Bobby: 728.
Mark: 727. (75 + 25) x 7 + 4 x 8 - 5 (10)
Score: 96–105 (max 135)
This time he only selects two from the top but he wins the round anyway with a perfect solve. He has the lead back as well as a debut century but it's still not enough to avoid a crucial conundrum! Whatever happens, it's been a memorable game.
Round 15: N I C E G R A P H
Mark buzzes on 5 seconds to say PREACHING which is correct.
Final Score: 96–115 (max 145)
Mark solves it and ends Bobby's reign as champion. A tough start for the apterite but that owes an awful lot to Bobby's performance as he too contributed enormously to a fantastic game. His spot of SIMPLETON was arguably one of the spots of the series. Mark continues tomorrow and he looks capable of going a long way. If we wins tomorrow, apterite Ciaran McCarthy awaits him on Monday. Anthony will guide you through his first defence tomorrow. I'll hopefully be back soon for another recap so I'll see you whenever that is. Take care!
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70