Let's hope another classic is in the offing then. 
Enjoy.
Countdown recap for Thursday 17 April 2014.
C1: Champion Mark Murray (5 wins, 558 points.) An Apterite and Dubliner, now living in Bristol.
C2: Challenger Peter Steggle. An Apterite and speech writer from London. He's learning Mandarin, after already learning Russian. Speaking of which, he went on an overnight sleeper train from Moscow to St. Petersburg in February 1995.
DC: Susie Dent and Louise Minchin.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: T R C O E O D T I
R02: M S X N E A E F R
R03: 100, 75, 50, 9, 6, 8. Target: 808.
TTT: MASSCHIP - "Behaving like a naughty sea creature, perhaps?"
R04: T Z N R O I U E B
R05: M T L Y O E I R A
R06: 100, 8, 8, 1, 7, 9. Target: 710.
R07: H N S M O E A G T
R08: D C S Q I E A U G
R09: 50, 75, 100, 5, 10, 3. Target: 723.
TTT: CREAMHOG - "This'll help show you just how low you've sunk"
R10: R D S T O I A E P
R11: L K S A O E V N U
R12: D M S P O I E B N
R13: L R D A E O S W N
R14: 75, 8, 5, 3, 7, 3. Target: 835.
R15: V E G I D I E T S (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Enjoy the show.
Round 1: T R C O E O D T I
Mark: DOTTIER (7)
Peter: COTTIER (7)
DC: CORDITE (7)
Score: 7–7 (max 7)
A nice pair of 7's to start with today from our Apterites.
Round 2: M S X N E A E F R
Mark: RENAMES (7)
Peter: SEAMEN (6)
DC: FREEMAN (7)
Score: 14–7 (max 14)
Mark takes the first lead of the day, but it's whoever's in the lead at the end of the day who will be the winner.............
Round 3: 100, 75, 50, 9, 6, 8. Target: 808.
Mark: 809. (8 x 100) + 9 (7)
Peter: 809. (8 x 100) + 9 (7)
RR: 808. ((100 + 50) x 6) - (75 + 8 + 9) (10)
Score: 21–14 (max 24)
Well, 809 was easy enough, wasn't it
But finding the 808 was a bit tricky, although not for Rachel, it wasn't Teatime teaser: MASSCHIP -> SCAMPISH
Round 4: T Z N R O I U E B
Mark: ROUTINE (7)
Peter: TURBINE (7)
DC: TRIBUNE (7) BORNITE (7)
Score: 28–21 (max 31)
All 7's accounted for in this one.
Round 5: M T L Y O E I R A
Mark: IRATELY (7)
Peter: MORALITY (8)
DC: REALITY (7)
OT: MOLARITY (8)
Score: 28–29 (max 39)
NOW THAT'S A BRILLIANT SPOT
Peter gets in a killer blow with his 8.MOLARITY is the number of moles of solute per litre of solution.
Round 6: 100, 8, 8, 1, 7, 9. Target: 710.
Mark: 710. (7 x 100) + 1 + 9 (10)
Peter: 710. (7 x 100) + 1 + 9 (10)
Score: 38–39 (max 49)
At least this was super easy.
Louise talks about the BBC Breakfast team moving up from London to Salford, and how she once met Art Garfunkel in his dressing room, with a bit less on top...........
Round 7: H N S M O E A G T
Mark: MONTAGES (8)
Peter: MEGATONS (8)
DC: MANGOS (6)
OT: MAGNETOS (8)
Score: 46–47 (max 57)
You can tell these guys watch their Countdown with their anagrams of each other's 8's.
Round 8: D C S Q I E A U G
Mark: GAUDIES (7)
Peter: SQUIDGE (7)
DC: CAIQUES (7)
Score: 53–54 (max 64)
And evidence yet again of both these players' brilliance. A true testament to the game is this, so far.................
Round 9: 50, 75, 100, 5, 10, 3. Target: 723.
Mark: 723. ((75 - 3) x 10) + 5 - (100 / 50) (10)
Peter: 723. ((75 - 3) x 10) + 5 - (100 / 50) (10)
Score: 63–64 (max 74)
Mark goes 3 large yet again, and is matched all the way by Peter, and this game is now heading into the very exciting stage now (or Part 3, as we normally call it.
). Teatime teaser: CREAMHOG -> ECHOGRAM
Round 10: R D S T O I A E P
Mark: TRAIPSED (8)
Peter: ASTEROID (8)
DC: DIOPTRES (8) PAROTIDS (8)
OT: ADOPTERS (8) DIASPORE (8) DIOPTASE (8) PARODIES (8) PARODIST (8) PASTORED (8) PASTORIE (8) READOPTS (8) RIPOSTED (8) SEPTORIA (8)
Score: 71–72 (max 82)
Thank goodness that Mark didn't go for dioptares, as it could've tipped the balance more in Peter's favour.............
A DIASPORE is a mineral, aluminium oxyhydroxide, AlO(OH), occurring in crystals, or more usually in lamellar or scaly masses: a principal constituent of bauxite and an important source of aluminium.
Round 11: L K S A O E V N U
Mark: VALUES (6)
Peter: ANKLES (6)
OT: ANOLES (6) AVULSE (6) ENSOUL (6) KELSON (6) KNAVES (6) KULANS (6) LOAVES (6) NAEVUS (6) NAVELS (6) NOVELS (6) OVULES (6) SLOVEN (6) SNAVEL (6) SNAVLE (6) UNSEAL (6) VENOUS (6)
Score: 77–78 (max 88)
Plenty of 6's in this deceptive looking board, but this is still anyone's game with neither contestant giving an inch...............
An ANOLE is any of numerous chiefly insectivorous New World lizards of the genus Anolis, related to the iguana, that have the ability to change the colour of their skin among a wide range of green and brown shades.
A KELSON is a longitudinal beam fastened to the keel of a vessel for strength and stiffness.
Susie's Origins Of Words talks about the origins of "Bob's Your Uncle".
Round 12: D M S P O I E B N
Mark: IMPOSED (7)
Peter: IMPOSED (7)
OT: IMPENDS (7)
Score: 84–85 (max 95)
Both contestants have definitely IMPOSED themselves today.
Round 13: L R D A E O S W N
Mark: SOLANDER (8)
Peter: WANDERS (7)
Score: 92–85 (max 103)
WOAH! WOAH!! WOAH!!! Mark manages to get a darren when he needed it the most
Can Peter maintain his composure to force a crucial conundrum Round 14: 75, 8, 5, 3, 7, 3. Target: 835.
Mark: 835. ((75 + 8) x (7 + 3)) + 5 (10)
Peter: 835. ((3 + 8) x 75) + 7 + 3 (10)
Score: 102–95 (max 113)
Mark has got his 6th century, but for the 3rd time in his run, a century alone has not been enough, as it's now time for YET ANOTHER CRUCIAL CONUNDRUM
Round 15: V E G I D I E T S
Mark buzzes on 1 second to say DIGESTIVE which is correct.
Final Score: 112–95 (max 123)
OH MY GOD
Literally nothing in it between these 2 leviathans, but it's Mark who wins the day and claims his 6th win. But, spare a thought for Peter, who with 11 maxes would've won just about every other match this series But, up against the 13 maxes of Mark is super cruel, and unfortunate for a competitor who could also easily have become an octochamp, like Ciaran and Bobby from recent days.
So, Mark has 6 wins, which puts him into #2 spot on the leaderboard, which also confirms his place in the finals, and with him already on 670 points, his 2 wins only need to have a combined total of 112 points to put him top of the shop.
(So, basically a repeat of today. )Join Anthony tomorrow for the next game. I'm off next Wednesday (not to self-indulge my appearance on 15-To-1, but cos I'm in Salford cheering on Jason Turner), so I'll need a replacement for next Wednesday, and possibly next Thursday too, but not confirmed yet.
So, have a great weekend, and I look forward to seeing plenty of you at CO:REA this weekend too.
(If not, have a great Easter. )Till next week, bye bye.
Statistics Corner
Mark:
Total score - 112
Raw score - 119
Total % of max - 91
Raw % of max - 97
Total average score per round - 7.5
Raw average score per round - 7.9
Number of maxes - 13
Peter:
Total score - 95
Raw score - 108
Total % of max - 77
Raw % of max - 88
Total average score per round - 6.3
Raw average score per round - 7.2
Number of maxes - 11
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70