C1: Champion Neil Green (2 wins, 177 points.) He's a high-ranking scrabble player who has shown some outstanding letters abilities so far. He'll certainly have his eye on octochampdom, so today sees him another step in that direction.
C2: Challenger Martyn Southwick.
DC: Susie Dent and Arlene Phillips.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: K S G N A E I M R
R02: C L A N J O R I S
R03: 100, 2, 7, 10, 8, 7. Target: 779.
TTT: AGUNFALL - "She enjoyed the Winter Olympics, so she took up this"
R04: D Y U T B M O E S
R05: R T S T I O E W U
R06: 25, 7, 2, 3, 1, 4, . Target: 190.
R07: N G B S E O I N L
R08: D R V O E S R O A
R09: 25, 4, 1, 6, 9, 4. Target: 536.
TTT: YOURPINT - "It's all about punishing the little Conservative, perhaps?"
R10: M S I N L R E A M
R11: G C T P O U A F E
R12: R P D I N A T E Q
R13: D N H V O E A S O
R14: 50, 4, 1, 4, 3, 3. Target: 959.
R15: N A R C Y T E E N (conundrum)
And now a brief interlude before our main feature:
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Round 1: K S G N A E I M R
Neil: MARKINGS (8)
Martyn: MARKINGS (8)
DC: SMEARING (8) RAMEKINS (8)
OT: REMAKING (8)
Score: 8–8 (max 8)
Strong start from both contestants here.
Round 2: C L A N J O R I S
Neil: CLARIONS (8)
Martyn: CLANS (5)
Score: 16–8 (max 16)
An excellent spot from Neil gives him an early lead.
Round 3: 100, 2, 7, 10, 8, 7. Target: 779.
Neil: 779. 8×100-(10−7)×7 (10)
Martyn: 779. 8×100-(10−7)×7 (10)
Score: 26–18 (max 26)
Some have pointed out that numbers may be a weak spot for Neil, but he shows no weakness here, and nor does his opponent. Ten points each.
Teatime teaser: AGUNFALL -> LANGLAUF
Round 4: D Y U T B M O E S
Neil: DUMBEST (7)
Martyn: BUSTED (6)
DC: DEMOBS (6) BUSTY (5)
OT: MODESTY (7)
Score: 33–18 (max 33)
Neil extends his lead further, he's on four maximums out of four now.
Round 5: R T S T I O E W U
Neil: outwrites
Martyn: WRITES (6)
OT: SWOTTIER (8)
Score: 33–24 (max 41)
Ouch! Neil drops points for the first time by trying a CSW nine and having it disallowed. This allows Martyn to pick up six points and get within touching distance once more.
Round 6: 25, 7, 2, 3, 1, 4. Target: 190.
Neil: 190. 25x7+(4+1)x3 (10)
Martyn: 190. 4x2x25-(7+3) (10)
Score: 43–34 (max 51)
Both contestants stay strong on the numbers again.
Round 7: N G B S E O I N L
Neil: BELONGS (7)
Martyn: BELONGS (7)
DC: BENISON (7) IGNOBLE (7)
OT: BINGLES (7) GINNELS (7) GOBLINS (7) LEGIONS (7) LINGOES (7) OBLIGES (7)
Score: 50–41 (max 58)
A very flat round here, sevens for everyone.
Round 8: D R V O E S R O A
Neil: DROVES (6)
Martyn: DROVES (6)
DC: DROSERA (7) DROVERS (7)
OT: ADORERS (7)
Score: 56–47 (max 65)
Neil and Martyn both get six points for DROVES, not realising you can add an R in there for DROVERS. Neil has shown a lot of caution so far in his run, often playing "safe" words, clearly wary of the difference between the CSW lexicon he's used to and the good old Countdown ODE.
Round 9: 25, 4, 1, 6, 9, 4. Target: 536.
Neil: 539.
Martyn: 536. (6-1)x4x25+(9x4) (10)
Score: 56–57 (max 75)
Perhaps there is some truth in the idea that numbers are a weak spot for Neil as he drops points here, allowing his opponent to take the lead for the first time. It wasn't an easy one though, so no shame in missing it.
Teatime teaser: YOURPINT -> PUNITORY
Round 10: M S I N L R E A M
Neil: MINERALS (8)
Martyn: REMAINS (7)
DC: SLIMMER (7) REALISM (7)
OT: MELANISM (8)
Score: 64–57 (max 83)
Neil takes his lead straight back here with another letters maximum. MELANISM is there for a nice alternative eight.
Round 11: G C T P O U A F E
Neil: OUTPACE (7)
Martyn: FACET (5)
DC: TOECAP (6) POTAGE (6) OUTFACE (7)
Score: 71–57 (max 90)
Neil seems a little hesitant with playing another OUT- word after his previous mistake, but this one is much safer and takes the points, extending his lead to a healthy 14 points.
Round 12: R P D I N A T E Q
Neil: DIPTERAN (8)
Martyn: PAINTED (7)
DC: RAPID (5) PARTIED (7) PERTAIN (7)
Score: 79–57 (max 98)
And another very good spot, this one a darren, puts Neil into a very strong position coming up to the final letters game. Perhaps he knows his PAINTER stems.
Round 13: D N H V O E A S O
Neil: HOOVES (6)
Martyn: SHAVEN (6)
DC: SHOVED (6) HAVENS (6)
OT: ANODES (6) DAVENS (6) DOONAS (6) HOONED (6) NODOSE (6) NOOSED (6) NOSHED (6) NOSODE (6) ODEONS (6) SHAVED (6) SHOOED (6) VADOSE (6)
Score: 85–63 (max 104)
A flat round of sixes means that despite adding another maximum to his probably slightly above average tally, Martyn won't be coming back tomorrow as Neil's lead still stands at 22 points, with only 20 left to play for.
Round 14: 50, 4, 1, 4, 3, 3. Target: 959.
Neil: 953.
Martyn: 954. (4x4+3)x50+3+1 (7)
RR: 959. ((50-4)x3-1)x(3+4) (10)
Score: 85–70 (max 114)
Martyn is one closer than Neil on the numbers so gets seven more points to close the gap, but it's too little, too late unfortunately. Rachel shows us how it's done with a very impressive solve. Neil appears to say something to Martyn just after this round, it looks like he was saying that he just saw the solution too late. Unlucky if that was the case.
Round 15: N A R C Y T E E N
Martyn buzzes on 28 seconds to say ENTRANCEY which is incorrect.
Neil buzzes on 28 seconds to say CANTEENRY which is incorrect.
The answer was CENTENARY.
Final Score: 85–70 (max 124)
A nice comedy moment in the closing stages here, as both contestants are very open about having a complete guess at the conundrum. Why not, eh? Both good enough efforts, and a nice bit of extra entertainment for everyone else
So Neil racks up his third win, looking very strong on the letters again. So long as he continues to exercise caution on letters rounds, and avoids a particularly strong numbers player, he could do very well indeed. Join James later to see if he can make it four wins.
Statistics
Raw score: Neil 85 - Martyn 100*
Maximums: Neil 10 - Martyn 6
*only noticed that raw score after writing the rest of the recap. That is a strong raw score from Martyn, it shows that he was very unlucky to lose today.
Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=70