Yes I know, I know, it's late and I apologise for that. Due to the thunderously wonderful Manchester weather, the Sky box packed up during Friday's show, a fact only discovered on Saturday evening when I came to do the recap. I didn't have time anyway Friday as I was in an apterous tourney. Anyway, enough of the excuses. Here it is. Well what a week it's been. Yesterday we crowned our first Octochamp of the series, as Tricia Pay destroyed all before her and must now surely be a strong contender to be the first lady to lift the Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy, and indeed the first female champion since series 39. So that means we start afresh today with two new players, Mark Davies and Amy Trueman, both hoping to embark on an Octochamp run of their own.Countdown recap for Friday 8 August 2014.
C1: Challenger Mark Davies. (Nickname Tiny) From Widnes, married with 2 boys, a Technical Officer for the Environmental Agency.
C2: Challenger Amy Trueman. Nearly 21, a Maths Graduate.
DC: Susie Dent and Gethin Jones.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.
R01: M P T E U E L U D
R02: M F R O U A D R U
R03: 2, 6, 9, 1, 50, 75, . Target: 890.
TTT: DUCKBEAN - "Everyone ducked this horse and wouldn't put a bean on it."
R04: I A O Y J M G E N
R05: R T S O E A B I S
R06: 7, 4, 9, 8, 3, 25. Target: 527.
R07: G S R A O U V E D
R08: L N S A U E M G I
R09: 2, 9, 3, 4, 50, 75. Target: 230.
TTT: SELLUSER - "He can't draw a straight line without laws."
R10: N H N C I E O R I
R11: Q R T E I E R O G
R12: C S N E A E P W I
R13: T Z F O I O D A S
R14: 5, 7, 10, 8, 2, 50. Target: 335.
R15: I T C H Y N E S T (conundrum)
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Round 1: M P T E U E L U D
Mark: MELTED (6)
Amy: MUTED (5)
DC: PELTED (6) PELMET (6) TEMPLE (6)
OT: DEPLUME (7)
Score: 6–0 (max 7)
Amy was MUTED as Mark MELTED his nerves to take 6 points.
Round 2: M F R O U A D R U
Mark: ARMOUR (6)
Amy: FROM (4)
DC: FRAUD (5)
OT: ARDOUR (6) RAMROD (6) RUMOUR (6)
Score: 12–0 (max 13)
Mark's ARMOUR was too strong for Amy as she only got 4 FROM that selection.
Round 3: 2, 6, 9, 1, 50, 75. Target: 890.
Mark: 890. (6x2) x 75 -9 -1 (10)
Amy: -
Score: 22–0 (max 23)
Mark gets a perfect 10 with 890. Amy, the Maths Graduate
couldn't get near.Teatime teaser: DUCKBEAN -> UNBACKED
Round 4: I A O Y J M G E N
Mark: GAMINE (6)
Amy: MANGY (5)
DC: MAIN MANY YEOMAN (6)
OT: ANOMIE (6) ENIGMA (6) JOYING (6) MANGEY (6) MAYING (6)
Score: 28–0 (max 29)
Mark gets 6 with GAMINE. Amy remains scoreless after only managing MANGY for 5.
Round 5: R T S O E A B I S
Mark: BOASTERS (8)
Amy: BOATERS (7)
DC: BITERS (6) BOSSIER (7)
OT: OSTERIAS (8)
Score: 36–0 (max 37)
Mark is top of the BOASTERS here with 8. Amy missed the second S, so only got BOATERS for 7.
Round 6: 7, 4, 9, 8, 3, 25. Target: 527.
Mark: 527. (7x3) x 25 + (8/4) (10)
Amy: 527. (7x3) x 25 + (8/4) (10)
Score: 46–10 (max 47)
Points at last for Amy, as she manages to get 527 spot on. Unfortunately for her, so does Mark.
Gethin talks about a film about rescuing an alligator.
Round 7: G S R A O U V E D
Mark: DEVOURS (7)
Amy: DEVOURS (7)
DC: GROUSED (7) AROUSED (7) SAVOURED (8)
Score: 53–17 (max 55)
Despite the DEVOURS of both players, it is only 7 a piece.
Round 8: L N S A U E M G I
Mark: MANGLES (7)
Amy: mensual
DC: MAULINGS (8)
OT: MULESING (8)
Score: 60–17 (max 63)
Amy has 'mensual' disallowed, allowing Mark to capitalise with MANGLES for 7.
Round 9: 2, 9, 3, 4, 50, 75. Target: 230.
Mark: 230. (75 x 3) + (9+4) (10)
Amy: 230. (75 x 3) + (9+4) (10)
Score: 70–27 (max 73)
A perfect 10 for both players with 230.
Teatime teaser: SELLUSER -> RULELESS
Round 10: N H N C I E O R I
Mark: INCH (4)
Amy: CORN (4)
DC: IRONIC (6) CHORINE (7)
OT: IRENICON (8)
Score: 74–31 (max 81)
Mark moves an INCH closer to winning, but Amy gets the CORN also with 4 points each.
Round 11: Q R T E I E R O G
Mark: GOITRE (6)
Amy: RETIRE (6)
OT: ETRIER (6) GORIER (6) REGRET (6) RIOTER (6)
Score: 80–37 (max 87)
Mark gets GOITRE for 6, Amy decides to RETIRE on 6 also.
Susie talks about the origin of the word 'spiv'.
Round 12: C S N E A E P W I
Mark: INSCAPE (7)
Amy: PANICS (6)
DC: SCENE (5) PECANS (6) WINCES (6)
OT: SAPIENCE (8)
Score: 87–37 (max 95)
Mark takes another 7 points with INSCAPE. Amy PANICS, but it's only 6 so doesn't get her any points.
Round 13: T Z F O I O D A S
Mark: STAID (5)
Amy: AFOOT (5)
DC: FOODS (5) STIFADO (7)
Score: 92–42 (max 102)
Mark STAID ahead after this round. But there's something AFOOT for Amy. Five a piece.
Round 14: 5, 7, 10, 8, 2, 50. Target: 335.
Mark: 335. (7x50) -10-5 (10)
Amy: 335. (8-2) x 50 + (5x7) (10)
Score: 102–52 (max 112)
And a perfect 10 as both players get 335.
Round 15: I T C H Y N E S T
No one buzzes. The answer was SYNTHETIC.
Final Score: 102–52 (max 122)
Nobody got the Conundrum, so it was left to a lady in the audience to say SYNTHETIC.
So there we have it. A new champion, and the way he's playing we may have found our second Octochamp already. Amy struggled against him early on, losing precious points. Had she been able to keep up in the first 6 rounds, she could have made a game of it, but the damage was already done. So will Mark continue his run into next week? Join Andy McGurn on Monday to see if he makes it to his second win. He's playing Julia Hayward, an apterite, so it could be a very interesting game. Indeed we have a number of interesting games coming up in the next few weeks, as a number of apterites are set to hit the main stage. I'll be back next Friday, and I'll try and be on time this time
so please join me then. In the meantime, thank you very much for reading, and goodbye. Further summaries are at:
http://cdb.apterous.org/series.php?series=71
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